Pokemon TCG McDonald’s Cards Are Being Sold For Ridiculous Prices Online

New promotional Pokemon Trading Card Game booster packs from McDonald’s are already seeing massive price tags on online marketplaces, with some large-scale collections being offered for up to $1,000. Titled Dragon Discovery, this new set of 15 Pokemon TCG cards seems to have players and collectors in a frenzy to collect them all.

McDonald’s and Pokemon announced their trading card game collaboration on January 21, offering a special promotion that allows customers to purchase Pokemon-themed Happy Meals when ordering through the fast food chain’s mobile app. Each of these special Happy Meals comes with a booster pack for the trading card game containing four promotional trading cards from a collection of 15, as well as a Pokemon poster and a sheet of stickers.

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While the new trading cards have only officially been available at McDonald’s locations for one day, sellers on online auction houses like eBay have already begun posting some high-cost listings for individual cards, promo packs, and larger collections. Individual promotional cards are seeing a wide price range, with Psychic-type Pokemon cards Dragapult and Hatenna being easily found for a single dollar, while the market for Charizard is much harder to pin down, with listings ranging from $4 to $100. Those who have managed to complete a full collection of 15 cards are selling them for anywhere from $37 to $110. As far as even larger collections go, one eBay listing for an unsealed cardboard box marked with McDonald’s insignia and purported to contain 150 Dragon Discovery packs is currently available for $1,000 or the best offer.

For avid fans of the trading card game, the popularity of the promotional cards should come as no surprise. Due to limited quantities and high demand, retailers have begun limiting sales of Pokemon TCG‘s Prismatic Evolutions, its newest set of retail cards, which was released on January 17. The fervor over cards in the last few days has led to reports of break-ins at specialty shops and brawls at Costco over Pokemon cards, with the potential profit of reselling cards online considered a major motive for these actions.

McDonld’s current card promotion has no set end date and is designed to continue while supplies last, though the restaurant chain is also hosting special Pokemon GO Pokestops for one week apiece in January, February, and March. It’s not clear if McDonald’s will make an effort to stop Pokemon card scalpers or if the online value of these cards will continue to hold such high prices as the promotional event continues.

Pokemon Trading Card Game

The hit Wizards of the Coast card game comes to the Game Boy Color! Pokémon Trading Card Game features many of the famed Wizards of the Coast cards, plus exclusive cards not found in any store. Equipped with a modest deck and sage words of advice from the wise Dr. Mason, you’ll win booster decks by battling–and defeating–a series of rivals. 

You’ll need to talk to everyone that you encounter in this adventure role-playing game (RPG). Each conversation may unlock a key piece of information or an offer to trade cards. You can also scour bulging bookshelves for new tactics or check your e-mail for additional clues–you might even get a valuable booster pack from Dr. Mason! 

Players of the Wizards of the Coast game will recognize the basic game mechanics and strategies, which are faithful to the popular trading card game. In all, there are more than 200 cards. You can even battle a friend via the Game Link cable!

 

Digital Card Game

Strategy

Systems

Platform(s)

Nintendo Game Boy Color

Released

April 10, 2000

Developer(s)

Hudson Soft

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

ESRB

e

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