Pokemon 101 for Parents

At Pokebundles Ireland, we know that the world of Pokémon can be very overwhelming for parents. With fake cards flooding the market and over 900 different Pokémon to choose from (and counting), buying the right cards can be an overwhelming task!

With that in mind, we have created a quick guide to Pokémon as parents. We hope you find this useful. 

"It's bigger than Disney"
It's a fact that regularly stuns our new customers. 

"It's bigger than Star Wars, Winnie the Pooh, Marvel, Hello Kitty, Super Mario..."

We could go on and on. And on. In fact, Pokémon is the highest-grossing media franchise in the world. By a distance.

Where it all started
Pokémon stared as a video game series way back in 1995 in Japan as the Pocket Monsters: Red and Green games. Since then, it has spawned a franchise with Pokémon that are so popular, they are known around the world.

Why is Pokémon so popular with kids?
Many of us grew up with the idea that "Action Man was for boys" and "Barbie was for girls". Pokémon was a hobby that had no such divisions. Boys and girls played, traded and shared a common hobby. It created life-long friendships and it still does today.

What is Rarity?
Most Pokémon cards come in different rarities that can be determined by checking a rarity symbol located in the bottom right of the card.

Common cards have a black circle.

Uncommon cards have a black diamond.

Rare cards have a black star.

Promo cards have a black star with the word “PROMO” printed over it.

 After these rarities, Pokémon packs can contain ultra-rares which only appear randomly in some packs, with some cards being rarer than others.

V cards appear in approximately 1 in every 8 packs.

VMAX cards appear in approximately 1 in every 18 packs.

Full art versions of cards and rainbow cards are even rarer, some appearing in 1 in every 550 packs.