The 2022 Pokemon World Championships released limited edition plushes, which have popped up online at scalped prices after selling out the during the event.
The Pokemon Company is well known for commemorative memorabilia surrounding events, anniversaries, and championships. Players can collect plushes, skateboards, posters, figurines, clothing, and much more from pop-up Pokemon Center shops or through the online Pokemon Center store depending on what the franchise is currently celebrating.
In honor of the 2022 Pokemon World Championships, several special plushes were unveiled by the Pokemon Company that would be exclusively sold in the London pop-up Pokemon Center shop.
The plushes included a costumed Pikachu and Roserade sporting poses ready for cheering. Unfortunately the adorable plushes were grabbed up quickly, and many Pokemon fans were unable to snag a Pikachu for their own personal collections.
Beefeater Pikachu is available online, if you can pay the price
Unfortunately, it appears a number of the people purchasing the commemorative Pikachu plushes didn’t intend to keep them as a memento of the championship matches.
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According to ebay listings, the plush is currently going for as much as 90 dollars, more than three times the original 20 dollar price tag.
We caught the special Beefeater Pikachu at the Pokémon Worlds tournament in London! #PokemonWorlds pic.twitter.com/l40qcmNcQl
— IGN (@IGN) August 19, 2022
For those unable to attend the 2022 Pokemon World Championships, purchasing a marked-up plush is the only way to get ahold of one. However, for those who were jilted the chance to purchase Pikachu at the pop-up shop due to stock issues, the insult of paying a markup is just salt in the wound.
While it is kind for Pokemon fans to put limited edition Pokemon merchandise online for those who miss out, the decision to scalp the price is a very different space. Most would agree that raising the price enough to cover shipping or time is reasonable, but inflating the prices to such extremes turns the well-loved items into a quick and dirty cash grab.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely the Beefeater Pikachu will become available in another format, so those hoping to get ahold of it will have to either pay up, or accept defeat when it comes to the cute, cheering mascot.