Hard-core Fans And Scalpers Are Ruining the Celebratory McDonalds Pokémon Happy Meal Already

This story makes me angry as hell. It is the perfect definition of how selfish we are becoming as human beings. As if the actions of some people during the pandemic haven’t been enough proof that we are just the worst, it would seem that even fans of a franchise as wholesome as Pokémon are proving themselves to be vile human beings.

If you read the blog here at Goomba Stomp, you may remember a story I wrote about McDonalds collaborating with Pokémon with their Happy Meals in which they will be releasing special Pokémon cards to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the franchise.  Well, some scalpers and hard-core collectors of all things Pokémon have purposely been buying up the stock of the cards in bulk and selling them. This became clear after huge packs of the holographic, limited edition cards started cropping up on eBay. This is absolute madness, as the cards aren’t even making it into the Happy Meals to begin with. It would seem that someone behind the scenes is getting their grubby mits on the cards in an attempt to make a profit from them. And a profit they are certainly making, as some listings show the cards being sold for up to $1,000. Whether it is McDonald’s employees or just general thieves who are doing this isn’t clear but whoever you are, you are the absolute worst.

Those stores that are getting the cards before they get stolen and sold are lucky if they actually sell the Happy Meals to kids as plenty of adults have been trying to buy up as many Happy Meals as they can to get their hands on the cards. I understand being a collector and I understand just being a fan and wanting some cool, limited edition Pokémon cards. Honestly, I even wanted to get a Happy Meal for myself to get some cards (until I realised that it’s not available in my country at the moment and I definitely did not cry about that as I’m a grown woman). But seriously, the lengths some people are willing to go to obtain their precious collectables is a little sickening at times. Plenty of adults love Pokémon but the fact that these cards are packaged with Happy Meals shows that their intended audience is children. These are people who are taking a nice gift away from children. Children who may only be able to get a Happy Meal as a special treat every once in a while. Children who may have been looking forward to getting a cool Pokémon card. Children who may not have much else to look forward to with the world being the way it is.

The fact that these scalpers and collectors can be so brazenly selfish is beyond me. I hope some kind of system is worked out to minimise this sort of thing happening. In the meantime, if you’re thinking of buying up a whole stores worth of Happy Meals or spending hundreds of dollars on dubiously obtained box of McDonald’s Pokémon cards, maybe think about who you are taking them away from before you do so.