In short: McDonald's is crossing One Piece with SpongeBob SquarePants in a joint Happy Meal, with 12 toys that dress Bikini Bottom up as the Straw Hat crew. The rollout starts in August 2026 and runs in waves across 66 countries and territories listed on the one-piece.com portal, including the United States, Canada, Australia and most of Europe. The big absentee: Japan.
What are the 12 toys in the One Piece x SpongeBob Happy Meal?
Twelve mashup figures: ten Bikini Bottom residents take on the roles of Luffy's crew, from the straw hat to Gear 5, while two bonus toys bring in Big Mom and Blackbeard. Every character pops out of a treasure chest in its own colors, decorated with an emblem borrowed from One Piece.
| Toy | Bikini Bottom resident | One Piece role |
|---|---|---|
| SpongeBob x Luffy | SpongeBob | Monkey D. Luffy, the straw-hatted captain |
| SpongeBob x Gear 5 Luffy | SpongeBob | Luffy in Gear 5, dressed all in white |
| Patrick x Zoro | Patrick Star | Roronoa Zoro, the swordsman |
| Sandy x Nami | Sandy Cheeks | Nami, the navigator |
| Squidward x Sanji | Squidward Tentacles | Sanji, the cook |
| Gary x Chopper | Gary the Snail | Tony Tony Chopper, the ship's doctor |
| Larry x Franky | Larry the Lobster | Franky, the cyborg shipwright |
| Pearl x Robin | Pearl | Nico Robin, the archaeologist |
| Mr. Krabs x Jinbe | Mr. Krabs | Jinbe, the helmsman |
| Plankton x Usopp | Plankton | Usopp, the sniper |
The last two boxes step outside the crew and raid the villains' roster: Mrs. Puff puffs herself up as Big Mom, bicorne included, and the Flying Dutchman flies Blackbeard's triple jolly roger, visible on his chest. Pairing Bikini Bottom's boogeyman with the Grand Line's worst traitor took some nerve, and it is my favorite box of the set.
The smartest wink of the set is Gear 5 SpongeBob: cloud hair, red ring-shaped pupils, spiral eyebrows. Gear 5 turns Luffy into a cartoon character, so handing the role to an actual cartoon sponge closes the loop. The same idea makes our Luffy Gear 5 LED frame (34.99 euros) so easy to spot at night: that white silhouette reads instantly. And if the hat speaks to you more than the lamp, Luffy's straw hat also works outside conventions, rated 4.9/5 across 25 reviews in our shop.
The sculptors clearly know their source material. Plankton wields Usopp's 10-ton hammer, the ultimate bluff weapon, a perfect fit for two professional liars. Gary's chest carries the cherry blossom of Chopper's kingdom, the pink snow sky of Drum Island. Squidward keeps his tired-employee stare under Sanji's blond fringe, and Larry the Lobster inherits Franky's oversized forearms. Gary as Chopper is the box I expect to melt the most hearts: Chopper's pink hat is already the best-rated headwear in our One Piece aisle, 5/5 across 31 reviews, and that is no accident.
Which countries get the One Piece Happy Meal?
66 countries and territories appear on the list published on August 13 by the one-piece.com portal. The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are all in, as are Spain, Germany, France, Italy and most of Europe, plus nearly all of Latin America. Neither Japan nor the United Kingdom appears.
| Region | Countries on the list (excerpts) |
|---|---|
| North America | United States, Canada, Mexico |
| Europe | Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Greece |
| Latin America | Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica |
| Asia-Pacific | South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand |
| Africa and Middle East | Morocco, Israel, Turkey |
The full list runs all the way down to Fiji, Malta and Moldova, which makes this one of the widest Happy Meal campaigns ever run on a manga license. The absences raise as many eyebrows as the inclusions: no United Kingdom and no Ireland, so British fans will watch their European neighbors unbox from across the Channel. And the Japanese case gets its own section below.
When does it launch, and how do you find your country's date?
The rollout runs "from August 2026" in waves, with each market setting its own date. As of August 14, no date had been announced for the United States or Canada. Only Australia and New Zealand display the collab on their local pages, and specialist outlets there point to an August 18 start.
A word of caution on that August 18: McDonald's Australia and New Zealand pages still read "coming soon" as I write this. The most reliable reflex is your local McDonald's app and social channels, which usually announce Happy Meal toys a few days before they reach restaurants. Campaigns like this one move fast, count on a few weeks per country, rarely more: when the figures land, do not sit on it. I will update this article as soon as a firm date drops for the major markets.
Why is Japan not getting this Happy Meal?
It is written in black and white under the one-piece.com announcement: "This product is not planned for release in Japan." No reason is given. The country where One Piece was born in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 watches this worldwide campaign from the dock.
There is precedent: McDonald's Japan runs its own calendar of collaborations, often more local, and worldwide campaigns regularly skip the archipelago. Still, the image is delicious, and Japanese fans are discovering the figures on social media like everyone else. Japanese collectors will be left with online resale and shipping fees that sting. On this side of the globe, we made the list: might as well enjoy it.
Why are One Piece and SpongeBob teaming up?
McDonald's has not explained the pairing, but the common ground is obvious: two icons born two years apart, Eiichiro Oda's manga in 1997 and Stephen Hillenburg's series in 1999, two ocean worlds, two heroes with elastic grins who refuse to grow up. Photos of the figures had in fact been circulating since late July, before any confirmation.
The sequence says a lot about the times: shots of toy lineups surface on social media in late July, the specialist press runs with them, McDonald's confirms, then the worldwide announcement lands on August 13 through the One Piece channels. Hillenburg was a marine biologist before he was an animator, which explains Bikini Bottom's soft spot for sea life; Oda has been populating the Grand Line with fish-men for almost thirty years. The two fandoms have been trading memes for years, only the toys were missing. If this August has you hooked, the schedule gets even better: we broke down One Piece Day 2026 on August 22-23, hour by hour, and if you are catching up with the anime, our Elbaph arc guide lays out twenty-five years of setup.
And between two meals, if you would rather wear the crew's colors than line them up on a shelf, our One Piece aisle covers the essentials, from the straw hat to the pirate flag.
Frequently asked questions about the One Piece x SpongeBob Happy Meal
Is the One Piece Happy Meal coming to the United States?
Yes. The United States appears on the list of 66 countries and territories published by the one-piece.com portal on August 13, 2026. No American date had been announced as of August 14: the rollout runs in waves from August, market by market. Keep an eye on the McDonald's app and social channels.
How many toys are in the collection, and can you pick yours?
The collection counts 12 figures, one per meal. As usual with Happy Meal toys, the box you get is random: completing the set takes several visits, some trading, or a bit of luck. Nothing suggests a pick-your-toy system is planned for this campaign.
Is Japan getting this Happy Meal?
No. The note published under the one-piece.com announcement states the product is not planned for Japan, with no reason given. Japanese collectors will have to rely on online resale or a friend abroad, an irony for the home country of One Piece.
Are there any collectible cards in this Happy Meal?
Nothing announced on the card front. The visuals released so far show twelve plastic figures on treasure-chest bases, with no card or paper extra. If a market adds a local bonus, it will be a country-specific surprise, not a promise of the worldwide campaign.
When exactly does the collaboration start?
From August 2026, in waves. Australia and New Zealand open the dance, specialist outlets there cite August 18, but McDonald's local pages still read "coming soon" as of August 14. Each country announces its own date through its usual channels, app included.
Antoine, founder of Bakashop. Country list and visuals checked on August 14, 2026 on the one-piece.com portal (August 13 announcement); toy list cross-checked with the specialist press (Anime News Network, Essential Japan). Images: ©2026 McDonald's, ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation, ©2026 Viacom. SpongeBob SquarePants was created by Stephen Hillenburg.
