Pokémon Asia McDonald's Happy Meal Toys, Waves 1 and 2

A long time ago, I wrote about Pokémon promotional toys, in part because I had been expecting a particular set of them and hoping for a few new ones; nothing came out of it then. Fast forward to today, and a particular set has appeared. Two weeks ago, McDonald's in Asia started to offer a new line of promotional toys, and this made me delighted. So of course I had to get them to collect them, as well as to write about them on this blog.

I have to thank in part my raid group for this one. They were the ones who first broke the news about a week or so before the toys were released, and so I was able to plan accordingly. I could also confer with my figure group and find out what they know, then to pass it on to my figure group. I'm sure both the groups benefited from this exchange of information, especially those who sought the toys like me.

The toys are released in waves, and Wave 1 was two weeks ago. This first wave featured Magikarp and Squirtle; of course, as seen in the image, the Magikarp is no ordinary Magikarp, as it is the Shiny form. That made it "lucrative" among members of my raid group that wanted to pursue a Shiny Magikarp. The Magikarp toy is a rolling toy, which explains why Magikarp is lying on its side in the photo: the bottom fin contains a single wheel that moves the tail fin back and forth as it is rolling. The Squirtle toy is a squirt gun toy; it is supposed to be submerged in water, then water can be forced out by pressing its shell on the back. I haven't tested it so I could keep the toy pristine, but I could sense air being exerted when I push the shell, so it should work just fine.

Wave 2 was last week, and that is predictably Pikachu (the de facto series mascot) and Vulpix as in the photo. As a bit of a Pikachu fan myself, this is the wave I was highly expecting. The ones in this wave are sufficiently interesting. The Pikachu toy is spring-loaded, and pressing the tail allows the ears to move back and forth, which is admittedly kind of cute. The Vulpix toy is a simple mechanical toy, for which as its tail is moved from side to side, its head nods back and forth. The Vulpix isn't Alolan, but that's hardly a complaint, since I like the original Kanto form just as well. The ones in this wave are simple but are striking.

The four toys here are part of the first two waves, and there are four waves in all, for a total of eight toys. Wave 3 in fact will start tomorrow, and Wave 4 will start the week after. The great thing about that is I'm not pressured to collect every single one at one time, as long as I'm on it early, like with this one. But that also means the toys in the remaining waves will have to wait for their own post, which is OK. In the meantime, there's still something to enjoy about the ones I've already gotten.

One year ago: Watching and Re-Watching