Chaos at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum... because of a Pokémon card!

Aiming to reach a younger audience through a partnership with Pokémon, the Van Gogh Museum attracted a crowd... of collectors, hoping in particular to get their hands on a card showing Pikachu wearing a felt hat inspired by a self-portrait of the Dutch master.

 

The card game, launched in Japan in 1996 in the wake of the video game series, has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in recent years, driving up prices and causing stock-outs and incidents.

 

The "Pika-Portrait" card is given to visitors aged 6 and over, "subject to availability" and on condition that they take part in a "quest", according to the museum, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

 

While the card with the chubby Pokémon painting is not sold in the museum store in Amsterdam, the museum itself has not been spared by "PokéMania": images posted on social networks have shown a crowd of adult visitors fighting over posters and clothing on which Pokémon paintings inspired by works by the Dutch master have been printed. They are described as "scalpers" - people who buy products available in limited numbers in high demand, in order to resell them at a higher price.

 

The unfortunate behavior of a small number of visitors on the first day of the collaboration was not anticipated," a museum spokeswoman told AFP. The museum is now limiting purchases to one of each item per person, which will soon be "available in the online store (...) while stocks last ».