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Pokémon’s 25th Anniversary is in full swing, and The Pokémon Company is hosting plenty of celebrations, both Musical tributes to Katy Perry or New Pokémon Snap. One of those ideas is to team up with McDonald’s to release Pokémon card packs for Happy Meals in what is actually a pretty cool promotion. It might be even better for kids if it wasn’t for adult collectors and scalpers trying to accumulate them all.
So, each “toy” comes in a cute Pikachu-themed Happy Meal box, contains a “surprise gift” (like neat stickers) and a fancy sealed envelope containing four random cards. There are 25 different cards but each one has a shiny variant, bringing the total deck to 50 cards. The cards are based on the starter Pokémon in the series and feature the following: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Mudkip, Torchic, Treecko, Chimchar, Piplup, Turtwig, Oshawott, Snivy, Tepig, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Litten, Popplio, Rowlet, Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble.
It all sounds awesome, but the problem for kids who might blame it is that adult collectors, influencers, and of course, scalpers cause a frenzy by buying the packs in bulk to get the rarer cards. While some just want them as collectibles, others are buying them to return to eBay and other auction sites at ridiculous prices. For example, I have seen eBay listings for the Pikachu foil card for sale between $ 75 and $ 200 and different bundles bundled with multiple foil cards are well over $ 100. This means that some McDonald’s are selling cards, leaving the average young Pokémon fan out in the cold.
As Kotaku points out, the reason this is happening is because McDonald’s does not have a unified rule on how to get a Happy Meal toy. Some places require the purchase of the meal, but others will sell the toys separately. While some have a limited supply of toys, other restaurants have allowed customers to purchase dozens of packs of cards. For those who are forced to buy the meal, this has resulted in a lot of food wasted in some cases, although some YouTubers have donated their unwanted meals to people in need. Anyway, I’m curious if McDonald’s will fix this in any way. They get money anyway, unless The Pokémon Company expresses concern, any sort or regulation would be an act of goodwill more than anything.
If you are a Pokémon fan who is just looking to boost your card collection, the odds are always in your favor. You are free to do with your money however you want, but maybe at least try to be a little thoughtful of the young fans this promotion is really aimed at.
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