Are the Burger King gold Pokémon cards real gold?
In November 1999, at the height of the first Pokémon film's release, Burger King ran the largest fast food promotion the franchise had ever seen. Alongside the Kids Meal toys, from November 15 customers could buy one of six 23-karat gold-plated cards for $1.99 with a meal: Charizard, Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Pikachu, Poliwhirl and Togepi. They are genuine licensed Nintendo products, and the gold is real. What they are not is solid gold, or trading cards.
Each card is a thick piece of metal with a picture on the front and Pokédex data on the back, plated in a thin layer of 23-karat gold and sealed in a plastic cover. There are no attacks, no hit points and no game text: these were ornaments, made to be displayed. Each came inside a plastic Poké Ball with a shiny red top and white bottom, together with a certificate of authenticity signed by Howard Lincoln, the Chairman of Nintendo of America, and the whole set was sold in a red or blue box printed with the full line of the campaign's paper trading cards.
The backs deserve a look on their own. Each reprints the Pokémon's Pokédex entry and evolution line, and Togepi's, for a Pokémon American audiences had barely met, reads in full: "Information on Togepi unknown at this time!!" It is the most honest card back of the era.