J.R. Broadbent, 14, squared off against Steven Hansen, 13, one day after school on the cement walk in front of Midge Peppers' house. It was 40 degrees. They weren't wearing coats. They played in grim silence for a while, neither gaining an advantage.
``Let's go inside, man. This thing's too addictive,'' Hansen urged. ``We're gonna end up dying before we win any. It's just as easy to flip 'em on carpet.''
``Carpet's cheating, though,'' Broadbent chastised.
They went inside. Three other groups of kids were playing there.
Broadbent and Hansen were stacking caps for another game.
``Put in that Tropical Storm,'' Hansen urged, pointing at a cap with an airplane on it.
``Yeah, right,'' Broadbent jeered. ``It's worth three bucks.''
Three bucks for a paper circle?
``You could stack 20 each or two each,'' Hansen explained.
``But most people don't want to stack that much because you lose money when you lose pogs,'' Broadbent added.
...
Slammers come in brass, acrylic, laser-engraved wood, plastic, you name it. Homemade slammers are made by stretching a balloon around something circular and taping it down.
``Hey, I paid $4.50 for this,'' Broadbent protested as his metal ``Eliminator'' slammer failed to flip any caps.
``It doesn't even work that good, either,'' Hansen responded.
The real beauty of pogs is that it's cheap, it's social, it's equalizing and it gets kids away from the TV and Nintendo, Edwards said.
``One of the real attractions about this is it's simple,'' she said. ``You can play it with your grandmother, you can play it with your neighbor, you can play it with your sister.
``Some of the neatest kids come in here - they're not jocks or the most beautiful - and they are so excited that they are cool. It's wonderful.''
Some school systems do not agree. A few have banned the game, saying it distracts from school work and smacks of gambling.
...
``One Nintendo game costs $60,'' Edwards remarked. ``Relative to what parents have been paying for children's entertainment, this is a bargain.''
...
Collectibles are fine, Edwards said, but adults started that, and they could ruin the game for kids. ``Kids get so they don't want to play the game because they ruin their collection,'' she said. ``I don't think we want to turn any bunch of 6- to 16-year-olds into a bunch of hoarders and collectors.''
Longevity? She shrugged. ``How long it will be popular, who knows? Probably a couple of years.''
Broadbent and Hansen have both collectibles and playing pogs. Last time they counted, each had around 200.
``I played it and then I quit,'' Broadbent said. ``Now it's back in style, so I'm playing again.''
I have a lot of PS2 (era) games rotting away in cardboard boxes and a slim shelf full of comics. I never really collected anything else, so it's actually a moveable amount of stuff, but most of it is going to get thrown out for sure. I just don't have any impetus right now.
I have a lot of PS2 (era) games rotting away in cardboard boxes and a slim shelf full of comics. I never really collected anything else, so it's actually a moveable amount of stuff, but most of it is going to get thrown out for sure. I just don't have any impetus right now.
Steam library :obamaWhen you hand that down to your grandchildren one day and see their faces you'll think differently.
Yeah right now hipsters are into game collections. As long as you sell it off within a year or two, you could probably clean up nicely.
Allied color fetchlands. :shaq2
i never had any expectation of stuff being worth anything, so I've never been disappointed.
Allied color fetchlands. :shaq2
Time to invest in Thoughtseizes. :aah
Allied color fetchlands. :shaq2
Time to invest in Thoughtseizes. :aah
I refuse to spend good money on functionally equivalent Duresses.
Says the guy who bought Stifles.
The fleeting ephemerality of all existence: gotta learn to :patel
collecting is creepy.