WHAT IS THE POKEMON CARD GAME AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is a CCG (Collectible Card Game), also known as a TCG (Trading Card Game). The Pokemon TCG is made by Wizards of the Coast, the makers of the very popular CCG Magic: The Gathering. The Pokemon TCG pits two players (and their card decks) against each other; each is a Pokemon trainer who is supposed to use his Pokemon to defeat the other trainer's Pokemon. The game comes in various forms: a 2-player Starter deck, Theme Decks, and Booster packs. Additionally, there are many different Pokemon sets (e.g., the Jungle set, the Neo: Genesis set), and each set has its own Theme Decks and Booster packs.

What is CCG?

Pokemon is a 2-player CCG (Collectible Card Game), also called a TCG (Trading Card Game). A CCG is like merging the collecting aspect of baseball cards with the gaming aspect of gin rummy. Usually it works as such: you buy a "Starter" deck, which includes the rules and a basic set of cards you can play with. In order to collect the rest of the cards in the set, you need to buy "Booster" packs which randomly contain cards from the set. You can also trade cards with your friends (or enemies). You want to buy Boosters not only to finish your collection but also because the other cards in the collection will let you build a better (more powerful) deck with which to play. Either way, a TCG can be a very expensive and time-intensive hobby.

What's the difference between a Starter Deck, a Theme Deck and a Booster Pack?

A Starter Deck is for two players and serves as an introduction to the game. A Theme Deck is a one-player deck which is more powerful but also requires more thinking. Booster packs are much smaller (11 cards instead of 60) but can provide the cards which will make your deck even more powerful. Each Pokemon Starter Deck is the same, whereas there are two or so different Theme Decks for each expansion set, and each Booster pack is pseudo-randomized and thus different. You'd be hard-pressed to collect all the cards in a set (e.g 102 in the Base set, 64 in Jungle) without buying any Boosters.

Is each card in a Booster pack different? If I buy two Boosters will I get 22 different cards?

Yes and No. Pokemon cards have different rarities (see the rulebook): common, uncommon, rare, and holofoil. Each booster contains 7 commons, 3 uncommons, and 1 rare or 1 holofoil for a total of 11 cards. Everything else is supposedly random, so it's possible that you could get four of the same common card in one Booster; likewise, you could get the same rare in two consecutive boosters, although this is unlikely. However, if you buy two of the same type of Theme Deck, you will get exactly the same cards. Booster packs from different sets (e.g. the Fossil set versus the Gym: Heroes set) will generally contain different cards.

What's the Pokemon Starter Gift Box?

The Pokemon Starter Gift Box retails for $25 and includes the 2-player Starter Deck, one of the Jungle Theme Decks (I believe it's randomly either Water Blast or...), a special "collectible" coin with Eevee on it, some counters, a Jungle booster, and a special placemat for helping you play the game. It's basically a Starter Deck, a Theme Deck, and a booster plus some other stuff--it's not a great deal but it's good for someone who is just starting out and doesn't have any cards.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE GAME AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The Pokemon trading card game is available almost everywhere, but you should be wary for three reasons: 1) the game still sells out frequently, 2) certain stores carry Boosters but not Starter decks, and 3) some stores charge twice the retail price. Retail prices for Pokemon are as follows: $8.99 for a Starter Deck, $9.99 for a Theme Deck, and $3.29 (used to be $2.99) for a Booster pack. You can usually buy everything (that is still in production) for retail, and shipping is only $3.95. Nowadays many big stores carry Pokemon, including Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys R Us. Various card shops will probably carry Pokemon cards as well. Card/comic shops should be called/visited with caution, however, as they can be greedy or really cool. I've seen shops that sell $10 theme decks for $25 and a shop that sells everything for 10% off. Card shops often have single cards for sale, though. Our very own Ebay and other auction sites are also great places to get some cards for less than retail or book value, especially if you buy a whole box of packs at a time.

How much does this game really cost?

There are 102 different cards in the first Pokemon set, and so if you wanted to collect the entire first set you might think you would only need to buy one $9 Starter Deck (60 cards) and four $3 Boosters (44 cards). To give you an idea of how expensive this game can be, consider the following numbers: each Booster pack for Pokemon contains 11 cards: 1 "rare"/"holofoil," 3 "uncommons," and 7 "commons." The odds of getting a holofoil card in a Booster pack are 1:3. (Buy 3 Boosters and you'll probably get 1 holofoil.) There are 16 different holofoils in the first Pokemon set (the "base set"), so if you wanted to buy enough Boosters to get a complete set of holofoils you would probably need to buy 16 x 3 = 48 Booster packs. At $3 a pack, that's $144.

What's the difference between a Base Set, the Jungle expansion set and the Fossil expansion set?

The base set came out in January 1999 and has a total of 102 cards. The Jungle expansion came out in June 1999 and has a total of 64 new cards. The Fossil set came out in October 1999 and has 62 new cards. The Jungle set and the Fossil set were designed to work seamlessly with the base set; you can make a deck containing cards from all sets, and the more powerful decks certainly will. There are no Jungle Starter decks, but there are 2 Jungle Theme Decks as well as Jungle Booster packs. There are 2 Fossil theme decks and also Fossil booster packs. The prices are the same: a theme deck from any set retails for $10, and a booster pack from any set retails for $3.29. All cards from the Jungle set have a little symbol to the bottom-right of the card image: it looks like a lily pad but I guess it's supposed to be the top of a palm tree. All cards from the Fossil set have a bony-foot symbol instead of the Jungle symbol.

What is Team Rocket?

Team Rocket is another expansion set. It consists of 82 new cards (plus one special card--"Dark Raichu"). There are boosters and two kinds of theme decks available. Team Rocket cards can be identified by a bold "R" symbol where the Jungle/Fossil symbols would be.

What are Gym Leaders? Challenges?

Gym Leaders: Heroes and Gym Leaders: Challenge are the latest expansion sets and are bigger than any other sets so far. There are 132 different cards in each set, and for the most part the holographic cards are distinct from the non-holographic rares (unlike in Jungle, Fossil, and Team Rocket). The cards feature Pokemon belonging to each of the eight Gym Leaders: Misty, Lt. Surge, Erika, Brock, Giovanni, Koga, Sabrina, and Blaine. The former four are featured in Gym: Heroes and the latter four in Gym: Challenge.

What are the Neo Sets?

Neo: Genesis is the first set of the new Neo cards. The Neo cards include Pokemon found in Pokemon Gold and Silver, including pre-evolutions and two new types of Pokemon: Dark and Steel. Neo: Genesis was released December 2000. Neo: Discovery was released in June 2001 and includes some of the Unown Pokemon from the third Pokemon movie. Neo: Revelations and Neo: Destiny have also been released and are the third and fourth Neo sets, respectively.

What is the Southern Islands?

Southern Islands is a special 18-card set released in the U.S. in Fall 2001. There are no boosters; you can only buy the complete set. The set comes in a special binder and includes a couple boosters from other Pokemon sets. I think the retail price is ~$20 (US).

What is the Legendary set?

The Legendary set is a reprinting of many cards from the original Base Set and the Jungle, Fossil and Team Rocket expansion set.  A couple of cards that were previously very rare, such a Dark Raichu and a Level 30 Telekinisis Mewtwo, are easier to get in Legendary.  Legendary came out in May 2002.

HOW CAN I TELL HOW RARE A CARD IS?

There is a symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of most cards that tells you how rare that card is. A circle indicates a "common" card, a diamond is for an "uncommon" card, and a star dictates a "rare" card. Some rares are holograms; these also have a star symbol. In addition, there are also promotional ("promo") cards that tend to have their own special symbols. Please keep in mind that rarity is not an exact measure of a card's value. If you want to know how valuable a card might be, you should find a price guide.

Where can I find a Pokemon Price Guide or find out how valuable a card is?

A price guide lists most if not all of the cards of a set and gives a price (or price range) for each card. Many price guides get their info by polling card shops across the country and calculating the average price. There are magazines like Scrye, and Inquest that have Pokemon price guides; these magazines are often found at your local comic/card shop. You can also find price guides online, e.g. the Pogo. Another way to determine a card's value is to see how much online shops like ToyWiz.com sell the card for, or how much the card goes for on auction sites like Ebay.

Where can I find the Japanese version of the trading card game?

Many kids like collecting the Japanese Pokemon cards as much as the American ones. Whether this is because the Japanese ones are more exotic, or harder to find, or that they have more cards overall I'm not sure, but there are many stores that now sell both Japanese booster packs and Japanese singles. For Japanese booster packs, you can call the different comic/card shops in your area, or try ToyWiz.com. For Japanese singles, check out the different auction sites: Amazon, Yahoo, Ebay, etc. Keep in mind that the value of these Japanese cards may decrease as the English versions become available.

WHAT IS THE POKEMON LEAGUE?

In the TV show, the Pokemon League is where the best Pokemon trainers compete against each other. In real life, the Pokemon League is a place for Pokemon players to get together, learn about, trade, and play Pokemon. By now there should be Pokemon Leagues in cities all across the U.S. Participating stores include Gamekeeper, Books-a-Million, Borders Books, KB Toyworks, Toys-R-Us, and Zany Brainy stores across the country. The costs should be low (around $5 to register for a six-week league, and $1 for each two-hour session you attend). You earn points for doing different things (trading, playing, teaching, etc.) and if you earn enough points you get special Trainer Badges and sometimes other stuff. A typical Gamekeeper might hold six sessions in a week, probably mostly on weekends but also on weekdays. You don't have to attend each session, and you only pay for the sessions you attend. Each session usually has limited space, and many sessions fill up in advance. Some stores have an age limit, and some don't.