The selection included a mix of series mascots, fan favorites, new debuts, and also Poliwhirl. Sealed in a plastic case to prevent scratches, the cards featured a picture of the Pokemon on the front and a brief Pokedex entry on the back. But those weren’t all they had! Gold-Plated Pokemon CardsĪs a super-premium item, Burger King offered six 23 KARAT GOLD POKEMON CARDS! Well, gold plated. That’s 37% of all the Pokemon that existed at the time, letting kids get dangerously close to catching them all if their parents were amenable. Regular kid’s meal came with Pokemon toys of various types, fifty-seven unique specimens in all. The Monday before the flick launched, Burger King launched an extensive Pokemon promotion with its kid’s meal. The movie hit theaters on Friday, November 12, 1999. Boldly titled “Pokemon: The First Movie”, the film consisted of two main segments: the lighthearted short Pikachu’s Vacation, which previewed Pokemon creatures due to debut in the second set of games, and Mewtwo Strikes Back, a feature-length story pitting the anime’s heroes against the sort of “final boss” Pokemon of the original game. Naturally, it was time to bring it to movie theaters. In fall of 1999, the Pokemon franchise had been steadily growing in popularity in the United States for a year. Burger King’s Pokemon PromotionĪll the cards came with a CoA signed by the president of Nintendo of America! It is this last category into which the Gold Pokemon cards fit. For $4.99, you could add them to your pizza order but you couldn’t just walk in and buy one. A prime example of this would be the “X-Men Creator’s Choice” VHS packs sold by Pizza Hut circa 1993. This also includes items that cost a little bit extra but are still contingent on the purchase of something like food or a movie ticket. The very first such premium was released in 1894 when Aunt Jemima pancake mix boxes first came printed with paper dolls of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Mose, and their kids. The oldest examples are cereal and/or breakfast food premiums. More broadly, a premium is anything you get in return for buying something else.

They don’t HAVE to be toys either: story books, school supplies, sunglasses, cups, and other items have been packed with kids meals over the years.

Debuting in 1979, they’re historically a tie-in to a kid friendly movie or TV series that’s the new hotness. The most famous, naturally, is the McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy.

In common parlance, it’s the toy that comes with a kid’s meal. A Pikachu Gold-Plated Card, still sealed in its bag.

23 karat gold plated pokemon cards