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Arilou 05-14-2017 12:31 AM

Pokemon - Need Some Help
 
Hello one and (from the looks of things) none. I'm shopping for my niece's birthday--my niece who is currently into this whole Pokemon thing--and I'm kind floundering in a sea confusion. Any help from those of you who are fans of, not just the game, but its products would be appreciated.

To start with, she seems interested in Pokemon cards. She has a grand total of two and appeared excited when I asked her if she would like me to buy some for her birthday. I've gone on Amazon and found various offerings. Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018GQH5VG?psc=1 The problem is that I don't know which I should buy. I've seen commentators complain about doubles and knockoffs and whatnot so my question to any of you who collect the cards is this: What would you purchase?

Also, is there anything else anyone has gotten for themselves or others that they would recommend (figurines, stuffed animals, whatever)? Thanks.

Arilou 05-14-2017 02:58 AM

Follow up: I found a forum complaining about "weighted" issues and someone said that he/she buys their cards from pokemoncenter.com because it's the official site for Pokemon products and thus they don't have to worry about scams. So I'm at that site now and I'm looking at the booster pack section. Here's a direct link: https://www.pokemoncenter.com/tradin...ce:&pageSize:&

Are any of these worthwhile buys? I see there's this Sun and Moon thing that you guys were talking about but I also know that's relatively new. My niece plays Pokemon Go and was watching the cartoon on youtube (she's up to episode 155) so I don't know how recognizable anything from that will be to her.

I also found one that has Pokemon on the packaging that even I recognize: https://www.pokemoncenter.com/tradin...s%29-155-80156 But it doesn't specify what comes with it and I don't know what XY means exactly.

There's no rush on this, btw. I know the few of you who check in here do so infrequently so please don't think it's too late to reply if a week or two has gone by.

One more thing: I don't think she actually has any interest in playing the card game. My understanding is that it's more about looking at the images and showing them to her friends. However, I see they have these ready-made decks for sale, which are cheaper, card count-wise, than individual packs so I'm thinking of getting two of those decks plus some booster packs. That way if she wants to try playing the game she can easily do so and if not she'll have more cards than she otherwise would. Thoughts?

Clubbz 05-15-2017 09:23 AM

As much as I wish I could help you, I know absolutely nothing about the card game. I was never allowed to have any collectables like that growing up, so by the time I was old enough to buy my own stuff, I had very little interest in card games in general.

I hope someone more in the know does frequent the forum, because I briefly looked into it a few years ago for similar reasons, and it is fairly complex from what I read.

Arilou 05-22-2017 02:23 AM

Quote:

05-20-2017 05:32 PM

Jacksparow: Arilou, I'm sorry. But I'm with clubbz on my inability to offer help on the pokemon card game. I haven't had any pokemon cards in over a decade.
The one time I initiate a conversation with you guys about children's entertainment for a reason other than to make fun of you for liking it as adults and it turns out to actually be something you outgrew. Where's Myke when you need him? He would never let me down like this; he's at least consistently into all things childish. :p

On a serious note, can you at least tell me a bit regarding the video games? I've discovered that XY is like a subtitle for one of those so are the creatures in that also in the mobile game and/or the cartoon's first ~155 episodes? Same question regarding the Sun and Moon thing. I'll assume the card packs with those titles correspond to their video game counterparts if nobody else comes along to tell me otherwise so if one of you could tell me which video game is more likely to contain Pokemon that my niece would recognize that would be helpful.

For anyone else who stops by and has more detailed knowledge of the card game, what I think I'll do based on the information I have right now is buy the following two decks since the Pokemon in their titles are both ones I know my niece likes:

https://www.pokemoncenter.com/tradin...k-699-16757--1
https://www.pokemoncenter.com/tradin...deck-699-16758

Then pair it with some number of booster packs of either the XY or Sun/Moon label or some combination of the two. At least, that's the best I can come up with on my own. I won't be doing this for a couple of weeks still so an alternative suggestion from someone in the know remains on the table and would be much appreciated.

Clubbz 05-22-2017 10:43 PM

From what I understand, they're in like the 6th or 7th generation of pokemon. Sun and Moon is the newest(with the most recent ad's everywhere), so if you were to buy packs from Sun and Moon you'd have the chance to get older pokemon cards as well as the newer ones that are exclusively in that game. The problem is there's so many of the bloody things now that if she had a particular pokemon she wanted to see on a card, it's unlikely she'd get it.

If she's played the recent games, or watched the newest series, then she'd likely know the newer packs. If she's only seen up to episode 155, that's pretty early into the series, I think that's somewhere in the second generation which was Pokémon: Johto I think. Which was also the first and second generations of the games as well. It capped out at like the first 250 pokemon I think.

Arilou 05-23-2017 12:33 AM

Hmm, so this XY thing is better but not much better then? I googled the titles along with this "generation" word you provided and a wiki appeared that said Sun/Moon is Generation VIII and XY is Generation VI.

What about Pokemon Go? What generation does that go up to? That's the only one of the games that she has played. I tried googling that along with "generation" and I'm confused because I see a bunch of articles that mention 2, 3, and 4, but I'm not sure if they're forthcoming or already part of the game.

Maybe she knows the later ones from the Internet. In addition to briefly watching her watch the cartoon on Youtube and making a mental note of the episode number, she was on some website that she was using to learn how to draw Pokemon. I'll maybe have to investigate that.

Thanks for the info, Clubbz. I suppose that official site is only selling card packs from its latest two game titles, but does anyone else know if there's a place to buy packs exclusively for the earlier games that are not, as the Amazon commenters were saying, rip-offs? Or are they impossible to get now unless you pay a premium? If not I guess I'll get the XY ones and hope for the best.

You'd think they would want to sell tie-in cards for their mobile game because it is what brought the fad back. I don't understand why there aren't packs that exclusively contain creatures from Pokemon Go, or are there? *twitches* <-- This is officially my least favorite niece shopping experience ever.

Jacksparow 05-24-2017 04:07 PM

If she's a fan of playing Poke'mon GO then she would only be interested in generation 1 and 2. The later ones aren't currently on pokemon go. You'd probably be better off getting a stuffed animal or something along those lines than the cards.

Salkand 05-25-2017 02:47 AM

I really wish you had asked for this back in November of last year. When I was packing to move cities I found my brothers old pokemon cards. He had a ton from generation 1 all set up in a binder. Not a complete set, but not far from it either. However I didn't take them with me and they've probably been thrown away by now.

Arilou 05-26-2017 07:11 PM

@Jacksparow: That's disappointing. The Pikachu and Mewtwo decks are okay though, right?

@Salkand: The only lost thing from your childhood that matters to me are your wonderful stories. If you ever get sucked into a portal through time and end up back when those stories were still published on your website, I demand you email them to me for safekeeping immediately. Those ship building demons and their war with the elves must not be forgotten! :D

And, hey, don't listen to those meanies in the chatbox. You, not productive? You ran a clan and a forum for all of five minutes. I believe in you! Salkand for forum admin!

Salkand 05-30-2017 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arilou (Post 61457)

And, hey, don't listen to those meanies in the chatbox. You, not productive? You ran a clan and a forum for all of five minutes. I believe in you! Salkand for forum admin!


Eww, there's that word again. Pro. . . duct. . .*shudders* it's like I can't wake up from a bad nightmare.

Arilou 05-31-2017 11:40 PM

When did you become such a Myke? With all this, "Work bad, sleep good," out of you of late I can't help but picture him. What happened to that productive wannabe lich with the forum, clan, and barrage of ideas that you productively bothered me with for eons on end?

I had high hopes for you once. I thought for sure you'd be assistant managing a Dairy Queen out in the boondocks and spending your free time writing to your local paper about all the ways in which you think they could make improvements. I bet you don't even argue with Star Trek people about how Star Wars is so much better anymore and instead go around making Borg references for no discernible reason. *shakes head* Where did it all go wrong? Was it the booze? Is that what did you in? Or, wait, say it isn't so... you didn't get yourself addicted to the anime and those girlfriend simulation games like Myke, did you?

It's not too late to make a change in your life. And that change... that change starts with taking on the responsibility of forum admin. Yes siree bob! Before you know it you'll be starting up your own painting business and going around town, knocking on the doors of all the now well off people you knew in high school, asking if they at least have a shed or a bit of fencing you could have a go at for whatever they have in their change jars. I believe in you still!

Lanterra 06-03-2017 06:47 PM

If it's not to late already, if she's into gen 1 and 2 pokemon and likes the cards- I'd suggest maybe something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Jungl.../dp/B000HVT00S

or these: https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Jungl.../dp/B00003O9K2

https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Fossi.../dp/B00003TKWF

https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Card-...W6QW96YH9150WE
depending on your price point. These are the old 90s cards.

Arilou 06-07-2017 01:19 PM

Thanks, Lanterra. I wish they had reprints or something. It looked like they did, people were just complaining that the Amazon sources that provided them were "stacking" those products with, I guess, uninteresting cards. The ones you linked to are, I'm sure, nice for collectors but for a kid who might trash them the expense is prohibitive. Plus, I don't think she'd understand the "they are moderately expensive collector items" rational for why she was getting so few cards. I think she'd feel ripped off if I went that route. :-/

I appreciate the help from all of you. I'm going to figure something out tonight. I think I'll go with the two decks I linked to since, after carefully googling all the names on the packaging with this whole "generation" thing in mind, they all seem okay. I have no idea what I'll get to supplement those, but I'll figure it out tonight.

If anyone stumbles by and wants to weigh in the months ahead, feel free. If she's still into this Pokemon a year from now, you might end up helping me figure out her next set of birthday presents.

For those who did help me, if you ever need someone to make a massive, high-quality in-game area based on your own detailed vision, just let me know; I'll get Teshuvah right on that for you. :D

Edit: *sigh of relief* Thanks to Youtube, I solved my little, "Why aren't there reprints?" problem. I decided to desperately google the individual titles for the various packs, hoping one would have a little less of those later generation cards because I didn't know what else to do and this wonderful video came up with a description that read:

"Evolutions celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon and is a reprint of Base Set."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYWIr570gIY

So even though it has the XY title, it's exactly what I needed (and apparently the description for the individual pack tells you that but not the three pack special I was looking at :frusty:). Ultimately, I'm getting those two decks I mentioned, (which I now also see were fine because they too are under the Evolutions title :duh2:) plus some of these. Hopefully they go over well. Thanks all!


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