McDonald’s has recently announced new rules aimed at fighting scalpers for the next wave of its Pokemon-themed Happy Meals in Japan. The decision comes on the heels of McDonald’s being swamped by scalpers soon after starting its latest promotion last week, which caused the fast food chain to run out of Pokemon cards within hours.
Earlier this year, McDonald’s announced a collaboration with Pokemon in Japan, which included eight exclusive toys and six promotional Pokemon TCG cards. While the toys featured two Pikachu, Bulbausar, Eevee, Charmander, Squirtle, Lucario, and Mega Charizard X, the cards had Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Riolu, Ralts, Quaxly, as well as one coveted illustration of Pikachu reaching out for a burger. Unfortunately, McDonald’s was swamped by scalpers who bought dozens of Happy Meals to get the exclusive cards, sometimes even wasting food. Initially, the Pokemon TCG cards would be distributed between August 9 and 11, but the chain ran out of them within hours, enraging fans, who protested on social media and criticized McDonald’s lack of action to prevent the problem.
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McDonald's Will Crack Down on Pokemon Scalpers
McDonald’s apologized to Pokemon fans last week, and it has more recently unveiled fresh restrictions aimed at scalpers. According to McDonald’s latest statement (spotted by IGN), the promotion of exclusive Pokemon toys will continue until August 17, and clients will be restricted in how many Happy Meals they can purchase. In the next few days, clients will be able to buy “only three Happy Meals per group.” Before these new restrictions, the number of Happy Meals was limited per person and was higher. McDonald’s also confirmed that all orders of four or more will be immediately canceled, and “there may be restrictions on use at some stores and during certain hours.”
Unfortunately, only Pokemon toys will be offered at McDonald’s in the latest part of the promotion. This is sad news for fans who wanted to acquire the exclusive Pikachu card, as they will likely only be obtainable online at very high prices. Platforms such as eBay currently have offerings going as high as $1,000 for 50 sealed packages, and individual cards like the Pikachu reaching out for the burger costing between $20 and $40.
Hopefully, McDonald’s will be better prepared for the next Pokemon-themed Happy Meals promotion. Rare Pokemon cards can be incredibly expensive, so they are likely to attract scalpers, and restrictions could have been implemented sooner to address the issue before it happened. It’s currently unknown when the next Pokemon-themed promotion will be.
- Franchise
- Pokemon
- Original Release Date
- October 20, 1996
Pokemon TCG (Trading Card Game) is a collectible and strategy based card game based on Nintendo's Pokemon franchise. Two players face off against one another, battling one Pokemon at a time and attempting to knock them out to claim one of six prize cards. The cards have also become highly collectible with some in particular selling for thousands of dollars.
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