Launching just in time for Pokémon Day, February 27, The Wand Company has turned everybody’s favorite pocket monster prison into a $100 metal replica, complete with proximity-sensing lights, a numbered collector’s case, and a warning for it to never, ever be thrown.
Obviously, someone is going to spend $100 on this metal beauty and chuck it at someone’s head, despite the vigorous warnings not to do so on The Wand Company’s website. It weighs less than a pound, so it won’t do too much damage, but getting hit by it while someone shouts “I choose you!” will not be pleasant. No, this is a display Poké Ball, ready to sit on your desk in front of your tastefully distressed brick wall, next to your mason jar of perfectly sharpened pencils, your faded leather-bound books, and your tiny houseplant.
Looks good there, doesn’t it? What you can’t see in this artfully-arranged lifestyle photo is how the ball rises when the case is opened, or how the proximity sensor makes the ball glow as your hand approaches. Watch this.
Magical, right? Now picture lifting it in your hand, feeling its comfortable heft, and then flinging it at your cat, which you should never, ever do, no matter how much your cat may deserve it.
The traditional red-and-white ball, available for pre-order starting today, is just the beginning. The Wand Company will be releasing additional balls throughout 2021, including Great Balls, Ultra Balls, and Premier Balls. That’s $400 worth of Poké Balls, not to mention the vet bills. Goodness.
DISCUSSION
It looks nice, but it’s kinda lame and weird that it doesn’t open. Like, it’s meant to be a display Poké Ball, yet it has proximity sensors and uses AAA batteries, so you’re meant to touch it and interact with it... but it can’t open. It’s contradictory.
Also, I’m pretty sure if Poké Balls were real, they wouldn’t require AAA batteries. They’d have rechargeable batteries that would recharge when you go to a Pokémon Center to heal your Pokémon.