>After reading many featured articles on the "PROBLEMS" with Pokemon, The
>Trading Card Game, I thought I would like to throw my two cents in.
>
>I see several problems with the game as it currently stands. Like
>everyone else, I agree that there are just a few cards that a player
>needs to draw from in order to build a "Killer" deck. Another side of
>this fact is that most of those killer cards are more rare than most of
>the other cards sold in booster packs. The only way that a player can
>build one of these "Super" decks is to buy booster pack after booster
>pack till you get the few cards you need, take advantage of younger
>player/collectors and cheat them out of the good cards, or pay the
>asking price to some card dealer for that fourth Ditto. Most of us use a
>combo of scraping up enough to buy a box of boosters and add the few
>remaining needed cards from the dealer. The result is that most good
>decks can cost upwards of eighty dollars or more, sometimes much more.
>Most players can't afford to put together decks like that. They are on
>limited budgets and their parents (yes most of the money for buying
>Pokemon cards comes from parents) have better things to do with their
>money, like paying rent and buying groceries.
>
>Why do the cards cost so much? Several reasons. First; Wizards has to
>charge a higher price for Pokemon than they do for Magic because Wizards
>doesn't really own Pokemon. they have a license to produce Pokemon. You
>can bet that the guys at Wizards must send a hefty check to both
>Nintendo and Media Factory each and every month to be able to produce
>Pokemon in this and other countries. As designer of the actual card
>game, Media Factory most likely has a good amount of control over when
>and which card sets are released buy Wizards.
>
>Second reason cards cost so much; Good old American Capitalist greed.
>The suggested retail price for a booster pack is $3.29. A store buys a
>quantity of booster boxes wholesale ( a lot less than retail), They see
>that there is a good demand for boosters and increase their profit
>margin buy selling boosters for above retail, $3.49, $3.99, $4,99 a pack
>or more. And then there are the re-sellers, collector dealers, scam
>artists and more who buy at either retail or wholesale, use scales and
>other techniques to determine which packs have the holos, strip out the
>holos, sell the non-holo boosters for an inflated price, and sell the
>holos for many times the price of the booster. It might stink, but it is
>all legal for those guys to do that.
>
>The other major "perceived" problem with Pokemon is the game mechanics
>or how the game is played. Actually this is only a perceived problem
>since the mechanics are actually affected by the first problem. I don't
>think that the guys that originally put the card game together ever
>thought it would be as big as it is. Looking at the mix of cards in the
>original Japanese starter deck, it can be seen that players were
>expected to play with several colors, types of Pokemon and trainers
>without a heavy dependence on any one color or Pokemon type. Booster
>packs were added so that players could customize and alter their
>original decks with cards from a few boosters. Some of the cards they
>designed reflect the way Pocket Monsters the cartoon series presented
>various Pokemon. Weedles are weak, Charzards are strong, Hitmonchans are
>great fighters.
>
>Should the rules be changed based on the imbalance of Pokemon abilities?
>NO!!! The rules are the rules. Most casual players have a great deal of
>fun with their limited number of pokemon cards and the rules just the
>way they are. The only arena where it makes a real difference is of
>course in the tourney environment. Wizards and DCI do have the ability
>to modify the rules at their sanctioned events. Prop 15-3 is the prime
>example. But there could be a compromise!!! The idea of "Gym Leader's
>Challenge" is one that we use at our local league. We have different
>tourneys with different challenges for the players. Weird things like
>Rainbow decks, that must use all the different colors of energy and
>Pokemon. Common only challenges, no un-common, or rare cards allowed in
>the deck. And every other tourney is an unlimited, build that super deck
>and see how it compares to the other super decks. Mixing up the
>challenges gives some players that can't afford to put a super deck
>together the chance to actually win, and have fun doing it. Could this
>be adapted to the national scene? That's up to Wizards and their desire
>to expand card game tours, trainer showdowns, or not.
>
>Another solution is to release Pokemon cards that bring more balance to
>the game. Remember that in the TV show and Pokemon Yellow Pikachu
>doesn't evolve. It is possible to have a higher level Pikachu with an HP
>of 80, a heavy damage attack, no weakness, and resistance to fighting.
>Look at Hitmonchan shake in his boots. Releasing the Vending series
>might also be helpful. Some of those cards may have some potential as
>tourney breakers. I'd also like to see Wizards to show some courage and
>change the way they package boosters. Do it the way they do it in Japan
>with both a holo rare and a non-holo rare in every booster pack. I could
>live with a ten card booster if they would have to do that, just make
>some of those rarer cards a little less rare and I think more players
>would get re-intrested in the game and trying to build the killer
>unlimited deck as well as some of the new decks coming in the future
>with the release of Neo.
>
>Well that is enough from me. Send comments to mato@bellsouth.net
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mato