From: Brian Brokaw To: dolfinz@pacbell.net Subject: Re: How to trade single cards Date: Sunday, September 12, 1999 12:00 AM From: dolfinz@pacbell.net To: brokaw@thepojo.com Date: Saturday, September 11, 1999 11:34 PM Subject: How to trade single cards >Hello Brian, >It sounds like you can definately help me in explaining to my son how to >trade single cards with his friends. I am new at this and would >appreciate any help you might be able to offer. > >I have heard that when trading cards, trade dots for diamonds. He has >all but 13 of the original deck and a lot of extras he is trading. >However, what is the object of trading? I see on the card for example >100 HP or 10 HP, also there are also stars, lightning bolts, >squares, etc....do these have anything to do with trading cards. > >Another question, the 13 cards he is missing are in the first 20 >cards....Are these found in miscellaneous packages or have they been >discontinued? > >Thanks, >Bridget > Hi Bridget, The best resource for these types of questions is Wizards of the Coast's official website. Specifically check all of the links on this page: http://www.wizards.com/Pokemon/collectemall.asp You will find checklists for the 2 different sets that are available for collecting (the first set of cards is 102 big, and the second set of is 64 cards big.) You will also find a very good description of each element of the cards, along with a very good description of card "rarity". (to answer your question, the first 16 cards of both sets are the HARDEST cards to find... Wizards intentionally does not print as many of these cards to encourage us all to buy PLENTY of packs! :-) Lastly, even though "shiny for a shiny", "star for a star", "diamond for a diamond" and "circle for a circle" is a very good start for fair trading rules, be sure to check into price guides for the cards you have and need... (Even though Magneton is a "shiny" and Charizard is a "shiny", you should be able to get about 4 Magnetons for 1 Charizard... This is totally due to popularity of Charizard over Magneton, and you will only figure this out by checking relative singles pricing on the cards.) Check www.thepojo.com price guides, or go to your local game store and ask for the most recent Scrye or Inquest magazine. Brian Brokaw