McDonald’s is apologizing to Pokemon Trading Card Game fans after a card distribution event at the fast food chain has ended early at a number of restaurants on the same day that it began. It’s not clear how many McDonald’s restaurants have had to end their Pokemon Trading Card Game offer early, but fans in Japan hoping to take advantage of it may want to get to their nearby McDonald’s locations fast.
The Japan-only promotion was first announced around the middle of July, and the eight new Pokemon-themed Happy Meal toys made their debut at the restaurant chain on August 8, with the limited-time offer expected to last through August 14. Along with the special toys, which include Mega Charizard X, Lucario, and every Gen 1 starter Pokemon, McDonald’s is running an even shorter campaign expected to run from August 9-11, letting customers also pick up some unique Pokemon TCG cards.
McDonald’s is Running Out of Pokemon Cards Fast
But those special McDonald’s Pokemon TCG promo cards are selling out much faster than expected. In a statement on its Japanese website, McDonald’s has officially apologized to fans of the trading card game who have shown up expecting to receive the special cards and faced disappointment. According to the official statement, multiple restaurants have had to end distribution of the promo cards early due to “sales exceeding expectations.” Despite the obvious high demand, McDonald’s is requesting that customers do not contact individual locations to ask whether they have the Pokemon TCG cards in stock.
High demand for the promotional cards has been expected among many of the game’s fans. Rare Pokemon cards can be extremely expensive, with the highest sale price ever going to a Pikachu Illustrator trainer card, which was sold in 2022 for more than $5.2 million. It’s highly unlikely that any of the newly released cards bearing original artwork and a tiny golden arches logo will come anywhere near that value, but offers currently on eBay include a set of 50 sealed packs for nearly $1,000, with 25 already sold, and individual cards like Pikachu falling in the $20-40 range.
The two ongoing promotions are far from being McDonald’s first sales collaboration with video games. In the United States alone, the fast food chain has held seven different Pokemon-themed collaborations dating back to 2011, along with four collaborations each related to the Mario and Sonic franchises, three for Skylanders, and other popular names like Minecraft and Angry Birds making the list. McDonald’s most recent U.S. collaboration with Pokemon was in January, and it too faced criticism for Pokemon TCG cards missing from Happy Meals.
