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Favorite 1990s Happy Meal Toys

If I were to give the best highlight of my early to late childhood, it had to be those Happy meal toys from Good ol' Mickey D's. The toys that were given out were based on different media, whether it was from TV shows, movies or heck even video games, there was nothing quite like the joy of seeing what toys were available and pleading with your parents to take you out to get one. So without further ado, here's my....

 
 

 

 

 
Super Mario Bros. 3 toys (1990)
 

 
 
Just in time for the U.S. release of the game, the toys came with a bouncing Raccoon Mario, Luigi on a cloud that revs up and launches across a surface, a hopping Koopa Paratroopa and a Goomba that makes little flips in the air. I only ever got the Koopa Paratroopa, while my siblings got Mario and Luigi.
 
 
Tiny Toon Adventures character cars (1992)
 

 
 
This particular Happy meal toy deal came with an interesting, but demanding approach: four characters would be available, then they would be changed to four other characters every week. The difficult part would be getting your parents to buy every single one, unfortunately I don't think even got three of them.
 
 
Nickelodeon Game Gadgets (1992)
 

 
 
There's no doubt that you were a Nickelodeon junkie like I was back in the day, and to emulate the wacky network theme of the channel, the toys this time around was a pair of plastic applause hands to clap, the iconic Nickelodeon blimp. a microphone, and a slime squirter.
 
 
Batman (1993)
 

 
 
Based off of the already popular Batman: The Animated Series that was running on Fox Kids, Batman, the Joker and a couple of other iconic characters were given the toy treatment and even came with some cars as well and released just after Batman Returns was in theaters.
 
 
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie toys (1995)
 

 
 
A popular kids movie getting the Happy meal treatment was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, the toys this time around came in sets, with one ranger and their Ninjazord included and coming in a bigger bag than the usual size ones that any toy would come in. If you were into Power Rangers back then, this was no doubt a necessary buy to get everything.
 
 
Disney Masterpiece Collection toys (1995)
 

 
 
Watching animated Disney flicks were a common weekend pastime if nothing good was on TV or if there were rainy days, and with Disney packing punches even in the 90s, an interesting Happy meal idea was made by having familiar Disney characters as toys with miniature VHS tape covers included for their respective movies they belong to.
 
 
Space Jam toys (1996)
 

 
 
And just around the corner of animated movies were also toys based on the Fall 1996 film, Space Jam. Whether you were on the team of Tune Squad or Mon-stars, you could attach each toy together like a puzzle to make a nice little collection for your shelf.
 
 
Tamagotchi pet keychain toys (1998)
 

 
 
While you can't feed or train these particular Tamagotchis, you can open them up, revealing a mix and match game, or opening up one like an egg to reveal a creature inside. Since virtual pets were at the height of popularity at the time, there was no doubt they'd get their own Happy meals.
 
 
What Happy meal toys did you like growing up? leave a comment and as always, see you next article!
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Benjanime Posted on Nov 10, 2019 at 03:12 AM

@Vaporman

i know right?! i actually had this sitting in my drafts for the past two months and what a coincidence!

Vaporman87 Posted on Nov 09, 2019 at 10:55 PM

This was a very timely article considering the recent 40th Anniversary of the Happy Meal and the release of several Happy Meal toys from years past.

Mr Magic Posted on Nov 05, 2019 at 03:35 PM

I remember having one of the Tiny Toons cars.

I never had any of the Power Rangers figures, but I do remember having one of the Power Coins when the movie was in theaters.

Benjanime Posted on Nov 05, 2019 at 02:58 PM

@jkatz

i almost forgot about that! unfortunately i missed out on getting it but i can't remember why, i did have a distaste for the movie it was based on so maybe that was the reason.

jkatz Posted on Nov 05, 2019 at 05:04 AM

What about the build-your-own Inspector Gadget? If that wasn't 90s, it had to be veeeeery early 2000s. I remember some kid in kindergarten having the whole set and me being jealous of him.

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