Pokemon’s 25th anniversary has sparked many expressions of love towards the franchise. The McDonald’s Pokemon cards are yet another display of the series’ continued pop culture relevance.
The Pokemon Trading Card game emerged in 1998 in the US, but statistics declaring recent cards sales show the game’s popularity has persisted. Still, nobody could have predicted what a hit the McDonald’s Pokemon cards would become when leaks in late January first revealed them. Much like the PS5 the release of the McDonald’s Pokemon cards was hindered by an abundance of scalpers creating a shortage to exploit true fans of the game. Today, boxes and boxes of wrapped cards are being sold on eBay for an enormous profit.
On the 25th of February, the most expensive eBay sale of a 25th anniversary McDonald’s Pokemon card occurred. A New York eBay seller with an eclectic collection of items (including women’s deodorant and roasted pistachios) managed to sell a Pikachu McDonald’s Pokemon card for $500 USD. Despite holographic cards typically selling for more, this card was non-holographic. The card sold was listed as having an error, which is known to add value to some items. The error in question was sharply cut diagonal edges on the card, as opposed to smoothly cut curves.
This is not the first time a fast-food company has collaborated with Pokemon. In 1999 Burger King, a McDonald’s competitor, released gold plated Pokemon cards to promote a new Pokemon movie. McDonald’s itself has also done several collaborations with Pokdmon, one of which occurred as recently as 2019. Though fast-food Pokemon cards are being touted as extremely valuable, this is not so. The Burger King cards are reported to be selling for approximately $5 and McDonald’s own 2011 promotional cards have recently sold for just over a dollar. Currently, prices are inflated due to scalpers taking advantage of desperate parents.
Fans who hold the McDonald’s Pokemon cards are sure to be excited to hear that a card has sold for $500. However, the success of McDonald’s Pokemon cards on eBay is caused by artificial inflation and should not be relied upon. Buying or selling the McDonald’s Pokemon cards at absurd prices is only supporting scalpers and creating a depreciating time bomb that will backfire on real fans. The perceived scarcity of these cards is extremely unlikely to continue.
That said, fans looking to collect all the Pokemon cards can rejoice at the promise of these prices eventually dropping. For the patient fans that wait for the panic buying to subside, the 25th anniversary cards are likely to be abundant and inexpensive.
Source: asbdriftking/eBay
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