This time last year McDonald’s turned some fan-favourite Pokémon into Happy Meal toys. This time, it is the turn of legendary Pokémon from across the series’ history.
This promotion seems nicely timed with Pokémon Go’s current ‘hatchathon’ for a great start to 2019 for any Pokémaniacs. With official figures being quite pricey, and often quite lackluster, McDonald’s Pokémon toys offer a great chance to snatch up a plastic figure at a reasonable price. If you don’t want to have to buy a Happy Meal then don’t worry, you can just order the toys on their own (be warned: this probably means an awkward conversation trying to describe the one you want to someone who doesn’t know a Charizard from an Agumon).The legendary Pokémon on offer include Latios, Latias, Kyogre and Groudon from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Dialga and Palkia from Diamond and Pearl, and Tornadus and Thundurus from Black and White.
The American equivalent of this set, according to the official Pokémon website, had a few variations. The McDonald’s Pokémon toys pictured include a trading card – its unclear whether the same cards are on offer here. If you’re eagle-eyed you may also have noticed two substitutions – Reshiram and Zekrom from Pokémon Black and White instead of Groudon and Kyogre. The previous set of McDonald’s Pokémon toys was much broader, featuring more popular characters, and it seems as though less hype is anticipated for this series.
Pokémon – Happy Meal McDonald’s UK 2018
Whereas the previous promotion was accompanied by a wealth of information, the McDonald’s UK webpage contains little help for anyone hoping to ‘catch ’em all’. Its nice to see some of the iconic older ‘mon on offer here, but its a shame not to see a few more fan-favourites making the cut. The legendary birds and Mewtwo seem like they would have been nicely positioned for the generation 1 nostalgia Let’s Go revived recently. Similarly some of the ‘cuter’ legendaries, such as Mew or Celebi, or the more recent, Solgaleo or Lunala, seem more appropriate choices. We’ll have to wait and see which Pokémon make the cut to be McDonald’s toys in January 2020.
