A new Pokemon pop-up shop will be coming to the London Natural History Museum in early 2026, and fans of all things pocket monsters can expect exclusive items to be sold here. Can fans also expect to compete for these items with scalpers who view opportunities like this as an opportunity to make some quick cash? If previous Pokemon events are any indicator, probably.
The Pokemon Company will be celebrating the history of the 30-year-old franchise with this event. “There is such a wonderful alignment between Pokémon and the Natural History Museum–we’re obviously both big fans of the natural world and its evolution and diversity,” director of commercial and visitor experience for the museum Adam Farrar said (via Eurogamer). “We hope this collaboration will spark joy and curiosity in the creatures around us, both in the world of Pokémon and Earth.”
While scalping is a fear, the museum is attempting to prevent this by requiring visitors to claim free tickets that’ll be offered online starting October 1. The pop-up shop is scheduled to run from January 26 through March 22, and it’ll offer clothing, accessories, and more merchandise for sale. The item that’ll likely be sought after the most will be an exclusive plush toy of Pikachu hugging the museum.
This is the first time that an official Pokemon shop has been held inside of a British museum, but it’s not the first museum to host Pikachu and pals. Back in 2023, The Pokemon Company recently collaborated with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. A special-edition Pokemon card of a Pikachu wearing a gray felt hat–similar to one of Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portraits–was offered to visitors alongside Pokemon art prints and T-shirts, but the card sold out quickly both in-person and online.
At the Van Gogh Museum, attendees reported that adults descended on the event to purchase as much merchandise as possible without even visiting Pokemon exhibit, and online, numerous scalpers bragged about their hauls. This wasn’t the first time that a Pokemon collaboration attracted the attention of scalpers, as back in 2021, flippers descended on a McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion that offered several Pokemon goodies for fans to collect.
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