Pook's Place

Yu-Gi-Oh: The New American Past Time?
By Pook

            10.04.04  Hey everyone.  My deepest apologies for my 3 week hiatus, but don’t worry, I’m back with a bang, I assure you.  The reason I’ve taken my time on this article is because it is my first milestone – my 25^th article for Pojo!  I’d call it my Silver Anniversary, but I wouldn’t want people to confuse it with fellow Pojo writer Silver.  Oh well. 

            Several months ago, I was in need of some money.  No, I wasn’t in the desperate time to go rob a bank phase or sell my body to science step, more in the “what can I sell on eBay” mindset.  And I am ashamed to say it, but I was thinking of selling some of my Yu-Gi-Oh cards.  Yes, I know.  I wasn’t going to totally abandon the game, just maybe sell off from rares that I didn’t want/need.  I had bought cards from others before, but I had never sold any.  And then, something stopped me. 

            For some reason, my mind went to the episode of the anime where Yugi is dueling Rebecca, and there are the flashbacks to each of their grandfather’s playing Duel Monsters in the cave.  Here were two old (albeit fictional) men sitting around dueling.  I thought, wow, I wish that is me some day.  So I decided to not sell my cards, but to hold onto them so that I may teach future generations how to duel. 

            True story – my dad has a ton of old baseball memorabilia that he keeps in a box in his attic.  He’s got some real collector’s items, too.  But he has not sold any of it.  Why?  Because he has left it to me in his will.  I’m serious, I’ve seen it.  So maybe down the line, I’ll end up leaving my Yu-Gi-Oh cards to my kids, so that future generations of my family will continue this column.  Look forward to “The All New Pook’s Place!” coming in 2025*.

            So where as my dad sat me down and taught me baseball when I was a kid, I will be teaching my children about the subtleties of dueling.  “Son, that’s what’s called a ‘Yata lock’”.  Yeah, the cards will probably be out of date and out of print, but if we all band together now and promise to keep this game going for years to come, who knows, maybe in the year 7004, there will be a new anime, about how 5000 years ago, there was an ancient game, called Yu-Gi-Oh!  I’m sure by then, duel disks will be real, making this show more historical fiction rather than straightforward fantasy. 

            Anyway, back to my point, this game does have the potential to stick around for a while.  Magic has been around for over 10 years now and is still being played all over the country.  Dungeons and Dragons is about to celebrate it’s 30^th anniversary.  Can you imagine if people are still dueling in 30 years, how amazing it will be?  All of the cards you currently own will be worth like 5 times what they are now, and will be collector’s items, similar in popularity to the original Star Wars figures.  But it is up to us to prolong the playing of Yu-Gi-Oh!  We are the first generation of players, so we have to set the standards for how the game will be played form here on out.  Personally, I’m totally up to the task.  Hopefully, one day, I’ll be just like Grandpa Moto, sitting around dueling friends, but hopefully, I won’t be trapped in a cave, dueling to see who gets the last of the water.  Now that’s what I call a Shadow Game. 

*Name and year are subject to change