McDonald’s Pokémon Happy Meal sell-out in Australia, Digi Mart USA News (Australia): McDonald’s Pokémon Happy Meal toys have sold out at multiple locations across Australia less than two days after release, leaving fans disappointed.
A sign on digital ordering screens at the McDonald’s in Chatswood, Sydney reads: “Fully sold out of Pokémon Happy Meal toys. Sorry for the inconvenience.” The restaurant has sold out completely, according to images shared on Reddit.
The Pokémon Happy Meal range was expected to be popular amid the craze for the toys and collector cards. It launched across the country on November 5 and is set to run until December 9 “or while stocks last.”
Nine.com.au was told that more stock will arrive in the coming days, reportedly reaching stores soon. A McDonald’s Australia spokesperson said, “We’ve seen a huge response to the Pokémon Happy Meal, and we’re loving the excitement it’s creating for fans.”
The spokesperson added, “To help more customers get their hands on a Pokémon toy, which comes with two Pokémon TCG cards, they’re currently only available with the purchase of a Pokémon Happy Meal.”
There are 15 Pokémon toys in the Happy Meal range. Each Happy Meal includes two Pokémon Trading Card Game cards from a 15-card set and one of 15 miniature Pokémon Happy Meal box toys.
The Happy Meal boxes are also proving popular with collectors, with some listed for sale online.
The Happy Meal launch came the same week the latest Pokémon Trading Card Game release arrived at major retailers across the country. Queues formed at Kmart, Big W and other toy retailers on November 6 as fans lined up for the Pokémon Mega Evolution: Delta Reign range, which included an Elite Trainer Box with nine booster packs, card sleeves, dice, counters and an exclusive Zarude promo card selling for $87.48, six-pack Booster Bundles, and Blister Packs of promotional cards and coins.
New Pokémon 30th Celebration Collection items were also released, featuring Sylveon ex and Greninja ex collector tin variants, each containing five booster packs and promo cards.
Big W introduced a strict “one item total” limit per customer for this release to help prevent scalpers from buying multiple items for resale, and Kmart followed a similar in-store and online buying rule. Some Big W and Kmart locations reportedly had staff monitoring lines to ensure customers who had already made a purchase did not immediately rejoin the queue.
Most of the stock was kept behind service desks or customer service counters, and Kmart has reportedly stopped midnight drops of Pokémon ranges.
Still, there were chaotic scenes at some locations when doors opened and fans raced to pick up items before they sold out, leaving many empty-handed. Collectors praised the new restrictions online, as fans continue to criticize those trying to profit from the range through major online markups.
McDonald’s and Big W have been contacted for comment.
