Pokemon + TCG magazines/books?

A

Anavel_Gato

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Years ago, when I first began playing Pokemon and other tcgs, I remember reading a lot of gaming magazines that talked strategy, card prices, etc. They were magazines like Scrye, InQuest and, most memorably, Beckett's Pokemon Collector. Scrye and InQuest have long since gone the way of the dinosaur, and I believe Beckett's Pokemon Collector has done the same, unfortunately.

I remember buying copies of these magazines at the grocery store as a kid and reading them cover to cover. They were a great resource in a time when the internet wasn't quite so ubiquitous. Did anyone else read magazines like these for tips on Pokemon? Do any such magazines still exist? Do you guys think such publications are worthwhile anymore, seeing as there's so much info available online for free?

I also had a copy of this guidebook. Believe me when I say I read this thing ragged. This book was full of tips and strategies and I remember thinking myself the wisest player in all the land for having read it. Did anyone else ever read things like this, or am I just being nostalgic, lol. Do books like these exist anymore, or are they a thing of the past?

Please, discuss!
 
I have that exact guidebook, funnily enough. I got it as a present when I was really young (and I read it many times too hahaha). They don't make these kinds of things anymore, unless you count that pretty bad TCG booklet that came with the Toxicroak G Promo. It only talked about the cards in that one set (Rising Rivals), but it did include an SP decklist in it.

dmaster out.
 
Back in the day, I had this old guide book that talked about some strategy and also price guides on cards. I'm pretty sure it was valid through Fossil, put out sometime before Team Rocket came out. I read the thing cover to cover a number of times, and was pretty pleased with the number of "expensive" (and therefore fancy) cards that I had. Haven't seen that guide book in ages; it's probably sitting in the same black hole where all my old cards are.

Haven't seen anything quite like that recently, though with the Internet being so common, there's not really a need for it. I picked up a Dutch pokémon magazine on a lark the last time I was in Amsterdam, and while it was amusing to read (and I got this awesome Pikachu sweatband as a magazine freebie), it was definitely geared towards young kids and didn't really have much of interest. In their TCG section, they did talk about some of the upcoming BW card releases, but that information had already been well-known online for quite sometime.

Outside of Japan, I don't think there's much of a call for that sort of thing anymore, and it only really works in Japan because they're so close to the core of everything that magazines there (like CoroCoro) really can have breaking news on subjects. The strategy elements to things are probably best left for players to discuss online, and not for marketers to promote.
 
In North America, no Pokémon TCG magazine exists anymore. The magazine business is in dire straits, and tons and tons of niche magazines have since stopped publishing. Heck, MAD Magazine is in deep trouble.

Online magazines are the only viable types of magazines left in America (which is why Cracked zoomed ahead of MAD). None of the Pokémon TCG magazines jumped online, so they've all folded. I believe Beckett still exists as a sports card collectors' magazine, but as far as card games go, they're done.

Paper magazines are still popular in Asia and Europe though.
 
I don't think it helped that lawyers went sue crazy and made a lot of threats about the use of Pokemon images, etc.
 
When I started, the first booklet I got was the Promocroak booklet. I read cover to cover many times over. :)

Artimis. I also have that, that is soo cool!
 
Yup, I had the platinum/rising rivals promo-croak book. If you live in the UK Pokemon World is a decent magazine to read. They are actually linked with serebii.
 
Oh man Beckett was awesome back in the day. I kinda gave up on it when they started focusing mainly on other anime though. I purchase Nintendo Power occasionally but in terms of fully dedicated to pokemon magazines, I havn't had any luck anymore.
 
Beckett still has it's little, knock-up, fail magazine for all things about all video games, which usually includes a page or two about pokemon.

Game strategist iirc
 
I remember walking into Kroger in around 2001 and picking up the very first copy of Beckett Pokemon, the one with Ash and Pikachu on the cover. For the next 3-4 years, I was an avid reader of it and Pojo (I always joked around with my friend about which was the better of the two). For our generation, the majority didn't have internet, and even for those who did, it wasn't as established as it is today, so sites like Pokebeach and Serebii weren't there. We stayed up to date through these magazines, and I still own most of them today. Good times.
 
PokeMedic said:
I don't think it helped that lawyers went sue crazy and made a lot of threats about the use of Pokemon images, etc.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it, lawsuits and copyright infringement fiascos ruin alot of good things especially when it involves marketing and capitalism. Heck the FCC does this for a living to ruin people's pleasures for their pleasures and it makes me sick just thinking about it.
 
Yeah, it's pretty much the Internet responsible. Most print publications have suffered as of late, not just magazines, actually.
 
dont they still produce Beckett Pokemon Collector?

I know it eventually went into Beckett Anime Collector at one point, but I thought they picked back up on Pokemon Collector not long ago?
 
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