6 of the Most Valuable Happy Meal Toys From McDonald’s

6 of the Most Valuable Happy Meal Toys From McDonald’s

Although McDonald’s has been around since 1940, Happy Meals didn’t officially appear until the late 1970s, after one of their biggest competitors, the now-defunct Burger Chef, used toys to draw in families. “We were losing our endorsement of the kids,” Bob Bernstein, an advertising executive who helped create the Happy Meal, told CNN in a recent interview. “We wanted to reestablish ourselves with kids and the family and say we were kid friendly.”

When Bernstein saw his son mesmerized by cereal boxes every day while eating breakfast, he realized that was the ticket. (And that’s when he and his team invented the first Happy Meal kid’s meal box.) Their first attempt was in 1977, and included a burger, fries, cookies, a soda, and a small toy; the box was also decorated with comics, puzzles, and games because he’d realized in watching his son that “kids want something to do when they eat.”

Initially, Happy Meals were only offered in Kansas City, Denver, and Phoenix-based franchises, as other major markets were reluctant to embrace the concept. By 1979, after more than a year of success with it, the Happy Meal finally went national and the popularity of the toys began to rise.

Now, decades later, McDonald’s is known for its kid-friendly appeal, including those famous trinkets that most of us came to treasure at different moments in our childhood. If you still have those McDonald’s toys, it may surprise you that some are worth money—and down below are some of the most lucrative ones.

1. McDonaldland ’70s Plush Toys




McDonald's plush toys, including Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac

Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac are among the most wanted. | Courtesy of thedustyfarmer / eBay

Although McDonald’s nationally launched the Happy Meal in 1979, it wasn’t the first time they released toys based on characters they advertised to children. In the ’70s, they created a fictional universe where Ronald McDonald and his friends lived. They released commercials promoting characters such as Hamburgler, Officer Big Mac, Mayor McCheese, and more.

McDonald’s created toys from those characters; two, in particular, are valuable. A rubber Mayor McCheese toy recently sold on eBay for $330, although most tend to sell for between $50 to $70. Meanwhile, a dual set of plush Mayor McCheese and Officer Big Mac toys recently netted upwards of $225 on the site. These characters may be worth more money because they stopped being used in commercials in the 1980s.

2. Dukes of Hazzard Cars

In 1979, the show “The Dukes of Hazzard” became a television sensation until its final airing in 1985. McDonald’s capitalized on this popularity by incorporating the show into their Happy Meals. The toys included models of cars from the show, such as the General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger. These toys came with stickers that allowed kids to customize their cars, including a controversial Confederate flag sticker.

Today, these Happy Meal toys are considered valuable collectibles. A full collection recently sold for over $350, with individual General Lee toys listed for $250. The General Lee toys are particularly prized due to the inclusion of the Confederate flag sticker, which led to the show being pulled from TV Land in 2015. Other toys from the show, like Boss Hogg’s Cadillac and Daisy Duke’s Jeep, have also fetched prices ranging from $83 to $115.

In 1983, McDonald’s introduced McNuggets to their menu, sparking a line of toys called McNugget Buddies in Happy Meals. These toys featured removable costumes and were a hit with kids until they were phased out in 1996. Recently, McDonald’s brought back limited-edition adult Happy Meals featuring McNugget Buddies.

Complete sets of McNugget Buddies can fetch a high resale value on eBay. Sets from the early 1990s have sold for around $112, while unopened sets typically sell for $100 to $250. In their original packaging, McNugget Buddies have sold for over $200.

McDonald’s also released Changeables toys in the 1980s, inspired by the popular Transformers franchise. These toys, which could transform from classic menu items into robots, were a hit with kids and collectors alike. Back in the day, McDonald’s jumped on the bandwagon by introducing their own version of the popular toy, known as Changeables. These figures were initially inspired by classic menu items and had the unique ability to transform into robots.

If you happen to have any Changeables stashed away from the 1980s, you might be in for a pleasant surprise. A complete, unopened set recently fetched over $400 on eBay, with most collections selling for $100 to $150.

Fast forward to the late 1990s, and having a Furby was a surefire way to earn cool points on the playground. McDonald’s released a set of 80 McFurbys in different colors in 1999, which are now sought-after collectibles. A complete set of these McFurbys recently sold for around $150, while smaller collections can go for anywhere between $1 to $25.

In 1986, McDonald’s unveiled the beloved Boo Buckets, featuring characters like the orange McPunk’n, the white McBoo, and the green McGoblin. These buckets became a Halloween staple for Millennials, offering a fun way for kids to gather candy. A complete collection of the three buckets from 1990 sold for roughly $150 on eBay, while a lot of 17 from 1986 fetched $200. Each face on the buckets has three different expressions, making them a hit among collectors. Even a small collection of Boo Buckets could earn you between $50 and $100.

While McDonald’s may have reintroduced some of these toys in recent years, there’s something special about the original ones from the ’80s and ’90s that continue to hold value and nostalgia for collectors. So, if you happen to have any of these vintage McDonald’s toys lying around, you could be sitting on a small fortune. Please provide the original sentence you would like me to rewrite. sentence in your own words.

“Her enthusiasm for the project was infectious.”

She had a contagious passion for the project.