The Machamp Ploy

Remember those little monsters in the red and white balls? You know, the ones with the funny names, that were in those video games when you were kids? I still have some of the original cards, the ones the video games were based on. Among them is a 1st Edition Holographic Machamp. Now I love me some four-armed smackdown goodness, but Machamp has never been a popular choice. Other fighting types have more hit points, and better accuracy. In the video games you had to trade with someone else to get them past Machoke, and let's be honest, most of us never traded with a real person.

But my point here is that although I love this particular Pokemon, I'm in a bind for some cash right now and I thought I'd at least look up what the bad boy is worth. Turns out he's worth $0.50. That's right, not even a full dollar. Because it seems a million of these were printed, one came in every one of the original release starter sets. They're some of the most common cards of the series.

Now I'm glad to have an excuse to put it back in its case and keep the little bugger, but it's with a little less enthusiasm now that I know I'm saving a near worthless card in a hard-case. It peeves me a little that they bothered to print "1st Edition" anywhere on it, let alone the holographic finish. I guess when you're marketing it to preteens, you don't expect an educated audience, but it brings back memories of playground rumors that all the cards were worthless. That there were only five Charizards ever printed, even though there were seven kids in the school who had one. I remember a time when the joy of collecting these little cards was the highlight of my existence. I remember the joy of opening a tiny packet of paper and feeling like just inside was my Golden Ticket. My very common, nearly worthless Golden Ticket is going back in its box, maybe waiting for a day when the nostalgia factor kicks in and I can buy a new car with the proceeds. Until then, I'll keep it safe, as a reminder of days when the simple joys of candy bars and trading cards made my world go round.

Next time I'll talk a bit about the newest Batman movies, so be sure to follow the blog for regular geeky updates. /shameless plug