I am the mother of a boisterous and impressionable 9 year old who has gone through all the trends possible for this near decade of his life.
There was Ben10 everything, Cars 1, 2 & 3 branded stuff, marbles, yo-yos, spinning tops, Top Trumps, supermarket collecting miniatures and the list goes on, ad nauseam.
Enter the blind pack, or for those who are not au fait with the term, foil packets of cards, one can collect and trade such as the likes of football cards, Star Wars ones, or my son's personal kryptonite, Pokemon cards. The interest or 'addiction', started a couple of years ago when the boys at school started collecting and trading them amongst the peers and we jumped halfheartedly on the bandwagon.
One can buy one packet containing 10 cards, or a box set containing loads of colourful and shiny 'holo's', 'basic', 'secret rare', 'GX' etc etc etc...
We have humoured my son and are of the belief that he should be able to spend his pocket money and birthday cash on what he would like to spend it on. Within reason.
The suspense of what he will pull in his purchase of blind pack or box set and instant gratification should he succeed and get something epic strikes me as something very similar to gambling. The elation he gets from striking gold with something of value in the greater scheme of Pokemon is short-lived and the disappointment brings with it, a hunger to get another pack so that he can prove to himself that he can win, next time, or the one after.
Sounds familiar to me. Isn't that just what gambling is? Spending one's money on something that will make one a winner, or at least feel like a winner.
I am not saying we should stop our kids from enjoying the things they choose to have in their lives, but, let's keep an eye for this one, as I hear alarm bells.
