Pokemon cards? Can someone explain them to me
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Anonymous
You really think dads need to get involved to prevent their six year old kids from getting "burned" in Pokemon trades. Seriously? The cards are not "very valuable". In fact, they have no value except for what the kids work out. Sometimes the kids make good trades. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they have regrets or conflict about trades with their friends. And then they work it out. This is age-appropriate experiential learning through play. It's healthy and wonderful. And NOT the purview of over-protective, micromanaging Helicopter dads. Tell DH to save his "very valuable" Pokemon cards from his 1980s childhood and instead buy his kid $20 worth of random cards at a Target. Then let the kid do his or her thing. There's truly no reason Helicopter Pokemon Dad needs to micro-manage his kid's play. |
Except you don't go to Game Stop for gaming supplies. Don't forget D&D.
My husband loves it all... hope he has good life insurance for me...
Anonymous
| My kids only played by comparing point values and don't seem to play it for real. It was pretty harmless and was actually pretty useful for motivating my reluctant readers to learn how to read and to do chores to buy them. The cards are very popular at my kids' day camp and only come out during the summer at my house. |
Anonymous
Some of the cards are actually more valuable than others, 20:26. The EX cards for instance are worth something like $20-$100 depending on rarity & a kid can actually lose value by trading. One of our neighbor kid's dads came up with a rule when our boys were younger (grade 1-2 like OPs) that everyone had a day to ask for cards back if there was a remorseful party after a bad trade. But we don't actually participate or micromanage trades. There are too many variables to consider when you're trying to decide a good or bad trade (e.g. my son will be trying to build a particular type of deck, water or fire or whatever, so he will deliberately trade good cards from other types he's not trying to collect). OP, the biggest downside is what one PP mentioned: having Pokemon cards incessantly spread all over your house, ALL OVER> And then your kid freaking out looking for a particular missing card when there's no chance in he%^ of finding it. Endless failed organizational systems. And kind of expensive long term once they get more sophisticated about which cards are better/best. But, I agree with PPs who say it's interesting in that is requires a lot of mental calculation. And it's engrossing for the kids and keeps them engaged together in a non-video game pursuit. 
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Anonymous
Obviously you do not know about this kind of card playing. No, we will teach our kid about the cards and how to trade. The value of the card impacts playing. |
Anonymous
Most kids younger do not get how to play as no one has taught them. They are completely harmless. The cards are not just about collecting them. It's a real game. |
Anonymous
| So...no one plays pogs anymore ?!?!? |
Anonymous
It's definitely worth learning the game. Like some PPs have said, it was a good shared experience for my DS and DH for a few years, mostly early ES years. But, he's 12 now and still has his cards and he and DH recently got them out and got obsessed with playing again for a couple weeks. DS taught me too so I could play with him when DH wasn't available. There's definitely a good amount of thinking, strategy, and arithmetic involved. |
Anonymous
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My 8 year old has been into Pokemon cards for a few years now. Mainly this consists of comparing cards with friends, showing off collections of cards and making trades of cards.
The kids on my street have gotten into many squabbles over trades made and then regretted. Sometimes younger kids get ripped off in making trades not based on the cards "value", but because they like the blue critter better than the yellow critter (but if they remain happy in that decision, not a big deal). Or sometimes the younger kids have said after that they felt coerced into a trade by an insistent child who really wanted a certain card, and then they regret the trade. Or disagreement about whether it was a trade, or just letting them look at it and they took it. I think a lot of these squabbles are reasonable in the realm of learning the value of things, and how to negotiate and get along with others. We have at times involved a parent or older sibling to oversee a trade as a 3rd party, to verify the general fairness of it, and that both parties agree it is a trade and not a loan. |
Anonymous
| It's the non vulgar version of the Garbage Pail kids we had growing up. |
Anonymous
Completely different. I had those too. Those were strictly to collect. Pokemon is an actual game. |
Anonymous
| All of the boys (and about 2 girls) in my DS' 1st grade glass were into them. It was fun to see them get so excited about it. Maybe one of the 12+ kids still plays with them. It was a short term hobby for us. Pretty cheap as we didn't invest too much and it did encourage some reading and social skills. |
Anonymous
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could someone explain it to me? I've had those cards in my house for nearly 10 years and I still don't get it.
But yes, it does lead to D&D! as my teens play D&D with my husbands books from the 70s/80s. Thank goodness they didn't get into magic! |
Anonymous
| My kids 12 and 9 just like looking at the cards. |
Anonymous
I know enough about this kind of card playing to know that my first grader and her friends had a great time figuring it out on their own. I listened from the other room on many a Playdate as they read over the cards, shared half-baked ideas about what they meant and what they are worth, argued, negotiated and worked out various trades, and made up rules and "policies" about trade-backs etc that worked for them. They also play with bigger kids at aftercare, older siblings and cousins. Sometimes those kids' rules are different. Sometimes they try to pull a fast one. And sometimes they even succeed. But the first and second graderS hold their own overall. And have a great time doing it. To me, this is safe, low-risk, child-directed play. There's a lot of trial and error. There are good decisions and bad. There are lots of emotions, cooperation, competition, self-regulation and group dynamics. NONE of which requires an adult to instruct, guide, manage or oversee. In terms of "Value," I really don't care if my eight year old gets suckered into trading away a card that could be worth $100 on eBay someday. She doesn't care either. YMMV, but we're not buying or selling cards on eBay or in any other marketplace involving actual money. Pokemon is a kids game, not an investment plan. She got her cards either from her friends on her birthday or as hand me downs from teenage cousins and friends. When she eventually grows out of them, we'll similarly pass them on to a younger kid - not liquidate them for cash. My bottom line: Pokemon is a kids' game. Why not give your kids the opportunity to work together to figure it out? Even the rules. Not everything needs to be explained or proscribed by a parent. It's ok for kids to do it "wrong" and then learn by experience how to do it differently. They don't need so much pareBram protection from error or loss. Save that for when there's real risk or danger involved. |
Anonymous
| It's a real game and the cards have specific meanings. It's surprising to me how many kids collect them without understanding what they are and do. I would not buy them to collect but only to play the game. There is a money value but more about what the cards do in the game. |