at some point you might want to consider either getting rid of half the stuff in there or pack it up and put it in the shed (or garage or closet or crawl space or whatever). I like to cycle through toys like that every few months
Probably because he’s already addicted to the thrill of ripping packs. As a grown adult who shares this child’s hobby, please let me offer some advice.
Opening packs IS 100% gambling. When a kid opens a pack of Pokemon cards, the same neurons fire off in a 40yr old man in Vegas betting on the Lakers.
It isn’t inherently bad for children to be apart of this, but is a great opportunity to learn about limits & letting go of things in general.
1) Anytime he wants to rip a pack, make him physically give up/do a chore for that reward. That way when it doesn’t pan out like he thought, it will force him to consider whether his action was worth the “pay off”
2) never encourage getting excited over a “rare” card. These industries are number games. You’re much better off getting them used to being disappointed (not in general, just when opening/gambling on packs) than getting them to expect rare hits
3) Accentuate the fun, not the value. Unfortunately, there are some Pokemon cards selling for $1k+ which is why you see 35 year old men buying out your local Walmart. For children, a $1 and a $1k card can be equally exciting, you do them a disservice when you make a point to discuss value.
4) Limit. For 99% of card collecting history, the enjoyment was 50% the rare occasion of opening packs and 50% of looking at your collected cards. Now it seems like it’s more “rip as much as you can and throw away everything that isn’t valuable” which completely gets rid of the novelty of opening packs
Do what you think is best for your child, but these are just some points to consider if you’re gonna be apart of this hobby
Meltz014 on November 22nd, 2025 at 22:31 UTC »
at some point you might want to consider either getting rid of half the stuff in there or pack it up and put it in the shed (or garage or closet or crawl space or whatever). I like to cycle through toys like that every few months
shf500 on November 22nd, 2025 at 22:39 UTC »
To be fair, playing cards by yourself can get boring quickly.
Rumseyman02 on November 22nd, 2025 at 23:00 UTC »
Probably because he’s already addicted to the thrill of ripping packs. As a grown adult who shares this child’s hobby, please let me offer some advice.
Opening packs IS 100% gambling. When a kid opens a pack of Pokemon cards, the same neurons fire off in a 40yr old man in Vegas betting on the Lakers.
It isn’t inherently bad for children to be apart of this, but is a great opportunity to learn about limits & letting go of things in general.
1) Anytime he wants to rip a pack, make him physically give up/do a chore for that reward. That way when it doesn’t pan out like he thought, it will force him to consider whether his action was worth the “pay off”
2) never encourage getting excited over a “rare” card. These industries are number games. You’re much better off getting them used to being disappointed (not in general, just when opening/gambling on packs) than getting them to expect rare hits
3) Accentuate the fun, not the value. Unfortunately, there are some Pokemon cards selling for $1k+ which is why you see 35 year old men buying out your local Walmart. For children, a $1 and a $1k card can be equally exciting, you do them a disservice when you make a point to discuss value.
4) Limit. For 99% of card collecting history, the enjoyment was 50% the rare occasion of opening packs and 50% of looking at your collected cards. Now it seems like it’s more “rip as much as you can and throw away everything that isn’t valuable” which completely gets rid of the novelty of opening packs
Do what you think is best for your child, but these are just some points to consider if you’re gonna be apart of this hobby
Edit: Spelling/Format. Thanks for the award!