Since its peak in the early 2000s, the Pokémon craze has never waned but gone through different waves of popularity. Almost a generation after the card-trading frenzy and blockbuster 1999 animated Pokémon feature, the 2016 "Pokémon Go" mobile game sent millions looking for virtual creatures in the real-life streets of their neighborhoods.
The most recent Pokémon craze came when, in 2021, McDonald's (MCD) launched a Pokémon-themed Happy Meal in celebration of the Japanese media franchise's 25th anniversary.
The Happy Meal card sets and a box that looks like Pikachu were more popular than many anticipated and it wasn't long before the cards caught the attention of scalpers.
Amid many buying hundreds of meals to put the card on eBay, McDonald's corporate issued a statement "strongly encouraging restaurants to set a reasonable limit on Happy Meals per customer."
In the summer of 2022, McDonald's once again brought back Pokemon Happy Meals to restaurants in the U.S.
Mattel Trying to Catch 'Em All
Mattel (MAT) is the latest company to tap into the Pokémon craze. While the Pokémon Company is owned jointly between Nintendo (NTDOF) , Game Freak, and Creatures, the toy giant has reached a partnership to manufacture toys with the Pokémon brand.
Over the years, Mattel has secured different licensing agreements to produce toy sets with popular Pokémon characters such as Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Charmander.
"Toys play an integral role in the Pokémon brand's goal of bringing the joy of the brand to all types of Trainers, and we look forward to our renewed collaboration in supporting this mission," Amy Sachtleben, Pokémon's senior director of licensing and promotions, said in a statement.
The brand has yet to release key details about what the toys will look like--action figures or games? Something to do with the cards themselves, or something more technology-forward?
But under the agreement, the toy maker will have the liberty to expand on the renewed Pokémon craze with different types of toys.
Toy Trends And Inflation
With the inflation rate hitting 8.2% in September, toys were not exempt from the price hikes hitting everything from plane tickets and clothing to monthly energy and grocery bills.
Mattel
"In order to mitigate significantly higher input costs, we expect to implement price increases midyear," Hasbro (HAS) CFO Deb Thomas said during a spring earnings call announcing that toys like Mr. Potato Head and My Little Pony were about to get more expensive due to the rising cost of plastic and other material needed to make them.
Competitor Mattel also raised prices several times since 2021. As a result, many parents and other toy buyers are looking for deals before making a purchase this holiday season--Adobe (ADBE) predicts toys to see discounts of 22% throughout the holiday season.
Mattel and Hasbro have largely floundered along during challenging times and have latched into the virality of certain toys and characters to help drive sales. The latter called out "Spider-Man: No Way Home" toys and games like "Magic: The Gathering" and "Dungeons & Dragons" as a strong driver of sales in the spring.
"The Pokémon Company International has built an incredible franchise for more than 25 years," Nick Karamanos, Mattel's SVP of entertainment partnerships, said in a statement. "We are proud to continue creating amazing products that allow fans to build and experience everything they love about Pokémon."
