17 replies to this topic

[plasticfiend]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask this question, but here we go...

 

In your opinion, why are McDonald's Happy Meal toys rarely valuable?  Or rarely carry much of a premium.  I know, there are many variations, and of course the age, theme (transformers, barbie, whatever...), and quality of the specific toy play a part, but in general even the nicer ones rarely sell for much it seems.

 

It surprises me only because every once in a while they have some really nice toys (for what they are)... yeah sometimes they are shit too, but still.

 

Now I have a theory, and maybe someone can confirm my thoughts on this... that there are just too many damn many of them.  I suspect McDonald's (especially in the 80's & 90's) was SUCH a huge marketing machine that many of these toys could have been produced in the millions.  And the thus creating such a vast supply that rarely were they ever NOT able to keep up with demand.  And so no real increase in value or at least PERCEIVED value can occur.

 

What do YOU guys think?  Any thoughts?  Or examples of Happy Meal toys that have become quite desirable?

 

 

PF

[Draznar]

I'm sure there are others, but any of the transformer ones usually command A few extra bucks than their initial cost.

It's like you say, over saturation of the market. not to mention many of them suck.

[iwao]

In your opinion, why are McDonald's Happy Meal toys rarely valuable? 

 

Not many adult collectors and kids usually only care about them while the toy is pictured on the menu board. For people that re-sell them, the time to sell is while the toys are still at McDonald's, while the kids still care about them. People going to ebay to complete a set or conveniently buy a full set have lots of listings to choose from, so sellers can't ask too much. 

 

I don't think nostalgia creates much of a market for old Happy Meal toys. Even something like Hardees California Raisins that were really popular when I was a kid are pretty cheap to buy now.

[ironmask]

That's not entirely true. A lot of the 90's Warner Brothers, Disney and Jim Henson happy meal premiums still move. Granted, they aren't selling for three figures, or anything, though. 

Also, like most things, they are the most valuable when sold in the entire set; still, there always seems to be a market for happy meal Star Wars, Disney, Transformer, etc toys. Hell, even the McDonald's branded Mr. Potatohead style chicken nugget figures have a market. The Muppet Babies vehicle figures, the Fraggle Rock cars, the Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny and crew mashups with the DC superheroes (Right after WB bought out DC) are almost always being circulated in some form... Some of the more memorable ones do still have demand.

****Also: I was just looking at Fraggle Rock stuff, and the Under 3yo toys are actually more 'valued' than the regular vehicle figures that were released.  (Again, it just depends on the property.)

Edited by ironmask, 28 February 2015 - 12:39 PM.

[steverotters]

In your opinion, why are McDonald's Happy Meal toys rarely valuable? 

 

 

They are extremely cheap.

Millions and millions are made.

Supply outweighs demand.

[plasticfiend]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

 

I guess some of this came out of me going through some boxes of Happy Meal toys... and browsing on Ebay to get some prices.  My Grandmother, every single day... until she went into a nursing home would go and have a coffee and biscuit first thing in the morning.  And she knew I liked collecting toys so she would always pick up whatever Happy Meal toys were there at the time.  Lol... didn't matter what they were... so everything from Batman to Barbie.  And then at Xmas she would give me a box of everything she had collected.  It was very sweet.  She even did this into my 20's.  Going through some of the old McD's toys brought back a lot of nice memories.  She wasn't always the best at getting full sets... but they occasionally happened.

 

Anyhow - I was just wondering what you guys thought.  Seems like over saturation plays a big part.

 

Oh and Ironmask - I'll have to see if I have many WB or Muppet stuff.  Maybe those are a bit more popular like you said.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

PF

[Strontium Dog]

They are extremely cheap.

Millions and millions are made.

Supply outweighs demand.

 

Bingo.

 

McDonald's is actually the world's largest toy manufacturer. They shift a little under 1 billion units a year, if I recall correctly. These are literally the most abundant toys on the planet.

[plasticfiend]

Bingo.

 

McDonald's is actually the world's largest toy manufacturer. They shift a little under 1 billion units a year, if I recall correctly. These are literally the most abundant toys on the planet.

 

Yeah, I always figured it was something like that...

 

I always remembered reading statistics about them, for example that the day they started selling chicken McNuggets that they became the world's largest chicken manufacturer or distributor.  Same with ketchup too... McDonald's would sell more than anyone (which sucks that heinz lost them as a customer not too long ago).  Even coffee, the day they started selling their version of gourmet coffee... they immediately outsold Starbucks.

 

So I guess it only makes sense that the same would be for toys.

 

Crazy!

 

PF

[jkaris]

McDonald's toys are great for holding down the plastic tarps at the flea market. Just about every spot has a bunch holding their tarps down on the ground and preventing them from blowing away.

[Flashbax]

Anything from the first few years are worth a few buck (mainly character toys based on the original Mcdonalds cast); otherwise the rarest stuff out there is the St Louis McDonalds/My Little Pony set up; they made several plastic/non transforming robots and a few ponies (the robots came in 1 of 4 colors each); they were only sold in maybe 1-2 location in St Louis (pretty sure it was there...I do not have my book here right now). These go from $50-$100 on average. 

 

Otherwise few things bring in money, maybe 80s stuff at $1-$5 each, mainly depends on the buyer. I just gave away some 60,000 toys around x-mas, 65-75% of that was Fast Food toys. I pick up some several thousand of them a year.

[plasticfiend]

WOW!  That's a shitload of happy meals lol...

 

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll have to go back to Indiana and see what I have.  Things of note are the Batman Returns set, the first line of Batman Animated Full Set, and then I think various Looney Toon, Animaniacs and stuff.  Probably pretty common items.  

 

That's interesting about the St Louis toys, I didn't realize that they released some of them regionally.  I thought it was more of a national thing.  I guess that makes sense though, because I think they try out new foods in various regions sometimes.

 

PF

[Flashbax]

WOW!  That's a shitload of happy meals lol...

 

Thanks for the feedback.  I'll have to go back to Indiana and see what I have.  Things of note are the Batman Returns set, the first line of Batman Animated Full Set, and then I think various Looney Toon, Animaniacs and stuff.  Probably pretty common items.  

 

That's interesting about the St Louis toys, I didn't realize that they released some of them regionally.  I thought it was more of a national thing.  I guess that makes sense though, because I think they try out new foods in various regions sometimes.

 

PF

 

I think it was a test run that never took off. Many toys, when first released, will have a test run. Several years ago, when the were finishing up the Transformers: Beast Machines toy line, they had several figuresthat were released in the upper midwest and the upper west coast only; Battle Unicorn was an example.

[Defzombie]

Last year I picked up a bunch of the changables both transformer and dinosaur versions. Love those toys.I see happy meals toys every single time I go to my local thrift store, but I never see those. I wish I had some of those chicken nugget characters those are awesome too.
But yeah I agree with the sentiment. There are millions of them everywhere

[Ericnilla]

Not McDonalds but I will always pick up a 2001 Jack in the Box Super Girl. On average she can pull $15-$30. I bought 5 still sealed a couple years back for .25 cents each and sold them all for $20 each. haha

 

 supergirl.jpg   99.87K   0 downloads

Edited by Ericnilla, 13 March 2015 - 06:30 PM.

[fkro6784]

I have boxes and boxes of fast food toys from childhood that I don't really want to give away, but that sell for pennies (if anything at all). So they just continue to sit in the closet, haha.

I think with fast food toys, the key to having any value is a combination of being from a more limited or regional chain (so not McD's, BK, etc) and having adult collector appeal. For example, in the early '90s I got some Universal Monsters and Godzilla toys from White Castle, and I think those still get interest. Or the Stone Protectors minis from LJS. Just think--if the Series 3 MIMP from Big Boy would have been at McD's instead, they'd be all over the place now.

[plasticfiend]

Not McDonalds but I will always pick up a 2001 Jack in the Box Super Girl. On average she can pull $15-$30. I bought 5 still sealed a couple years back for .25 cents each and sold them all for $20 each. haha
 


Wow Nilla! I'll never knock your hustle - pretty cool! Yeah I found some DC heroes toys from Subway and sniffing around Ebay it seems they get a pretty good penny. Somewhere in the $10 range.

supergirl.jpg

  

I have boxes and boxes of fast food toys from childhood that I don't really want to give away, but that sell for pennies (if anything at all). So they just continue to sit in the closet, haha.
I think with fast food toys, the key to having any value is a combination of being from a more limited or regional chain (so not McD's, BK, etc) and having adult collector appeal. For example, in the early '90s I got some Universal Monsters and Godzilla toys from White Castle, and I think those still get interest. Or the Stone Protectors minis from LJS. Just think--if the Series 3 MIMP from Big Boy would have been at McD's instead, they'd be all over the place now.

Yeah - maybe smaller chains. Like I was telling Eric above... Some of the Subway stuff gets a little bit more bang for the buck. Wow - White Castle. Now that is regional. I'm from the Midwest, so lots of white castles out there... But here in Cali there seems to be a WC drought lol!


PF

[fkro6784]

  
Yeah - maybe smaller chains. Like I was telling Eric above... Some of the Subway stuff gets a little bit more bang for the buck. Wow - White Castle. Now that is regional. I'm from the Midwest, so lots of white castles out there... But here in Cali there seems to be a WC drought lol!

 

I'm from the Chicago area so I've had a lot of WC in my time! I haven't eaten there for years, but when I was a kid we were always there so I have a lot of their kids meal toys. Some were actually really cool. The glow Universal Monsters are some of my favorite fast food toys ever:

 

[plasticfiend]

Those ARE cool... I might have to find a White Castle the next time I'm in Indiana now.  Share with my wife.  She's never been.  FKRO - if ya ever come out to Cali... you have to have some In & Out Burgers ( No cool toys though...)!!

 

PF