Earlier this year, Pokemon fans in North America had the opportunity to snag packs of cards in Happy Meals at participating McDonald’s locations, and now UK locations are getting the same promotion. The start of the North American campaign was a bit of a mess, with entire cases of the cards going up on eBay just hours after release. Prior to the campaign’s start, the UK McDonald’s branch put strict guidelines in place, only allowing customers to get the cards with a Happy Meal purchase. This is clearly an attempt to avoid the same problems, but it will be interesting to see whether or not it has an impact!
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Sometimes, Pokemon Happy Meal promotions will differ by region, but that isn’t the case this time. For those unfamiliar with the promotion, there are 25 unique Pokemon cards to collect. The cards feature all 24 of the starters from the various Pokemon generations, as well as Pikachu. All of the cards are re-releases from previous sets, but they feature new numbering as well as Pokemon’s 25th anniversary logo. Cards come in blind packs of four, alongside an extra item, such as a card frame, card box, or stickers. Each pack has one foil variant, so there are technically 50 cards to collect for those that want one of each kind.
While the Pokemon TCG has been going strong since the earliest days of the franchise, the last few months have seen a surge of increased interest on the secondary market. Spurred by Twitch streamers like Logan Paul and Ludwig Ahgren, new cards and old have become increasingly difficult to obtain. Demand for the product is so strong that Pokemon Center stores in Japan have even implemented a lottery system for people to get them.
Hopefully, the efforts of McDonald’s in the UK will make it easier for true Pokemon fans to get the cards, as opposed to resellers. McDonald’s locations in North America imposed similar restrictions after the initial craze, and it seemed to make the cards easier to come by.
Have you had a difficult time getting Pokemon cards lately? What did you think of the Pokemon Happy Meal promotion? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Gaming Bible]
