Every now and again, like always, Pokémon will team up with someone or something and host a promotional event. Their latest collaboration was with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where they released several promotional items in honour of the late artist, with one item in particular being highly sought after.
Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat is a promotional card that very closely resembles the famous self-portrait by Van Gogh and was obtainable by answering a few questions once you had gone through the Pokémon x Van Gogh exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum. There are, or were, other promotional items as well. Things like plushies, play mats, and deck sleeves could all be purchased at the museum. The plan was also to have these items available for purchase on the Pokémon Center website.
Unsurprisingly, though, scalpers caught wind of the event and have purchased and claimed everything. The event that is set to run until January next year, three whole months away, ran out of stock within the first few hours.
While the Pokémon Company have said that they will be “working on ways to provide more Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo cards for fans shopping at Pokémon Center in the future,” they have yet to announce a release date or if they have a plan to stop scalpers from raiding their coffers again.
We apologize to all the fans eagerly awaiting our Pokémon Center x Van Gogh Museum release today.
Due to overwhelming demand, all our products from this collection have sold out. We understand this is disappointing to many who were looking to our official email and social media… pic.twitter.com/KM3ZCO1EQZ
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) September 29, 2023
On eBay, the promotional card is already selling for up to R8,000, and the banner from the Pokémon Website, that was supposed to link you to the product, has been removed.
The scalpers were so quick on this one that not even your grandma in Holland could’ve grabbed you a card.