Harry Potter TCG -- Parents FAQ
By Will McDermott

As a parent who had to survive the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), I realized how hard it is to handle a game that can overwhelm you and children's lives. From those experiences, I wrote a series of articles and co-authored two books to help parents manage the Pokémon juggernaut.

Now, the Harry Potter TCG is upon us. What is your best weapon in this coming battle? Knowledge. Below are some questions that many parents will be asking in the coming months, and answers from a parent who's been there and come back again.

What is a TCG?
A trading card game is a unique blend of a card game with a set of trading cards (like baseball cards). Players buy, collect, trade, and play the game with these cards. For more information about trading card games and their social and educational benefits, see the "What is a Trading Card Game?" article on this site.

Where can I buy the Harry Potter TCG?
The Harry Potter TCG will be available at Wizards of the Coast stores, The Gamekeeper stores, and other toy, game, and discount department stores nationwide and in Canada and the United Kingdom.

How much will this game cost me?
You can actually spend as much or as little as you want on a trading card game like the Harry Potter TCG. If you and your children just want to enjoy playing a fun card game set in the magical world of Harry Potter, you can simply buy a starter deck and a few boosters, and play the game. That can cost you as little as $10 - $30. If you or your kids want more cards so that you can either build and play more complicated decks or try to collect a full set of the cards, you will probably have to invest in more cards.

The Starter Set should retail for about $10. These decks typically have two 41-card decks. Boosters containing 11 Harry Potter TCG cards should cost $3 - $4, although supply and demand may affect this price in your local store. The boosters are randomized, containing a random assortment of cards in a specific proportion of commons, uncommons, and rares.

What are boosters?
Boosters are the most common way to buy TCG cards. The Harry Potter boosters have a random assortment of 11 cards. However, a booster has only 1 rare card, which is why rares tend to be more valuable (and harder to collect). The other 10 cards are 2 uncommon, 6 common, and 2 Lesson cards.

Are these cards valuable?
Some trading card game cards have been known to become very valuable to collectors. However, it is impossible to predict how the secondary collector market will value any particular Harry Potter TCG card, and these values will vary from region to region and even from city to city and store to store. There are price guides for other TCGs, and while these in no way can tell you the exact price you can get for a card, they are very useful for determining the relative values of cards.

Based on the performance of other TCGs, you can expect an average common card to be worth about $0.10 to $0.25; and average uncommon card to be worth from $0.50 to $1; an average rare card to be worth from $3 to $5; and an average premium card to be worth from $7 to $10. The popularity of the card and its effect in the game will alter these average values for specific cards. For example, you can probably expect cards depicting the more popular characters to be worth more than the average cards in the set.

What are premium cards?
Premium cards come in two types: foils and holoportraits. Foil cards are non-character cards that feature a lightning bolt foil pattern. As you might expect, these cards are harder to find than non-foil cards. Holoportrait cards will be the most sought-after (and most expensive) Harry Potter TCG cards. You can recognize a holoportrait card by its shiny, holographic-like image. Only character cards receive the holoportrait treatment

How can I learn to play?
The Harry Potter TCG is actually very easy to learn (especially if you have played any other trading card games). However, like any trading card game, this game gets more complex the more you learn about it. You can build your own decks, try different strategies, and even add new cards to old decks when expansion sets come out.

The best way to learn how to play the Harry Potter TCG is to buy a Starter Set. This boxed set comes with everything you need to learn how to play the game, including two 41-card Starter decks, one rulebook, and a playmat that has the beginning-level game play rules printed on it. There is also an online demo on this site that can give you a feel for how to play the Harry Potter TCG. If you want to learn more about strategies and deckbuilding, check out the strategy articles on the site.

What is the age range for this game?
As with most trading card games, you need a fair amount of reading and math skills to play the Harry Potter TCG. Wizards of the Coast suggests that the game is suitable for children ages 8 and up. However, older kids (10-14 year olds) will be better able to grasp the nuances of both playing the game and trading the cards, and younger children might have difficulty playing or trading at that level.

What's with all the text on these cards?
Unlike regular trading cards that often have a picture and a name (and perhaps some interesting fact) about the character or person on the card, trading card game cards have much more text. This text is used when playing the game, which is a big part of what trading card games are all about. The Harry Potter TCG cards have the name of the card, the cost to play the card, the effect the card has on the game, and often some interesting fact about the character (which has nothing to do with the game, but is fun to read). To learn how to read a Harry Potter card, check out our "Anatomy of a Card" activity.

How do you tell the rarity of a card?
To tell the rarity of a Harry Potter card, look at the symbol in the lower right corner of the card. A circle appears on common cards. A diamond appears on uncommon cards. A star appears on rare cards. Premium cards (cards with holographic images) are also rare and have the star on them. Knowing how to tell the rarity of a card is very important when you or your kids start trading cards.

How can I help my kids make good trades?
There are three rules of thumb you should teach your children. First, make sure they know how to determine the rarity of a card and tell them to never trade a rare card for a common card. Second, tell your children to ask an adult if they're not sure whether a trade is a good one. Third, make sure your kids understand that if they don't want to make the trade they don't have to.

How do I keep my children's cards safe?
Lock them up in your house (the cards, not the kids). Seriously, though, collectibles are often targeted by thieves and opportunists because they are in high demand and are often very portable. Such is the case with trading card game cards. Here are some rules you can use in your house to help safeguard your child's collection:

1. Leave your most valuable cards at home unless you plan to play with them or trade them. Don't take them out to show off to your friends.

2. Keep all cards not involved in a trade or a game safely tucked away in a binder or in your backpack.

3. Try to keep an eye on your binders/backpack even when you are concentrating on something else (like a game or a trade).

4. Know the difference between a rare card and a common card, and avoid complex trades involving a lot of cards of different rarities unless you understand the values of the cards. (To be safe, only trade rare for rare, uncommon for uncommon, common for common.)

Will there be a Harry Potter TCG League?
There are currently plans to create a Harry Potter TCG League where fans can go play the game, meet other players, trade cards in a supervised setting, and earn cool prizes like promotional cards. In fact, Diagon Alley (a learn-to-play event) should be underway soon. For information on how to get involved in this league playtest, see the League Play area of our site. The first season of the Harry Potter TCG League should begin in early 2002 at a toy, game, or hobby store near you. Watch this site for information on how to find a store and what to expect when you get to the league.

What are TCG tournaments like?
Most tournaments for Wizards of the Coast trading card games use tournament rules created by the DCI. (The DCI is Wizards of the Coast's official tournament sanctioning body.)

If you need more information about DCI tournament rules, check out the DCI website at www.wizards.com/DCI and click on "Tournament Rules." If you still have questions, find a game store near you that holds Magic or Pokémon TCG tournaments (check a Wizards of the Coast store or your local league store), and go watch. The kids have fun, but I won't kid you -- tournaments can be tough. They are a great way for kids to learn about good sportsmanship, the rigors of competition, and the rewards for hard practice, but they can be pretty competitive, and they do make for a long day.

Will there be more card sets?
Yes. The first set of Harry Potter TCG cards is just the basic set for the game, which has everything you need to get started playing and collecting. In future months, Wizards of the Coast plans to release expansion sets that will have more cards for the game. These cards will give players more possibilities for building decks and playing the game, and they will give collectors some cool new cards to trade for.

Is this really magic?
No. The Harry Potter TCG is simply that -- a game. While some of the cards do have spells and potions and other magical terms on them, this simply reflects the wonderful and wondrous world that J. K. Rowling has created around Harry Potter. The Harry Potter TCG is simply a fun way for fans of all ages to pretend for a time that they are a part of this magical world.

Where can I get more information about the Harry Potter TCG?
Your best source for information about the Harry Potter TCG is this website and the good people in the Wizards of the Coast Customer Service department. If you can't find the answer you are looking for here, send an email to custserv@wizards.com and ask one of our Customer Service representatives -- they have all the latest information about upcoming products. Plus, they play all the games we make, so they are great people to ask if you have a rules question.

About the Author
Will McDermott is the former editor in chief of TopDeck magazine and author of the "Pokémon for Parents" article series. He is also the co-author of both Pokémon Made Simple and Let's Play Pokémon.