I was never really into it other then I really liked the idea of playing with cards and portable nantendo during recess over playing the usual physical sports I was poor and unwanted at, I actually had a couple friends during this time to play with so I think my family may have encouraged me to play/bought the nessicary materails becouse of this. I have got to say I thought it was just a fad when it came out here in 1997-1998, yet it has lasted 15+ years so its long past a fad. How meny are they up to now anyway? There was 150 last I saw with a bunch of new ones coming, I saw the scam anyway that they were comming up with more and more of them so they could keep making money off the kids playing it, they maybe got $10 from me over my lifetime. I was too intelligent for the nantendo marketing department.
I also remember the school yard debates over the fake cards and the real ones, the fake ones could be bought for 1/5th the price at the dollar store and were narrower, darker colour(more purple-ish) on the back, not made in holographic and were missing the trademark logos in the lower corner.