Pokémon Happy Meals draw massive crowds, frustrate collectors as resellers buy in bulk
McDonald’s Pokémon Happy Meal promotion in Japan over the weekend proved far more popular than many anticipated, with long lines, sold-out stores and frustrated fans competing for limited trading-card rewards.
The promotion, running 8–10 August, included two Pokémon cards with each Happy Meal: a guaranteed standard Pikachu plus a second card randomly selected from five variants. The meals also included one of nine Pokémon toys, a lineup being rolled out over three weeks.
Reporter Maro rose early on release day and arrived at a countryside McDonald’s around 7:15 a.m. Despite the rural location she found a full parking lot and a drive-thru queue stretching down the road. Inside, staff were handling an unusually heavy rush and serving customers with composure, but even pre-ordered mobile meals took roughly 50 minutes to be ready.
Her early wait paid off. Along with apple juice, hotcakes and a hash brown, Maro received the Charmander spinning-top toy and opened her card pack to find the guaranteed Pikachu and an additional Ralts card. She noted that cards like these often become scarce after a campaign ends, increasing their desirability among collectors.
However, social media posts and scenes around many stores revealed a darker side of the craze: resellers buying large quantities of Happy Meals and leaving uneaten meals in plastic bags, apparently to harvest the collectible cards for resale. That practice led to widespread sellouts—some branches reportedly sold out by 7 a.m.—and left many genuine fans unable to complete collections.
Maro and other collectors expressed frustration at resellers depleting stock and argued McDonald’s should consider measures to protect genuine customers, such as purchase limits per person or restrictions on bulk mobile orders.
Additional comments and context
– Why this happens: Limited-time promotions create scarcity, and resellers exploit demand differentials between regular retail prices and secondary-market values. Mobile ordering and no-per-customer limits make it easier to buy in bulk.
– Possible retailer responses: Common anti-resale measures include one-item-per-customer rules, ID checks for bulk purchases, limiting digital order quantities, or distributing collectibles in different waves or through in-person-only channels.
– Collector advice: Visit stores early, follow local store announcements for restock info, join local collector groups for swaps, and report suspected bulk-buying behaviors to staff so they can enforce store policies.
Short summary
McDonald’s Pokémon Happy Meal giveaway (8–10 August) sparked heavy demand across Japan. Each meal included a guaranteed Pikachu card and a mystery second card; nine toys were released over three weeks. Long lines, quick sellouts and bulk buying by resellers—who left many uneaten meals behind—frustrated genuine collectors. Some fans suggest limiting purchases or restricting mobile orders to help ensure fair access.
Hopeful note
Campaigns like this show strong public enthusiasm for shared, family-oriented promotions. With some policy tweaks from retailers and cooperative behavior from customers, future releases can better balance collector excitement with fairness—plus they offer opportunities for community engagement, trading events and meetups where fans can swap and complete sets together.