Pokémon TCG returns notorious Van Gogh Pikachu card to the Netherlands game stores
The popular collectible will likely Van Gogh quickly.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game will allegedly re-offer the promotional Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat card at local game stores in the Netherlands after zealous scalpers eviscerated stock during a collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum.
One of 2023’s weirdest tabletop stories gets another chapter, at least according to reporting from enthusiast website Pokébeach that says limited quantities of the card illustrated in the likeness of Van Gogh will be distributed to local games stores in the Netherlands. Players who spend more than €30 on Pokémon TCG products will receive one of 100 copies of the limited print card sent to each store.
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh museum stopped offering Pokémon TCG cards days after their exhibit opened thanks to a bullrush of scalpers and opportunistic collectors clearing out the gift shop in what social media videos portrayed as a mad rush of bodies. Not even a second print run nor limiting how the museum distributed the card could deter the rash of resellers.
No cards were left for the families who had booked their tickets weeks or months in advance for an exhibit ostensibly aimed at children. Copies of the card, along with related merchandise, soon cropped up on resellers at highly inflated values - Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat still sells for about €110 today.
The Pokémon Company International later claimed that they would offer Netherlands retailers another method of offering the promotional card sometime this year, and fans expected (or perhaps hoped) this meant a wider print run that would dramatically lower the price within third-party markets while also giving the rest of the world a chance at the special collectible.
That turned out not to be the case, as the limited restock will allegedly be limited to local game stores within the Netherlands. The Pokémon Company International, which publishes the trading card game, has yet to release an official announcement regarding the Van Gogh promotional card’s return.