The Pokémon Company is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021 and McDonald’s is taking action with special Happy Meals that contain Pokémon toys and cards. However, it seems that adults are buying them before someone can pick them up.
Starting on February 9, McDonald’s Happy Meals will include a McDonald’s booster pack for the 25th Anniversary Special Edition of Pokémon Trading Card Game cards. Each pack will contain four unique cards representing each region’s starting Pokémon, Pikachu and more. Stickers and toys are also available on the Happy Meals special.
There are 50 cards to collect in total with standard and foil versions of each card, and they all have the Pokémon 25 logo on them.
The value of older Pokémon cards apparently increased every week. Limited edition cards are only being sold with Happy Meals and it looks like adults are going to McDonald’s to buy an exorbitant number of meals just for the cards.
Social media accounts show attempts to buy a Happy Meal for the cards, but being denied the purchase because of certain customers.
“@McDonalds went to get a happy Pokémon meal and was told they didn’t have any more, someone bought 50 on an order …” A Twitter user I wrote Tuesday, “Why do all these companies advertise things and don’t deliver when they buy. Learn a lesson from Xbox and Sony, stop the money changers from screwing up your shit!”
Some collectors are also documenting their escapades on platforms like Tik Tok.
Why are these customers buying Happy Meals? For some, it is reselling in the secondary market at an inflated price.
A quick search on sites like eBay for Pokémon’s 25th anniversary McDonald’s cards provides sales lists of unopened packages for at least ten times the value of a Happy Meal.
A McDonald’s Happy Meal sells for about $ 3, depending on the food you are ordering. Some dealers are trying to sell a deck of cards for up to $ 30 and others are selling wholesale for $ 100 or more.
There are also reports that some people are selling Pokémon cards still in their original shipping boxes.
@McDonalds @Pokemon I hope you do some kind of inventory control for your promotional Pokémon cards, as part of your inventory is being sold in sealed boxes, which means they won’t even reach your stores 😳 Although the same thing happened with Tim Hortons Hockey too. Retail $ 1.99 😳 pic.twitter.com/kX8qZyRX2V
– redphoenixsportscards (@redphoenixcards) February 9, 2021
Newsweek contacted McDonald’s for comment.
In January, The Pokémon Company announced plans to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary, which included McDonald’s Happy Meals and musical performances by singer Katy Perry.
Pokémon Day is scheduled for February 27.
Have you ever managed to buy a McDonald’s Happy Meal containing special Pokémon cards? Tell us your experience in the comments section.