McDonald's Pokémon Cards Return in November, but There's No UK Date Yet
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Pokémon cards are going back into McDonald's Happy Meals this autumn. PokeBeach reported on 27 October that the 2026 promotion starts in the US on 10 November, based on information from restaurants. McDonald's and The Pokémon Company haven't announced it themselves yet, and there's no UK date.
What's in the Happy Meal
This time the cards come with a toy. There are 15 plastic Pokémon toys shaped like small Happy Meal boxes, and each one comes with two random cards from a 15-card set. The back of the toy works as a frame for one of your cards. PokeBeach says these are the first plastic Pokémon Happy Meal toys since 2018, as recent promotions gave you a four-card pack instead.
The cards are reprints of existing cards with McDonald's own numbering. Three are known so far: Metagross from Temporal Forces, Palafin from Obsidian Flames and Hawlucha from Scarlet & Violet. We don't know yet how many of the 15 will be holo. Past McDonald's sets had confetti-pattern holo versions of some cards.
Dates reported so far
- Canada: 3 November to 7 December
- Australia: 5 November to 9 December
- US: 10 November to 14 December
PokeBeach says other countries will get the promotion too, but it doesn't have their dates. Earlier reports in September gave the US a 5 November start, so treat every date here as unconfirmed until McDonald's announces it.
What it means for UK collectors
The UK doesn't usually get these at the same time as North America. The last UK wave, the Dragon Discovery set, ran from 14 May to 17 June 2025, about six months after France had it. So the 2026 cards could reach UK restaurants before Christmas or some time next year. We'll update this post when McDonald's UK confirms a date.
At PokePals
We stock older McDonald's promos, including cards from the 2017 McDonald's Collection, and you can browse our singles for the original versions of the reprinted cards. If the kids already have a drawer full of Happy Meal cards and bulk, we buy that too, and our guide to selling Pokémon bulk explains how it works.