Early Pokemon and the kid-run economy that surrounded it

[Moonshroom]

Pokemon was the first massive phenomenon I remember taking part in. And even though I actually went and described it to the best of my ability, that job wasn't nearly a thorough as it could have been... Why? Because I failed to do little more than mentioning its most interesting aspect: the kid-run economy surrounding the whole thing.

I mean, sure, I did mention that drawings were being sold for a profit, but that was but the tip of the iceberg. Things only got more interesting from there.

You gotta understand that this was THE phenomenon and that everyone wanted to be involved with its for as long as it was "cool" to do so... and that meant that no expenses were spared when it came to capturing some of its thunder. People would go on and sell their repeated stamps for a hefty profit (hell, I even managed to sell off an entire box of them for $10, which was a LOT of money back then). Some kids would also try and sell copies of the ROMS, which blew some of us away but to say that we didn't really know how to use them would be an understatement... emulation was almost as new as the franchise it was trying to get to run back then and many of the emulators available were either not translated (which was a complete deal breaker for us, Second Graders) or just plain bad. Furthermore, some of our computers were actually trashy enough as to be unable to run them, which caused no insignificant amount of arguments between buyers and sellers.

That was all fun and great, but one kid actually went above and beyond in his quest for profit and actually managed to put himself out of business by virtue of being too ahead of his time. What did he do? He charged you to evolve your trade-only Pokemon for you.

It was truly a sight to behold as most of us hadn't even SEEN a Gameboy up to that point and here was this cool kid flashing one around school, with a Link Cable at the ready and a grin on his face. We stared at him in awe as the only kids who actually had a Gameboy themselves would line up in front of him to get their Machamps, Alakazams, Golems and Gengars from him for $5 each (again, that was a lot of money back then). This kid sure had everything figured out... except the amount of customers he would get.

He ran out of costumers quite fast due to a combination of the steep price he charged and the amount of kids who could actually take him up on his offer... parents started getting suspicious when their kids suddenly asked for a raise in their school expenses and, at any rate, how many times would someone go through the trouble? None of us were completionists back then and weren't really into owning every single Pokemon, either... it was kinda pointless without the ability to show them off or use them in battle against other people. Furthermore, Gameboys were soon banned around the school, so he really did have an uphill battle ahead of him.

But to say he was at a loss there would be to ignore the amount of bank he made while he could... he was actually filthy rich by the time he got through his operation and then decided to invest some of it in stamps to exchange, but the market was already quite dead by the time he started seriously considering it. Soon you couldn't even give those away and most stores stopped getting them delivered to them due to a lack of interest and the ending of the printing season.

Making a profit out of Pokemon-related items was only a temporary gold mine and only the very skillest among us all (mostly the kids who could draw) were able to get some coins into their pockets later on, albeit with a massive discount due to a dwindling interest on the subject matter.

And while this wasn't really a money-maker in its own right, I remember that some of the girls in our classroom were actually quite good as making little stands with their leftover stamps. The effect was quite cool and drew many envious glances.

But maaaaan... I cannot NOT smile when I think back on all our "black market" operations and how they would drive parents and teachers alike completely crazy by distracting us and making us forfeit our schoolwork for a quick taste of fantasy. Truly, those were the days.

[Kyng]

Since this post is focusing mostly on the games (rather than the anime series, like the linked thread did), I'll put it in Nintendo .

But yes, I can imagine that kind of thing springing up in a lot of places . I don't recall anyone over here paying people to evolve their Pokémon, but if they did try it, then I suspect they would have made quite a bit of money!

Thanks for sharing .

[Moonshroom]

Since this post is focusing mostly on the games (rather than the anime series, like the linked thread did), I'll put it in Nintendo .

But yes, I can imagine that kind of thing springing up in a lot of places . I don't recall anyone over here paying people to evolve their Pokémon, but if they did try it, then I suspect they would have made quite a bit of money!

Thanks for sharing .

I honestly think that that kid would get laughed at if he attempted it today... but we were both hooked and green and didn't know any better. I commend his resourcefulness, though.

[Kyng]

Since this post is focusing mostly on the games (rather than the anime series, like the linked thread did), I'll put it in Nintendo .

But yes, I can imagine that kind of thing springing up in a lot of places . I don't recall anyone over here paying people to evolve their Pokémon, but if they did try it, then I suspect they would have made quite a bit of money!

Thanks for sharing .

I honestly think that that kid would get laughed at if he attempted it today... but we were both hooked and green and didn't know any better. I commend his resourcefulness, though.

Yeah, he probably would .

Although, if he tried something similar with a franchise that's fashionable now, then he might have more luck!

[Moonshroom]

Since this post is focusing mostly on the games (rather than the anime series, like the linked thread did), I'll put it in Nintendo .

But yes, I can imagine that kind of thing springing up in a lot of places . I don't recall anyone over here paying people to evolve their Pokémon, but if they did try it, then I suspect they would have made quite a bit of money!

Thanks for sharing .

I honestly think that that kid would get laughed at if he attempted it today... but we were both hooked and green and didn't know any better. I commend his resourcefulness, though.

Yeah, he probably would .

Although, if he tried something similar with a franchise that's fashionable now, then he might have more luck!

I remember how pissed off he was when someone found out that you could trade with the No$GBC emulator... and then with TGB Dual. Man, that takes me back.

I actually think that someone could make decent bank by "renting out" a cheat devise for a portable system even now.

[Kyng]

I honestly think that that kid would get laughed at if he attempted it today... but we were both hooked and green and didn't know any better. I commend his resourcefulness, though.

Yeah, he probably would .

Although, if he tried something similar with a franchise that's fashionable now, then he might have more luck!

I remember how pissed off he was when someone found out that you could trade with the No$GBC emulator... and then with TGB Dual. Man, that takes me back.

I actually think that someone could make decent bank by "renting out" a cheat devise for a portable system even now.

Yeah, probably, unless they just find ways to do it online. And when one does, that knowledge would probably just spread to everyone else .

But, I suppose they could make money for a short while!