McDonald’s Happy Meals currently features special versions of cards from The Pokemon TCG to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Here’s how it compares.
PokémonThe 25th anniversary is this month, and in celebration, The Pokemon Company is working with cDonald’s to release a special set of 25 Pokémon cards. The special set of cards contains the three starter Pokémon of each Pokémon‘s eight generations of games, plus the honorary opening Pokémon and the franchise mascot Pikachu.
The set turned out to be incredibly popular, but perhaps too popular, as there were so many reports of people storing the McDonald’s cards to sell them online, with a high markup that the fast food giant had to release to encourage its franchises. a limit on how much Pokémon Happy Meals that a customer can buy.
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What makes these cards special
Those who managed to get their hands on the special Happy Meals and cards have put their love for the McDonald’s cards and the incredibly cute packaging online. The set functions not only as a celebration of all the Pokémon entrees from the games, but also as a kind of best for the Pokémon TCG, as the maps have all been technically reprinted from existing maps of previous Pokémon TCG stelle. Above is a photo of all the cards in the McDonald’s set, thanks to Pokellector.com, an excellent resource for Pokémon TCG collectors.
Compared to their original versions, the art, information, and attacks are all identical. What makes them special is the stamp Pokémon‘s logo for the 25th anniversary at the bottom right of the artwork on each card. The other unique feature is that there is also a holofoil version of each of the 25 cards available, and these holofoils have a special confetti pattern, a pattern that is only used for special offers like this.
Where the maps come from
Although the Pokémon TCG extends since 1996 in Japan and 1998 in the United States. The oldest original version of any card in this McDonald’s set is from 2011. The Unova starts from Black and White, Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott, were all originally released as Black Star Promos in 2011. Black Star Promo Cards are guaranteed to feature certain TCG products and contains a small black asterisk where the icon will usually be for which set the card comes from.
Other cards in the set that were originally Black Star Promos are Treecko, Grookey, Torchic, Scorbunny, Mudkip and Sobble. In addition, the Piplup card was also handed out as a Black Star Promo at the now mostly dilapidated American toy store chain, Toys R Us. Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott are also the only cards in this McDonald’s series that contain artwork that was originally drawn by original. Pokémon artist Ken Sugimori, who has been drawing for the franchise since its inception.
This is by no means the first time there has been a McDonald’s Pokémon promotion, or any fast food business for that matter, as Pokemon have also been featured at Subway, Wendy’s and Burger King. In fact, 12 of the 25 cards in the set have been in some form in McDonald’s in the past, as McDonald’s has already included at least ten different cards in Happy Meals.
Pokémon Card List
Here is a list of the original set from which each card came, except the year it came out. The cards marked with an * were also released in a previous McDonald’s collection:
- Bulbasaur * – Shining Legends (2017)
- Chicory – Lost Thunder (2018)
- Treecko * – X and Y Black Star Promo (2014)
- Turtwig – Ultra Prism (2018)
- Snivy * – Black and White Black Star Promo (2011)
- Chespin * – Kalos Starter Set (2013)
- Rowlet * – Sun and Moon (2017)
- Grookey – Sword and Shield Black Star Promo (2019)
- Charmander – Burning Shadows (2017)
- Cyndaquil – Lost Thunder (2018)
- Torchic * – X and Y Black Star (2014)
- Chimchar – Ultra Prism (2018)
- Tepig * – BW Black Star Promo (2011)
- Fennekin * – Kalos Starter Set (2013)
- Litten * – Sun and Moon (2017)
- Scorbunny – Sword and Shield Black Star Promo (2019)
- Squirtle – Unbroken Bonds (2019)
- Totodile * – Phantom Forces (2014)
- Mudkip * – X and Y Black Star Promo (2013)
- Piplup – Ultra Prism (2018)
- Oshawott – BW Black Star Promo (2011)
- Froakie – Kalos Starter Set (2013)
- Popplio * – Sun and Moon (2017)
- Sobble – Sword and Shield Black Star Promo (2019)
- Pikachu – Unified Minds (2019)
Nor is it the only 25-year-old celebration cards to be released. There is a new Pokémon grain from General Mills featuring its own series of holofoil promo cards, rather focused on Pokémon from Sword and Shield, like Wooloo and Galarian Zigzagoon, but of course Pikachu will also have a card in the cereal. The Pokemon Company also releases special jumbo prints of base set Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu, in addition to jumbo prints of all the other beginners.
For other celebrations for Pokémon25th, a long-awaited reload of the classic N64 game Pokémon Snap will be released for Nintendo Switch on April 30th. The game contains a new region and a new special type of glowing Pokémon called Illumina Pokémon. Pop star Katy Perry will give a concert for Pokémon, just like Post Malone, which was just announced this week.
There have also been rumors for months that a remake of Pokémon diamond and Pearl can be announced this month. The fourth generation of Pokémon games were the first to come to the Nintendo DS and start internet trading. A potential announcement will follow in line with the franchise’s history of each generation, with developer Game Freak already adapting the first three generations of games, between the release of each new generation Pokémon.
Some assume and hope that there could also be a Switch remake Gold and Silver in the style of Let’s go Pikachu! coming soon. The remake simplifies the mechanics of the original games and adds the mechanics of the mobile game Pokémon Go to bring more comfortable fans in the mainline style Pokémon Games.
As for Pokémon Go, the match will have a special “Tour Kanto” event on Saturday 20 February celebrating the original four Pokémon Game Boy games. The event will also be the first time that the mythical Pokémon Mew is caught in a brilliant shape in the game. Developer Niantic also teased that Shiny Ditto might be making an appearance. The event will feature players in two teams, Red and Green, as part Blue Pokémon in the US it was actually Pokémon Green in Japan when it was first released on February 27, 1996.
The Pokémon TCG Happy Meals is now available at McDonald’s.
Image Credit: Pokellector
