Discussion Is Pokemon TCG Just a Trend?

[I CANT THINK OF A NAME]

It is dead in America too. I was playing with my Pokemon Cards one day and I just got sick of sitting there looking through cards I couldn't really play with. My friends felt the same, even my sister. We all just kinda got sick of it. Now my Pokemon Cards sit in the the corner of my room. When I turn 18 I plan on bringing them to my own house and looking through my childhood. I remember in 2016 battling all my friends,Then Fidget Spinners came out, but by the time I got one the trend was over. Now we are sitting around waiting for a new trend to come. I remember on the girls in my grade played with Hatchimals I think they are called. They would have been a trend if they survived one more day, they died. I always pictured a hallway with all the stuff we treasured then thought of them as junk. The one day I was on the bus ride and said to my friend. " Remember Pokemon?" We sat there for a second thinking through all are Pokemon memories. And we sat there and stared, And then we moved one the next question. I just came back the Pokemon Community to say my final goodbye...

Goodbye Pokemon

 

[Alex Sableye]

It is dead in America too. I was playing with my Pokemon Cards one day and I just got sick of sitting there looking through cards I couldn't really play with. My friends felt the same, even my sister. We all just kinda got sick of it. Now my Pokemon Cards sit in the the corner of my room. When I turn 18 I plan on bringing them to my own house and looking through my childhood. I remember in 2016 battling all my friends,Then Fidget Spinners came out, but by the time I got one the trend was over. Now we are sitting around waiting for a new trend to come. I remember on the girls in my grade played with Hatchimals I think they are called. They would have been a trend if they survived one more day, they died. I always pictured a hallway with all the stuff we treasured then thought of them as junk. The one day I was on the bus ride and said to my friend. " Remember Pokemon?" We sat there for a second thinking through all are Pokemon memories. And we sat there and stared, And then we moved one the next question. I just came back the Pokemon Community to say my final goodbye...

Goodbye Pokemon







You have already injured 55
And killed 16

I'm sure there are lots of kids who started Pokemon because it was cool, or a friend got them into it, but then when it wasn't "cool", they stopped playing. But I'm also sure that for every one of those kids, there's another one who goes to his league every week, buys all the new sets, and may even have a few league cups under their belt! My point is, while that it may be true that Pokemon is dead in your area, for every one of those kids like you who thought it was a fad, there' s another kid who is a lifelong fan now because of that fad. And, like with every game, show, or regularly scheduled radio show, there 's an ebb and flow in the fan base. Some of those fans never come back after they stop playing for a while because of school, or work, or some other reason. Then, years down the road, they might look at their cards and say, "Those were cool. I bet I could give these to some kid, and they'll enjoy 'em as much as I did." And then give them to some kid they know. That kid may never even touch them, but that kid might also start playing with them, and become a lifelong fan because of it. There's also the people who get back into it after picking their cards, and remembering how fun they were. Just a few weeks ago, a guy walked in to my league with two friends, and spent an hour showing us all his 2007-2008 cards, and then asked us if we minded showing him and his friends how to play. According to him, his friends were helping him move, and they found an old box of his old cards, and they started discussing all their memories playing the TCG, and they went out, bought a few packs, looked up their local league, and they've been coming back every week since then. Pokemon spreads by word of mouth. If no one in an area plays, then no one is going to look at their friend and say, "Hey, they really like this game. I kinda wanna play it with them and see what all the hype is about. As long as Pokemon prints cards, people will buy them.

 

[gumball51321]

I'm sure there are lots of kids who started Pokemon because it was cool, or a friend got them into it, but then when it wasn't "cool", they stopped playing. But I'm also sure that for every one of those kids, there's another one who goes to his league every week, buys all the new sets, and may even have a few league cups under their belt! My point is, while that it may be true that Pokemon is dead in your area, for every one of those kids like you who thought it was a fad, there' s another kid who is a lifelong fan now because of that fad. And, like with every game, show, or regularly scheduled radio show, there 's an ebb and flow in the fan base. Some of those fans never come back after they stop playing for a while because of school, or work, or some other reason. Then, years down the road, they might look at their cards and say, "Those were cool. I bet I could give these to some kid, and they'll enjoy 'em as much as I did." And then give them to some kid they know. That kid may never even touch them, but that kid might also start playing with them, and become a lifelong fan because of it. There's also the people who get back into it after picking their cards, and remembering how fun they were. Just a few weeks ago, a guy walked in to my league with two friends, and spent an hour showing us all his 2007-2008 cards, and then asked us if we minded showing him and his friends how to play. According to him, his friends were helping him move, and they found an old box of his old cards, and they started discussing all their memories playing the TCG, and they went out, bought a few packs, looked up their local league, and they've been coming back every week since then. Pokemon spreads by word of mouth. If no one in an area plays, then no one is going to look at their friend and say, "Hey, they really like this game. I kinda wanna play it with them and see what all the hype is about. As long as Pokemon prints cards, people will buy them.

I agree, the TCG is thriving more than ever. When was it ever common to have thousand player regionals? I would also like to say that I was one of those kids who got into Pokemon because it was a fad and now it's my hobby that I love to do all of my spare time.

 

[Otaku]

Since this thread is active again, I can get something off my chest:

"Is Pokemon TCG Just a Trend?"

No. Even when this thread was brand new, the TCG had been available outside of Japan (I'm not sure of the British beginnings of the game) for 16 years. I don't know how old @Ade4265 was when he made this thread (obviously still in school ) and I know far too many adults still make the same mistake, but what happens to you can easily be an isolated incident and not the rule. Yeah, I had to explain this to one of my nephews because he's been caught up in "school" fads and thought their end was the end of the thing involved.

The first "fad phase" for the Pokémon TCG happened as part of the first such phase of the franchise as a whole... and ended not too long after it began. I don't think we've had another worldwide fad phase, nor (in the USA - can't speak for elsewhere) another fad phase since. Instead, Pokémon refused to fade completely and became an established franchise, sometimes a little more popular, sometimes a little less.

In terms of sales, the Pokémon TCG is up near the top for the TCG (and similar collectibles) market. Can't remember the linking rules, so you'll have to Google for it; I'm basing this off of reports from IvC2. Not sure how reliable they are, but according to them Pokémon is the second best selling collectible game for the "hobby" channel (specialty outlets like gaming stores) while it is number one for "mass retail" (so, like Wal-Marts and such), and also the second best overall. Magic: The Gathering is the first for the hobby channel (and overall) and second for mass retail, with Yu-Gi-Oh in third place for all three. These are not cumulative, lifetime sales but how the game was doing during the Fall 2017 quarter.

 

[Rooie]

Considering that this thread is over 3 years old and was still getting posts, probably not.

 

[bbninjas]

I just moved a bunch of pasts from the old "Is Pokemon TCG Dead?" thread, to start a new, more relevant and up-to-date discussion.

The first "fad phase" for the Pokémon TCG happened as part of the first such phase of the franchise as a whole... and ended not too long after it began. I don't think we've had another worldwide fad phase, nor (in the USA - can't speak for elsewhere) another fad phase since. Instead, Pokémon refused to fade completely and became an established franchise, sometimes a little more popular, sometimes a little less.

I'd imagine that Pokemon Go - being something of a fad in itself - would have a caused a sharp increase in the TCG popularity in the same sort of sense. I'm not sure how worldwide this was, but I believe it was at least something in Australia. While I've the cards for a while, not long after Pokemon Go came out, I had a ton of kids on my street ask whether or not I have any cards (that I would like to trade) - and a few months later, they were over it (that's a relatively short time for kid's trends, in my experience). You can also see the trend in some of the shops - especially your dollar shops - who were undoubtedly making nice profits from selling [fake] booster packs during that time Pokemon Go was everywhere and everything.[/QUOTE]

 

[Alex Sableye]

While those 3-card booster packs they sold in stores were probably just a fad, I still buy them because I can buy 4 of them for the same price as regular one anywhere else. 12 cards for 4 dollars instead of 4 for ten is pretty good, considering one card out of the pack was always at least rare, one was common, and one was uncommon. In case you're wondering, that's 4 rares for 4 dollars instead of the one rare you usually get in a ten card pack. I'm not sure we're talking about the same cake packs though, because all the cards out of these were legit. So yeah, while some kids may have just gotten in and out real quick, that fad pages off for me XD

 

[Otaku]

...a few months later, they were over it (that's a relatively short time for kid's trends, in my experience).

Not to quibble, but both from the fragmented memories of my own youth and interacting with my nephews now, a few months is actually a long time for kid's trends. Both in terms of their perspective (the younger you are, the larger a percentage of your life experience that encompasses) and just in terms of the fleeting nature of fads. Sometimes, with my nephews, something they thought was awesome last week is old news this week and nostalgically remembered next week. XD

 

[Wechselbalg]

Not sure if the inital post was just someone trolling (it comes across as some sort of sarcastic, short write-up on collectible fads to me - the guy even mentioned fidget spinners lol) but it's sort of amusing to see people take such a silly post seriously.

 

[Otaku]

Not sure if the inital post was just someone trolling (it comes across as some sort of sarcastic, short write-up on collectible fads to me - the guy even mentioned fidget spinners lol) but it's sort of amusing to see people take such a silly post seriously.

@I CANT THINK OF A NAME actually necroposted on a thread from four years back. A few of us, like me, posted less to answer him than to get back to that discussion. If he had started the thread brand new, I'd have been more inclined to think it trolling: necroposting is a good way to get your troll attempt shut down before it really began.

You gave me something interesting to contemplate; if a troll accidentally sparks real discussion, is that a win or a fail for the troll? Does it undermine the legitimacy of said discussion? Each "serious" answer, I would think, moves it further away from a troll thread and into a subject of actual discussion.

 

[Wechselbalg]

@I CANT THINK OF A NAME actually necroposted on a thread from four years back. A few of us, like me, posted less to answer him than to get back to that discussion. If he had started the thread brand new, I'd have been more inclined to think it trolling: necroposting is a good way to get your troll attempt shut down before it really began.

You gave me something interesting to contemplate; if a troll accidentally sparks real discussion, is that a win or a fail for the troll? Does it undermine the legitimacy of said discussion? Each "serious" answer, I would think, moves it further away from a troll thread and into a subject of actual discussion.

Yeah, I saw it yesterday that this thread was necroed - that's why it baffled me that people still kept the discussion alive I mean, I don't think there's that much to discuss here, because it is obvious (lots of people attending tournaments, TPCi pumping out sets and different PTCG merchandise like there's no tomorrow etc.) that PTCG - and the franchise as a whole - is still very popular, probably even more so than it was several years ago.

 

[PokeMedic]

People have been surprised Pokemon is still a 'thing' whenever I mention it. Most if not all the people who knew of it stopped paying attention once we got into high school back when it all the rage. All they know about are the gen 1 starters since they're put on so many shirts and other products. Pokemon just sort of settled and became its own thing that people only seem to notice if they're actually interested in it outside of the Gen 1 memories. It had an explosion of popularity with almost everyone, then it just settled down into what we know today.

Fidget Spinners

Fidget spinning yoyo beanie baby furby elmos when?

 

[The Ultimate Umbreon]

Well, Pokemon was all well and happy with little to no hate until Pokemon GO came out and turned the whole franchise into a trend. I already had a large TCG collection and our Pokemon club got over 30 new members wanting to learn the TCG. It was great, and then out of nowhere everyone started to hate Pokemon GO and Pokemon itself. If we played it, even the TCG, we were considered gay or stupid or babies for liking it, even if we liked it before GO came out. Most my friends lost interest but I stuck with it in the end, still collecting now, waiting to find a new local club to join.

 

[Otaku]

Well, Pokemon was all well and happy with little to no hate until Pokemon GO came out and turned the whole franchise into a trend. I already had a large TCG collection and our Pokemon club got over 30 new members wanting to learn the TCG. It was great, and then out of nowhere everyone started to hate Pokemon GO and Pokemon itself. If we played it, even the TCG, we were considered gay or stupid or babies for liking it, even if we liked it before GO came out. Most my friends lost interest but I stuck with it in the end, still collecting now, waiting to find a new local club to join.

I say this with all due respect, but... you're at an age where that may have happened even without Pokémon Go. At least, that is how it went when I was that age. The same guy who started making fun of you for still loving "toys" like Transformers would himself bring a small BattleTech... not for gaming, but just to fiddle with while he was bored.

...

And that is one of the reasons why ol' Otaku did not buy a lot of Beast Wars toys until Beast Machines was well underway. By college, I didn't care, and actually got the T.A. from my Composition class back into the Transformers fandom. XD