Pokemon Reduces Van Gogh Distribution for Hobby Stores, Expands to Large Chain Stores: At Least 100K Copies Expected!

In direct response to our reporting about pre-scalping, we’ve learned TPCi will be scaling back this month’s promo distribution for hobby stores in the Netherlands.

Yesterday Pokemon’s official distributor, Asmodee, contacted hobby stores and informed them they will only be receiving 10 of the “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” promo cards. Previously Asmodee announced it would be 100 per store. The order came directly from TPCi.

On the PokeBeach podcast, I theorized that Pokemon could strike a blow to hobby stores who pre-scalped the cards by depriving them of their supply. For stores who took money from their customers, this would damage their reputations. They would have to refund their customers for any deals they made under the table.

So what will happen to the promo distribution now? We have big news!

We can now confirm Pokemon will be giving out the promo at large chain stores in the Netherlands, which we previously reported was a possibility. The promotion will begin February 10th. Customers will have to spend €29.99 to receive a copy. The promotion will be available at:

• Bruna
• Game Mania
• Intertoys
• Media Markt
• Primera
• Top1Toys
• Smyths Toys Superstores

Said stores will be under heavier oversight than hobby stores. The promotion should be handled more professionally.

We are not sure how many promos each store will receive, but estimate it will be at least 100 copies. It’s highly unlikely these larger stores will only receive 10 copies, especially when hobby stores were originally supposed to receive 100 each.

Our sources estimate there are over 1,000 of the aforementioned chain stores in the Netherlands, which means we should see at least an additional 100,000 copies of “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” promo injected into the supply. This would obviously reduce the price of the card worldwide.

However, we have to wait to confirm how many copies each store will receive. We will report on these numbers as soon as the cards ship to stores, so stay tuned!

We can also confirm this new promotion is not simply “leftover” stock, but a brand new print run. It seems TPCi learned from last year’s blunder and is taking corrective action to appease its fans.

This news is breaking, so we’ll see how it impacts the price of the card in the coming days:

We will discuss this news later today on the PokeBeach podcast, so be sure to subscribe!