JING COLLABS & DROPS SPOKE WITH SIMON WOOLFORD OF SUM ABOUT BACCARAT’S LATEST COLLABORATION WITH POKÉMON

The Pokémon Pikachu Fragment is priced at $25k

POKÉMON X BACCARAT

In celebration of Pokémon’s 25th year anniversary, Baccarat has released 25 Pikachu Fragment figurines by Japanese artist Hiroshi Fujiwara for $25k, as well as a smaller crystal Pikachu character and Poké Ball.

CONSUMER INSIGHT:

As the Pokémon Pikachu Fragment is priced at $25k, it triggered the most online reaction, being unaffordable to Pokémon's widely-young demographic of fans. Despite the negative feedback of not being able to afford it, overall, users seem to love the drop, with 90 percent positive sentiment worldwide.

The $410 Poké Ball

So far, the $410 Poké Ball and the $440 Pokémon Pikachu are out of stock, but the crystal design with the highest price point is still available to order.

Many fans on Instagram commented that they would have preferred to see the Pokémon character Onix as a crystal figurine. According to The Toy Zone, Onix is the third most popular Pokémon in the world, after Pikachu (#1) and Charizard (#2).

Pokémon only published one post about the Baccarat collaboration on Instagram, proving that it is aimed more at collectors than their typical consumer-base.

EXPERT TAKE:

Founder and Creative Director of the luxury marketing agency SUM, Simon Woolford explained that the merging of popular culture with luxury brands is a commonly-used way of combining high and low art. “You can connect its roots as far back as Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol,” said Woolford. “In terms of cute characters, we have seen several collaborations, for example, with Snoopy and Browns and Bape.”

Woolford continued to highlight the other trend of gaming collaborations. He said the $25,000 price point and 25 pieces of the Pikachu Fragment contrasts to the democratized approaches that other luxury brands have adopted, such as Gucci’s average item selling for less than $5 on Roblox. Woolford noted, “Baccarat’s position as an exclusive brand is reinforced. It remains to be seen whether there will also be a digital gaming component or if this is just tapping into the recent marketing trend.”

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