07/08/2019
Welcome to Cardboard Cutout, my little corner of the internet. We are in the middle of summer, school is no longer in session so a good amount of kids tend to spend their time playing games or visiting their local card shop. It's good to keep in mind a few things when they inevitably ask for money to buy single cards or whole card packs.
At this point it's easy to find out what they are playing: one of the main three I've covered before: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, or Magic. Though figuring out what packs to buy them for their given game can be a bit confusing. Two of these games have a rotating list of cards for their “Standard” formats. Is your child talking about things like Standard decks for Magic? What about Pokemon? Yu-Gi-Oh! players often refer to popular decks as “Meta Decks”. Just taking a few minutes to ask them about their favorite hobby can clear some of this up. Good questions include: what sets just came out, is this pre-made deck good for you?
I've talked about banned lists and rotations before only covering what they actually are rather than what they mean to those on the outside looking in. Yu-Gi-Oh! uses a banned list to keep decks in check, but it also shapes what customers buy. If it's getting close to the release date of the newest banned list, you might remind your Duelist it could be a good idea to wait on the top deck that they saw on Youtube or the one they heard about winning the big thousand dollar prize at a high caliber tournament. You may be asking yourself why? If it's banned, will my kid even be able to use it? How does it affect the prices? Naturally, when a card is no longer allowed in a tournament setting the price typically drops dramatically; ten to twenty dollar cards go down to the single digits. On the flip side, if a card becomes unbanned, the price will go up. Maybe your child has a few of those cards in good condition and can sell or trade them in to card store for store credit to get cards they really want!
When it comes to a rotation, these happen much less frequently in Magic and Pokemon than Yu-Gi-Oh!'s banned list. Each rotation happens once, maybe twice a year. Again, ask your kid or the local shop for more information. If your child is going to tournaments or game days and playing either game's “Standard” formats, make sure the cards you are buying will last a while. Will the packs or singles I'm buying them, be used for a week or two? Months? Buying the newest set usually gives the most play time in the “Standard” Format for both games. Pokemon, however, does have another, easily accessible format known as “Extended”. This is where cards in “Standard” go next when rotating out. Once they rotate from “Extended” they will not be usable for any official events.
If your child spots a card in the case, box or binder of the store that is a foil printing of a card don't be afraid to ask if it comes in a non-holographic version. Holographic cards usually demand a higher price than the plain version. A card can spike in price just for being shiny. A single dollar card can spike to ten times the price! It may be less pretty, but it does the same job. It's a common pitfall for parents to deny a card just at face value because of a large price tag on a shiny card.
Overall make sure to talk with your kid, what are they interested in? Just playing with their friends? Trying to top the local tournaments? Just collecting? There are so many ways you and kids can enjoy these rectangles of cardboard, and some fun time together. Just keeping these few tips in mind can save you money and headaches when your card hobbyist is bummed out when their expensive card, they saved their allowance for weeks; gets banned or rotates out and they can no longer use it at the local events.
- The White Knight
