<font color=plum>I was working a half-day on Christmas Eve and met our Director of Nursing in the mail room shortly before leaving. She was opening a package she had received from an E-bay vendor.

Inside were <font color=white>4</font> Yu-Gi-Oh cards for which she had paid <font color=white>$214.00</font> [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] She said it was all her son (9 yrs old) wanted for Christmas because he would be able to win ANY battle he entered with these 4 cards. {btw, Yu-Gi-Oh is a cartoon-based trading card game similar to Pokemon and Magic}.

That was outrageous enough, but then she told me she had once spent $200.00 on ONE Pokemon card....only to have her son grow tired of Pokemon a few months later.
[img]graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]

Is it just me? Or does anybody else think this is just completely insane? Spending that kind of money on a handful of cards that are going to be tossed aside before long is just plain crazy. Obviously, she didn't learn her lesson with the Pokemon card. [img]graemlins/headshake.gif[/img] </font>

I would like to say I'm shocked and amazed, but these days, stories like this are too common. Many parents stopped setting any boundaries years ago.

Well, I dunno. If it's ALL her son got from her for Christmas the amount of money itself doesn't seem like too much. But, with a chick like this, I expect she bought the little bugger a bunch of other stuff as well.

The CCG craze confounds me. It seems silly. But, Having your 9-yr-old son obsessed with playing fantasy card games is better than having your 9-yr-old son sneaking cigarettes with his pals in your garage. Or is it?

Ultimately, though, once you've bought into the "it's an okay activity for my kid" opinion of a CCG, you're stuck - because the game is designed such that the newest rarest most expensive card is also a game-winning ass-kicker.

If you're swimming in money, then you'd do the same. If heard crazier stories.

I've spent that much for my son but it was for music equipment and once for a bike. However in both cases that was all he got. He was 11 and I got him an electric bass and amp. It was a starter set and cost about $250.00. That was 8 years ago. He has been in a band for 7 years now, had 3 basses, 2 guitars, and enough equipment to fill a truck. Obviously it was a gift that has paid off. By the way, his band has produced 2 independent CD's and is talking to 2 record labels and has a good chance to be signed.

Even though all my sons collected trading cards when they were young I never got them anything that cost more than face value.

It's really the buyer decision. As long as they aren't using your money who cares. IMHO it's a foolish buy, but not my decision. And if she got a lot of pleasure out of giving the gift, then that's what counts.

<font color=plum><font color=lime>antryg</font> - There is a difference between spending money on something that qualifies as "durable goods" (to use Purchasing terminology) and something that is nothing more than a passing fad. I remember hearing similar stories when Pokemon and Power Rangers were the <font color=red>hot items</font> for Christmas. My wife and I probably spent about $250.00 on our 3 boys also...but that was for ALL three of them. We didn't spend that kind of money on any ONE gift (not even for each other).

<font color=gray>johnny</font> - I suppose the adage about "spending it if you got it" is true. The wife and husband both have administrative level jobs at different hospitals (small hospitals, but still). And the husband comes from a family with money. I suppose to them, $200.00 per child isn't excessive. As you said, I have also heard crazier stories.

<font color=orange>Timber</font> - I doubt they "swamped" the kid with other gifts. They have one son who is a senior in high school and a girl that is approaching her teen years, so the money has to be "spread around". Last year, the kids got an X-Box...but that was the one BIG gift and it was for all 3 of them to share. Of course, they had just purchased the PS2 the year before, so it isn't like any of the kids had to actually "wait in line" to play games.

<font color=palegreen>Arnabas</font> - Your point is the one that bothers me the most about this whole affais. The adult's in our society today often feel like they "have to" buy their kids the latest and best toys/clothes/cars/etc. The problem is that the child never learns to appreciate the stuff they get when the parent gives them whatever they want. I remember seeing interviews of parents a few years ago during the Power Ranger Craze!. Several women said they were calling every toy store in town asking WHEN they were getting their next shipment of Power Ranger figures in. These women would then go stand in line (and sometimes even fight with each other) over who got the "best figures" as they came off the truck. One woman said she had a set schedule she followed so that she arrived at EVERY toy store in town shortly after their truck arrived.

She said her efforts had paid off, though, because she had FINALLY gotten her son ALL the Power Ranger figures....at a grand total of around <font color=white>$2,000.00</font>!! [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

My question was .....how did she PAY for them?? Since she was never at WORK!</font>

<font color="#ff00cc">You know <font color=plum>Cerek</font>, I would agree with you except I know this guy who once spent $2,000 tricking out a Computer that 6 months later was no better than just average...... [img]smile.gif[/img]

We all have our hobbies, and I for one frequently spend too much on mine for no real long term gain [img]smile.gif[/img] Merry Christmas and Happy new year all! </font>

When I were a lass, me mum would spend her hard earned on prezzies for me and my little bro, and we'd spend the next week playing with the cardboard box it came in... A big cardboard box could be so many things... pirate ship, cave full of treasure, spaceship, island, fort, castle, wigwam.... those were the days...

<font color="#ff00cc">Oh man, you just brought back a long lost memory for me [img]smile.gif[/img] I remember, one christmas my dad bought a new Refridgerator...we played with that box (it made a great club house) more than we did with our christmas presents [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>