Parents be warned.  Those Pokemon game cards kids have been buying and trading so fervently the past year may have a darker side.

Some parents - or at least their lawyers - have accused the game cards ofr promoting gambling in America’s children.

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court by lawyers in California and New York accuse Nintendo of America, Wizards of the Coast and 4Kids Entertahment of violating, federal racketeering laws in their marketing and distribution of Pokemon cards.

Call it a backlash to the Pokemon wave. But call it a small one.

“A lot of parents are concerned about the fanatical obsession kids have with the Pokemon phenomenon,” said Neil Moritt of Moritt, a Hock & Hamroff, the New York law fim representing the parents.

Some legal experts, however, give the lawsuit little chance of success, saying the accusations border on the frivolous. 

The ubiquitous Pokemon cards, named for the "pocket monster" cartoon characters from Japan, have been banned at many schools because educators said they were disruptive.  The high prices that go along with some of the cards have reportedly left several parents with moderate cases of sticker shock. 

Pokemon began as a Nintendo Game Boy cartridge before catapulting into a television series and card game. Wizards, of the Coast, based in Washington, sells the trading cards through a licensing agreement with the New York company, 4Kids Entertainment.  In the card game, the rare cards  are also the ones imbued with greater power.”  Some of those cards can he obtained only through the purchase of booster packs that range in retail price from $3 to $11, or through online auctions where bidders pay up to several hundred dollars for a single card.  

Suzanne Lowe of Redwood City, Calif., said she has accumulated Pokemon bills of $200 to $300 for her sons, ages 7 and 9, but added that "if it weren't this, it would be something else."

The problem, according to the lawsuit, is that the premium cards are placed randomly into booster packs, so consumers are not guaranteed a prized card when they shell out their money. 

"When you have to pay to play, and you have to buy stack after stack to get the premium cars, if you stop and analyze it, it's got all of the elements of gambling," Moritt said.

The companies' attorneys called the lawsuit baseless.

"Trading cards and trading card games are wonderful forms of entertainment enjoyed by people of all ages throughout the world," said Jeff Christianson, senior vice president for Wizards of the Coast.