Can anyone explain Pokemon for me??

Peanuts

My boys want to start collecting Pokemon trading cards - their friends have them at school.
Is Diamond and Pearl the newest collection? Are there any newer sets coming out before Christmas?
Are there any older sets worth getting or are older ones no use??
Where is best to buy?

Thanks
A confused mum xx :huh:

gringo50

Hi Peanuts.
My 9yr old boy tells me that Diamond and Pearl are the newest and that these will still be the newest come xmas.
The older ones are still good because they work with the new ones and if you've just gotta catch them all then you will need the older ones.
They all love the hologram ones which can be very collectable and some of the older ones Evolve into new ones from the Diamond and Pearl decks which they didn't used to until these decks were introduced.
For old ones try Carboot sales loads can be got there and bargains too.
My boy has given up collecting these cards now as all his friends have a nintendo Ds and play pokemon diamond or pearl and trade directly using the console.
I hope this helps somewhat.

BennyB_2

I don't know if you remember a game called Top Trumps? It's very similar. Basically there is a theme Fast cars, Boats, Tanks etc, or in your case Pokemons.

Each Pokemon will have different attributes and abilities and they play to win the cards off of each other, or swap them between each other.

I couldn't tell you the "modern" rules or which sets are current, but hopefully my explanation sheds some light. :j

Peanuts

gosh didnt know you can trade on the nintendo!! They are getting the DS for christmas so the pokemon games will be great too!
Thanks so much x
Getting bogged down in the depths of expansion packs and decks!!!?????

Cylindus

If you are getting them a game each then get one diamond and one pearl, as there are pokemon which are unique to each game and they can trade.

Not that I know much about pokemon or anything!!

jap200

Peanuts wrote: »

My boys want to start collecting Pokemon trading cards - their friends have them at school.
Is Diamond and Pearl the newest collection? Are there any newer sets coming out before Christmas?
Are there any older sets worth getting or are older ones no use??
Where is best to buy?

Thanks
A confused mum xx :huh:

As a mum of 3 boys aged 5, 7 and 9, I now believe that something happens in our brains as we grow up which prevents us understanding what Pokemon is all about after the age of about 12. I have therefore given up trying and just let them get on with it - feining a looking of interest when they excitedly tell me all about some new card/character etc.

I did become number one Mum though by taking them to a car boot sale two weeks ago and buying a Pokemon duvet set (virtually new) for £2, a DVD of a Pokemon movie for 50p, a selection of Pokemon toys and several stacks of Pokemon cards for £1 each. The boys seemed to have some sort of Pokemon radar built in to them as they quickly spotted and pounced on any Pokemon-related stuff. It is all vastly over-priced in my opinion - but as it has been around for several years now, there are many second-hand bargains to be had. My boys don't seem to mind whether is is the latest version or not - in fact, their most prized Pokemon possessions are a really old gameboy colour Pokemon game (that plays on the GameBoy Advance) as none of their friends have it! - and also some French Pokemon cards from the car boot sale. Rarity seems to be a key thing in the attraction of Pokemon.

I did spot a Pokemon annual in Tesco (included in some kind of multi-buy offer) which I will definately buy for them. Last years one has been read and loved so much that it has fallen apart. I dread the evenings when they choose it for their bedtime stories though as, even allowing for the very very bad Japanese to English translations, it still makes no sense to me!

In short - it seems to me that the whole Pokemon thing is about collecting, so while they like to have the latest things, they will be thrilled with anything - old or new - as long as it is Pokemon

Peanuts

Thanks, will get one the diamond and the other the pearl game for DS. Will get some cards. Have seen some epic collection theme decks on amazon eg meganium. I assume these arent anything to do with diamond and pearl and are some other type of set.
IS ANY OF THIS DIAMOND AND PEARL STUFF A PROGRAMME ON TV??

sooty&sweep

Thankyou all.

My son is obsessed with Pokemon I understand it better now !

evilwitch

Another mum plauged by Pokemon here.

They can be very expensive to build up a decent sized collection if you buy them all new and believe me, he will pester for more and more of the dratted cards. Definately go to car boot sales. We regulary get cards for between 5-20p each. All kinds including the shiny and the ultra rare. Not that my son has any idea on which ones he has as we have hundrends of them. His favorite thing is a pokemon board game we got from a boot sale for about 50p with all the instructions in French. It takes hours and requires some degree of cheating by parents to bring it to a swifter end. Usually achieved by switching on pokemon on tv.

As for actually playing the game, it seems impossible to understand the proper rules as it involves combining cards and sending cards to graveyards then resurrecting them and losing lifepoints and sacrificing in order to draw another card and so on. We play by leaving out the power cards and just taking it in turns to be the attacker and the attackee and losing however many life points there are in the difference between the attack power (attackers card) and defence power (attackees card)of the cards being played. It seems to me, from how my son plays, that kids aren't interested in the actual game just about comparing who has the best cards and trying to engineer swops which cause even more problems as X says Articuno is rare so I need to swop 3 cards for it.

As an aside, something which my son really enjoys is a website www.pokemoncrater.com wich is an online game where you travel around collecting pokemon by capturing them. You then build a team which you use to battle other people to earn points which you exchange for better attacks and items. I'm not affiliated to it in any way and I hope I'm allowed to mention it on here. Its just Boy and his mates play on it and get on well with it.

Boy watches Pokemon on tv (at least when he's not been bad and priveileges withdrawn!). Its on CartoonNetworkToo

Sorry for it being a bit long:o

judyjetson

There's some decks on Play.com for £5 each, incl delivery if that helps
http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/3-/109000/2-/Promo.html

jules-2005

I'm glad I'm not the only mum that doesn't understand pokemon. My boys love the bootsales and pick up loads of bargains there. DS1 spotted an pokedex for £1 last week and loves it. I have no idea what they're talking about when they talk about training and trading pokemon.

All I know is that it keeps them quiet and diamond and pearl on DS were huge hits. They seem able to move pokemon from gameboy games as well but that is way beyond my understanding.

They're both getting a pokeball and pokedex from Tesco for Christmas - again I haven't got a clue but they get excited everytime they see them in store.

If anyone's kids are collecting cards than I recommend buying a couple of folders to put them in otherwise you'll find them al over the house. I bought some from Ebay but found some cheaper in an independent games shop whilst on holiday in Cornwall