If you thought the new Lego Pokémon sets were already expensive, take a look at what they’re going for on eBay after just one day.
In case you missed it, the Lego Pokémon sets first teased last year were finally unveiled this week as part of the franchise’s 30th anniversary celebrations. While they all look great (aside from maybe the Pikachu one), they are very expensive.
Even Lego enthusiasts may balk at trying to buy every set. The cheapest is the Eevee one at £54.99, while the Pikachu one is more than three times that at £179.99. The most eye-watering of the lot is the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set at a staggering £579.99.
But if you think those prices are unreasonable, then you should see what scalpers are trying to sell them for, with the highest prices on eBay going for upwards off nearly £2,500.
Pre-ordering Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise also nets you an exclusive set that recreates the gym badges you earn in the original Pokémon Red and Blue games. Those are being scalped too, with prices as low as £104 and as high as £338.
Some people are boldly selling all four sets as a bundle for as much as £2,454, which is ridiculous when the collection officially totals to roughly £815.
It’s not surprising to see people buying up the new sets just to flog them at extortionate prices to desperate Pokémon fans, but these scalpers are awfully confident considering the sets aren’t out until February 27, aka Pokémon Day.
All they’re really selling is proof of a pre-order and we’d like to think anyone who could afford these prices has enough sense not to spend a couple of grand on a glorified IOU.
At the time of writing there’s no reason to buy the Eevee or Pikachu sets on eBay since both are still up for pre-order on Lego’s website. Although the Pikachu set was sold out for most of Tuesday, so stock seems to come and go quickly.
Despite being the most expensive set, the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise one appears to be sold out for the time being and is only listed as ‘coming soon.’ This also means you can’t get your hands on the badge set until more stock becomes available.
The Mini Pokémon Center is nowhere to be found on eBay, probably because that’s also exclusive and can only be obtained in exchange for earned ‘Insider Points’. It won’t be available until February 27 either but since it’s part of a reward scheme you can’t pre-order it.
As was clear from the start, these sets are meant for adults rather than kids (even the announcement trailer focuses entirely on older fans nostalgic for the original games), but sets geared more towards children are rumoured to be planned for this summer.
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