Work and hobby were lucky to collide this weekend when deputy editor Andy White and I toured the McDonald’s stand to a packed house at the London Card Show at Sandown Park Racecourse. There, the fast food giant was in the middle of announcing something pretty exciting.

McDonald’s is rolling out a new gamified meal gift in the form of CARDS, a trading card game that capitalizes on the enduring cultural obsession with the Pokémon TCG.

from March 17, 2026customers will receive a pack of four random trading cards with their meal. These cards are divided into four rarity levels: Character Cards, Fan Cards, Retro Cards, and Legend Cards, and you use them to play simple card games and win prizes.

Here’s everything we know so far about the McDonald’s Card.

Why is McDonald’s doing trading cards?

Fortunately for those who don’t know, the TCG (trading card game) market is currently worth estimating. 7 billion to 8 billion dollarsPokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and One Piece are driving incredible growth. Disney is also getting involved with their own TCG Lorcana, which is becoming increasingly popular.

I’ve been a fan of the Pokémon TCG since I was a kid, but the current landscape is completely unrecognizable. Its popularity has reached its peak in recent years, and as demand soars, scalpers and serial investors buy up inventory far faster than the Pokémon Company can produce, choking supply.

As a result, prices are reaching all-time highs. For reference, that Charizard in the box in the attic. Could be worth more than £300,000.

McDonald’s regularly partners with the Pokémon Company to create limited-edition cards that are usually given out with Happy Meals, but today’s announcement is a clear sign that the fast food giant wants a bigger slice of the proverbial pie (burger?).

What does a McDonald’s card look like?

Here we take a closer look at five cards seen at the London Card Show in Esher on Sunday. Participants could also earn these cards by playing a game of stick-or-twist at a McDonald’s stand.

The lowest rarity stage is character cardfeaturing colorful images of the entire cast of McDonald’s characters. Fly Girl and Grimas cards were also seen, although the latter was only available to VIP attendees.

Next fan carddepicting iconic moments and menu items familiar to those who appreciate saucy massie. We’ve seen cards featuring the divisive Milkshake Dip, the unspeakably despicable act of dipping a chip in a milkshake.

Then there are the second tier of rarity cards, the retro cards. These are my personal favorites. These depict fixtures, appliances, design choices, and menu items from McDonald’s archives, including the cheeseburger chair pictured on this promotional card.

And finally, the super rare legend card. These seem to include characters, objects, menu items, and many other things. We saw a multi-mixer card finished in nice silver foil, and we were also told that this rarity card also features Donald McDonald and the Golden Arches. I’ve also heard that special metal cards will be thrown into the mix. This is probably the “holy grail” for collectors.

McDonald’s explained that these designs are not final, but I personally don’t care. The black back and edges are probably the least visually appealing aspect. These black borders are a pretty obvious sign of bleaching, so you’ll need to be very careful when opening the pack if you’re shipping it to another location. P.S.A. or beckett (If it were true, these rating agencies would accept McDonald’s cards).

Unfortunately, we can’t speak to the nature of the card game itself, but if it’s anything like a collaboration with the popular McDonald’s Monopoly, it would be a thinly veiled excuse to hand out fun prizes to lucky customers. That’s totally fine with me.

But what I can tell you is that within 10 minutes of arriving at Sandown, I overheard some resellers discussing CARDS in whispers. There is no doubt that a limited time sale of a small number of collectible trading cards like this will generate a lot of buzz from the community. So whether you’re an avid investor or a curious beginner, try your luck at McDonald’s next month (maybe just once; we’re not encouraging bad habits here).

This new meal gift is back! March 17, 2026 – Receive a pack of four cards with your order at all participating locations.