New York Times Discovers Pokemon

Apparently, Pokemon has made such a comeback that the New York Times noticed. The DS games seems to have been a major variable influenceing the resurgence of the Pokemon industry. But the TV show, merchandise and even the card game helped too.

Sales of the trading cards this year have already exceeded sales for all of 2006, and by the end of the year are expected to triple last year’s total, according to Pokémon USA. The June 4 debut episode of “Pokémon Diamond and Pearl” on the Cartoon Network was the top-rated show that day for boys ages 6 to 11.

I don't know about boys from 6-11, but our house, girls are part of the demographic too!

What about the girls? You think they are missing out on a huge market potential there?

Mysterious Treasures Theme Deck Inventories

Here are the contents of the two new DP2 Theme decks:

Skull Charge 1 Rampardos 2 Cranidos 4 Skull Fossil 1 Kricketune 3 Kricketot 2 Masquerain 4 Surskit 1 Ariados 3 Spinarak 2 Graveler 4 Geodude 2 Bebe's Search 1 Dusk Ball 2 Fossil Excavator 2 Energy Search 2 Potion 14 Grass Energy 10 Fighting Energy

Armor Fortress 1 Bastiodon 2 Shieldon 4 Armor Fossil 1 Walrein 2 Sealeo 4 Spheal 2 Dodrio 4 Doduo 4 Bronzor 2 Totodile 1 Mantine 2 Bebe's Search 2 Fossil Excavator 1 Quick Ball 2 Energy Search 2 Potion 16 Water Energy 8 Metal Energy

Mysterious Treasures Acquired!

I've just popped by our local game store and picked up a small quantity of cards from the new Diamond and Pearl set, Mysterious Treasures. I bought one of each theme deck and 4 boosters. I've yet to break open the two theme decks, but I've gone ahead and cataloged the boosters. We got several cool cards, but since they're mostly singles, its a bit early to start putting them into our decks.

My favorites so far are:

Armor Fossil, Shieldon, Bastiodon
Ninetails (Foil!)
Chingling
Larvitar, Pupatar (Foil!)
Aipom
Aron (Super cool picture of a clay model)
Pichu, Pikachu

I'm now even more tempted to pick up a box of MT boosters... :)

Pokemon - the board game

This weekend at our yearly homeschooling conference, we were perusing the used resource room, and found Pokemon Master Trainer Board Game. (We also picked up three Pokemon videos.)

Allison and Cameron LOVE it. Allison loves it so much, that if nobody will play, she plays by herself.

Everyone plays Ash. Each person goes around the board trying to capture wild Pokemon. Each Pokemon piece has a number on it, and you "catch" it by rolling the right number on the dice. There are also items to be found that help boost your fighting capabilities, as well as event cards that give you a chance to battle other players or trade Pokemon.

The final battle can only be won if Ash can defeat his Rival, who has a very powerful Pokemon and a huge attack bonus.

It took the kids about 10 minutes of play to figure it out. And it takes about a half hour to play the game (longer if you spend a lot of time battling each other and trading before fighting the Rival).

If your kid is a Pokemon addict like ours, and likes games, check out Pokemon - the board game.

Create Your Own Pokemon Cards

My daughter has deemed that the cards we have are not sufficient, so she has decided to create her own. She's 6, so this is a major undertaking for her. I'm impressed with the amount of writing, drawing and accuracy that has gone into her cards. Of the three children, she's the most enamored by the Pokemon phenomenon.

The way she creates her cards are to take a piece of 8.5x11 scrap paper. She then draws the pokemon she wants to make, writes the name and all the info in the appropriate place, and then cuts the paper around the card. It ends up being about a 5x7 size piece of paper. So far, no colors, only pencil.

As parents, we are so proud of her!

Discussion of a Pokemon TCG Deck

On Livejournal, a user lays out his Pokemon TCG deck for all to see. Following his list, there is a discussion. Lots ot learn about strategy there. I also learned that Rare Candy are affectionately called "candies".

Because of Pokemon...Dork Tower

We won a raffle at the homeschooling conference this weekend. The prize: Dork Tower, the game.

The game is based on an old RPG game called Dark Tower, published in 1981. Dork Tower is a gentle satire of this game, with item and character names that poke fun at the RPG genre. It's also "cute".

The recommended age is 11 and up. My 9 and 6 year olds had no problem figuring out how to play. For the time being, Pokemon has been put to the side to play Dork Tower...all...day.

It's a long game. Longer than Pokemon. And there is a specific strategy that has to be played or the game never ends. Movement around the board is somewhat random. Our six year old plays and plays and never really improves her character, racking up money and experience in a big pile in front of her. (Although, that's slowly changing as she's getting a hang for what she can do with all her money and experience.)

I enjoy the game because it reminds me of the first RPG I ever played - Dungeons and Dragons on Intellivision. This was a first person dungeon crawling game where the point was to gather enough equipment and spells to beat the main guy, who always had the same stats. This is where I had my first real introduction to magic and strategic resource gathering games. I was hooked from the get go.

The simplicity of the game makes it easy for the kids to play. The strategy makes it fun for me to play. And all the while, we can throw curses at each other, trying to keep each other from winning the game. The way to win? Beat the big bad boss at the end of course. He's not that hard to beat if you know what equipment to gather, and with a little bit of planned luck (like a spell that allows you to roll an automatic 6).

For our family, this game gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

More Info on the Pokemon Figurines

I don't want to play. But they are so cute, I want to catch them all!

Hubby - will they carry these at the local comic book store?

What's Your Favorite Pokemon (take 2)

The world tournament qualifiers offer their opinions on their favorite Pokemon. None of them said Mantyke! Blasphemy!

What do you think of their choices?

Pokemon World Tournament

Think you're good? Wanna go to Hawaii to prove it? The last chance qualifier is August 10th. And, even if you don't qualify, you're welcome to come by the Hawaii's Big Island to check it out.

Sounds like another Pokemon vacation in the making if you ask me.

Pokemon Figurine Game

Nooooooo! Not another Pokemon game! When will we have time to eat and sleep?

Gotta Catch Them All - for only $147!

Hubby was poking around looking for deals on Pokemon cards when he found a place to pre-order a box of mysterious treasures booster packs.

Only $147 folks! We refuse to link the site because we do not want to endorse these prices!

We're planning on buying the starter decks. But a box of boosters? Maybe if we can find a deal.

Ah, we just found a deal on eBay. But wait, how can they be selling them on ebay when it's not even out yet?

Update: Found a decently priced website. Anyone know what list is?

Pokemon Family

I've signed up for Gather.com. The first thing I posted there, was my story about Pokemon.