[Guide] Shell's shop review thread

Note: I'm not planning to increase my post / review speed, I'm merely clearing out my todo list a little bit (I usually collect material well in advance).

What: Stagger77's shop.
Where: /v stagger77 on SMP3. Or: /v 6758.
Specializes in: Diversity.
Interesting details: Stagger77 himself will always welcome you to his shop ;-)

On the left, Stagger's shop. On the right is Staggers house.

One time I was looking around for shops to review (I'm a heavy user of the shop residence tag) and I noticed that many players often leave you searching for their shop because they put more attention to their house entrance. Nothing wrong with paying attention to your house, but it can leave visitors a bit puzzled ("do they actually have a shop at all?"). Although it's been a while since I first discovered Staggers shop I do recall that his carefully chosen residence entry point was what impressed me right from the start.

His shop involves all the walls of the room you're in, but because the room is quite large Stagger has cleverly set up several teleport points which you can use to quickly go from one side to the other. No need to run marathons around here!

Another interesting detail is that Stagger himself is always around his shop somewhere:

Now, dude, no need to look down at me like that

When I saw that for the first time my mind was made up about adding him to my review thread. I really like this jest a lot Though it also seems as if all Stagger does is walk around and try to persuade you into buying something. I haven't actually seen him restock anything yet

As said before, and what you can see here, Stagger tries to add a lot of diversity to his shop. You can find almost everything here. From spawn eggs to (enchanted) books (or material for books) and even mob drops and more common items such as wood and saplings.

So if you're looking for a regular item and can't find it just yet then definitely pay Stagger77's shop a visit sometimes.

Apologies for the delay in posts. I've been plagued by some issues; the (local) heat isn't helping when it comes to sleep and then motivation during the day due to lack of some sleep (and the heat). Second: I had a few shops close on me after working out a review and just before publishing. That demotivated me a little, also in combination with mentioned heat. Alas, time to catch up a little.

What: MrCDub's shop.
Where: /v mrcdub on SMP8. Or: /v 17486.
Specializes in: Enchanted books.
Interesting details: It's like stepping into a Nether fortess

Enchanting an item can be done in two ways. First you need to get yourself some XP levels and after obtaining those you could then use an enchantment table together with Lapis Lazulli and then hope for the best. The obvious risk here is spending a lot of levels on what could very well be a collection of poor enchants.

The second method is obtaining an enchanted book, then apply those enchants using an anvil. This will make sure that you won't be confronted with nasty surprises such as not getting the enchants you wanted or needed. The obvious problem: where to get those books? Well...

The owner checking up on me during my visit.

As you can see in the pictures the shop heavily utilizes the Nether theme. There's Netherbrick everywhere and if you also look outside the residence then you will discover the reason why the temperature is nicely high here: you're basically in a gigantic lava pool!

A very cool touch are the nether portals which you can see; those actually work! No: they won't take you to the nether, that's impossible from within town. But MrCDub made it so that it really seems as if you're teleported (amazing what those teleport signs can do ).

This shop has everything you need: books, anvil and even experience bottles...

The fun (and impressive) part is that MrCDub has also carefully kept an eye out for details. I already mentioned that you needed experience in order to apply the enchanted effects of a book onto an item. But how much? Well, just read the signs:

Also notice the 'Preview' sign: you can always check out if your favorite book is in stock

See that? In order to apply this Fire protection IV & Unbreaking III book I'd need 12 experience levels. Obviously I didn't just take MrCDub's word for granted (no offense! ) and decided to check this out for myself. Yeah... I was planning to buy myself a diamond chestplate but that turned out to be harder than I thought. Eventually I managed, and thanks to MrCDub's public anvils I didn't need anything else so...

Let's see if he's right:

Seems obvious to me

I really enjoyed that care for detail, it's not something you often see in such a shop.

And there you have it. If you're in need of Enchanted books then 17486 is a very interesting and good place to visit.

Hey, great thread! Just a suggestion, maybe you could provide an overview/list of shop reviews in your first post of with permalink to each shop's review, e.g.:

Reviews:
MrCDub - Enchanted Books - 17486
etc.
etc.
etc.

Good point, I think I'll do that. Shouldn't be too hard to set up an overview and I think I got some room left in the 1st post

This review is way overdue

What: kyukyu99's shop.
Where: /v kyukyu99 on SMP5. Or: /v 11229.
Specializes in: Diversity.
Interesting details: An open air shop, located around a tree house and has villager access!

Most shops which I came across with are located in buildings. Sometimes huge buildings, sometimes simpler cobblestone buildings but you'll hardly come across anything in the open air. Perhaps when dealing with a newer player I suppose. Well, Kyukyu isn't exactly a new player and she still set up her store out in the open around a tree house. Which automatically makes this shop a special shop to me.

Kyukyu has a nice diversity of different items

When you enter Kyukyu's residence you start off on a sandstone road, and well, all you need to do is to follow that road to get a good overview of what she has for sale. From nether materials, regular items such as gold and iron and she also sells a large variety of horses. But not just that: horses and everything you might like to get yourself started with them also. A saddle to ride them, a golden carrot to breed them and... Sugar to give them an extra treat. It's those simple details which I like so much about shops like these.

To get a good impression of Kyukyu's horses just take a look at the pen

And, as seen on the sign above, anyone is allowed to trade with her villagers. She even made sure to provide them with their own home which, in my opinion anyway, only makes this experience more fun. Don't be surprised if the villagers run indoors when its dark. Sorry; not trading with customers outside business hours

A small villager, with villagers, on Kyukyu's residence

But I do suggest you remain on your best behavior while visiting Kyukyu's shop because her villagers really look after things...

Sorry my review ran a little late guys, it was totally my fault. Stop looking at me like that

And there you have it. If you're looking for general items or horses in particular then it's definitely worth visiting Kyukyu's shop. And even if you don't need anything then you might still get a nice deal out of this when talking to her villagers. Just remember my suggestion up there, before they suddenly gang up on you