In order to reach a younger audience through a partnership with PokemonThe Van Gogh Museum managed to attract crowds of collectors who fought for a card with Pikachu in a gray felt hat inspired by the Dutch artist’s self-portrait, AFP reports.

Painting with Pikachu wearing a hat similar to the one worn by Van Gogh in his self-portrait / PHOTO Hollandse Hoogte / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

A card game featuring these fictional creatures, launched in Japan in 1996, once again caught the public’s attention, leading to rising prices and even incidents.

The “Pika-Portrait” card is available to visitors aged 6 and older “subject to availability” and subject to participation in the “quest” and answering questions, the museum, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, informs.

It is also available at official Pokémon Stores in the UK, US and Canada. But on Friday, the company said on its former X account on Twitter that “due to overwhelming demand, all of our products in this collection have sold out” and that it was working on a solution.

Images posted on social media showed crowds of adult visitors jostling to buy Pokemon-inspired posters or clothing items inspired by the Dutch master’s work.

Some people want to buy items that are available in limited quantities and in high demand, and then sell them at a higher price.

“The unfortunate behavior of a small number of visitors on the first day of cooperation was not expected,” a spokesman for the museum told AFP, which assured on Saturday that it quickly ensured everyone’s safety and there have been no similar problems since.

The museum is now limiting purchases to one copy of each item per person, which will soon be “available in the online store (…) while supplies last.”

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