There is a generation of tatters, why did "My Little Pony" become the new favorite of this class of primary school students?

Nowadays, the trend of primary school students is really becoming more and more incomprehensible......

Image source: Weibo

When the girls are chattering about the rarity of my Little Pony, and the boys are rummaging through the trash cans to find the "cigarette card", I believe many parents are looking for a question mark: What is this?

My Little Pony is a member of the animated series My Little Pony, produced by Hasbro in the United States, which tells the story of a group of cute ponies with different shapes and shapes learning magic and protecting their homes.

As early as 2013, this cartoon was screened on CCTV Children's Channel, but it didn't cause much splash.

However, since last year, the release of My Little Pony cards has suddenly brought fire to this IP, and in 2024, it will be even more popular in primary and secondary schools.

The old mother thought about it, and what pushed Pony Baolika to the peak of traffic was probably the children's Spring Festival money.

If the child is more Buddhist, the parent's wallet may still be able to cover it. If you can't keep up with the above-mentioned children to catch up with the soft-hearted old mother, it is not impossible for the collection of cards to bankrupt the family.

Image credit: My Little Pony cartoon

Why is my Little Pony especially addicted to children?

To put it simply, merchants make money with this. Children are consumers, parents are ATMs, let children draw cards addicted, merchants can make more money.

Therefore, cards are well versed in human nature in terms of meaning transmission, probability calculation, advertising, etc., especially for children's appetite.

These three attributes that the cards are given are even more unbearable for parents.

Social attributes: It doesn't matter whether it's a pony card or any other kitten card or pig card, the important thing is that the children are playing, forming a scale effect, and it can be used as a social currency to circulate.

Collecting cards, changing cards, and discussing cards are ways for children to make friends and strengthen relationships, and anyone who doesn't understand cards, or doesn't participate in card collection, can't join this card "circle".

Therefore, the merchant does not even need to do much promotion, and the children will spontaneously become the promotional spokesperson of the card, the "tap water", and attract potential target customers.

Image source: TV series "The Hidden Corner"

Value attribute: Cards are not blown by the wind, but bought with real money. Therefore, cards cannot be possessed indefinitely, but are limited by financial resources, and there is an upper limit.

At this time, there will be a comparison between children, the more cards collected, the more admiring eyes may be gained, and the children with fewer cards will also try to get more money from their parents to buy cards.

Blind box attributes: When children draw cards, they don't know what's inside, and they are affected by curiosity, desire for adventure, and even the psychology of "gamblers", and often can't stop buying them.

After studying the classification of cards, there are many types such as "R", "SR", "SSR", etc., corresponding to rare, ultra-rare, and super rare.

The smaller the quantity, the higher the value, in order to draw the rarest part of the card, children often hold the mentality of "the next pack will be out", and they can't stop buying, buying, buying, buying,

The number and time of each type of card are all strictly and precisely calculated by the merchants, and these careful thoughts of the children have long been grasped by the manufacturer in the palm of their hands.

Image source: Movie "Macau Vice"

The popular Pony Polyka reminded me of a highly discussed topic on the Internet some time ago: a generation has a generation of rags.

Everyone posted the things they collected when they were children, and started a carnival of old things.

Parents born in the sixties and seventies like to collect sparks on matchboxes; post-80s and 90s, who don't have a few "trump cards" and Three Kingdoms character cards at home; now, children's collections have become Ultraman cards and Pony Palli.

Recall that whose childhood was not collected while being threatened by their parents to "throw it all away" by their parents.

I still remember when I was a child, I used to collect magic Sakura cards, save the refill of a gel pen, and for a while I even tore cigarettes and covered them with triangular "cigarette labels", and picked up cigarette boxes on the ground when I saw them, no matter how dirty they were, and piled up a big bag full of them in the house.

Therefore, it is not a new thing for today's children to have such a "hobby".

Even from a psychological point of view, collecting "rags" is a way for children to explore the world, a manifestation of children's curiosity and imagination.

Image source: Movie "Miracle Stupid Child"

From this point of view, collecting cards is just a manifestation of a child's hobby, and parents don't have to worry too much.

However, if you indulge in these "low-level" entertainment activities, ignore the normal study life, interpersonal communication, and even do whatever it takes for pocket money, it is what parents do not want to see.

So, how to let children see the essence of card games and get rid of this "low-level fun"?

The more you don't let your child play with something, the more rebellious your child may be, the more you want to get in touch, and the parent-child relationship becomes precarious.

Instead of banning children from participating in games across the board, it is better to use adult ways to talk and communicate with children, believing that children also have critical thinking skills, self-discipline, and can make decisions that are responsible for themselves.

With the comprehension ability of today's elementary school students, they can basically understand the attributes of card games and business logic.

Image source: unsplash.com

For example, I would ask my child, "Why do cards make you happy, are you more happy or disappointed?"

Children find that when they first start collecting cards, they will be happy with each new card, but when they have more cards, the frequency of disappointment will also increase, and when they compare with others, they will be more disappointed because of their bad luck.

When a card is no longer a happy thing, its attractiveness will be greatly reduced.

For example, you can ask your child why he envies his classmates who have a large number of cards, and what kind of classmates do you envy besides them?

The purpose is to tell children that there is more than one way to socialize, and it does not mean that if you have a small number of cards, you will definitely be excluded by your classmates. There are also many children who are good at studying, sports, singing, and serving as class leaders, and they will also become role models for everyone.

After these simple reflections, children can also take the initiative to get out of their addiction and look at games and life in a more intelligent way.

Image credit: My Little Pony cartoon

In the era of great material abundance, every year and every quarter, a steady stream of new electronic mustard will be produced.

However, the presence of a trend means that it will soon be replaced by a new one, and the collection that was once cherished may become a basket of garbage and a pile of waste paper in a few years.

You can spend a little money to join in the fun, but don't forget to turn back to the shore in order to chase a wave.