As the bell rang signaling the end of lunch break, a gel hard spikey haired kid sat on a yard bench with his hands in his pocket staring up into the blue sky of mid day. There was a look of unsureness in face, the kind often found on youth going into the unknown of their teenage years. His face still carried a bit of baby fat, but his stomach was empty, growling, and eager to be fed. He’d gotten use to the feeling and on most days, ignored it. He had money, probably a five spot or even a ten in his velcro wallet chained to his belt loop, but he didn’t buy food. Instead, his mind dwelled on something else – something very powerful, something rare, and something he’d been searching for for quite some time.
Nearly twenty years ago, that spikey haired kid was me. I was sitting in the yard of my middle school pondering a very big decision. I sat staring off contemplating the ramifications of this, something that would give my 12 year old life meaning. A friend of mine, came to me shortly before the bell rang and pulled something out of his pocket encased in plastic sleeve.
“Twenty Bucks” He said and smiled. He left it in his palm face up and I stared at it in disbelief. In my head I heard angelic voices singing and my peripherals became cloudy in focusing on only the card. (Ok, perhaps it wasn’t that dramatic, but I still stood there in wonderment.) It was nowhere near perfect condition – there were several scratches on the foil and the edges seemed to show wear from actual gameplay, but nonetheless, it was magnificent in all its fiery glory.
My eyes darted back to his and he seemed to register my question without me speaking a word. Why?
He smiled again. “I have another,” he said. “This is my beat up one.” I nodded still in disbelief as he walked away. “After school!” he shouted.
As I mentioned, my hands were in my pocket fiddling with the chain that connected to my wallet. Suffice to say it was fitting considering what this decision entailed and its literal meaning being Pocket Monsters – ready to gobble up what little money I had saved up. But this was no ordinary card. No Sir. This was THE card. This was the Mac Daddy of them all. This was the Holographic Charizard.
It was 1999-2000, Pokemon had been out for a couple years and kids had been hooked, including myself. I was an avid watcher of the show 5 days a week, which conveniently came on right as I made it home. I played the video games and at that moment even had a gameboy in my backpack with the Fire Red Version cartage inserted.
I loved Pokemon, but the question remained, did I love it enough to spend nearly two weeks of lunch money on one card?
I had been buying booster packs with what little money I could save, often times saving my lunch money to do so. It wasn’t all bad, those rumbling sounds emanating from my stomach were uncomfortable, but were common and it allowed me to take advantage of those ham or liver spread sandwiches my mom use to make for breakfast.
The local corner store sold packs at the purchase counter so it was my go to after school whenever I had saved up enough. I hadn’t been lucky enough to pull the Charizard, but was lucky enough to pull a Blastoise once. I was euphoric, similar to how one would feel opening up a present on Christmas day. It was sheer magic opening up a packing wondering and hoping of the good pulls inside. The excitement was unmatched and I knew even at a young age that the feeling was special.
So to answer the question, Yes.
I ended up buying the slightly scratched Charizard and held onto it for a few months before flipping it to buy more packs. Regrettable now I know considering the state of the market and the prices of the original base set, but at the time, it was the right move. Little did I know that same card would go for upwards of 1k even in horrible conditions. How much could the best conditions net you ask? To the moon.
Fast forward twenty years later and Pokemon is as hot as its ever been with a near impossibility of finding it on the shelves at your local box stores. Who knew right?
For starters – it took a lot to get it to that point including a lockdown during a pandemic where hobbies were reignited and an unlikeable (subjective, of course) Youtuber dropping tons of cash for content. But thats a long story that I’m happy to tell during a different time. Additionally, anything vintage typically goes up in value and I should have known better.
Nearly a year and a half ago – I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and discovered the original Pokemon series in the cartoon deck. I showed my 5 year old and told him that Daddy use to watch this show everyday after school. He instantly got hooked and even began remembering the names of the original 150. I was definitely ecstatic to share it with him. Then I remembered I had kept a bit of my original collection of cards and went searching through the mess of things we had in storage. I stumbled upon it in a wooden box I had stashed away buried in a bookshelf. It was nothing special, a few holos and a ton of commons, but like the show the show still excited to share it with him.
I instantly recognized the light in his eyes. The curiosity. The pure awe. It was vague, yet familiar. I saw myself more than two decades before. I thought that perhaps this was something we could bond over as he grew.
I started buying him a few booster packs. I hadn’t purchased any in a while but stumbled across a few Rebel Clash, which was the most recent set released. His birthday was drawing near so I also purchased a couple of tins that were heavily stocked. Little did I know it would be the last time I would see any in stock at Target.
His birthday came and we ripped open the packs I had bought. Although we didn’t pull anything significant, It was a good time and I know he enjoyed it. Unfortunately, finding anything since then had become more than difficult. With the rise of popularity mostly due to a combination of investment sources, the lockdown i.e. nothing else to do, and this Logan Geez, I hate that guy, Paul’s video which shined a spotlight on the hobby like never before, finding packs in stock was near impossible unless you’re willing to pay a premium i.e. scalper prices with some more than two or three times MSRP. A few forums say to just wait it out as everything goes back to normal. When though? I not entirely sure if he’ll be into Pokemon anymore.
I have given in on a few occasions and I’ll tell you it hasn’t been much worth it considering the cards that we pulled. Then again, the experience is what we’re chasing for with the cards being an added bonus. Selfishly, I’m also chasing after the look in my boy’s eyes and the light up the entire room smile that soon follows even if the cards aren’t the rarest. It sucks mainly because its feels almost like loosing this experience with him, but I suppose I’ll just have to wait it out. Who know’s, I may hit the jackpot and hit up a Target right when a restock happens. Until then, persistence is the key.
Thanks for the read 🙂
Jay Paningbatan: Spontaneous considerations 