[Rebelbase]

For every parent of a teenager, one of the worst cartoons ever:

[didi]

Aargh! No kidding! Product driven animation.

We avoided Pokemon from ages 3-almost 9- we did not have cable television, so he only saw the cartoon if he was visiting someone who had it. We ignored it, but the cards were just a nightmare. I saw the cartoon when we were on vacation and told him it was beneath him ("you're too smart for that" ). He was 5.

I refused to allow the merchandise for a long time, partly because of the violence associated with it - meaning kids were getting beat up and shot in some places over the cards. Ridiculous.

When he was around 8 or 9 (about 2000) he started getting the cards, and my brother in law would send the very cool Japanese versions of Pokemon things to him so he had the 'best stuff'.