Last month, a horde of scalpersdescended upon the Van Gogh museumin an attempt to nab themselves a Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card, a special card that is being distributed as a collaboration between The Pokemon Company and a Pokemon-themed museum exhibit. In an effort to get ahead of everyone else, scalpers stormed the opening day of the collaboration with the goal of grabbing a card and putting it on Ebay at a ridiculous price,with some going for as much as $600.
Two weeks laters, it has now been announced that The Pokemon Company is pulling the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card from the museum entirely, explaining that to keep it there would risk the “safety and security of visitors and staff”. They explain that a small group of people created an “undesirable situation”, and that the card will no longer be sold at the museum itself so normal visitors can enjoy the new exhibit without fear of being trampled by hundreds of scalpers.
“The Van Gogh museum and The Pokemon Company International take the safety and security of visitors and staff very seriously,” reads the statement. “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.”
As for where you’ll be able to get your hands on the card in the future, it’s been announced that fans in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada ordering from the Pokemon Center online will soon have the chance to obtain a Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card in the near future. Originally, this card was given out with any purchase of the Van Gogh x Pokemon merch, so it’s likely the card will be distributed in this way once more.
Additionally, the promo card will also be distributed via selected retailers in the Netherlands at some point in Early 2024. Since the card will have been obtainable for a while prior to its retail release next year, and the fact that the initial horde of scalpers have been satisifed and prices have rightfully started dropping, we shouldn’t see another debacle like this once it does release. Not until the next promo card release anyway.
Speaking of desirablePokemonmerch, the Pokemon Dreams range of plushies just recevied four new additions, butthe most adorable (and slightly upsetting) one of the lot is a Cubone. We all know the Pokemon’s tragic backstory by now, and the plush references it pretty brutally by including a little tear near Cubone’s eye, as it’s apparently dreaming of its mother.
