POKEMON Monster Craze
There’s a new craze. We’ve witnessed Beanie Babies and Nintendo, but Pokemon may be taking the cake when it come to kids crazes.
Cute names and zany characters may seem cliché and elementary, but Pokemon is a complicated affair with 150 cards featuring countless values. The high stakes of trading the cards on the open-market seems to be as popular as playing the game. Some kids treasures are lost in the trade.
“Because you’re buying cards and you’re losing them...you take that chance, it’s like going to a casino, it’s considered gambling,” Richard, 12.
Experts say that for most kids this kind of trading is cool rather than compulsive, but even trends can be addictive and expensive. Parents should teach kids to be skilled negotiators. By understanding the value of the cards is key, especially for younger kids. When they don’t understand the value, older kids often get the upper hand. Parents should also put a limit on the amount of money spent on Pokemon.
“Kids, for the most part, still want boundaries and you have to set up boundaries...and if they don’t have boundaries they’ll push until there’s a boundary set,” said Jack Gronewald, addiction counselor.
|
“Because you’re buying cards and you’re losing them...you take that chance, it’s like going to a casino, it’s considered gambling.” --Richard, age 12. |
 |
|
Go West Young Pokeman After raking in $4 billion in the Japanese market over the past two years, Nintendo brought Pokemon West. In America, more than 2 million games have been sold since it landed on shelves in January. The current numbers look favorable for the cross-cultural marketing, but history predicts a flop. Tomagatchi, Sailor Moon, and Hyper Cars, all Japanese products that ventured West, failed in the U.S. market. |
What Parents Should Know
Some schools have banned kids from bringing Pokemon cards to school. Claiming that they can be a status symbol promoting gambling and bullying, many schools are adopting a “no Pokemon policy”.
Pokemon can get expensive and many kids just can‘t afford to join in all of the fun. The price range for an eleven card pack ranges from $3 to $11, but the premium cards resell for much more. Some go for more than $70 each. The odds of getting a premium card in a pack is about 1 in 33. Kids without a premium card to throw on the table are having to sit on the sidelines at times, feeling left out and inferior.
Some have tagged trading as gambling with the odds in the favor of the manufactures and retailers. The 3% chance of getting a much desired premium card in a pack has kids running to the shelves for more.
“Buy low, trade high, and get the most for your card at all cost,” this seems to be the motive behind the Pokemon trading craze. It has been tagged by many as the stock market for kids. Some kids are getting a raw deal though. Unaware of the value or under pressure from older kids, younger kids are trading premium cards for substantially less valuable cards.
Pokemon Parents Guide
Kids are raging... Pokemon... Pokemon,... Pokemon, and many parents aren’t sure what the noise is all about. Keeping pace with the hottest kids’ craze since Beanie Babies can be tough, but equipped with a little lingo and a few rules, any parent can give their child a run for their Charizard.
By logging on to WWW.WIZARDS.COM/POKEMON, a parent can surf through an encyclopedia of Pokemon information, including a rulebook, frequently asked questions, upcoming events, news, and even game strategies. There is even a Pokemon for Parents section.
Jump on-line, learn a little and have some fun, but remember...It’s only a game!
|
Resources
|