Bored.... McDonalds Pokémon Case Rip

Bosox1976

Probably not the most exciting rip in the world, but for anybody pondering this particular issue....

In honor of the 25th Anniversary of Pokémon, McDonalds decided to give away one mini 4 card pack in each Happy Meal this spring. Seems like a bunch of these were either purchased outright from franchises in bulk, were sold out the back door, or people actually bought lots of Happy Meals. Either way cases of these are plentiful on eBay.

The cases are typically by Toy Number (toy 1, toy 2, etc. ). I wasn’t sure if the cards were issued in series, so I bought this Manager Case which has all four toy types. It turns out the packs of cards were all the same, with a bonus item varying in each giveaway packet.

Anyway, collation was good. There are 4 cards per pac - 1 is a Holo, 3 are regular. The set consists of 25 characters, each on a regular card and a Holo - so 50 is the master set.

The more popular characters seem to be of higher value on eBay, with Pikachu and Charamander (who can evolve into Charizard in the regular game) as the big two. Squirtle and Bulbusaur are the other two noteworthy cards.

Anyway, here are some pics in case anyone is as bored as I am.

Bosox1976

Here are the best Holos.

Bosox1976

blurryface

@Bosox1976 said:

is that the major hit? meaning is there something crazy you can hit in these?

thedutymon11

@blurryface said:

@Bosox1976 said:

is that the major hit? meaning is there something crazy you can hit in these?

What he Said!?

Thanks

YeeHah!

Neil

Bosox1976

Haha. Sadly no. A boring rip. Equal odds for all holos and non holos. I think PSA 10’s of Pikachu will probably settle a little over $100.

Bosox1976

Maybe I’m low. I see a few Pikachu’s closed for $1,000 and up. Probably a “first mover” situation though.

Kepper19

@Bosox1976 said:
Maybe I’m low. I see a few Pikachu’s closed for $1,000 and up. Probably a “first mover” situation though.

so some people are paying express fees to get them graded? The rush to be first is always something...

mtcards

25 years ago, I worked for one of the distribution companies that suppllies McDonald's will all their product, including the toys/beanie babies etc. I can assure you that most of these cases were either walked out the back door or were ordered by mangers who will be suddenly "sold out" of the product.

blurryface

@Bosox1976 said:
Haha. Sadly no. A boring rip. Equal odds for all holos and non holos. I think PSA 10’s of Pikachu will probably settle a little over $100.

I think I’m speaking the right terms, but no “shadowless” variations other than the 1 foil card per pack?

blurryface

@mtcards said:
25 years ago, I worked for one of the distribution companies that suppllies McDonald's will all their product, including the toys/beanie babies etc. I can assure you that most of these cases were either walked out the back door or were ordered by mangers who will be suddenly "sold out" of the product.

it’s funny you mention this. I have a sealed case of the ‘91 upper deck basketball cards that I purchased that apparently was from a manager. Said he had 25 of them originally & he still had 10 of them when I was inquiring about the origins as he let me take my pick of the remaining litter. I tried to buy a couple but he very boastfully said he only sells one every year solely to fund the family vacay. I imagine in today’s market the family vacay was pretty nice this year!

i mean kudos to the guy for solid family planning, but knowing he backdoored 25 cases back in the day when I vividly remember my McDonald’s running outta them when I was a kid throughout the promotion and being bummed kinda didn’t sit well either. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand a case or three, but 25 cases?

Bosox1976

@blurryface said:

@Bosox1976 said:
Haha. Sadly no. A boring rip. Equal odds for all holos and non holos. I think PSA 10’s of Pikachu will probably settle a little over $100.

I think I’m speaking the right terms, but no “shadowless” variations other than the 1 foil card per pack?

Nothing but the holos, am afraid, one per pack. Pretty vanilla.

jeffcbay

There are about a dozen of these cards currently laying crumpled up on my living room floor because every Thursday at my house both of my kids get happy meals. I was very tempted to offer to sell these for them so they could buy something cool from Target instead, but they had fun with these cards. I know one of them has the Pikachu holo... but as much as it hurt, I had to let that one slide into the "kids destroy everything" abyss.