Pokémon and McDonald’s Reveal 15 New Happy Meal Toys Ahead of November Release
Image by Charlotte Davis
The first images of Pokémon’s upcoming 30th anniversary McDonald’s Happy Meal collaboration in the US have surfaced, revealing a collection of 15 new toys alongside fresh details about the accompanying Pokémon TCG cards.
The plastic toys take the form of miniature Happy Meal boxes themed around individual Pokémon, with the reverse of each design doubling as a frame for displaying a trading card.
This new promotion is the first time since 2018 that Pokémon plastic toys have been included with McDonald’s Happy Meals, ending a run of US collaborations that have focused largely on trading cards and other paper-based collectibles.
Fifteen different Pokémon have been selected for the miniature boxes, ranging from the original Kanto starters to characters introduced across several later generations.
The full toy lineup includes:
- Pikachu
- Eevee
- Umbreon
- Bulbasaur
- Charmander
- Squirtle
- Weedle
- Torchic
- Piplup
- Munchlax
- Minccino
- Espurr
- Rowlet
- Sobble
- Sprigatito
Each design uses colors and artwork based on its respective Pokémon while retaining the recognizable shape of a McDonald’s Happy Meal box, turning the packaging concept itself into the collectible.
The back then opens up the second part of the collaboration by providing a display space for one of the Pokémon TCG cards distributed during the campaign.
Each toy is reportedly set to come with two random Pokémon cards drawn from a separate 15-card McDonald’s set.
As with previous McDonald’s Pokémon TCG collections, the cards will be reprints given their own McDonald’s numbering rather than completely new cards.
Three have been identified so far: Metagross from Scarlet & Violet – Temporal Forces, Palafin from Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames, and Hawlucha from the original Scarlet & Violet expansion.
The remaining 12 cards have yet to be revealed, while it also remains unclear how many will receive holographic versions.
Previous McDonald’s Pokémon sets have typically included six cards with a confetti-style holofoil treatment, although the structure of this year’s distribution is already different from the traditional four-card booster packs used in earlier US promotions.
Pokémon and McDonald’s have already celebrated the franchise’s 30th anniversary together in Japan this year, where 12 different Happy Meal toys featuring 30 Pokémon in total launched in August.
That Japanese collection focused on interactive designs including rollers, launchers, ring toss games, and interchangeable holographic panels, making the miniature card-display boxes planned for the US a separate collection rather than localized versions of the same toys.
Canada and Australia are set to receive the promotion first, with current regional windows running from November 3 through December 7 in Canada and November 5 through December 9 in Australia.
The US promotion is currently reported to run at participating McDonald’s restaurants from November 10 through December 14, 2026.
McDonald’s and The Pokémon Company have not yet formally announced the campaign, so the dates, complete card lineup, and final distribution details should still be treated as subject to change until official confirmation.
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