Trading cards for video games

April 23, 2017 — by Michael Zhang

Sophomore discusses how his love for trading cards slowly evolved into a love for video games. 

“Mom, can you buy me some Pokémon cards?”

Every weekend, 6-year-old me would beg my mom for new additions to my Pokémon card collection, and although her answer was almost always “no” or “maybe next week,” I remained hopeful until the following weekend.

My obsession with trading cards began when my younger sister and I received 100 Pokémon cards for Christmas nine years ago. I quickly found my passion, and as the theme song goes, “tried to be the very best!” The first step I made toward achieving this goal was stealing all the rare and powerful cards from my sister, like any ambitious but morally conflicted Pokémon trainer would.

Shortly after I joined the craze, Pokémon cards became a big deal at the after-school program I attended in first grade. Seeing the better cards, particularly the ones with high health points, that many of my peers owned, I immediately began bugging my parents to buy me some more.

Though initially refusing to buy me any, they eventually promised me card packs as rewards for completing chores or scoring well on the weekly behavior chart in school. I took advantage of this offer while it lasted and amassed a large collection of rare cards that I could show my friends. Even when the Pokémon epidemic faded in second grade, I continued collecting cards, sometimes even behind my parents’ backs by paying older students to purchase them for me. I also received more cards every Christmas, adding to my already huge collection.

When I began middle school, however, my passion for trading cards started to deteriorate, as I had found a new obsession — video games. After this, collecting and trading these cards seemed pointless. So in sixth grade, I retired my collection of cards to the top of my bookshelf and haven’t played with them since.

When I did decide to revisit my elementary school hobby recently, I felt rather uninterested. Unlike action-packed video games, the slow, strategic pace of card games just didn’t appeal to me anymore.

Because the rules in trading card games are sometimes unclear, different players’ interpretations often lead to a lot of arguing, leading to intense and sometimes uncomfortable matches. While there are glitches in video games, the rules are coded into the game itself, leaving no room for interpretation and offering a fairer, more enjoyable experience.

At this point, I’m still not sure what I will do with my thousands of trading cards. I’ve sold a few valuable ones, but  frankly, I’m just too lazy to deal with the rest.

2 views this week