Some people can't help themselves, can they? The Pokémon cards released in McDonald's Happy Meals are being re-sold online, and the scalpers are raking in ridiculous amounts of cash for the goods.
An eBay seller from New York (boasting a bizarre storefront with Mickey Mouse toys, Nike Art Force Ones, and fertility tea) recently parted with one of the 25th anniversary Pokémon Trading Game Cards found in Happy Meals. The card, which was a Pikachu, wasn't holographic nor was it a special version or variety of the character. What it did have was an error when it printed, causing the round edges to be angular instead. This, along with its high quality condition, meant that the card was very valuable and it sold for $500. Five hundred dollars! That's half the cost of a spiffy laptop. You could buy a dishwasher with too many settings for that money.
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Regrettably, this isn't the first time this has hit the headlines. In one Happy Meal, the buyer gets four Pokémon Trading Card Game Cards for free as part of the purchase. It's a sweet way of celebrating the anniversary and it's a surprise for children who are building their collection. Who knows, it's even possible that you'll pick up a holographic card, or perhaps one of the rarest cards in the game. All in all, it's a bit of fun and something that everyone is able to be involved in - you never go wrong with a McDonald's. Therefore, it's doubly disheartening to discover that the promotion has been hijacked by scalpers.
After the announcement, people apparently camped outside McDonald's sites to buy an extortionate amount of Happy Meals, bag the cards inside the takeaways and waste the food by tossing it out onto the ground. Unbelievable, right? Moreover, unsealed boxes of cards started springing up on eBay, suggesting that these cards never made it into the Happy Meals, and instead went straight to the highest bidder. I get it. Pokémon cards are (and always have been) important to the longevity and legacy of Pokémon. These antics, though, we simply cannot condone.
Regarding the problematic shortage of Trading Cards, The Pokémon Company issued a statement in February. "We're aware that some of you are experiencing difficulties purchasing certain Pokémon Trading Card Game products due to very high demand and global shipping constraints impacting availability," it said. "We understand this inconvenience can be disappointing for fans, and we are working to address it where it is within our control." It continued to guarantee that those products impacted by shortages are its priority and reprints should be available at retailers as soon as possible. "For new Pokémon TCG expansions launching in the future, we are maximising production to increase product availability upon release, and we will continue to reprint the products to replenish stock at retailers as soon as possible," it concluded.
Featured Image Credit: The Pokémon Company