When the initial price was announced ($2,799), forums laughed. "Too expensive for a 6-inch figure," they said. But within 48 hours of the drop, the first Milky Cat DMC 25 Hikaru Aoyama The One Pinter 279 Better Exclusive appeared on Yahoo Japan Auctions.
The starting bid was $5,000. The final hammer price? $27,900. When the initial price was announced ($2,799), forums
A single unit was later flipped on a private Facebook group for a trade involving a Honda Civic and a first-edition KAWS Companion. Why? Because only 10 exist in the world. Of those 10, three are rumored to be held by Aoyama himself, two by the Pinter family, leaving only five in circulation. The starting bid was $5,000
The Better Exclusive variant, subtitled "The One," distills Aoyama’s philosophy into a monochromatic, ethereal palette: A single unit was later flipped on a
As of mid-2024, the cheapest available Milky Cat DMC 25 Hikaru Aoyama The One Pinter 279 Better Exclusive is listed on a private vault site for $48,000. The owner refuses to sell, instead requesting a trade for a vintage Rolex Daytona "Paul Newman."
Financial advisors would call this insanity. Toy collectors call it a hedge against inflation. Because Aoyama has publicly stated that he is retiring from vinyl production after the DMC 25 series, these ten figures are the last "Better Exclusive" pieces the world will ever see.