Scalping has become a dire practice in the Pokémon community since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and now there’s no bit of exclusive merchandise that people don’t clamor for – whether because they’re scalping themselves or fearing scalpers. The Van Gogh Museum’s Pokémon collab, which opened today, is already seeing massive throngs of people attempting to gulp up merch – which many have already labeled scalpers.
Echt zin in een dagje Van Gogh museum om Pokémon te kijken 😎😎😎 pic.twitter.com/txMKLKxzk4
— monkeloidtv (@monkeloidtv) September 28, 2023
Soo uhm 💀💀💀 even happier for the invite from @mediatornado pic.twitter.com/o0uFi0SzvK
— Jorden Bakker (@Jorden1506) September 28, 2023
One person even braggadociously showed their line up of Pikachu van Gogh Pokémon cards:
Give an inch and take a mile.
I hope they print the Pikachu Van Gogh promos to oblivion. They are for everyone. E V E R Y O N E
Leave some for the rest of us 🤦♂️#Pokemon pic.twitter.com/SeZ3qSJNuK
— Pokemon Deals Community (@deals_pokemon) September 28, 2023
The Pokémon Center’s online store for the merch is also giving a ton of errors, suggesting a hammering of users and purchases. Some of it was reportedly sold out before an official release even went out, with someone posting a backdoor on Twitter that allowed fans to snap it up ahead of time. Overall, a messy launch day.
The Van Gogh collaboration runs through January 7th, so presumably (hopefully) the merch craze will settle down by then. We may see purchase limits become more commonplace with collaborations like this going forward.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
