Pokemon Van Gogh Museum madness ensues as resellers swoop in for exclusive merchandise

Lucas Simons
Van Gogh Museum Pokemon Collaboration

The Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam turned into a riot, as a human wave of resellers attempted to snag all the Pokemon crossover merch for themselves. Astounded Pokemon fans even witnessed a fight over a Pikachu print.

In September, The Pokemon Company announced a collaboration with Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum of Art. On the opening day of the collab, a mob of resellers broke in to scavenge every piece of merch that included exclusive TCG items.

In what could be defined as another demonstration of “misplaced enthusiasm,” the alleged scalpers went as far as to fight each other over a Pikachu printout. The following videos were recorded by several of the Pokemon fans who were present during the opening.

Another witness of the riot inside the Van Gogh Museum filmed the scene from another angle and revealed that more and more people tried to get their hands on several pieces of the surrealist Pokemon collection. Most didn’t even look back to see what they were grabbing from the shelves.

The Van Gogh Museum sold merchandise from the Pokemon collaboration locally, which meant resellers were likely trying to grab as many of the pieces as possible to sell to those unable to visit the museum.

Many of the sold out pieces from the Museum are available to purchase on E-Bay, so it didn’t take that long for resellers to post and offer these products at an obviously inflated price.

The Van Gogh Museum of Art and The Pokemon Company have yet to comment anything on the events that took place earlier during the grand opening. In the unlikely case that they do, we will keep you informed.

In the meantime, you can get up to date with Pokemon TCG content, thanks to all the information about the newest sets like Pokemon TCG Raging Surf and Pokemon TCG Paradox Rift.

About The Author

Lucas is a Games Writer for CharlieIntel, specializing in covering Pokemon, including Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Pokemon Go, and Pokemon TCG. A former Game Reviewer and PR Liaison for HD Tecnologia (ARG), Lucas is also an Audiovisual Media Producer, Game Designer, Narrative Designer, and author, having published several books including Press Start, a guide to video game writing and world building. You can contact him at [email protected].