How to Make a Good Pokémon Card Trade

Worried your kids are making bad Pokémon card trades in dark alleys with those shady older kids? Clueless when it comes to advising them? Here's how to determine the value of Pokémon cards.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pokémon cards
• Plastic Sports Card Sheets
• Binders

1. Look in the upper right-hand corner of your child's Pokémon card. The higher the "HP," or hit points, the better (scale: 30-120).

2. Check out the bold black number located lower down on the right-hand side of the card. This represents "Attack Damage," and the higher it is, the better (scale: 10-120).

3. Look for the tiny rarity symbol on the bottom right-hand corner. A star is rare, a diamond represents an uncommon card, and a filled-in circle is a common card.

4. Be sure to notice the card's background. The shiny holofoil cards are very rare and much prized.

5. Compare these variables with the ones of the card, or cards, being offered in the trade. How do they match up?

6. Resign yourself to the fact that Junior still may not give a hoot how much more valuable his card is than his trading partner's; he just really digs Dugtrio and he'll gladly give up his rare Japanese import, Mew, to get him.

Tips & Warnings

• The numbers and symbols here will help you make an informed judgment when trading cards, but realize that no Pokémon character is all-powerful; each has its strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, if you're playing the game. For players, unlike collectors, having a wide selection of Pokémon cards to call into battle is better than owning a limited number of rare ones.

[Jennifr1966]

on 6/29/2009 Forgive me if this shows up twice; I had to sign in and then the post didn't show up.
My question is, how do you get energy cards, and can you trade basic cards for energy cards? If so, what is considered an even trade? Oh, and how do you purchase counters? We've been using dimes. Thanks!

[danielkeller]

on 7/26/2008 http://www.pokeswap.com Here you can trade your Pokemon Cards with others and they have a way to make sure that you will receive your cards, guaranteed. You can trade your doubles and create a wish list of all the cards you really want

on 8/16/2006 When you trade, the only thing that matters is how much you like the card, not how rare a card is. If you like a 30hp feebas more than a 80hp regice, then do the trade!

on 8/8/2006 EX are 2 times as strong as normal Pokmon. So trade 2 rare Pokmon for an EX.

on 8/8/2006 Being an ex-Pokémon card collector, I always buy the booster packs. They always come with at least one hologram card, and you can get many cards for them.