McDonald’s recently changed up its UK menu for May and as well as bringing back fan-favourite burgers and sweet treats, an iconic toy from the 90s is also being added.
From May 14, the popular fast food chain will once again be selling Pokémon-themed Happy Meals, which come with exclusive trading cards.
Maccies has partnered with the video game franchise several times over the years, launching various collectible Pokémon cards and toys – and each time they cause a stir as fans try to catch ’em all.
Things got taken to extremes in 2021 in the US, as restrictions had to be placed on the number of Pokémon Happy Meals customers were allowed to buy. This is because scalpers were snapping them up and selling bundles of the cards for thousands of pounds on eBay.
Currently, a Happy Meal costs £4.09 in the UK, so just to put that into perspective – spending £1,000 on the trading cards would be the equivalent of buying around 250 of the children’s meals.
What’s included in the Pokémon Happy Meals?
As well as getting to enjoy a main item, a side, a drink and optional fruit upgrade, customers will receive one of eight different dragon-type Pokémon cards with the meal.
There’s also an activity sheet for youngsters to fill out and solve while eating.
Alternatively, for those who don’t want a toy with their meal, they can opt for a book when ordering instead. Books have been offered for a few years as a way for McDonald’s to reduce its environmental impact and cut down on their use of virgin fossil fuel-based plastics.
There are five different types of Happy Meal to choose from, including Cheeseburger, Hamburger, Fish Fingers, Chicken McNugget and Veggie Dippers.
Sides include fries, a cucumber bag or apple slices and these can be paired with milk, orange juice, apple juice, Coca-Cola, Fruit Shoots, milkshakes, Fanta or water.
Speaking about the return of Pokémon, a McDonald’s spokesperson said: ‘Dive into the adventure with each toy, which includes four Pokémon Trading Cards trading cards and an activity sheet.
‘Whether you’re a Pokémon Master or just beginning your journey, these Happy Meal toys are a fun way, the ultimate way to catch ’em all, discover them all. But hurry, these treasures are only available for a limited time, so grab yours before they vanish.’
For those that want to get their hands on them, Pokémon Happy Meals will be available at McDonald’s restaurants nationwide from May 14 to June 17.
Online fans have been sharing their excitement over the return of the cards, with some saying it makes them feel like it’s ‘the 90s again’, as the trading card game was particularly popular during this time period.
Pokémon cards first launched in Japan in 1996 and were released in the UK in 1999, making them a real blast from the past for 90s and 00s kids.
But it’s worth noting that there is a chance the new themed meals could spark a bit of a frenzy in the UK, as there’s reportedly been a ‘shortage’ of Pokémon cards in stores this year.
A statement on the official Pokémon website, shared at the end of March, explained: ‘We’re aware that some fans are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) products due to very high demand impacting availability. We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are actively working to print more of the impacted Pokémon TCG products as quickly as possible and at maximum capacity to acknowledge this.
‘We’d like to thank the community for their continued support and patience as we work to deliver more Pokémon TCG products to fans.’
Happy Meals have been on the McDonald’s menu in the UK for almost 40 years and during this time they’ve undergone some major changes – from the iconic yellow smile being removed from the boxes, to the introduction of four new food options for kids.
Most recently an ‘adult Happy Meal’ launched (well, kind of). The chain unveiled a Minecraft Movie Meal in April, which saw adults able to get a limited-edition meal and collectible character. This has since been removed from the UK menu, but proved a big hit with customers.
One of the biggest changes in the history of Happy Meals has to be the removal of plastic toys, which came into force in 2021. As these were phased out, Maccies started offering products made out of paper instead, as well as soft toys.
However, back in March, McDonald’s announced its biggest change to Happy Meals in six years – it would be changing its stance on plastic toys once again.
Some customers had issues with the longevity and durability of paper toys and as such, they were looking into using more ‘durable materials’, including plastic, to once again create toys that could be kept and passed down through generations.
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