The world of Pokémon is quite complex, and kids love that. They love the sorting, categorizing, and memorizing of facts that goes along with the different creatures and their attributes.
Kids interact with the property in different ways. There are some who are really into the entire story and others who just like collecting the figures because they’re cool things to have.
The good part is that there are many different ways for kids to be engaged in the property, and that the fun really is in the collecting.
As mentioned, you don’t have to know the entire mythos of the world of Pokémon, but for all the confusion of names, it really is a quality product. For instance, in the world of Pokémon, teamwork is prized. When you fight, you don’t die, you just get stunned, and you can’t evolve to the next level (an important part of the play pattern) if you don’t respect the rules.
The rules of the Pokémon world are fairly elaborate. They reflect the values of fair play, cooperation, respect, and doing one’s best that we all try to inspire in the kids in our lives.
The other great thing about these is that they are priced so that they make great impulse toys. You don’t have to spend a lot to delight a child by getting him or her get a collectible he or she doesn’t yet have.
