Van Gogh Museum Halts Distribution of Free Cards Due to Crowd Chaos
By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The Van Gogh Museum has stopped selling limited edition Pokémon cards at its shop in Amsterdam, as massive crowds of fans created a security threat.
The collaboration between the museum and The Pokémon Company has been a stunning success, but the Van Gogh Museum says there can be too much of a good thing.
“The Van Gogh Museum and The Pokémon Company International take the safety and security of visitors and staff very seriously,” the museum said on its website. “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. In this way, visitors will be able to experience this special collection of Pokémon paintings and the rest of the museum in a safe and enjoyable manner.”
That small group of individuals appears to be the ‘touts’ or ticket scalpers who have flocked to the Van Gogh Museum to get their hands on the limited edition Pokémon cards, featuring the character Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat.
The intense interest from fans of both the artist and Pokémon has created a booming resale market for the admittedly adorable Pikachu card, which is being offered as part of an exhibition showing Van Gogh’s artistic links to Japanese culture.
The cards came out three weeks ago, and immediately prompted a chaotic mob scene at the museum, which is better known for sunflower tea sets, quiet reflection of the Starry Night, and the dignified hosting of royal visits celebrating its 50th year. The result was akin to letting loose a herd of bulls in a china shop, and after 21 days of frantic crowd control, the museum halted sales of the card.
However, the Van Gogh Museum says sales will resume soon—just not at the museum. Ever.
“Fans shopping at Pokémon Center (United Kingdom, United States and Canada) will soon receive another opportunity to obtain the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card,” the museum announced. “Pokémon will give additional updates through its official email and social media channels. Pokémon will also reintroduce the promo card in participating retailers in the Netherlands early next year. It will not be available via the Van Gogh Museum.”
In addition to the problems at the gift shop (which is awesome, by the way), the lineup to see six new paintings featuring Pokémon characters in Van Gogh-inspired scenes has gotten a bit out of hand, reminiscent of the hordes you’ll see daily at The Louvre in Paris to see Leonardo Davinci’s Mona Lisa.
Within an hour of the exhibition opening, the line to see the small paintings was three deep, while other visitors raced around the museum as they competed in a treasure hunt to win a free Pokémon card. Others joined the scuffle in the gift shop, scrambling to get their hands on the Pokémon cards, many of which showed up later on the e-Bay-like European ecommerce site boasting prices of 90 Euros and up.
By any standard, however, the licensing collaboration with Pokémon was a huge success for the Van Gogh Museum was a great success, increasing public perception of the Dutch master. The treasure hunt designed for children got them engaged with Van Gogh in an interactive way (while dodging grown-up scalpers, to be sure), as it involved answering questions such as how many sunflowers were in Van Gogh’s famous sunflower paintings, and at the same time challenging them to identify obscure Pokémon characters.
A spokesperson for the museum said many fans had already enjoyed the promotion and claimed their card. “We have already welcomed many Pokémon fans and young visitors to the museum, who have enjoyed the Pokémon treasure hunt and the paintings,” he said.
All Pokémon activities will continue to be available during the collaboration until Jan. 7, 2024. Visitors can try the Pokémon adventure treasure hunt, view the Pokémon paintings inspired by Van Gogh and draw their own Pikachus.