The plan for distributing the Van Gogh Pikachu card in 2023 resulted in chaos when it was quickly withdrawn from distribution after a small-scale riot at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum. The Pokemon Company, after reassessing, plans to distribute the card again, this time through large chain stores across the Netherlands. Each of the seven different chains will receive an estimated minimum of 100 cards, amounting to at least 100,000 more Pikachu Van Gogh cards being introduced. This is an attempt by Pokemon to flood the market and prevent scalpers from buying and reselling the cards at inflated prices.
The original plan to give the cards to local hobby stores in the Netherlands was revised in favor of distribution to chain stores. The promotion begins on February 10, 2024, with customers in the Netherlands receiving a free card for purchases of 29.99 euros or more. However, this may lead to fans outside the country paying more for the cards online. The Pokemon Company’s decision to change distribution strategies demonstrates a valuable lesson learned for future promotional card releases.
