Hobbies And Interests
1980s
As the Happy Meal evolved and spread during the 1980s, a large collection of toys were released, as well. The 1983 Hotwheels promotion started a trend that continues today. Cars like the Malibu Grand Prix, Corvette Stringray and Porchse 928 were among the ones released. Other popular 1980s Happy Meal toys included Ronald McDonald figures, Frisbees and mini detective kits.
"Star Trek"
Today, McDonald's is known for their movie tie-in toys, but in the early days, most of the toys were McDonald's-oriented, with characters like Ronald, Grimace and Birdie. This all changed with the release of the first "Star Trek" movie. "Star Trek" took over the Happy Meal with a themed box, multiple toys and even a collector's comic strip. This led to more movies being released with the Happy Meal, making them more popular with children and adults.
Legos
Like Hotwheels, Legos have long been involved with McDonald's Happy Meals. The first Lego sets appeared in 1984. Children received a truck, ship, helicopter or plane mini Lego sets. Later series increased the quality by including Lego people. In 2008, a Batman Lego set was released, one of the newest available.
1990s
The 1990s saw a huge surge in movie tie-ins for McDonald's Happy Meals. While the 1980s had "E.T," "An American Tail," and "Oliver &Company," the 1990s saw movie tie-ins for "The Jungle Book," "Rescuers Down Under," "101 Dalmations," "Back to the Future," "Snow White &The Seven Dwarfs," "Flintstones," "Aladdin &the King of Thieves," "Babe," "The Little Mermaid," "Hercules," and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," among others. These collections featured five to eight toys, and are still collector's items today.
Considerations
One of the most controversial toy releases has been for the movie "Batman Returns." The toys in this set featured Catwoman, the Penguin and Batman, but not many children got their hands on them because parents thought the movie was not kid-oriented enough. The toys were pulled from stores and replaced. One of the most popular collections of McDonald's toys is the 101 Dalmatians collection. This collection featured 101 different Dalmatian toys in covered up packaging, so you did not know which one you were getting. This drove collectors crazy, and the complete collection is worth a lot of money today.