Sec.1 Address to the editor
Dear Editor,
I am writing to Time Magazine with regard to writing an article about the economics of the largely popular trading card game, Pokémon. Pokémon trading cards have been in circulation since 1996 and have gone through fluctuation of sales, prices, and popularity. Yet, the trading card game is still played, collected, and cherished within many age groups, such as myself. The prices of these cards also continue to skyrocket as they become rarer and more sought after. This article I am proposing would tackle the question “what makes these cards so valuable?” and bring to light the reasoning as to why the Pokémon scene continues to find itself in every kid’s hand. Also, I would discuss why Pokémon has had a dedicated fan base, as compared to competing card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh. Millions of people worldwide still own cards today, and it may seem that Pokémon has died out but in reality, there have been hundreds of new Pokémon created, and numerous games, T.V. shows, and movies are still being produced. How is Pokémon so popular? Why does it appeal to such a wide audience? How many billions of dollars has it made? What are the future trends looking like? This topic is relevant because Pokémon is ubiquitous and is an example of one of the largest collectible card games, which is a part of the childhood of many of Times readers. I want to dive into all aspects of Pokémon from a money standpoint, which also entails talking about the success of Pokémon, and their failures. This would require the history of Pokémon to be discussed along with the way that the company sells their product. Advertising is something that would need to be looked into. Overall, this topic of interest needs to be addressed within a copy of Time as it is interesting and most of all relevant to the Time audience. I hope you will consider my topic for publication, and if you have any suggestions that may help the strength of my topic, please let me know. Thank you.
Sec.2 Working Thesis
1. From an economic standpoint, Pokémon has done very well since 1996, however it has had its decline. Mainly, these declines come from dissentious actions by the company, a lack of advertising, and the audience growing older.
2. Since 1996, Pokémon has rattled the trading card industry, with sales of over xxxxxx cards. Although Pokémon has had fluctuations through the years, Pokémon continues to stay relevant because of its value, collectability, artwork, video games, T.V. shows, audience, and advertising.
3. Pokémon has trumped its competitors in every aspect. Pokémon cards are more valuable and collectible than its competitors, such as Yu-Gi-Oh, because of its passionate and larger fan base, superior quality and artwork, and more social relevance from its video games and T.V. shows.
4. Pokémon has gone through many inclines and declines economically….
As you can see I’m not too sure where to head in regards to my thesis… I want my paper to be about the money side of Pokémon but that requires talk about everything else also.
Sec.3 Your Sources
1. Scholarly: Haiven, Max. "Can Pikachu Save Fannie Mae?" Cultural Studies 26.4 (2012): 516-41. Print.
This source has a very large scope. It has sections dedicated to “The rise of Pokémon,” “The creative value of Pokémon cards,” and “Structure and Agency in the Pokeconomy.” Also, this piece cites about thirty other sources, which I could find useful.
“Children might collect Pokémon toys, watch the show, trade cards or plush toys, play video games or read comic books. Indeed, recent reports estimate that there are over 3,500 separate official Pokémon commodities on the market, thanks to Nintendo’s liberal brand licensing policies (Gantayat 2009).” This section then goes on to explain why kids are attracted to Pokémon and the company’s strategy of marketing. An interesting read.
2. Scholarly: Cook, Daniel Thomas. "Exchange Value as Pedagogy in Children's Leisure: Moral Panics in Children's Culture at Century's End." Leisure Sciences 23.2 (2001): 81-98. Print.
This source does not have a large scope, however it has given me some ideas about the way the trading cards appeal to children. The piece argues on both sides how kids collecting and more specifically, trading the cards can be a sometimes be unfair economically. The piece describes and incident when a kid traded a worthless card for a thirty dollar card, an example that I could use to discuss the value of cards and the fact that people will lie or scam in order to get a more expensive card.
3. Non Web: Tobin, Joseph Jay. Pikachu's Global Adventure : The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. Print.
This book explains the history of Pokémon and how it was an instant success in 1996 in Japan with the release of the video game. “Nintendo planned the development and launch of Pokémon very carefully, and they made many wise, strategic decisions about how to capture the children’s market. But this is not to say that Nintendo anticipated Pokémon’s incredible success, that they followed a scripted plan, or that they did not make marketing mistakes along the way.” “In the first year, the Pokémon franchise generated $5 billion, almost as much as the whole U.S. gaming industry in 1998.” This book is a great source that has a vast amount of useful information. The only downside is that it is an older book, and therefore cannot tell about current times.
Sec. 4 Research Plan
The good part about this assignment is that I am genuinely interested in the topic, given the fact that I was and will always be a Pokémon fan. I’m interested to know what struggles Pokémon had to go through in order to stay successful. With more general research about Pokémon, I want to come up with a solid thesis about the economics of Pokémon or even if I still want to stick with that direction. I want to look into other databases for scholarly sources, as I only have one which is very helpful. I would also like to find another physical book to use. I also want to interview other college students to find out if they still enjoy Pokémon or have a collection or when they lost interest.
Dear Editor,
I am writing to Time Magazine with regard to writing an article about the economics of the largely popular trading card game, Pokémon. Pokémon trading cards have been in circulation since 1996 and have gone through fluctuation of sales, prices, and popularity. Yet, the trading card game is still played, collected, and cherished within many age groups, such as myself. The prices of these cards also continue to skyrocket as they become rarer and more sought after. This article I am proposing would tackle the question “what makes these cards so valuable?” and bring to light the reasoning as to why the Pokémon scene continues to find itself in every kid’s hand. Also, I would discuss why Pokémon has had a dedicated fan base, as compared to competing card games such as Yu-Gi-Oh. Millions of people worldwide still own cards today, and it may seem that Pokémon has died out but in reality, there have been hundreds of new Pokémon created, and numerous games, T.V. shows, and movies are still being produced. How is Pokémon so popular? Why does it appeal to such a wide audience? How many billions of dollars has it made? What are the future trends looking like? This topic is relevant because Pokémon is ubiquitous and is an example of one of the largest collectible card games, which is a part of the childhood of many of Times readers. I want to dive into all aspects of Pokémon from a money standpoint, which also entails talking about the success of Pokémon, and their failures. This would require the history of Pokémon to be discussed along with the way that the company sells their product. Advertising is something that would need to be looked into. Overall, this topic of interest needs to be addressed within a copy of Time as it is interesting and most of all relevant to the Time audience. I hope you will consider my topic for publication, and if you have any suggestions that may help the strength of my topic, please let me know. Thank you.
Sec.2 Working Thesis
1. From an economic standpoint, Pokémon has done very well since 1996, however it has had its decline. Mainly, these declines come from dissentious actions by the company, a lack of advertising, and the audience growing older.
2. Since 1996, Pokémon has rattled the trading card industry, with sales of over xxxxxx cards. Although Pokémon has had fluctuations through the years, Pokémon continues to stay relevant because of its value, collectability, artwork, video games, T.V. shows, audience, and advertising.
3. Pokémon has trumped its competitors in every aspect. Pokémon cards are more valuable and collectible than its competitors, such as Yu-Gi-Oh, because of its passionate and larger fan base, superior quality and artwork, and more social relevance from its video games and T.V. shows.
4. Pokémon has gone through many inclines and declines economically….
As you can see I’m not too sure where to head in regards to my thesis… I want my paper to be about the money side of Pokémon but that requires talk about everything else also.
Sec.3 Your Sources
1. Scholarly: Haiven, Max. "Can Pikachu Save Fannie Mae?" Cultural Studies 26.4 (2012): 516-41. Print.
This source has a very large scope. It has sections dedicated to “The rise of Pokémon,” “The creative value of Pokémon cards,” and “Structure and Agency in the Pokeconomy.” Also, this piece cites about thirty other sources, which I could find useful.
“Children might collect Pokémon toys, watch the show, trade cards or plush toys, play video games or read comic books. Indeed, recent reports estimate that there are over 3,500 separate official Pokémon commodities on the market, thanks to Nintendo’s liberal brand licensing policies (Gantayat 2009).” This section then goes on to explain why kids are attracted to Pokémon and the company’s strategy of marketing. An interesting read.
2. Scholarly: Cook, Daniel Thomas. "Exchange Value as Pedagogy in Children's Leisure: Moral Panics in Children's Culture at Century's End." Leisure Sciences 23.2 (2001): 81-98. Print.
This source does not have a large scope, however it has given me some ideas about the way the trading cards appeal to children. The piece argues on both sides how kids collecting and more specifically, trading the cards can be a sometimes be unfair economically. The piece describes and incident when a kid traded a worthless card for a thirty dollar card, an example that I could use to discuss the value of cards and the fact that people will lie or scam in order to get a more expensive card.
3. Non Web: Tobin, Joseph Jay. Pikachu's Global Adventure : The Rise and Fall of Pokémon. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. Print.
This book explains the history of Pokémon and how it was an instant success in 1996 in Japan with the release of the video game. “Nintendo planned the development and launch of Pokémon very carefully, and they made many wise, strategic decisions about how to capture the children’s market. But this is not to say that Nintendo anticipated Pokémon’s incredible success, that they followed a scripted plan, or that they did not make marketing mistakes along the way.” “In the first year, the Pokémon franchise generated $5 billion, almost as much as the whole U.S. gaming industry in 1998.” This book is a great source that has a vast amount of useful information. The only downside is that it is an older book, and therefore cannot tell about current times.
Sec. 4 Research Plan
The good part about this assignment is that I am genuinely interested in the topic, given the fact that I was and will always be a Pokémon fan. I’m interested to know what struggles Pokémon had to go through in order to stay successful. With more general research about Pokémon, I want to come up with a solid thesis about the economics of Pokémon or even if I still want to stick with that direction. I want to look into other databases for scholarly sources, as I only have one which is very helpful. I would also like to find another physical book to use. I also want to interview other college students to find out if they still enjoy Pokémon or have a collection or when they lost interest.