Pokemon card games

[alwayswantchocolate]

My boys (6 and 8) have asked for Pokémon card games for Christmas. I am mystified! I can see stuff from £10 to £40, some seems to be 'old' stuff? I can't work out what I need to buy!!!

Do they need a box / tin each that are identical to play each other? Should I buy one that has two sets of cards in (more expensive!!)? Are there 'in' pokemon things (are they animals?) or more recent ones?

If anyone can shed any light on this strange world I would be so so grateful!

My son is obsessed with them (and apparently I am the meanest mummy for not buying them every time he asks!). All they need is a basic set to battle each other and that is a good place to start. It is quite complicated so my 6 year old has created his own version of the game with his own rules. The tins are good to keep the cards out the way or my son has a folder with little pockets as sometimes he likes to just sort them out!
We have bought him some cheaper ones from eBay and they are good quality and as he is young he didn't notice.
We encouraged my son to create his own cards too which he loved (and we are in the process of trying to launch a kids game with blank template cards for them to create there own characters).
Hope this helps a little x

Get them a theme deck each as they contain a ready to play deck - get a different one each. My son is 9 and loves playing Pokemon cards!

Thank you for the replies and the ideas - very helpful!

Agreed. I don't think they do the all-in-one starter sets any more, so a theme deck each is the way to go. They'll have the right cards for playing the game 'properly', whereas a box/tin that's just a set of booster packs won't.

The starter or theme decks are definitely good for game play, but the booster packs are the most fun to open!