September 13th 2023, the date which Santa Cruz released their Pokemon collaboration, has perhaps been one of the best received collaborations Pokemon has had recently.
Pokemon has had many great collaborations in the past, but hardly any have come near the notoriety that this specific collaboration has had with people even outside of the Pokemon community. TikTok's of this new collaboration, specifically of the "blind bags", have been going viral the past few days as skaters and collectors alike rush to get their hands on a board for themselves.
The collaboration features plenty of solid street clothing, and some great board designs as well. The specific item that has people forking over their wallets however is a mystery board pack, which is an excellent combination of style and gambling. Within the wrapping of these mystery board packs lies an 8 inch random Pokemon board which could feature one of 15 foil variants of artwork. The mystery "blind bags" sell for about $100 if you buy them retail, however people have been reselling the unopened bags for about $300 on sites like eBay.
Additionally, there are 5 gold variants of board art designs; however, the major kicker with these special boards is that there are only 50 copies of each in existence. That makes these boards extremely rare and desirable, for both skaters and avid Pokemon collectors alike. As of writing this, I have only been able to find one sold listing for one of these golden boards, and its for a Pikachu. The board sold for $5500, and this number is staggeringly high considering that bags are still in circulation.
Santa Cruz is a skate company, and a very well-known one at that. It goes beyond a brand, it's a style. Its logo is one that's known globally, and it's practically been at the pioneering helm a new type of lifestyle seen within this past decade.
