The Pokémon franchise started in 1996 and since its debut, has grown to become worth around $92 billion. One of their more recent enterprises has been  the launch of a collaboration with Oreo, Sept. 13. The two companies created 16 cookies, each with different Pokémon characters on them, the rarest being the Mew Oreo.

As someone who enjoys collecting things and likes Pokémon, I knew I had to try my luck and get a box of Pokémon Oreos and catch all 16 characters. Opening the box, I carefully inspected each and every cookie, hoping to find one of the rare Mew Oreos. I know a couple people who had bought a box of Pokémon Oreos before, and they both found a Mew in it, so I thought for sure that I would find one too. But to my disappointment, I got all but two of the characters, and the Mew was among the missing.

Influenced by my misfortune, I decided to scroll through eBay to look at the cookies that I wished to have. While scrolling, I found that some people were trying to sell a single Mew Oreo for a quarter of a million dollars. It disappointed me that people would put a price on these types of items, because I know that many people, including myself, find joy in collecting things. When collecting items like the limited edition Mew Oreos, there’s always a sense of anticipation when opening the box. Not knowing what might be inside of the box of Oreos that you purchased plays a big role in making collecting exciting. When people sell collectables online instead of having people search for the item, it takes away from the thrill of collecting, and it dulls the experience overall.

Even though the Pokémon Oreos are only going to be around temporarily, I know that there are plenty of other people out there who are also trying to find a Mew Oreo as well and are experiencing joy from collecting them.

In my opinion, the joy that collectors get to experience from being pleasantly surprised when they find an item they want is one of the best parts of collecting things. Though I probably won’t get another box of Pokémon Oreos, meaning that I won’t find any new Pokémon characters, I know that other people are probably finding joy in trying to catch ‘em all.