Pokemon X Y Ninfia

With a near-simultaneous launch of Gameboy games, cartoons, and collectible trading cards back in the 1990s, few franchises are as successful showcases of cross-marketing as Nintendo's Pokemon. Although gamers get the majority of their Pokemon fix from Nintendo 3DS games these days, the tradition of tie-in material and merchandise is still as strong as ever. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y may have been released over half a year ago, but the battling monsters are still showing up on google maps, in iconic board games, and now, as bonus items to go along with your burger and fries.

According to the official McDonald's website, the next round of Happy Meal toys will be Pokemon-centric. The upcoming lineup of Happy Meal toys will offer kids (and anyone else willing to purchase a Happy Meal) the opportunity to collection 12 unique Pokemon items. Unfortunately, the merch doesn't look to be the rare collectibles that fans tend to migrate towards.

The Pokemon toyss seem to be little more than Pokeball stands with a variety of Pokemon in front of them (as Happy Meals top out around five dollars, it's not really fair to bash the quality or cool-factor of the toys too much). The collectibles - which seem to include a unique Pokemon trading card as well - include Pikachu, Venusaur, Servine, Pignite, Axew, Dewott, Blastoise, Woobat, Xerneas and Charizard. If the Pokemon cards are unique variants of those available in the usual Pokemon TCG booster packs, however, they may be more appealing to collectors than their respective figurines.

The toys also have the ability to be scanned using the McPlay Power mobile app. Assuming the connectivity works the same way that it has with similar promotions, scanning the toys unlocks some additional mini-games for users (the current Amazing Spider-Man 2 line of Happy Meal toys offer the same incentive to download the McDonald's app).

Unlike the Amazing Spider-Man 2 toys, which offered a separate line of collectibles for boys and girls, there are no purple or pink version of the Pokemon toys. But fear not, non-Poke-fans: McDonald's will also be offering an American Girl line of toys for customers who are looking for something a bit more refined than wild creatures being forced into brutal combat.

Will you be making a trip to McDonald's when the Pokemon toys are released? Let us know in the comments.

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Follow Denny on Twitter @The_DFC.

Source: McDonald's