
Like a three-race GP series, the Nintendo toys will be released in three rounds.
Recently, the McDonald’s Japan official Twitter account posted a teaser for its next batch of Happy Meal toys (or “Happy Set” toys, as the meals are called in Japan). The post consisted of only the phrase “Here we go” and a single silhouetted image.
では、行ってきます。#次回のハッピーセットはなんだ pic.twitter.com/YeSFYTNvcH
— マクドナルド (@McDonaldsJapan) November 7, 2024
Of course, shadowy as that photo may be, it’s still as obvious who that character is as it would have been to spell his name out in giant blinking neon letters. So the very next day McDonald’s dropped all pretense of being coy and let everyone know that, yes, Nintendo Mario Kart Happy Meals are on their way!
Specifically, this is a tie-up with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the most recent installment in the kart-racing spinoff of the Super Mario franchise.
With Mario Kart cart courses increasingly incorporating jumps and chasms as the series goes on, the games’ vehicles have evolved to include various flight functions. While the Happy Meal toys can’t actually levitate, some of them come with their wheels angled for flight mode, and their body frames can be removed and swapped with other figures for the configuration you want.
As is becoming increasingly common for these kinds of giveaways in Japan, the collection is being split up into three phases, with the first offered between November 15 and 21, when Happy Meals will come with a Mario Kart figure of either Mario himself, Toad, Luigi, Bowser, or “Pink Gold Peach.”
Round 2, which from November 22 to 28, sees Princess Peach pull up to the starting line in her customary organic form, along with Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Toadette, and Gold Mario.
Finally, a third round, in which any of the designs could potentially be inside your Happy Meal, stars on November 29. Round 3 has no specified ending date, making it essentially “while supplies last,” so just like in a Mario Kart race, speed is the name of the game.
Source: McDonald’s Japan
Top image: YouTube/マクドナルド公式(McDonald’s)
Insert images: YouTube/マクドナルド公式(McDonald’s), McDonald’s Japan, YouTube/マクドナルド公式(McDonald’s) (2)
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