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This is where my allowance went every week as a child. (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by CallMeJase

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[–]gotsarge1423 31 points32 points ago

Something about the smell of new cards.

[–]Iwerks 16 points17 points ago

Me Boosta

[–]obliterationn 6 points7 points ago

fucking rage faces, man.

[–]MindlessDreamer -5 points-4 points ago

Of course they made me jizz my pants.

[–]firebat707 2 points3 points ago

I opened a pack when I was 22 ( I have not bought a pack since I was 10) the first thing I did was shove my nose into it. O man the smell brought me right back to my childhood

[–]smac_down 16 points17 points ago

I still remember where I was when I got charizard. My mom almost crashed when I screamed from excitement.

[–]mikemellor11 4 points5 points ago

brother got one in his first pack, i could have chose that pack as well :(

[–]knirefnel 4 points5 points ago

First pack, got a first edition Mewtwo. I was psyched but then people only cared about Charizard and Alakazam, the latter because it was at the top of the list of cards so people thought it was the most valuable/rare. Actually it was at the top because the list was in alphabetical order. Yet everyone thought it was really valuable. Someone in economics should do a study of what happens when children are driving a market.

[–]ixAp0c 0 points1 point ago

I'm sure in macro / micro economics there have been many studies concluding market sales with children, considering Magic: The Gathering coming out in 1993, Dungeons and Dragons before that, and toys and such. There are a lot of educated people that make the decision "oh, hey this can be very profitable guys".

Rare cards are a way to increase profit, because people buying more packs to get playsets of a rare card means more cashflow. Especially if you only print 1 charzard for every 256 cards or something...

I don't know / remember if Pokemon has a rare ratio, but in Magic: The Gathering, the ratio is 1:64 cards should be a premium card (mythic rare).

[–]smac_down 7 points8 points ago

I got the starter pack that had the holographic machamp and felt all badass until I learned everyone had the holographic machamp. It was a sad feeling. Then finally, I became the first of my friends to find charizard. I struck fear in my friends for a month just having the guy in my deck. That is, until the day I faced an alakazam. Mother fucker took my charizard out in one swift hit. The glory my card once had was lost in one short recess.

[–]Chazzey_dude 0 points1 point ago

It's in the family!

[–]xXRequiemXx 1 point2 points ago

I ran around the house then ran next door to show my best friend and his family. It was the best day.

[–]Yserbius 0 points1 point ago

Holograph or standard?

[–]smac_down 1 point2 points ago

Holo of course.

[–]thomasaquina 0 points1 point ago

I had to trade for my holo Charizard, but I did legitimately get my Blastoise and Venasaur holo's in booster packs. I also screamed like a little girl, which, for an 11 year old boy, isn't much of a stretch.

[–]CallMeJase[S] 0 points1 point ago

My dickhead younger brother stole mine and would never fess up to it, now he's in jail.

[–]smac_down 0 points1 point ago

Isn't that a little harsh?

[–]mrP0P0 -4 points-3 points ago

hahaha

[–]Ragingmoomoo 14 points15 points ago

And yet no one knew how to play the game. :(

[–]kontraband421 7 points8 points ago

I did, and I was a boss. I was a super pokemon nerd, had two sets, one for collecting and then one for battles. Then all those new cards came out and I was like fuck this shit.

I didnt sell them when I should have either, now I have like 600 worthless nostalgic pieces of paper.

[–]whatisthis8 4 points5 points ago

Me too! Except I kept up with a few expansions. Was able to win a bunch of prerelease cards, and sold em, to further my habit. I still never sold em all at the right time, and now I just have boxes of worthless cards. Did get me laid once though.

[–]Schwooter 5 points6 points ago

How the fuck do Pokemon cards get you laid?

[–]whatisthis8 6 points7 points ago

Nothing gets a nerdy 90s girl wetter than giving her a shiny charizard.

[–]mutecow 1 point2 points ago

sex for charizard.

[–]HeyylookitsNICK 0 points1 point ago

I did, I still play it online sometimes.

[–]CallMeJase[S] 1 point2 points ago

I went to tournaments every sunday at the local comic book shop never won though.

[–]Symbolis 4 points5 points ago

Here is where mine went.

Actually, a fair chunk of my money still goes there.

[–]Mugabuga 2 points3 points ago

That's where my allowance goes.

[–]ripper1134 0 points1 point ago

That's where some of my money still goes.

[–]RxMario 9 points10 points ago

Back when they had 11 cards in a pack.

[–]mrP0P0 9 points10 points ago

weren't they like 2.99 as well??

[–]RxMario 9 points10 points ago

And gas was like $1.

[–]xxJORDISxx 7 points8 points ago

this is getting depressing :(

[–]Guppywily 2 points3 points ago

Minimum wage was like $5 too. It's not all depressing.

[–]AKnightAlone 3 points4 points ago

Minimum wage was worth more than it is now though...

[–]flipswitch 2 points3 points ago

I N F L A T I O N

[–]AKnightAlone -1 points0 points ago

Okay.

[–]mutecow 0 points1 point ago

i dont think you understand what inflation is. he is talking about purchasing power of minimum wage, you're talking about increase in general prices. increase in general prices /= decreased purchasing power of mini wage.

its perfectly possible for inflation to happen, but for mini wage's purchasing power to increase at the same time. increase in wages just have to rise at a higher rate.

[–]Guppywily 0 points1 point ago

Yeah that's true.

Thanks a lot asshole; now I'm all depressed too.

[–]AKnightAlone 0 points1 point ago

I know that feel, bro. I know it too well.

[–]Guppywily 0 points1 point ago

Hold me

[–]Schwooter 1 point2 points ago

If it makes you feel better, you can a 15-card pack of Magic: The Gathering cards for $4.

[–]ripper1134 0 points1 point ago

I Still buy Magic. It's weird how you find random people who play Mtg too. I love it.

[–]caninehere 1 point2 points ago

Shit, $2.99?? I would have killed for that price. Pretty sure I had no choice but to lay down something like $4.50 for those bad boys.

[–]callummmm 0 points1 point ago

my local corner shop sold them for £1.49. that was a good shop.

[–]Veora 0 points1 point ago

Ours was £2 iirc.

[–]dugEfresh97 8 points9 points ago

oh the pleasure of taking off the foil. INSTANT ORGASM

[–]Artukk 2 points3 points ago

Allowance? The fuck is this shit..

[–]StellaByStarlight 11 points12 points ago

Guys, DAE like Pokemon?

[–]yroc12345 1 point2 points ago

I first saw this post and actually said to myself "Are you fucking serious?".

[–]Aaleinus 2 points3 points ago

Did you know if you buy the booster packs with Charizard on the front, you have a better chance of actually receiving a Charizard!

My older brother told me all about it.

[–]bbobbyy 9 points10 points ago

lik dis if u a 90s kid and remember POKEMON XD

[–]obliterationn 2 points3 points ago

cri ever tiem

[–]Trucidar 2 points3 points ago

Allowance... psh. I got a few from a friend and traded up to a small collection. I shoulda made a reality show outta it.

[–]Pmonstah4 0 points1 point ago

You think you're good? I got an entire bag of cards from my friend for free, then traded those until I had an epic deck filled with good/rare cards.

[–]Trucidar 0 points1 point ago

A deck? Who played using the rules!?

[–]Pmonstah4 1 point2 points ago

I just liked how they looked, what you think I got energy cards and shit? Battles would go something like this:

Me: I choose you Feraligatr! Use Surf!

Friend: Ha! I counter it with my Raichu's Thunderbolt!

Me: Earthquake motherfucker! K-fucking-O!

Friend: Aw man...

[–]Trucidar 0 points1 point ago

Nice although I'm not sure what a feraligatr is, I can still relate to and appreciate the awesomeness of those moments.

[–]doctorquanta 1 point2 points ago

Did anyone else get the Charizard card?

[–]PSMO 4 points5 points ago

I wouldn't receive an allowance until years later, so during the great Pokemon fad of '98 I would only get one or two booster packs every couple of weeks. I remember all my friends getting Charizard and Chansey and Alakazam on their first try. I got more Computer Search and Lass cards than any of my friends.

Felt bad, man.

[–]Aries37 2 points3 points ago

Computer search was fucking legit. I ran 3 in my blastoise deck and used to beat all the older kids at the Toys R Us tournies.

[–]DoubleJumps 0 points1 point ago

Aw, you made me remember toys r us pokemon league.

I always bought a specific team rocket pack when I went there.

Second from the very back of the row of blisters.

It was ALWAYS a dark charizard.

I got so many of them that way.

[–]YellowS2k 0 points1 point ago

I still remember the day I got my Charizard in a pack. I was at the mall, and I bought the pack, I think at a CVS, and then went to get a haircut with my dad. As I was waiting my turn, I opened the pack, and there it was.

[–]ongofongo -1 points0 points ago

Yeah, twice, but it didn't fit into my deck, so I immediately sold one at my local nerd dungeon, traded the other one. Was rocking a Blue/Psycho deck. Good times, thanks for reminding!

[–]Reemertastic 1 point2 points ago

My first pack I got a Mewtwo... Good times...

[–]Legion- 0 points1 point ago

These were like currency.

[–]blooregard325i 0 points1 point ago

From the thumbnail I thought they were garbage pail kids cards. sigh

[–]lettuceman44 -1 points0 points ago

Only 90's kids understand this.

[–]happymon 0 points1 point ago

I remember as a kid I went into The Entertainer shop(UK) and they were selling a WHOLE box in which these booster packs came in for £10, I brought two and me and my friends opened all them in Mcdonalds, managed to get nearly all the 151 except there was no shiny Charizard :(, got stuff like 2 penisaurs and zapdoses etc...

[–]afihavok 0 points1 point ago

Me too except Pogs.

[–]Snowboi 0 points1 point ago

My allowance went into the metal pokemon pogs

[–]futt 0 points1 point ago

My family was fortunate enough to stay in Ocean City, NJ for 3 months at a family friend's house around 1999 or so. I remember being 13 years old.

I found a book store on the boardwalk that sold those booster packs for $4 each, or 4 for $12.

I also found out that the 'Surf Mall' would buy/sell rare cards based on the current supply/demand of the cards. Just to give you an example, a Blastoise holographic card was worth $40. Mewtwo was $20. Charizard was $80, and 1st edition Charizard was $120. They would buy the lesser holograms for $3-10 depending on their current supply.

I started that summer with about $50 saved from mowing neighbors lawns. After running up and down the boardwalk, buying more packs from the book store, selling them at the surf mall, buying more packs, etc etc, I ended up making a decent amount of money for a 13 year old in 1999. I think I bought two 256MB DIMMs of RAM from a computer show thanks to that cash, which allowed me to trade up from Pokemon to Everquest.

tldr; I made ~$300 one summer, wheeling and dealing Pokemon cards.

[–]BusterHymen-RP2012 0 points1 point ago

I remember back in the day when I was a lad collecting Pokemon cards. I never got a whole shit ton of them, as my parents weren't making the most money, but I did manage to get some really great rares, which I still have. I did however, have a friend who's parents did make a lot of money. One day, this mother fucker's dad takes him to the mall, and buys him 36 packs, all at once. I shit a brick when I heard about it. Apparently he had heard some random statistic that if you buy 36 packs you were virtually guaranteed a charizard. Well, he told his dad and he got them. About 15 packs or so in, sure enough he got one.

Fuck you, Chris.

[–]Stalzy 1 point2 points ago

A little story about my Pokemon experience.

A buddy and I would routinely bike across the city to buy Pokemon card packs. We'd start off with $7. Buy a small pack, rip it open and check if there was a holographic card and which kind.

We then would bike back across the city to a small anime shop called "Tokyo 7". We would sell the holo for about $8-$9 depending on how rare. We did this until get got the epic holo cards.

My first Charizard was found this way. I was so happy, friend was not. Not only did we gain about $1-$2, (depending on what cards) but a lot of exercise and fun with that friend.

That was until my father washed all my holo's that were in my back pocket of my jeans and they were all lost forever. I fucking hated my dad.

AND I STILL DO (kidding I don't).

Good times when I was 12 or 13

TL;DR: Ran a sick drug running company and made mad ass cash money. Bitches were lovin it when I wuz showerin dem wit Pokemon cards.

[–]riderLyrae -1 points0 points ago

You didn't even open the packs? What a tool.

[–]Kijamon 1 point2 points ago

Bought cards religiously as a slightly too old to be buying them age (14-16).

Valued them out one day to over $1,000.

Sold them 5 years later for $70.

Fucking value.

[–]Aregular89 0 points1 point ago

I remember my first card was a Weedle. Traded it for a Diglett. This girl in 2nd grade said she would be my fence and flirt with a guy and get me something good for my Diglett. She got me a Machop -_-

[–]AKnightAlone 0 points1 point ago

Those little packages were like opening candy delicacies.

[–]QuestionAxer 0 points1 point ago

I have like ~670 of them right now. All organized by family, order, and generation in six of my dad's card holders. What the hell am I supposed to do with these?! Will their value ever get high enough that I can actually turn a profit by selling them in 2050?

[–]RedQueensAce 0 points1 point ago

They'll probably be worth something after everyone throws or sells their own collection away creating a smaller supply which drives the price up. I would just wait it out.

[–]BlackFeign 0 points1 point ago

well at least you got something for your money..mine was spent every Friday at the local 20 Cine playing Dance Dance Revolution with a group of 50 Emo kids...

[–]Asprobouboulis 1 point2 points ago

oh god... the memories...the smell...must...open one last...booster...

[–]couldntderp 0 points1 point ago

It's oh so true...

[–]vrichthofen 0 points1 point ago

This makes me feel old (when someone remembers how as a kid they bought these)

[–]yeahyuuuh 1 point2 points ago

Oh you rich kids with your allowances.

[–]cjmook21 1 point2 points ago

What the hell is an 'allowance'?

[–]jeffereyr123 0 points1 point ago

I have a whole unopened box of these--1st edition base set. Apparently they're worth a lot of money.

[–]_user 0 points1 point ago

I used to work in my grandma's consignment shop after school some days. . . It shared the building with a 7-eleven next door. I used to get paid $10 for working from 3ish-5ish. These were what I bought with that money every day.

My brother's very first pack he got a holographic charizard, and my other brother got a Holographic Blastoise. I got a non holographic Clefairy. :\ (My brothers and I are each a year apart, me being the youngest.)

edit* I was in 6th grade, Blastoise brother was in 7th, charizard brother was in 8th.

[–]caninehere 0 points1 point ago

I CHOOSE YOU, CHARIZARD!

GO GET 'EM, BLASTOISE!

Ugh.. just.. just go, Clefairy.

[–]_user 0 points1 point ago

I released him back into the wild.

[–]jamesbiff 0 points1 point ago

Man, nothing could beat the feeling of getting home from going shopping at the weekend, running upstairs with my brother and cracking open our packs, the fresh card smell...the promise of a shiny...oh lawd.

[–]nighthawk9876 0 points1 point ago

Recently went on a nostalgia kick and started buying packs again. Its still fun as hell opening new packs! Even though I don't know who half of the pokemon are :(

[–]raygun27 0 points1 point ago

At one time I was lucky to find stores in my area that had any in stock. You had to time it just right or you'd have to wait. There was someone in our area that would just buy up all the local stores cards and pieced them out I assume. I lived in a somewhat rural area, so there wasn't to many places to shop anyway.

[–]WaffleWarrior64 0 points1 point ago

Still have a stack of these 3-4 inches high. How much would they sell for?

[–]TheHawk1187 0 points1 point ago

O god this brings back so many memories :)

[–]Vuggy_Porosity 0 points1 point ago

Pokemon booster packs were my allowance.

[–]Winstonia 0 points1 point ago

Back at school the epidemic of these got so out of hand there was a organised shoplifting operation at our local store and they were sold off at school. Also some kid got chained because he had a shiny mewtwo card at lunctime....

[–]ThoryanX9000 0 points1 point ago

Did you get Charizard?

[–]kaneart 0 points1 point ago

Psh, I still blow my cash on this...

[–]benbenhotep 0 points1 point ago

Am I on facebook right now? What the fucking fuck.

[–]CrazyAuron 1 point2 points ago

You could probably just post this in r/pokemon

[–]GTDeathRow 1 point2 points ago

Seeing a shiny card within the rest... ohgod all my feels.

[–]lordpetts 1 point2 points ago

Right in the nostalgia

[–]Tybodsm 0 points1 point ago

I think I'm still paying off debt accumulated from these.

[–]Igglypie 0 points1 point ago

This is where my allowance goes every week as an adult.

[–]inatspong -3 points-2 points ago

Same.

[–]Ezekyuhl -1 points0 points ago

I bought my first ever boosters when a carnival came through town. It was the first time I had ever seen the cards, despite being very involved in Pokemon. My parents had given me $25 to spend at the festival that weekend and I bought 3 booster packs, at $7.00 each, got a couple rare cards that the kid who's parents ran the shop traded me for. (Since he had Vulpix and Dratini which were two of my favorites.) On the plus side, I was then the first kid in school that had them, which for a brief stint made me really cool.

Man my dad was pissed. I'll never forget it. (Thanks for the nostalgia.)

[–]NightMaestro -1 points0 points ago

The kid who opened that up and found a holographic charizard.

Motha fuckin Holographic Charizard.

[–]Datastream -2 points-1 points ago

I never bought those and still had a large collection. Simply won them by gambles or tricks. (I bet I can throw my card closest to the wall. Winner keeps the cards) x 500.

[–]vicschuldiner 0 points1 point ago

Even just the packing. Seeing them, all shiny and shit. They looked almost magical.

[–]Emmanuell89 0 points1 point ago

i once found the equivalent of 60$ on the street when i was in 5th grade or so , bought so many cards and i even got Articuno !

[–]Badbit -1 points0 points ago

Pfft, pogs were better.

[–]CJ_Guns -2 points-1 points ago

I remember getting getting dozens of packs, a few every week, all Weedles. Then I got a 1st edition Charizard which were quite valuable and rare. Greatest moment of my life.

Recently traveled back to my hometown, the card shop is gone.

[–]Athene_Wins -2 points-1 points ago

I only ever bought the 'fake' packs. They were smaller, a lighter purple, and only came in a cardboard slip-box.

[–]samsaBEAR 0 points1 point ago

I bought one of these and it come with a shiny Gyrados, which was my favourite Pokemon at the time. Never bought one again, from an early age I knew how to avoid disappointment.

[–]Neoxide 0 points1 point ago

I forgot about these particular packs. They were the best. I remember they had a box of them at the gas station, and I would take out literally every single pack, weigh them in my hands and choose whichever one I thought was the lucky one.

I also only chose the charizard packs just because charizard was my favorite.

My confession is I never actually learned how to play the pokemon card game but I collected the cards like a mad man. They were also banned in my school by my 1st grade year, which was the death of the 90's.

[–]equipping17 0 points1 point ago

This is where my money STILL goes.

[–]RedEyes1290 -4 points-3 points ago

Allowance??? I never had one of those. I asked my mother why i never had allowance when i was young. She told me "like fuck i was giving my hard earned money to you three." (note i have two older sisters) "I love you too mom."

[–]The_Mighty_Spork -3 points-2 points ago

I rarely did, used to save my allowance to buy the actual games, ended up with all the original gameboy games then sold all but crystal, red and yellow, had yellow go missing when someone borrowed it... Oh god why :(

[–]alhsoor -3 points-2 points ago

This is where my money STILL goes!

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