Pokemon cards for a beginner

[Chimpychoo]

Hi,

Two DSs (8 and 6) announced to Father Christmas on Saturday that they wanted Pokemon cards. First I'd heard of it! A google has left me baffled. Can I just buy a few Pokemon cards that'll keep them happy? If so, where from? It seems so complicated! Or am I just being stupid? I get the impression it's the kid of thing I don't want them getting into as they'll spend everything they've got on them, and there'll be arguments if one has better ones.

Thanks!

You can buy tins that have packs of cards in them. Have a look on the Chaos cards website

Places like Tesco will have tins with a block of cards in, usually in the toy area. News agents also sell the cards in sleeves of 10 for about £5, they may at or behind the counter - just ask if they sell Pokemon cards.

You can buy folders for them on eBay, or the little sets of cards are good for stocking fillers. You can also get soft toys of the Pokemon characters or PJs, if you're looking for other ideas.

www.chaoscards.co.uk/shop/pokemon

Yep, my 9 yr old spends all his pocket money on them. Lots of his friends do too.
If you've only got a few it's not very interesting.

You can often buy job lots on ebay that have already been opened, that's a good way to pad out their collection.

Ds spends ages arranging his into categories and teams s it's not a complete waste of money

I was going to say what the previous poster is - if they’re young (not serious adult collectors) then I would go with job lots of eBay. Can’t guarantee that they’re not fake but my ds also requested pokemon cards for his birthday and I got a bundle for cheap on eBay and they look real to me! Lol worth checking out as your money will go a lot further!

They specifically make starter decks for new players; go with one of these instead of the sleeves mentioned above (they’re called booster packs)

The idea is that you get them a premade deck that they’ll play like a board game, and later they’ll build their own decks by swapping in cards from the boosters.

You can absolutely get boxes of cheap cards on eBay but be aware that an 8 and 6 year old will probably struggle to build a working deck, and they’ll have to find the rules online and figure it all out for themselves which is honestly not fun at that age and some (but not all) grown ups would struggle a bit. Consider getting a twin pack of starter decks, they’re easily bought from Smyths or Argos.

Here’s one on the Argos website: www.argos.co.uk/product/8566591?clickSR=slp:term:pokemon%20tcg:3:67:1

Lidl had decks last year which started the love for DS and his best friend.

If it's the game they're interested in, not just opening new packs and putting cards in folders and arranging them and swapping them with friends..

'Pokémon Battle Academy' is a new board game out which is quite cheap some places at the moment and comes with enough cards for two players to have decks and learn to play the game - then they can choose what kind of cards and decks they want to build. You can also buy a 'trainers toolkit' which will give things like extra energies etc which are needed to properly.

@Chimpychoo

Hi,

Two DSs (8 and 6) announced to Father Christmas on Saturday that they wanted Pokemon cards. First I'd heard of it! A google has left me baffled. Can I just buy a few Pokemon cards that'll keep them happy? If so, where from? It seems so complicated! Or am I just being stupid? I get the impression it's the kid of thing I don't want them getting into as they'll spend everything they've got on them, and there'll be arguments if one has better ones.

Thanks!

Do they want to collect or to play ?

Many just want to collect and have each of the character picture cards.

But to play they need the ‘boring’ cards to boost their character card in a battle

You can get the sealed packs in newsagents and supermarkets at pocket money prices.
Some shops will open all of the packs, sell the picture cards and special editions at marked up prices and the plain cards cheaply

DS has thousands of pokemon cards and plays in mini tournaments and pre releases at our closest game shop. Started at about 6/7 still at it at 11 so the collection just keeps growing.

For a beginner I would personally recommend a deck each which are available in so many places Argos, supermarkets, Smyths for roughly £12-15 this will be all they need to play against each other and they usually have a basic rules rundown inside the box. But I would also get a couple of booster packs each, again widely available about £4 each and have the excitement of what will they pull because I know a lot of kids don't play just collect.

Cheap batches of cards from ebay have a high chance of being fake which is fine if they are being kept at home but can cause problems if they later want to trade with friends or anything.

Lidl have some card packs on offer at the moment for £10 (reduced from £14 I think).

My dd has been collecting for 10 years 😬 she has 1000’s, the tins seem to be the most popular, I think they are available from Argos.

Content for Pokémon TCG (The Card Game) Battle Academy board game: (for the price it contains 3 playable decks - went down to £15 at Smyths Toys which was price matched by Amazon recently) but depends on stock near you):

3 x Pokémon TCG decks
2 x Tutorial guides
1 x Two-player game board
3 x Deck boxes
1 x Rulebook
1 x Large metallic coin
1 x Set of damage counters
1 x Code card

So getting a few booster packs or tins of cards to open in addition should give a bit of excitement and some lasting entertainment.

@BlueLu I wonder if he will start badgering you to take him to the bigger tournaments? Although obviously because of Covid they haven't been around but when they're back it's easy to get the tournament bug!

Regionals in Sheffield is his idea of a dream day out, we've been trying to get there a few years but things keep getting in the way first his baby brother arriving and then covid. One of these years though!

My son went to that one and (fingers crossed) he's hoping to be able to go to Liverpool next year if it actually happens.
It can be a long day but ds loves it.

If they want to collect rather than play the box collections can be fun for them to get. They normally come with a V or V max which looks good.
If they take them to school please ask them to be careful about trades, I've known lots of children end up with fake cards

Lol OP be careful what you unleash . I have two Pokémon obsessives at home and I feel like I’ve done a phd in it. Mine aren’t that bothered by the cards really but like the TV shows and Nintendo switch games, and spend almost all of their time discussing max form evolutions and battle moves.

I second the PPs above who recommended the Battle Academy game - if they want to learn how to play cards it is the best way to start. If they’re more interested in the characters and evolutions a Pokemon handbook like this one is a good buy.

My daughter (9yo) loves collecting Pokemon cards, but I find the packs to be very expensive and sometimes there's not great cards in there.
She likes the glossy ones (I think they have the letter V on the names - V stands for something else in my mind ;) ), and I can buy cards with these glossy ones on eBay in packs that always have them. I think they are sold by people who make the packs themselves.

I have found this seller to be very reasonable. My daughter now has a lot of V cards and is very happy - the envy of her friends at school.

I try to check if the cards are real and I have been reassured by friends they are, so hopefully you can get some for your own kids.

Take care xx

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325208771294

My son loves the cards even though they end up on the floor or used to craft with but has slowly started to learn to ply the game and I really recommend the battle academy game, as it has enough for two people to learn the game and then you can get extra cards. I feel it’s less of a waste of money if they actually use them to play the game!