Resellers have always gone wild over the limited McDonald’s Pokémon Cards editions. This has never been more evident than in the world of McDonald’s Happy Meal Pokémon cards. When they released in 2022 that they would rerelease Pokémon trading cards, people jumped at getting happy meals because they hoped to find some of the rarest cards.
These are the most valuable PSA 10 Graded McDonald’s Pokemon Cards:
- Pikachu (holo), $1,902
- Squirtle (holo), $1,230
- Umbreon (holo), $870
- Charmander (Holo), $760
- Mew (holo), $750
Without further ado, here is the full list of cards and current prices.
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Alola
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Rowlet (holo) | $1.96 | $48.42 |
| Rowlet | $3.54 | $32.32 |
| Litten (holo) | $2.59 | $25.12 |
| Litten | $1.84 | $20 |
| Popplio (holo) | $4.38 | $28.30 |
| Popplio | $1.87 | $14.73 |
Galar
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Grookey (holo) | $2.36 | $30 |
| Grookey | $1.53 | $23 |
| Scorbunny (holo) | $1.66 | $33 |
| Scorbunny | $1.47 | $9.73 |
| Sobble (holo) | $4.22 | $27.49 |
| Sobble | $1.28 | $15 |
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Hoenn
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Treecko (holo) | $4.31 | $26.86 |
| Treecko | $1.63 | $17.50 |
| Torchic (holo) | $1.74 | $20 |
| Torchic | $1.63 | $12.72 |
| Mudkip (holo) | $2.41 | $24.99 |
| Mudkip | $1.45 | $30.75 |
Johto
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Chikorita (holo) | $2.26 | $25 |
| Chikorita | $1.83 | $12.22 |
| Cyndaquil (holo) | $2.88 | $28.37 |
| Cyndaquil | $1.84 | $17.25 |
| Totodile (holo) | $3.42 | $34.49 |
| Totodile | $1.50 | $22.50 |
Kalos
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Chespin (holo) | $2 | $18.29 |
| Chespin | $1.23 | $18.27 |
| Fennekin (holo) | $2.19 | $28 |
| Fennekin | $1.65 | $18.84 |
| Froakie (holo) | $1.44 | $25.53 |
| Froakie | $1.13 | $9.73 |
Kanto
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Bulbasaur (holo) | $3.99 | $34.97 |
| Bulbasaur | $1.92 | $21.59 |
| Charmander (holo) | $4.46 | $39.24 |
| Charmander | $1.85 | $24.07 |
| Squirtle (holo) | $4.62 | $34.97 |
| Squirtle | $2.58 | $21.14 |
| Pikachu (holo) | $12.73 | $74.49 |
| Pikachu | $6.74 | $29.35 |
Sinnoh
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Turtwig (holo) | $2.99 | $37.49 |
| Turtwig | $1.26 | $15.89 |
| Chimchar (holo) | $2,84 | $26 |
| Chimchar | $2 | $20 |
| Piplup (holo) | $3.47 | $21.05 |
| Piplup | $2 | $41.60 |
Unova
| Pokémon | Ungraded | Graded PSA 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Snivy (holo) | $2.99 | $32.95 |
| Snivy | $1.79 | $15.88 |
| Tepig (holo) | $3 | $25,25 |
| Tepig | $1.84 | $22.47 |
| Oshawott (holo) | $3 | $29 |
| Oshawott | $3 | $20.20 |
Card grades impact the value of cards. A rating of PSA 10 is the most valuable.
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What You Need To Know About McDonald’s Pokemon Cards
In previous promotions, McDonald’s stores announced the Pokemon Happy Meal in celebration of the Nintendo property’s 25th anniversary.
The meals came in a specially designed yellow box with Pikachu’s smiling face on the front that opened to reveal the fixings of a Happy Meal and a future gold mine for any lucky resellers that managed to get their hands on the meal.
Four Pokemon cards were included inside each box, mixed and matched from a pool of 24 starter Pokemon cards. They came in blind packs of four, with one holographic card in each. Those holographic cards are now going for around $30+ on the resale market.
Exclusivity Create Markets
Things that seem worthless to most people, sometimes have a high stock value on the resale market. For example, Happy Meal Beanie Babies remain a hot commodity today.
And don’t forget when the Rick and Morty collaboration added Szechuan sauce to the menu for one day, actual violence ensued over the counter. The following day, those sauce packs were appearing online for $300.
In recent history, a popular K-Pop group sold a meal with their face attached to it. Included in the box were collectible trading cards and resellers capitalized on this market. Trading cards would sell for $40, roughly a $38 profit from the Happy Meal they were originally bought in.
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How can you tell if a Pokemon card is rare?
If you want to check the rarity of your Pokémon card and see if they are rare, there is a small symbol on each Pokémon card, even the McDonald’s ones. Collectibles Insurance Services tells us to look for these symbols on the Pokémon cards, a circle that means it is a common card, a diamond is a marker for uncommon cards, and a star is used to mark rare cards. We suggest pulling out your Pokémon cards and looking to see what symbols you have on them. You could have a rare card in your possession.
How many McDonald’s Pokemon cards are there?
Since 2011 there have been nine Pokémon card promotions. Each promotion had a feature set of 15 cards; in total, there are 135 McDonald’s Pokémon cards. TCGPLAYER informs us that McDonald’s Pokémon cards have a unique symbol set, and it is in a holographic pattern. The latest promotion was in the year 2022. That set of cards is not worth a lot right now, but they could be in a few years. The ones that are worth a lot are the older ones.
Where the High Values Came From?
It started with resellers camping out all night for the cards, so McDonald’s employees put a one-per-customer limit on the Happy Meals in order to stave off any violence should the first person in line buy everything in stock and leave everyone tired, hungry, and cardless:
But by allowing everyone a buy-in for the market, trades could be made. Value has since gone up by taking into account the sentimental value of the Pokemon, the look of the card, and the leveraging power each collector had with their own hand of four.
This left lucky owners of certain holographic cards with highly collectible McDonald’s Pokemon cards on their hands.
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Conclusion
It has almost become an expectation that any time a limited quantity of something is made available to the public, it will pop up on the resale market mere hours later.
And though Pokemon card trading is a long-forgotten pastime, for some resellers it was probably a profitable revisit to their roots. For now, we wait for the next McDonald’s Happy Meal collectible that will spark rioting in the streets.