In celebration of Pokemon’s 25th Anniversary, McDonald’s is including a special edition pack of Pokemon TCG cards with every Happy Meal. What started out as a fun Happy Meal toy has turned into a hunt to find and even sell the most valuable McDonald’s Pokemon cards.
When they first started becoming popular, fans and scalpers wanting to take advantage of the hype were rushing to their local McDonald’s and buying Happy Meals just to resell the Pokemon cards. The demand became so high that McDonald’s released an official statement asking fans to limit their purchases to a reasonable number of Happy Meals. They cost about $3 and includes four cards, so it doesn’t seem like it would take too much to make a profit. It helps that the collaboration also started at just the right time to cause a craze.
Pokemon TCG was released in the United States in December 1998, meaning this is far from its first craze. Many can remember the Burger King gold cards that, to this day, are coveted but not costly. As such, those looking at these cards in terms of value may not exactly find what they were looking for.
Pokemon TCG cards had a major comeback in 2020 that has extended into the new year. Collectors have been digging through their old cards in hope of finding one or two that have appreciated in value—and some of them have. Charizard cards and older cards that don’t have a drop-shadow behind the image of the Pokemon have become especially lucrative, some going for thousands of dollars. First-edition holographic Charizard cards have sold for the insane price of $300,000. Stores selling out of Pokemon TCG cards resulted in the manufacturer upping the production numbers to make sure fans were able to have access to the packs they want.
The Pokemon TCG resurgence inspired YouTube and Twitch trends of people opening boxes of their old collections to sift through, and prices for many cards skyrocketed. Now that Pokemon cards are coming back, many collectors feel there’s a chance the 25th anniversary McDonald’s set might be worth something one day, too. Some of the cards have already sold for exorbitant prices.
The McDonald’s set includes 50 cards, with half being regular images and the other featuring a holographic foil. No official information has been released about which cards are the rarest, but it seems the holographic cards are a little bit harder to track down. Each Happy Meal contains a pack of four cards, each bearing the Pokemon 25th Anniversary logo.
The full llist of Pokemon in the McDonald’s set include Bulbasaur, Charmander, Chespin, Chikorita, Chimchar, Cyndaquil, Fennekin, Froakie, Grookey, Litten, Mudkip, Oshawott, Pikachu, Piplup, Popplio, Rowlet, Scorbunny, Snivy, Sobble, Squirtle, Tepig, Torchic, Totodile, Treecko, and Turtwig.
The Pikachu holo variant is the most valuable card, which doesn’t come as a surprise. Pikachu has been the face of Pokemon for all of its 25 years and remains one of the most popular to this day. The second most valuable are the Kanto starters, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. Sadly, the set doesn’t include a holographic Charizard card. In general, the holographic variants are more valuable than their normal counterparts for all the Pokemon. After the Kanto starters, though, value starts to dwindle. Full sets have sold from $50 to several hundred dollars, but many of the individual cards are available for around $2.
Currently, the Pokemon cards are still available at McDonald’s or through sites like Ebay and Mercari. When speaking of monetary value, it would be a drastic understatement to call sales inconsistent. One holographic Pikachu card supposedly sold for an exorbitant amount on Ebay, but the exact same card can also be purchased for less than $5. At first, Pikachu cards were regularly selling for $80, which is a solid profit depending on the initial time and price sink, but the market has now become oversaturated with people trying to sell them and value seems to be decreasing every day. In other words, if the price is depreciating so quickly, fans who haven’t already cashed in and out aren’t likely to do so anymore.
Values on Mercari, as opposed to Ebay, are a little more consistent. Sold listings for the holo Pikachu card are averaging around $35 while listings for Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle are around $10. Other holo cards are going for about $5, while the regular versions of all the cards are only selling for a couple dollars apiece.
So, should fans run to their nearest McDonald’s and stock up on Pokemon cards? Like any collectible, the long-term appreciation value is anyone’s guess and will depend on how long McDonald’s runs the promotion, how many cards are circulated, and how many serious Pokemon TCG collectors are looking to complete their sets. They could be worth hundreds in the coming years, or they could be completely forgotten about. For now, the latter seems like the most likely scenario.
With the online prices varying so drastically, it’s probably not worth stockpiling Happy Meals just to resell the cards, but finding the holo Pikachu card could turn a $30 to $40 profit and selling any of the others could definitely cover the cost of the Happy Meal. Those who want to complete their sets can do so without shelling out the big bucks; they’ll just have to look past the inflated listings.
The Pokemon TCG 25th anniversary cards are available with the purchase of a McDonald’s Happy Meal for a limited time.
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