Too Many options for Pokémon Trading Card Game - Tell me what I should buy
3I'm about to go down this road with my son. He's into the old cartoons (thanks Netflix), and some of the not-so-old cartoons. Are the classic set of Pokémon in the newest version of the card game? I don't want to drop $100 on cards that will be abused and eventually thrown out if he's going to hate them from the jump.
- Gotta have the original 1996-ish Pokemon
- Gotta have enough cards so that 2 players can build a deck and play (nothing highly competitive, no league play... just father & son)
- We will not care for the cards. They will be thrown in a box, abused, stepped on, dipped in soft drinks, and be otherwise desecrated and destroyed.
What should I buy?
- 16 comments, 47 replies
- Comment
shudder
If you just want cards to play, you can buy preconstructed theme decks. In a deck, you get 60 cards that one person can play a game with immediately (obviously, you need two decks). Each set that's released has two of these decks, so if you want to go back to a prior set you can. The ones you can buy from major retailer stores right now will be from more recent sets. For example, Burning Winds and Bolt Twister should be able to be found right now in physical store locations.
However, there's a mix between "old" (based on the first 151) and "new" Pokemon in the decks, most them being new, simply because there's a lot more new than old. If you want just older Pokemon, you'll have to search Web sites for older preconstructed theme decks. It doesn't look like they cost much more than the ones recently made.
@Colonial8 Most helpful post. I do most of my shopping online, which is bad with this sort of thing because it's hard to sort through the noise. Do you know how much I should expect to pay for a theme deck? for a starter set? Where can I find a checklist of every card, preferably with filtering and grouping options?
@JerseyFrank I would also take gato's advice below. Bulbapedia has a list by Pokemon I think, not sure what kind of checklist you're looking for. Theme decks nowadays cost around $12 each. Here is the list of sets released, anything prior to Neo Genesis will only have the original 151. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon_Trading_Card_Game_expansions
Gee thanks, I wasn't feeling old enough today.
I just remembered I have no idea what the hell Pokemon cards are or what purpose they serve. Do they secretly teach math and science? Are they a gateway to a career choice of some sort?
@tightwad You're not alone, but I see tabletop games as good opportunities for learning. This will help encourage him to practice his new reading skills/strategies, basic addition and subtraction, and just general strategy and planning. I love games, and this will be a fun way for us to interact while learning.
@tightwad And new cards make great positive reinforcement rewards
@tightwad They're for catching! Gotta catch 'em all!
@tightwad they're fun. Games aren't as pointless as a lot of people seem to think. People that play a lot of games develop skills like creative problem solving, logical reasoning, and mathematical intelligence.
@JerseyFrank @JonT I understand and agree with the positive value games can provide, especially as a learning tool. I am also a fan of bribery...err...positive reinforcement. In general I wish kids got outside more, and used their imagination more...don't get me started on Minecraft...
@tightwad I would strongly argue that Minecraft is not the problem. If there's one video game you shouldn't worry about, it's Minecraft. It's basically legos with the real-world limitations and inconveniences stripped away. It lets kids be incredibly creative and imaginative. You can build anything you can think of! That's incredible. Kids still go outside and play and I agree that it's important, but it's not a bad thing that when they are inside they're using their imaginations to create.
@JonT Gonna have to strongly disagree with this one. In my opinion (not being an expert) there is a very key element to the creative process that involves touch...Lego's are very tactile by nature and allow you to design, create, and then physically interact with your creation. Minecraft turns into a farming process where repetitive actions are rewarded and creativity isn't a requirement. Maybe I am just too into Legos... Not sure if this can been seen publicly or not: http://tinyurl.com/pfaf3uk
@tightwad I've recently resisted calling & thinking of rewards as bribes. They look a little like bribes and casually give the appearance that the proverbial cart is leading the horse; but what's actually happening is I'm molding the behavior of my children without giving them reason to be subversive. It works perfectly on paper... in practice it's marginally more effective than... a lot more work than... and a lot less painful than a belt or paddle.
@tightwad Nice table.
@JerseyFrank I only call them bribes out of honesty. I prefer to reward good behavior than punish bad but each has it's place. With 4 kids I have learned that each responds differently and requires a different approach.
@tightwad I think we're not talking about rewards the same way. I'm talking about how to teach a mouse to navigate a maze, how to teach a pigeon to bowl, or how to get your child to make his bed in the mornings... A bribe comes with a quid pro quo agreement.
My kids never actually played a game with their Pokemon cards- they just collected them. They did play games with Yu-gi-oh cards.
I hope I'm not too late to contribute. Your best bet is finding some theme decks on ebay. The sets will provide you with a complete deck of cards for one person, so you will need to buy two decks if you want to play against each other. Bulbapedia has tons of information on the different sets, but basically you want to focus on anything under generation 1. Those will include most the pokemon (and trainers if you choose those sets) that your child will recognize. Theme decks for Jungle and Fossil sets seem to still be around $15 on ebay. You can find a list of the different theme decks here, and even click to see which cards are included in the various sets if there are certain cards you think your child will want. If you want to add a little uncertainly, it's still possible to find old school booster packs on ebay as well. I hope this helps, and feel free to reply with any other questions you might have.
Now I want to go home and find my old cards and see if anyone I know has a deck to play against. haha
So, yeah, that's helpful too. I understand it much better than I did yesterday.
Correct any mistakes, but my big takeaways here are:
@JerseyFrank I'd agree with those points overall; I don't have anything to really disagree with. To further add to your points: 2-3) There's now 6 generations. 6&11) Booster packs contain about 10 cards, each having an actual defined rarity (as seen by a shape in the bottom right corner of the card). In a pack, about 7 of them are "common" (circle shape), 2 are "uncommon" (4-sided diamond shape), 1 is "rare" (star shape). Anybody buying a "booster box" (box of booster packs) or two of a set is going to get more commons from that set than they ever need, and that's what the majority of cards is comprised of. Yeah, don't get the random card lots you mention on eBay.
@Colonial8 good morning. Did you see the following post? Can't chat right now...
@JerseyFrank Yup, I replied below.
@gato @Colonial8
I sent an email over to a well known online game store asking them for some advice. They offered to make me "a 1000+ card lot that will include Tepig and Oshawatt and their evolutions for $89.99. It will include many other cards including enough basic energy to make any type of basic deck. It will also include up to 4x of different pokemon cards for easy deck building, and trainer cards to help round out their deck."
9 cents a card sounds like a great deal, but also like they are clearing out garbage, right? Should I care? Do I need more information to know if that's a good deal? If so, what?
@JerseyFrank It's probably mostly commons, but it's also commons you could use given that you don't have any cards and you seem interested in building your own decks versus buying theme decks. I'd ask them how many rares and uncommons would be in the lot, and if they would include Tepig and Oshawott's final evolutions (they evolve twice). Usually, evolved Pokemon are rarer (and for Tepig and Oshawott's final evolutions Emboar and Samurott, they've always been rare and holographic http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Samurott_(TCG) http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Emboar_(TCG)).
@JerseyFrank I'm leaning towards it's could be a good deal for both parties assuming they have enough energy and you're not interested in building a competitive deck and there's enough evolutions in there to make some decks that can play against each other. Note that the fire-type Emboar has a disadvantage against the water-type Samurott, so building a deck based off one of them each and playing a game could be imbalanced.
Hey, Buy him a couple of normal books to read and Karate Lessons. Because if he keeps playing and reading that shit, he's going to have to defend himself
@somf69 Go piss in someone else's Wheaties. Your shit isn't helpful, thoughtful, or funny.
So here's what I've bought so far:
1 - 1000+ card bargain(?) starter set
1 - Legends of Hoenn Tin - Kyogre-EX
1 - Legends of Hoenn Tin - Groudon-EX
1 - XY Phantom Forces - Burning Winds Theme Deck
1 - XY Phantom Forces - Bolt Twister Theme Deck
1 - Play Mat - Pokemon XY
6 - Deck Box
1 - Black and White - Legendary Treasures - Booster Box
1 - Card Storage - 12 Slot Card Box Hotel w/ 800 ct. boxes
@JerseyFrank That should be about 1600 total cards. I figure I'll ned to get an XY booster box of some sort and some binders and I'm all set for now.
@JerseyFrank dang, that's a pretty hefty bundle right there. i don't know much about the newer generations and their play dynamics, but it sounds like you'll definitely be able to make some good decks with all those cards, and hopefully you'll have plenty of energy cards to use between the 1000+ card deal and the theme decks. the play mat with also be helpful. your kid is pretty lucky to have a parent like you! =] i hope you two have a good time playing together!
@gato Whoa.... I'm not giving him all these cards. He'll get a starter set or theme deck, a handful of boosters, and then he'll earn the rest. In the meantime, it's so I can build something to crush him.
@gato I feel compelled to add that my kid is lucky to have a dad like me, not because I bought a decent Pokémon setup but because I take the time to understand it, learn the game, teach him the game, and play the game with him. Also, I'm so humble, and thanks.
@JerseyFrank he is lucky to have a dad that invests in his interests!
@gato Entirely coincidental. If wasn't clear already, I'm already far more geeked about this than he is. :)
@JerseyFrank totally agree that you deserve props for understanding your kid's hobbies!
@JerseyFrank If you want to learn some popular decks today, just watch some recent YouTube videos. You'll see that winning decks are nowhere like the theme decks that are produced (lots less Energy, lots more Trainers). Sample channels would be http://www.youtube.com/user/TopCutPokemon/videos and even the main Pokemon channel (they have archives of championship TCG games) http://www.youtube.com/user/pokemon
@JerseyFrank Oh, and a good text Web site is http://sixprizes.com
@JerseyFrank I know totally not Pokémon but Magic... I took my son to his first tournament this past weekend... He didn't know what was going on, but he seemed to have fun... We played together 2 headed Giant... and When I say played... we entered, and he stared at the other team while they made their deck drooling all the way... Yes my son is 6 Months old and I'm trying to get him into a good hobby :) Also I can think of it this way, if he hates it he won't remember me taking him anyway, if he loves it he can have the pride of knowing that before he was a year a collection was started for him and he will have a pretty good collection by the time he can play with the cards instead of drool on the cards
Is there a site with printable card lists? I want some guidance on popular ways to organize a collection and inventory what we have.
I need this so that I know what my son steals when he finds the stash.
@JerseyFrank The official Web site actually has a printable check list of each set produced since July 2003. You have to click the link to each set on the Web page to get a link to its checklist. http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/trading-card-expansions/
So today is the big day. He rushed to open all his gifts before sunrise. Pokémon cards were a big hit. The theme decks, tins and booster packs didn't quite register with him yet. He doesn't know to be excited by foil cards, or the anticipation and disappointment of booster packs; but he went bananas for the zippered 3-ring binder I put together that had a well-populated, set-ordered XY-Plasma Blast section. I had made a special unsorted page of his current favorites from B&W (multiples of Snivy, Oshawott, and Tepig & all of their evolutions). I printed out checklists for B&W through current, and a reference guide of set names and symbols.
Thanks all, especially @Colonial8 and @gato, for the help!
Also, I gave him 10 of every energy type. That's a little light, isn't it? I don't think it matters much. He has almost no trainer cards (I have some in reserve). It's definitely more collection than play for now.
And where do I get more energy cards? Are there (official) decks of them sold separately? I know I can just ask CoolStuffInc for them, but the ones they sent appeared new and sealed, but in a generic clear plastic wrapper.
@JerseyFrank since the basic energy cards don't really have any worth or value I bet you could get a ton really cheap from a local card shop. At least when it comes to Magic most card shops have a ton of basic lands left over from drafts and other events. You can also check ebay, here's 102 energy cards for $5 (which is about the right price),
@JonT Oh, I know where I can get them on the secondary market. I was wondering where one gets them as the primary purchaser.
@JerseyFrank oh, well I think most people do from buying a ton of booster packs.
@JonT those booster packs better not have energy cards! $0.30/card when you buy a box
I ran it by the teenager, and if you are interested, he would gladly let me gift a few cards to your cause. He was heavily into them, but lost interest.
@jaremelz Awesome. I'd love to have them. I'll share pics of him opening 'em. He'll go bananas!
@JerseyFrank Ok, he's built a deck box and a half that will be ready to go out Saturday or Monday. There are a lot of energy cards for water, lightening, psychic, a few progressions from basic to the evolved versions, and hopefully he likes it. These are a mix of a few older but mostly 2-10 years old. Sends me your address if you don't mind. jaramelz@gmail.com
Thanks @jaremelz for the cards!
@JerseyFrank how adorable! He has a beautiful smile...
@JerseyFrank What an adorable kid! I hope he likes them, they should be getting used. My kid had a fun time assembling the box.
@jaremelz We'll be organizing them this weekend. They all go into a binder for their "home." He mostly just flips through to admire and show friends, but he's taken interest in the game and building decks. He was beaming when I showed him the cards. Thanks again!
@JerseyFrank You are very welcome. The kid is referring to this as to 'meh it forward'
@JerseyFrank Also my husband declared this the best thank you ever. And I agree!
@jaremelz glad you liked it! Tell the teenager s/he's got a good caretaker looking after those cards.
Are we making a Pokemon Go thread? Is it already in existence? Please advise.
@connorbush kick. bump.
The Pokemon Go app is “AWESOME”!!
It gets everyone up and moving!!
A good treat for you and your son to go “catch 'em all!!” Second day, players are fight ending to level up to become a Gym Owner. Very COOL app to promote exercise!!!
@Batty4Mickey Go into the newly crafted Pokemon Go thread. !!!
@Batty4Mickey I agree with the exercise thought. Some eggs require 7 miles of walking to unlock!!!