What comes to mind when people think about McDonald’s may be the golden arches, crisp fries, or a delicious Big Mac. Perhaps people still recall Ronald McDonald’s occasionally amusing and frequently spooky advertisements. Whatever the case, the eatery has served American-style food to families around the globe at affordable costs for decades, making it a fast food legend. Their popularity has increased to the point where several nations have incorporated the restaurant into their culture by adding their unique twists and regional foods. The Happy Meal, though, is the item that defines McDonald’s more than anything else on its menu.
The Happy Meal is a cardboard box containing a miniature replica of an adult meal with a special McDonalds happy meal toys for the enjoyment of all children. The promise of a pleasant gift that came with the meal, not the food itself, made these McDonalds happy meal toys special to kids. These toys have evolved into a staple of this renowned fast-food chain. However, they were typically tiny pieces of plastic that depicted whatever pop culture phenomenon was widespread at the time. Though the most famous among the old McDonalds happy meal toys were the ghostbusters, super mario, dinosaur transformers, furby and hot wheels toys series.
The trip to McDonald’s for a Happy Meal was the one thing that children looked forward to from the 1970s until the early 2000s. Kids in those days used to be excited to know what fantastic McDonalds happy meal toys they would find inside the red and yellow box in addition to getting gloriously fried chicken nuggets or burgers, sizzling hot fries and soda drinks.
Let’s jump to the list of the top 5 five old Mcdonalds’ happy meal toys:
Ghostbusters Toys From Old McDonalds Happy Meal (Year: 1984)
Back in the day, it used to be excellent for kids that every character of their favorite show would be in their upcoming happy meal as ghostbusters toys. One portion included the pencil sharpener Staypuft, the Slimer pencil topper, the Ghostbusters pencil, a ghost-shaped notebook, and a pencil pouch. The ghostbusters toys,games and activities in the boxes would keep children busy all day long.
On one side of the Happy Meal box was an Ecto’s Defectos puzzle. The ghost sitting in the driver’s seat was undoubtedly what children focused on the most. Still, the automobile also featured a flat tire, a broken light, and a missing door. The “Bedtime Surprise” activity on the other side of the box was the fastest ever. All one had to do was follow the slime tracks left by the ghosts, who were ready to surprise children.
The distinct-looking but oddly shaped ghosts from the Total Confusion puzzle were imprisoned in an Ecto-Containment Unit. The kids’ task was to count them; if they managed to locate all 13, that would be great. Sadly, the Ghostbusters jigsaw puzzle came last, and Slimer broke into several pieces due to Egon’s ghost net. Slimer’s parts had to be removed to be reassembled, which seriously damaged the box but was a requirement for the game.
Super Mario Toys From Old McDonalds Happy Meal (Year: 1990)
As one of the most popular video game characters, it was only natural for McDonald’s to include a line of Super Mario toys in its Happy Meals. McDonald’s chose to profit from the Super Mario saga in the 1990s by introducing eight unique Super Mario toys figurines in their Happy Meals. In this era, the kids of the 1970s and 1980s had grown up. Still, Nintendo video games were the norm, and the young generation of this time enjoyed playing every available game, including Super Mario Bros.
The famous Nintendo game Super Mario Bros was trendy when McDonald’s decided to make its characters a part of its happy meal toys line. This move by McDonald made children compelled to obtain Super Mario toys. The original set had four characters, or five if including younger children Racoon Mario. Jumping, Mario possessed this spring-loaded doohickey that let him fly while Luigi sat on his pull-back cloud car and hung on to a starman. A bouncing Koopa Paratroopa and a somersaulting Little Goomba completed the picture.Â
Transformers Toys From Old McDonalds Happy Meal (Year:1985)
Transformers were popular in the 1980s. There was a TV series based on Hasbro’s Transformers toys line before Michael Bay’s rendition of Transformers. As a result, it was only a matter of time before McDonald’s adopted Transformers as Happy Meal toys. A perfect Happy Meal back then let children add a Transformers toys character to their collection. Cliffjumper or beloved Bumblebee, Brawn, and Gears were among the Transformers toys figurines.
The Transformers toys were so popular that they inspired engrossing animated shows and films. To promote the Beast Wars animation, McDonald’s added five new figurines to their Transformers toys Happy Meal range in 1996. Beetle, MantaRay, Rhino, Panther, and an under-3 toy were among the new series of characters. The series released two separate cardboard boxes, one with punch-out cards of Optimus Prime and other heroes and the other with punch-out cards of Megatron and his villain associates.
Furby Toys From Old McDonalds Happy Meal (Year: 1999)
Furby was probably one of the most popular children’s toys of the 1990s. Despite their deadpan eyes and rock-hard bodies covered in matted fur, the Furby toys were famous then. Furby toys actually became an instant hit in the 1990s, so the Golden Arches restaurant McDonalds coupled them with its happy meal toy line. McDonald’s joined on board by making Mini Furby toys for their Happy Meals. McDonald’s changed the design of the original Furby toys so that their eyes didn’t look creepily at kids.
Mini Furby toys could blink and wiggle their ears. Still, their eyes were frightening, and their ears remained bat-like. The Furby toys unblinking eyes have a reputation for creeping people out, and it’s been widely claimed that Furby toys spoke in the middle of the night. Though It’s up to the Furby toys fans to determine whether it’s from dying batteries or something else.
Hot Wheels Toys From Old McDonalds Happy Meal (Year: 1983)
Mattel, an American toy maker, launched Hot Wheels toys in 1968 to compete with Matchbox. The die-cast car brand Hot Wheels became one of the most popular toys of all time, and in 1983, McDonald’s decided to join the party by including a set of 14 Hot Wheels toy cars in their Happy Meals.
Hot Wheels toy cars were very much popular back in the day. Kids raced them at home, in the vehicle, and pretty much anywhere. So it was fascinating for children to receive a brand-new Hot Wheels toy car for free, with their favourite happy meal. Later on, McDonald’s developed it’s own automobile designs and delivered them instead. These automobiles had cheaper plastic bodies, but they were still awesome.
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