Seemingly out of nowhere, trading cards, especially Pokemon cards, are all the rage once again. The past few months have harkened back to a time known as Pokemania in 1999, which saw Pokemon at the height of its popularity, filling households with video games, anime, trading cards, and much more. Now, with the highest grossing media franchise in the world celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Pokemon seems as popular as ever, most notably with collectors.
Updated July 23, 2021 by Mina Smith: TCGs have been big news again in the last year, with Magic: the Gathering cards going at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars and Pokemon TCG boxes selling for thousands. As the games continue to grow in popularity among collectors, the prices of the cards will also climb, even for the McDonald's collectible cards sold in Happy Meals. This article has been updated with current prices as they continue to inflate. Miscut and misprinted items are still the highest value of the McDonald's 25th-anniversary cards, with the holo Pikachu in second.Â
Pokemon TCG in the News
Recent months have seen YouTubers, influencers, Twitch streamers, and even average fans going all-out on purchasing Pokemon cards, spending upwards of thousands of dollars for Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) booster boxes, and in some cases, just as much for a single card. The monster-catching franchise's 25th anniversary has brought along with it a virtual concert with Post Malone, new game announcements, and a plethora of commemorative merchandise, but by far the most viral part of the celebration has been Pokemon's collaboration with McDonald's.
The History of Pokemon Cards and Happy Meals
Alongside the franchise's monumental anniversary, The Pokemon Company has partnered with McDonald's to bring children and Pokemon fans alike Pokemon-themed Happy Meals from February to March. Each Happy Meal includes the standard Happy Meal food of choice, a Pikachu-themed Happy Meal box, and a mini booster card pack of 4 Pokemon TCG cards. Happy Meal also include a mini picture frame, deck box, or sticker sheets. Unsurprisingly, the limited-time Pokemon cards have skyrocketed in both popularity and price, and while each card has the same likelihood of appearing in a pack, here are the hardest to find McDonald's Pokemon cards.
Rare McDonald's Pokemon Misprints
As with most any other set of Pokemon TCG cards, misprints and error cards tend to be both the rarest and most valuable cards on the third-party reselling market. One McDonald's customer sold an error Pikachu card just last week for about $500. While the holographic cards in the 2021 McDonald's promotional set are the ones fans have been on the lookout for, this one, in particular, was non-holographic, showing just how much some collectors value error cards.
It is also worth noting that a misprint holographic Squirtle card from the 2021 McDonald's Pokemon 25th anniversary set is also making the rounds on eBay at the moment. Listed for $45 by user michigangirltreasures, this holographic Squirtle misprint shows that the Squirtle on the error card has supposedly been printed with much more of a green color than when compared side-by-side to what looks like a normal holographic Squirtle card. Although it is rather hard to tell, it does seem like only the Squirtle on the card is discolored, giving it a lot more value.
Holographic Pikachu
Aside from misprints and error cards, by far the most coveted McDonald's Pokemon 25th anniversary card is the ever-popular holographic Pikachu. This particular Pikachu card was originally released as part of the Unified Minds Pokemon TCG expansion back in 2019. As part of this year's McDonald's promotion, this Pikachu card includes the Pokemon 25th Anniversary logo, as well as a unique icon marking it as part of the promotional set.
As the franchise's iconic mascot, it comes to no surprise that this holographic Pikachu card is the most difficult to find and drives the highest price of any 2021 McDonald's Pokemon card when resold. On third-party websites, the Unified Minds Pikachu goes for around $1-2, while the McDonald's non-holographic Pikachu goes for around $4-10, and the McDonald's holographic Pikachu card goes for anywhere from around $45-350, depending on the card's condition and/or PSA grade.
Holographic Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle
After iconic Pokemon like Pikachu and Charizard, it goes without saying that the Kanto region starters are likely some of the most recognizable monsters out there. Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle made their Pokemon debut alongside Pikachu back in 1996, and have since remained some of the favorite monsters of long-time fans, particularly those who grew up playing the original Pokemon games on the Game Boy. These are the second-rarest cards from the 2021 McDonald's promotion.
This particular Bulbasaur card featuring the classic Grass-type starter Pokemon was originally released as part of the Shining Legends Pokemon TCG expansion back in 2017. In 2019, the card appeared in General Mills Let's Go, Kanto! Mini Packs found in General Mills cereal boxes exclusively at Walmart. The card was also part of a McDonald's promotion in France in 2019, also with holographic and non-holographic variations.
Now, the Bulbasaur card dons the Pokemon 25th-anniversary logo and unique icon as part of the 2021 McDonald's promotion. Today, the Shining Legends Bulbasaur card goes for around $2-5, while the 2021 McDonald's non-holographic Bulbasaur resells for around $3-5, and the holographic version goes for $15-20.
This Charmander card was originally released in the Burning Shadows Pokemon TCG expansion in 2017. The card has appeared in a variety of promotions in Japan, like the ones at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson. This Charmander also appeared outside of Japan in a 2019 French McDonald's promotion, as well as in the Charizard-GX Premium Collection and Deck overseas.
Now, this Charmander bears the Pokemon 25th-anniversary logo and unique icon as part of the 2021 McDonald's set, and remains one of the more difficult cards to find online, following in the footsteps of its evolution, Charizard. The Burning Shadows Charmander card resells for around $2-5, while the 2021 McDonald's non-holographic Charmander goes for around $3-5, and the holographic version goes for $12-20.
Finally, this Squirtle card featuring the Water-type starter Pokemon originally appeared in 2019's Unbroken Bonds Pokemon TCG expansion. Since then, this card was included in the Blastoise-GX Premium Collection released in 2019, and was later reprinted in the Japanese Tag All-Stars Pokemon TCG subset in the same year.
Like the other cards in this year's McDonald's set, this Squirtle card includes the Pokemon 25th-anniversary logo and unique set icon, and its holographic variant is about as hard to find online as the holographic Bulbasaur and Charmander cards. The Unbroken Bonds Squirtle goes for anywhere from $6-80 depending on its condition and/or holographic iteration, while the McDonald's non-holographic Squirtle resells for $3-10, and the holographic version for $12-20.
Other McDonald's Pokemon Cards
Of course, without the Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle cards, plus their variants, there are still 42 other cards left in the set. These include the rest of the starter Pokemon from previous generations: Chikortia, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Rowlett, Litten, Popplio, Grookey, Sobble, and Scorbunny. Each of these cards are readily accessible via third-party reselling sites, and each card's non-holographic version resells for around $2-5, while each holographic card goes for around $6-10.
The Pokemon TCG 25th anniversary cards are available with the purchase of a McDonald's Happy Meal for a limited time.