Funny to watch this many years later. 50 seconds in the guy being interviewed says one of the kids moms says they are collectible and is saving packs. Reporter then says “News flash, these things come and go she doesn’t really think…”
Anyone else have links to old videos like this from the '99 craze?
He’s smart. He was careful to avoid the liability of guaranteeing a hit, but he gave all the necessary wink winks. He knew what was going on, its staying power, and why it would be valuable in the future.
Pretty nifty video! I remember stuff like beanie babies coming and going but as a kid you just knew there was something special about pokemon. The games were amazing and the people responsible for marketing were masters of their craft.
Great video, thanks for sharing it with us 
Now the discussion on “How long can a fad last?” is pretty much common with new content made these days, it’s absolutely nothing new in the world of franchising. Especially with things going viral unexpectedly today made possible by social media and the internet. If anything, it’s harder to maintain interest/popularity today with so many products churned out every second by franchises based on video games/television/movie/books/etc…
I believe it was pretty conservative of David to speculate that Pokemon may have reached its peak at the time. To me, it just boils down to well-calculated moves by Nintendo in creating merchandise based on a popular video game to cement its position as a video game legacy for many years similar to Mario.
Also 90s were the best 
Yes, I remember that well. Plus, Duke was right. Many parents, especially “crazy like a fox” me, did exactly what he was curious about. I stuck loads of it away after my wife travelled the city sun up to sundown looking for packs. Sure my boys were the heroes of their schools, but I built my secret stash at the same time lol.
I remember driving all over from comic shop to bookstore looking for 1st Edition Base packs upon release (or ideally a box). Most were sold out in the first day or two as news started to hit and hype built. Even once Unlimited printing hit they were consistently sold out for months. I think I managed to get like 10-12 packs or so of 1st Edition base set and a couple Booster boxes of Shadowless. I did pull a 1st Edition Charizard, Blastoise and a couple others (which a younger me graded and sold a number of years ago).
David Duke…was a bit surprised to see him talking about Pokemon at first…realised it’s a different one
He thought the same thing. lol
Reporter: “No, not that David Duke.”
Collector: *rolls eyes*