"If your babysitter drove that night, make sure she calls you when she gets home.”
Some dads will do anything to make their children smile — even if it includes a little deception.
That’s exactly what one father did at a recent Pokemon card show in Las Vegas, NV, which he attended with his wife and young son — who was hoping to score some new Pokemon cards for his binder.
Despite hundreds of vendors looking to buy, sell or trade at the Front Row Card Show this past weekend, the boy’s father knew they would have a hard time finding what his son liked most: energy cards.
Luckily for the boy, his father came prepared — and now he’s being hailed as “Father of the Year.”
“I have a question for you,” the father, Matt, asked Brian Ong, a vendor who captured the moment on video.
“So, my son over there, he only likes energy cards,” Matt continued. “So, we’re not going to find what he wants at the show, so I brought it with me.”
Pokemon energy cards are considered some of the least valuable Pokemon cards (in most cases) and are usually not on display at a Pokemon card show — which is usually reserved for more valuable cards.
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Knowing this in advance, Matt asked Brian for a little help.
“I just wanted to see if you could, like, put it in your case and let him walk up and, like, actually do a deal with you or something,” Matt, who had a few energy cards in his pocket, asked the vendor.
“Just because I want to make his day,” Matt added.
One small step for a father — one giant leap for his child
Sure enough, Brian said yes — and moments later, Matt walked over to his station with his son.
The son immediately noticed the two energy cards (which were really his father’s) on display in Brian’s case. And Brian wasted no time in helping Matt make his son’s day.
“Oh, that’s just there to fill dead space up,” Brian said to Matt and his son. “I mean, if you guys want, you can just have it.”
@thebrianong Poke-Dad of the year 🥺 ❤️ so happy I could help #PokemonVending #GradedCards #FrontRowCardShow #PokemonCommunity #CardShowMoments ♬ original sound - Brian Ong
Matt then asked Brian how much he wanted for the cards, but Brian insisted on them being free.
And Matt’s son was 100% on board with that.
As Matt and his son were walking away, the excited little boy can be heard screaming “Mom!” — while Brian can be heard saying, “Ahh, chills. That gave me chills. My face, my neck, I got chills.”
Social media can’t help but label Matt the ‘Father of the Year’
Parents wasted no time in praising Matt for his efforts in the comment section of Brian’s video.
“Best dad ever and you are awesome for playing along and making that kids day,” one fan wrote.
“Holy dad play of the decade,” another fan commented.
Even Brian called Matt the “Poke-Dad of the Year” in his caption.
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Others took to Reddit and said they were hoping Brian would play along a little better — and even haggle with Matt to make it seem like they were getting a bigger deal than they actually got.
“Was I the only one thinking that the dad actually wanted the dealer to pretend to haggle & make a deal with the kid instead of just giving it to him? Like a pretend exchange?” one Reddit user wrote.
What’s most important is the son was happy — and the father was happy that his son was happy.
Moments like this are common at a Pokemon card show
If your child is a fan of Pokemon, bringing them to a Pokemon card show is always a great idea.
They’ll get to see Pokemon cards they’ve never seen before — unless they get lucky pulls at home — and will be exposed to a community of Pokemon fans that love cards just as much as they do.
Plus, moments like what happened to Matt and Brian happen more often than you’d think.
One TikTok user, who goes by Rip Buddy, was at that same Front Row Card Show in Las Vegas and was giving out free Pokemon cards to kids — he would have them pick a random card from a stack.
@theripbuddy Let’s give some some kids some Pokémon I like!!! everyone there was so cool and it was so much fun, definitely gonna be doing more and more of this!#theripbuddy #frontrowcardshow #pokemon #pokemoncards #pokemontiktok ♬ original sound - The Rip Buddy
There’s also an app called Collectr that does a “Cards for Kids” initiative at select card shows.
A representative of the company shows up and hands out free packs of cards to vendors, who then give out the packs to random kids for free — all in an effort to promote the app, but also to make a kid’s day.
In another TikTok video, a Pokemon card collector gave a graded Charizard card to a vendor and told him he could give it to a random kid for free.
Moments later, a father walked up to the vendor and let him know that it was his son’s first card show.
That kid, of course, walked away with the graded Charizard card — and a free pack from the vendor!
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You never know what might happen at a Pokemon card show, but you can always bet on your child leaving with a smile on their face!
