Scalpers, secondary markets and poor crowd management have caused a Pika-problem
When the Pokémon Company announced a collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, it should have been all sunflowers and starry night skies. Instead, the whole thing has become a nightmare.
The partnership between Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum came about as part of the latter's 50th anniversary celebrations and as a way to introduce a new generation to the works of Vincent van Gogh.
Running from the end of September until January 7, 2024 is a new exhibition that sees various Pokémon transplanted into versions of some of Van Gogh's most famous paintings. This includes a Sunflora Pokémon hidden in an interpretation of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, a Munchlax & Snorlax take on “The Bedroom”, and a version of “Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat” that features Pikachu instead of Van Gogh.
Alongside this, the Van Gogh Museum announced an art trail in which Pokémon lovers could “go on a Pokémon Adventure along Van Gogh's paintings and discover the stories about the masterpieces”.
There was, of course, a towering amount of new merchandise released to mark the beginning of the collaboration, such as a Vincent van Gogh-inspired Pikachu soft toy, Van Gogh-inspired figures of Pikachu and Eevee, a jigsaw puzzle and more. Anyone scooping up this merch was also gifted a free limited edition Pokémon card, featuring “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat”, one for each item purchased.
This is when the chaos started.
When the Van Gogh Museum opened its doors on September 28, a mad rush of Pokémon lovers stormed the museum’s gift shop in order to get their hands on these new items. Footage shared on social media shows dozens of grown adults pushing and shoving as they wave posters, plushies, t-shirts and more in the air.
The main draw of this merch stampede appeared to be the limited edition “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” Pokémon card, with videos showing people hoarding numerous cards. Online, things weren’t much better, either; the official Pokémon shop sold out of all items, with many reporting tech issues.
Within 24 hours of the collaboration launch, items from the merch collection, including the much lusted-after “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat”, were being sold on the secondary market for hugely inflated prices.
“The Pokémon x Van Gogh collaboration was a disaster, serving as a stark reminder of human greed and lust,” one user wrote on X, before sharing clips of the rushing crowd.
The Pokémon x Van Gogh collaboration was a disaster, serving as a stark reminder of human greed and lust.
— DachshundWizard 🧙🏻♂️ (@dachshundwizard) September 28, 2023
Images and videos circulating online depict scalpers hoarding multiple items from the collaboration, a disheartening sight.
To the museum: You had to have seen the long… pic.twitter.com/QAHhZkqm5K
This makes me so sad and is why we can’t have nice things
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) September 28, 2023
I saw so many wanting to go over in the first few days just to get any card and merch to resell. This is not an acceptable practice. If you do that, shame on you. https://t.co/vVHLHhVyZ1
In a statement following the collaboration's launch, the Pokémon Company apologised to those hoping to snag some of the exclusive merch.
“We understand this is disappointing to many who were looking to our official email and social media channels for guidance on how and when to purchase,” they said. “We are actively working on ways to provide more “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” promo cards for fans shopping at Pokémon Center in the future. Details will be released at a later date.”
The Van Gogh Museum recently shared their own statement in a Q&A section on their website where they announced they would no longer be stocking the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” trading card.
“The Van Gogh Museum and The Pokémon Company International take the safety and security of visitors and staff very seriously,” the Museum statement reads.
"Recently, a small group of individuals has created an undesirable situation that has led us to take the difficult decision to remove the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card from the museum. In this way, visitors will be able to experience this special collection of Pokémon paintings and the rest of the museum in a safe and enjoyable manner."
In fact, according a recent report by Kotaku, this furore over merchandise hints towards a wider problem in the Pokémon fan community, which has been riddled with problems of scalpers and an unchecked secondary market for years.
It's become so bad that shops such as Walmart and Target have reportedly even been forced to remove Pokémon trading cards from their shelves due to “inappropriate customer behaviour and increased demand”.
Meanwhile, those hoping to get their hands on “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” will have another opportunity to cop the card.
The Pokémon Company shared that fans will need to spend a minimum of $20/£30 on trading card game merchandise online or at Pokémon Centers in order to receive the card, which will now be limited to one per person. Still, the mayhem surrounding demand for Pokémon cards and merchandise is likely to continue.
They said, “Gotta catch ‘em all.” But at what cost?
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