After the U.S. fell victim to a shortage of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary McDonald’s collaboration card packs earlier this year, the U.K. has reportedly put a plan in place to make sure it doesn’t happen to them.
The fast-food outlet is planning to restrict customers from purchasing large quantities of the limited-edition card packs, according to a report by NintendoLife.
While there’s been no confirmation that the Pokémon-themed promotional Happy Meals coming to the U.K. in late May will contain the limited-edition card packs, given that their initial release was restricted to the U.S., it does seem likely.
Upon their release, boxes of the collaboration card packs were flaunted by scalpers online and the shortage got so bad in some stores that they completely ran out of stock. This came despite the fast-food giant’s best efforts to restrict customers from buying the packs without the purchase of a Happy Meal.
Scalpers in all regions were able to get a hold of boxes of the packs that have been seen for resale on eBay and similar sales portals all around the globe.
These sought-after packs featured a selection of 50 cards, boasting reprinted art of all 24 starter Pokémon from the franchise as well as a limited-edition Pikachu card stamped for the series’ 25th anniversary.
The promotion ran throughout the U.S. from Feb. 9 to March 8. Right now, there’s no clear indication as to when or if the cards will become available in the U.K. But according to reports, the McDonald’s Pokémon promotion is set to begin in the U.K. on May 19.
