Pokémon Center Van Gogh Museum Overrun by Rabid Scalpers and Fans

This one hurts to have to cover.

If you've been on Twitter (sorry, X) lately, it should be no surprise to to see the absolute chaos that unfolded at the Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum Pokémon Center promotional event in Amsterdam. Fans (sorry, scalpers) quickly overtook the situation, ransacking the exclusive artwork and merchandise for self gain.

Here's what you need to know.

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Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum Promotion Details

We covered this story a few weeks ago, as The Pokémon Company presented a promotional video about the upcoming collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum.

The teaser highlighted Van Gogh's famous artwork, "Sunflowers", and promoted the September 28th launch.

Van Gogh Museum Pokémon Center Live Scene

Naturally, the limited-edition promotional merchandise available at this event would be highly sought after, given the exclusivity.

In a previous collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in 2018, The Pokémon Company released limited-edition Pokémon cards designed in the style of Edvard Munch's "The Scream". The Pikachu Munch promotional card quickly appreciated in value to more than $600 according to the Trading Card Price Index by Price Charting.

The Van Gogh Museum event was clearly overrun by people trying to capitalize on a profit, with merch already popping up on eBay at inflated prices.

The Pokémon Company's Statement on the Van Gogh Museum Situation

The Pokémon Company quickly issued a press statement on Twitter to apologize for the situation.

Pokémon Company x Van Gogh Museum Statement

“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 channels for guidance on how and when to purchase. 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. Thank you for your understanding and continued support." - The Pokémon Company

The original tweet can also be found below.

Conclusion

It's a difficult situation overall; and one where the The Pokémon Company is in a bit of a "Catch-22". Clearly there is a ton of demand for these limited-edition collaborations, and The Pokémon Company should continue to provide them. However, the behavior of fans is hard to predict, and in times like these, should not be encouraged.

We hope this event will serve as a learning situation for future collaborations and provide additional precautions for all patrons to enjoy the event.

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