Hamburger, Soft Drink, and Fries – ALL REGULAR SIZE! Let’s face it, if you grew up in the times, Happy Meal toys from the 80s and 90s are LEGENDARY. I can unapologetically say that some of my favorite childhood toys are from a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Promotions like Changeables, Muppet Babies, and McNugget Buddies are well-known highlights of that era, but I want to bring some focus on a VERY underrated promotion: Fun with Food!
In addition to having the best Happy Meal toys, that 80s era also had a strong and awesome McDonaldland presence. Maybe NECA’s announcement that they will be bringing action figures from that timeline has me excited, but I wanted to supplement building out that collection, and this is a great set to do just that. The “Happy Meal Guys” were the spokesmen for an entire generation, so these toys were almost like bringing familiar friends home and into the play sphere.
The partnership with Fisher-Price was on point for the times, too – they were already selling McDonald’s branded toys in stores to help recreate a restaurant at home, so adding these four just brought another element to that. I already had the French Fry and Soft Drink guys in my collection, but there was no way I was going to go without the other two.
All of these sets include multiple pieces and all of them make sense from a construction and play stand point. The Hamburger Guy has the buns and burger, the McNuggets have their carton, and so on, and like most vintage Happy Meal toys of the era, these were built to handle play and last. A unique feature of these that is not seen in most HM toys of the time is that they all include decals that must be applied to complete the look. I have NEVER been a fan of having to do this yourself (I am just not very good at it), and I am willing to bet that for those that have survived the years, many of them have misaligned or flat out missing stickers.
From countless commercials to Taste Makers statues in the restaurants (my, what they have taken from us), these Happy Meal Guys were, and remain awesome. They make for a fun and essential part of McDonaldland ephemera collection, and can still be gotten for a relatively low price. So, if you are into them, go and get them – they will make your expanding McDonald’s collection even better.
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