Scalpers are already trying to sell the free Lego Pokémon pre-order gift for up to $300

Scalpers are already trying to sell the free pre-order gift included as part of the first wave of Lego Pokémon sets.

Lego announced its first three Pokémon sets on Monday, the centrepiece being a $649.99 set showing Charizard, Blastoise and Venusaur, consisting of 6,838 pieces.

Lego also announced that for a limited window, customers who pre-ordered the $649.99 set would also get an exclusive second set, the Kanto Region Badge Collection, at no extra cost.

This is a common practice on the official Lego site –the company frequently adds sets known as GWP (Gifts With Purchase) among the Lego community, which aren’t sold by Lego as individual standalone products, and can usually only be acquired as part of a promotional deal.

Because they’re only available for a short time, and often only available alongside specific sets that some customers may not necessarily want, GWP sets are frequently resold on sites like eBay.

Sure enough, numerous eBay listings for the Kanto Region Badge Collection are already up on the US eBay site at the time of writing, with prices ranging from $175 up to $300. Similarly, on the UK eBay site, listings are going from £105 to £312.

The GWP pre-order offer appears to have disappeared from the Lego site for the time being. It’s not clear whether this means stock has already sold out, or whether the promotion will return closer to the set’s February 27 launch.

The other two Pokémon sets confirmed by Lego on Monday are Pikachu and Eevee.

Pikachu will cost $199.99/ £179.99 and includes 2050 pieces. This set sees Pikachu emerging from a Pokéball onto a stand that has ’25’ built into it, a nod to Pikachu’s Pokédex number. Eevee, the cheapest of the sets on day one, will include 567 pieces and costs $59.99 / £54.99.

Members of the Lego Insiders rewards programme will also be able to spend 2500 Insiders Points on a Mini Pokémon Center set, with orders starting on February 27.