I still have the green race car from the racers series, but I guess I’m the odd one out on the LEGO Batman toys. I still have the Robin and Joker figure. The figures actually have a cheat code to unlock a character early printed on. For example, the Joker figure gave you the Tropical Joker character. I personally thought that was really cool.
The Bionicle McToran were the peak of Lego Happy Meal Toys. In general, Happy Meals were at their peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, before they started giving cheap plastic or paper.
Yeah, agreed, especially how Lego in general gotten expensive of late, if only there's a way around with and not make it look cheap or be cheap about it, so who knows, also the same applies to Hot Wheels and such, right?
@@bradwhite5884 I feel like the main reason that Lego is so expensive as of late is because the vast majority of sets are licensed, which naturally spikes up the price. The only themes I'm aware of that aren't Licensed these days are Creator, City, Technic, Ninjago, and...I think Friends is still a theme? if not that, then some other girl-focused theme. And those themes tend to be a fair bit cheaper than their Disney/Nintendo/Minecraft licensed sets.
It annoys me how whenever my siblings want a happy meal, we just end up bringing a cheap, useless and ugly looking chunk of plastic meant to resemble a very generic (possibly marvel reject) character that's just going to become yet another thing to pick up from the floor, that will also VERY likely just end up being thrown away into the trash by accident.
The best McDonalds toys were always the ones with actual LEGO. I didn’t like any of the others and I’m sad that I couldn’t get any that were actual LEGO.
I loved the McDonalds LEGO Batman toys so much, especially because I loved LEGO Batman: The Videogame. You made an amazing video that brought me a lot of joy and nostaliga. I loved Happy Meals as a kid. I miss those days so much...
12:01 These were my only Lego McDonalds toys I got growing up. I got the Orange one in the top left & Dark green one in the top right & I still have these displayed in my room along with my other sets to this day.
I specifically remember the 1999 Lego sets, because I had my birthday party at Mcdonalds. All the other kids gave me their sets, so I think I got one of each.
I remember when the Bionicle toys from McDonald's. I also think that I can get those Lego McDonald's poly bags from 1999 so I can remake the Nostromo from Alien
It wasn’t just happy meals that got in on the act. Lego group made the US exclusive set 3438 McDonald’s Restaurant. A small boxed set which depicted a small McDonald’s restaurant at minifig scale, made from actual Lego bricks. The set also featured a small car and two minifigs, one of which had a stickered torso depicting a McDonald’s employee. I still have a copy of this set too, though it usually goes for over $100 today over on Bricklink. Enjoy this fun fact!
I remember the LEGO McDonalds toys from 1999. This was the first time I saw them doing LEGO toys at McDonalds and it was enjoyable to get all of those sets and mix around the parts. Although I do remember one night, I had one of these sets outside and I was up in a tree, then one part fell off and landed in the leaves below and I never found it. We did have plenty of spare parts so I just used one of them. I did also get all of the 2001 Tohunga sets and today, I have just about every Bionicle set that ever came out except the system sets that came out from 2005-2007 and my bedroom is pretty much a Bionicle museum new. I also remember the Galidor sets and I had gotten all of the ones released at Mcdonald's and some of the larger figures from stores, but after a while, my interest in them faded. I did get all of the 2006 Bionicle toys from McDonalds and one from the 2007 series, but none from the 2008 series. The ones I do have are now buried within canisters that my larger Bionicle sets came in and I do not know which canister each one of them is in. Maybe at some point I'll dig them all out and if I can find the remaining ones cheap online, I may consider completing this collection for collector's sake.
I think you nailed how the later bionicle happy meal toys felt, it was an easier gateway for something we didn't quite understand or weren't ready for. I remember loving my crappy little Pirakas and then only having Hahli. I remember making them fight as a little kid, but I also remember the days were I'd be out on the back porch, listening to the CD of songs my parents burned for my sister, Move Along was the only song I really liked from it and my parents never burned a CD for me.
3:24 I'm surprised that, for the printed pieces, they specifically used the Klasky Csupó designs for the McDonald's mascots, from the _Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald_ VHS series, instead of their regular ones. Maybe the cartoon was popular enough back then to have the LEGO Happy Meal toys have its design alterations on them? Maybe a cross-promotion between the series and the toys, or synergy between Happy Meal products? I don't know. Certainly makes it clear that specific iteration of LEGO McDonald's toys was from the 90's specifically, though.
I remember those rubbery Bionicle toys. used to make my ma drive all over town to help get all the different ones & their glowing swords/eyes were so freakin' cool!. Then there are those LEGO Batman toys of the minifigs/vehicles that were so cool to me b/c 1, LEGO, 2, McDonalds, & 3, I LOVED LEGO Batman/LEGO in general when I was a wee tot. I was bummed at first that they weren't real LEGOs, but I quickly got over it b/c I still thought they were cool & were related to my favorite toy/franchise so all was well in my book. This video has unlocked a looooooot of McD's nostalgia.
Mcdonald's toy's for me were great from the 2000's -2015 and I wouldn't actively get them now, mainly because I'm an adult😂, but also because Mcdonald's stopped trying in general
I actually had one of the Galador Happy Meal toys (it’s actually one of the ones you got the blue shirt one). I remember getting it back when it was around and I got it at a McDonalds location that hasn’t existed in almost 14 years. That being the Disney Spring or at the time Downtown Disney location. It’s just one of those memories from that location of going to Downtown Disney it’s night time you go to the Lego store then you eat at McDonalds right next door. Hell it’s how I remember when I got my first Lego Star Wars set.
I loved the Lego Batman video game McDonalds toys. I still have the Batman and Robin toys they gave out. I had a Joker too but lost it soon after sadly
This is a good video topic I’m jealous I didn’t think of the idea myself, but despite in the whole grand scheme of things, I have nostalgia over the Lego movie, happy meal cups and trying to collect them just something about the Lego movie charm to it reminded me of the film that evokes nostalgia
@@MyBrickOpinions yeah true it’s too bad that there’s no physical Lego in the McDonald’s toys anymore I think it might have to do because McDonald’s were less big than they were now back when Lego appeared in happy meals more often, so because they got bigger over the years the people that want happy meals made will probably have to pay lot of money to get happy meal spots because it gives a lot of promotion. That’s why Lego only had happy meals made for promotion, the recent, happy meal but also I think the chances of getting physical Lego is slim because every time I see a McDonald’s toy it’s big and chunky to prevent choking hazards and when there is small pieces, it’s always like cardboard. Maybe it might have to do with more regulations in the recent almost 20 years, but really other than the reasons I gave I think the biggest one is Lego doesn’t need promotion for their brand. They’re at the point that they’re so big that McDonald’s promotion won’t boost sales. That’s why it was for the film to get around that there’s a film out you need that for films, I mean Lego is the largest toy company out there so until LEGO makes a new movie or needs help promoting some big thing similar to a movie that would be the next time there will be a McDonald’s toy related with Lego.
Yeah, Lego Happy Meals were peak era of my childhood and peak era for both companies, this also goes to Hot Wheels Happy Meal toys and Matchboxes too, but shame what happens to them now and looking at happy meals now, only good ones now is Pokémon Happy Meals where you get Pokémon cards from such, if only Happy Meals have proper Lego sets like back then and proper Hot Wheels cars too, then maybe they'll succeed with kids or us adults trying to relive our childhood and such, they should learn what they succeed with the Pokémon promotion and apply it to others, but knowing McDonalds, well we all know why, right?
Oh my god,i actually have that 3:39 set somewhere at home I have vague memory of being in macdonalds snd annoing mom to buy a lego set. By that time i already had a lot of knockoffs that copied lego, police, cars, etc. i just wanted a reall set, and when i built it, i was disappointed cause u know i already had bigger sets and it was a set for kids. Even now its simple but nostalgic and brings back pleasent memories
The only Happy Meal Toyline I genually enjoy doing is the Hello Kitty x Yu-Gi-Oh line we have right now. And a pity that the Red Eyes Black Dragon won’t be available to get in the US, but everywhere else.
I got a happy meal a few years ago and I got a little stuffed Batman I wasnt expecting it and "Woo hooed" out load. I think my first happy meal was the original Mario toys.
This is missing one chapter: In 2018, at least in Germany, McDonald's had a range of Lego compatible off-brand sets of animals, including a turtle, a t-rex, a lion cub, and a cockatoo. They were made of custom pieces but fully compatible with system bricks.
I honestly love the lego batman one. That might just be because 2008 was the most hype year for gaming for me outside of maybe 2018 due to both smash bros brawl and lego batman, but as a kid I was so excited for that game that pretty much any piece of merchandise relating to it was something I needed. Really though, the only one that I think I really like now is mr freeze because batman, robin, and jonkler are kind of boring character picks, and I do think the 2006-2008 line for bionicle were technically better, but I still think lego batman's my favorite of the group.
The later year LEGO toys weren't LEGO, they were just LEGO branded. The Bionicle lines after the first one counts as not LEGO since they weren't compatible with regular LEGO. Even if they aren't standard pieces made by an outsourced company, they should have some connecting area that is compatible with standard brick or Technic pieces.
iirc, the biggest nail in the coffin for happy meal toys was Burger King, and a child suffocating on a Pokeball lid. After that, things got a lot stricter for happy meal toys, more so than the choking hazard that inspired the 3 and under toy line. Granted this is a foggy memory from almost 20 years ago, so grain of salt and all that.
I still fondly remember playing around with Set McDR6US McDonald's Racers Car 6 - EZ Rally, and I still own the set to this day! Maybe I should try to remake it into a Minifigure-scaled version of it in Bricklink Studio someday?
I had two mcdonalds bionicles(i will not remember the names now but the winged insect one and the one that the sword glows on the vide) amd i loved them without even knowing bionicle
it's in the cards, I've actually bought some of the sets from dino thunder and spd, but there's so much to cover from the mega lines and I have a list of other failed themes i wanna do before but I'll definitely have the PR one done by march
I'm a huge LEGO fan but I can't purchase it as it is extremely expensive where I live, if they released sets in Happy Meals I'd get as much as I could but I get why they don't after watching the video.
Id love them to do this again today but the costs don't make sense anymore. Pokemon cards are probably the best toys they can do now a days because pokemon already has the factories for printing and packaging trading cards and trading cards being cheap to produce. Lego bricks or even minifigures would be too expensive, not to mention the politics around waste plastics and child obesity. Im pretty sure McDonald's promised to stop releasing plastic happy meal toys. Id love them to do a McDonald's CMF sort of thing just for history's sake.
I think the advent of moulds killed the chance for System sets to be packaged with McDonald's. Even before the decline of physical toys, I bet there was always a concern for smaller elements to be mistaken for food. Or perhaps somewhere along the line, someone argued that it'd be whatever to do one big thing instead of a dozen small things, so Lego was unable to make the old part sets. Even if they still did the bricks, I don't think kids would have enjoyed getting a handful of brightly coloured bricks with McDonald's people on them, because how will they be able to integrate it into the smaller scale car they've already got? I think the path Lego has taken was the lesser of all evils. There's probably too much at play even before "the smartphone generation" started eating there.
I recall during the Inika line, after getting Hahli in my happy meal after a night of bowling with the Boyscouts, that because I and my best friend at the time battled so long with our little guys, the scoutmaster's wife went through the effort of learning which character was which so she could get us the full size models as pack incentive stuff. The day I was able to earn a full size Hahli, because I was able to play with the miniature one was an exciting day for younger me. If I was able to get "the big one" after getting the smaller Bionicle toy in a $5 meal, then I'm sure there are plenty of kids nowadays still getting into Lego because they got an Angry Unikitty thing from McDonald's, or whatever. [[[Heck, even outside of Lego, Happy Meal toys are basically free advertising. Work was abuzz about The Masked Singer there for a while because some kid left a happymeal toy behind, and it led us down a rabbit hole.]]]
Oh, yeah, and I'm sure there were plenty of reports to Lego HQ about kids chewing on the regular System bricks back in the day, which is why all of the Tohunga are engineered that way. And they probably even got some complaints about those too. Or even complaints from AFOLs about locking out exclusive prints and moulds behind "things aimed at kids." Lego would rather cut a contract than cut a throat, so of course the LEGO Happy meal toys advertise Lego, rather than contain them.
As someone with a keen interest in the Lego Happy Meal co-promotion, with documentation from the earliest. I like your videos but this one has some major inaccuracies, particularly surrounding those early years. The first Happy Meal Lego co-promotion was NOT 1985. The plane with Minifig you show is from 1985 but was only available at McDonalds located within airports. If you want to get technical, the earliest know foray of Lego into fast food would have been in the 1970s with fast food chain Burger Chef. They had an equivalent of a kids meal with special toys. The Lego promotion i have a sign for (i think 1977) advertises some small impulse sets that were available during their holiday promotion. These were production sets that could also be found on shelves and are not original models. The earliest Lego McDonalds went public was a special test market launch in Utah in 1983. The nationwide and Canadian launch was in 1984. The sets for the test market and the 1984 promo were largely the same but would have something different on the packaging, and the advertising leaflet would have been different. I think the Duplo sets were also available during the test market but don’t have my stuff in front of me. Also, the sets from the late 90s with character face blocks you identify as Duplo are Lego Basic theme, so the blocks are compatible with standard Lego system blocks. The Galidor items, while shoddy compared to sets on the market are compatible with the Galidor line even if they are a bit awkward. Ultimately, the original goal of the co-promotion was to build a greater awareness of Lego among children. Lego was pretty big in the US in the early 80s but it had only really found it’s footing in the US by the mid-70s. Bionicle with compatible parts would have been a big deal since that theme was such a departure from the standard Lego offerings up until that point. We are at the point now where Lego doesn’t need to lean on these co-promotions as heavily as they once did because they are the biggest toy company in the world at this point.
Yeah I agree. There’s a lot of inaccurate things or straight up facts I got wrong. And while I overall love the videos message, there’s a few things I wish I could change, this was the third video I made in the series and from a strictly documentation gathering and fact checking standpoint, I still had a lot to learn (and still do) but I’m getting better at it. Thanks for taking the time to correct my inaccuracies and set the record straight, if I ever remake this video further down the line, I’ll definitely fix the timeline and I’ll try to tell the full complete story much better.
@@MyBrickOpinionssorry for taking so long to get back in touch, but thank you for taking time to reply to me. I definitely don’t want to discourage you and hope you will continue doing Lego deep dives. To be fair, there’s a lot on Lego history that is not easily accessible- I’ve seen the McDonalds stuff wrong on some of the major Lego history websites, particularly with that set available via airport McDonalds. There are a lot of great resources out there, and if you ever want you are welcome to reach out to me. I wish my Lego research library was with me, but it’s still sitting in my dad’s house. I would have reached out sooner but I had some ongoing health issues that had me distracted. I remembered your reply today and wanted to make sure I said something back. Keep doing what you’re doing, and may you continue to have fun doing it!
Believe it or not, choking hazards are a new-ish concept, up until de 1950s-60s most kids played with wooden toys, plastics didn’t take over till much later, and even still small plastic items didn’t come till much much later
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What was your favorite lego happy meal promotion growing up?
Matoro from the Bionicle Tohunga (Matoran)promotion. Though i got Jaller from the 2006 promotion which i also liked.
I grew up with the Lego Racers, they are my favorite 🤑
The racers line for sure, it was the only time I tried to collect all of a McDonalds toy line. I almost got them all.
I still have the green race car from the racers series, but I guess I’m the odd one out on the LEGO Batman toys. I still have the Robin and Joker figure. The figures actually have a cheat code to unlock a character early printed on. For example, the Joker figure gave you the Tropical Joker character. I personally thought that was really cool.
Changeables.
The Bionicle McToran were the peak of Lego Happy Meal Toys. In general, Happy Meals were at their peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, before they started giving cheap plastic or paper.
Well atleast the parts were reusable with their correlating theme 🤷♂️ (and it included jaller so I think that’s a plus)
As a McDonald’s employee it probably would cost too much to have actual lego for the toys. Some of the recent stuff feels so cheap
Goated comment
Yeah, agreed, especially how Lego in general gotten expensive of late, if only there's a way around with and not make it look cheap or be cheap about it, so who knows, also the same applies to Hot Wheels and such, right?
@@bradwhite5884 I feel like the main reason that Lego is so expensive as of late is because the vast majority of sets are licensed, which naturally spikes up the price. The only themes I'm aware of that aren't Licensed these days are Creator, City, Technic, Ninjago, and...I think Friends is still a theme? if not that, then some other girl-focused theme. And those themes tend to be a fair bit cheaper than their Disney/Nintendo/Minecraft licensed sets.
As a traditional no phone/tablet parent, I'd pay more for a happy if it came with an acctuly toy. Not cardboard and an QR code.
It annoys me how whenever my siblings want a happy meal, we just end up bringing a cheap, useless and ugly looking chunk of plastic meant to resemble a very generic (possibly marvel reject) character that's just going to become yet another thing to pick up from the floor, that will also VERY likely just end up being thrown away into the trash by accident.
The best McDonalds toys were always the ones with actual LEGO.
I didn’t like any of the others and I’m sad that I couldn’t get any that were actual LEGO.
I loved the McDonalds LEGO Batman toys so much, especially because I loved LEGO Batman: The Videogame.
You made an amazing video that brought me a lot of joy and nostaliga. I loved Happy Meals as a kid. I miss those days so much...
Those polybags with Lego Basic were not Duplo. They were regular Lego System pieces, had most of them.
totally right, my bad
Excellent video. Something very similar happened with Mcdonalds transformers too. They went from actually transforming figures to static ones
12:01 These were my only Lego McDonalds toys I got growing up. I got the Orange one in the top left & Dark green one in the top right & I still have these displayed in my room along with my other sets to this day.
THE LEGO BATMAN TOYS WERE FYE IDGAF . I loved them as a kid
I specifically remember the 1999 Lego sets, because I had my birthday party at Mcdonalds. All the other kids gave me their sets, so I think I got one of each.
I remember the 2007 bionicles. I had a few of them. Pretty cool nostalgia hit
I actually liked the Lego movie cups…
I don’t think they’re awful but compared to getting lego pieces, it’s like day and night
I remember when the Bionicle toys from McDonald's. I also think that I can get those Lego McDonald's poly bags from 1999 so I can remake the Nostromo from Alien
I remember those poly bag ones from 1999 too.
This video unlocked hidden memories for me, I completely forgot about Lego Racers. I think I still have a couple laying around somewhere.
It wasn’t just happy meals that got in on the act. Lego group made the US exclusive set 3438 McDonald’s Restaurant. A small boxed set which depicted a small McDonald’s restaurant at minifig scale, made from actual Lego bricks.
The set also featured a small car and two minifigs, one of which had a stickered torso depicting a McDonald’s employee.
I still have a copy of this set too, though it usually goes for over $100 today over on Bricklink.
Enjoy this fun fact!
I remember the LEGO McDonalds toys from 1999. This was the first time I saw them doing LEGO toys at McDonalds and it was enjoyable to get all of those sets and mix around the parts. Although I do remember one night, I had one of these sets outside and I was up in a tree, then one part fell off and landed in the leaves below and I never found it. We did have plenty of spare parts so I just used one of them. I did also get all of the 2001 Tohunga sets and today, I have just about every Bionicle set that ever came out except the system sets that came out from 2005-2007 and my bedroom is pretty much a Bionicle museum new. I also remember the Galidor sets and I had gotten all of the ones released at Mcdonald's and some of the larger figures from stores, but after a while, my interest in them faded. I did get all of the 2006 Bionicle toys from McDonalds and one from the 2007 series, but none from the 2008 series. The ones I do have are now buried within canisters that my larger Bionicle sets came in and I do not know which canister each one of them is in. Maybe at some point I'll dig them all out and if I can find the remaining ones cheap online, I may consider completing this collection for collector's sake.
how were you up in a tree??? have you seen how big those things are? how could one climb such a thing!!??
@@TerrorSyxke It wasn't that big. I could manage.
I think you nailed how the later bionicle happy meal toys felt, it was an easier gateway for something we didn't quite understand or weren't ready for. I remember loving my crappy little Pirakas and then only having Hahli. I remember making them fight as a little kid, but I also remember the days were I'd be out on the back porch, listening to the CD of songs my parents burned for my sister, Move Along was the only song I really liked from it and my parents never burned a CD for me.
Simpler times
McDonald's in 1986:Lego
McDonald's today:Tcg
At least the Matoran are the real deal at McDonald’s.
3:24 I'm surprised that, for the printed pieces, they specifically used the Klasky Csupó designs for the McDonald's mascots, from the _Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald_ VHS series, instead of their regular ones. Maybe the cartoon was popular enough back then to have the LEGO Happy Meal toys have its design alterations on them? Maybe a cross-promotion between the series and the toys, or synergy between Happy Meal products? I don't know. Certainly makes it clear that specific iteration of LEGO McDonald's toys was from the 90's specifically, though.
I remember those rubbery Bionicle toys. used to make my ma drive all over town to help get all the different ones & their glowing swords/eyes were so freakin' cool!.
Then there are those LEGO Batman toys of the minifigs/vehicles that were so cool to me b/c 1, LEGO, 2, McDonalds, & 3, I LOVED LEGO Batman/LEGO in general when I was a wee tot. I was bummed at first that they weren't real LEGOs, but I quickly got over it b/c I still thought they were cool & were related to my favorite toy/franchise so all was well in my book.
This video has unlocked a looooooot of McD's nostalgia.
Clikits just unlocked memories around 2003 I thought I forgot wtf
Mcdonald's toy's for me were great from the 2000's -2015 and I wouldn't actively get them now, mainly because I'm an adult😂, but also because Mcdonald's stopped trying in general
9:29 DUDE!!!!!!! I haven’t seen that thing in years, it’s somewhere at my grandparents house and I completely forgot about it
I was disappointed as a kid because I got into Bionicle right after they stopped doing the Tohunga figures
oh my god those Duplo sets at 3:40 ish unlocked a memory I diddnt know I still had
I remember sitting in the McDonald’s in Socorro New Mexico building my happy meal toys. But I was 18 at the time
My grandma used to work at Macca’s, and got to bring loads of the happy meal toys home
That’s actually fire
Lego forgot to offer 'gateway' toys
Those gateway toys are how you get people invested in your more expensive things
Video idea for Brick failures: Scooby-Doo
October
Dude this video reminded me of so many different toys I had as a kid, thank you
I think I remember getting one of the Lego Basic sets back when I was 8, but idk where it is now.
I actually had one of the Galador Happy Meal toys (it’s actually one of the ones you got the blue shirt one). I remember getting it back when it was around and I got it at a McDonalds location that hasn’t existed in almost 14 years. That being the Disney Spring or at the time Downtown Disney location. It’s just one of those memories from that location of going to Downtown Disney it’s night time you go to the Lego store then you eat at McDonalds right next door. Hell it’s how I remember when I got my first Lego Star Wars set.
I LOVED THE BATMAN LEGO TOYS AND BIONICLE TOYS and I guess the cars ones too that came out afterwards. Peak McDonald’s Toys in my eyes.
The car race set, look good
I loved the Lego Batman video game McDonalds toys. I still have the Batman and Robin toys they gave out. I had a Joker too but lost it soon after sadly
This is a good video topic I’m jealous I didn’t think of the idea myself, but despite in the whole grand scheme of things, I have nostalgia over the Lego movie, happy meal cups and trying to collect them just something about the Lego movie charm to it reminded me of the film that evokes nostalgia
That’s fair, I supposed just like how I have nostalgia for the 06-08 Bionicle toys some folks would have nostalgia for the later promotions
@@MyBrickOpinions yeah true it’s too bad that there’s no physical Lego in the McDonald’s toys anymore I think it might have to do because McDonald’s were less big than they were now back when Lego appeared in happy meals more often, so because they got bigger over the years the people that want happy meals made will probably have to pay lot of money to get happy meal spots because it gives a lot of promotion. That’s why Lego only had happy meals made for promotion, the recent, happy meal but also I think the chances of getting physical Lego is slim because every time I see a McDonald’s toy it’s big and chunky to prevent choking hazards and when there is small pieces, it’s always like cardboard. Maybe it might have to do with more regulations in the recent almost 20 years, but really other than the reasons I gave I think the biggest one is Lego doesn’t need promotion for their brand. They’re at the point that they’re so big that McDonald’s promotion won’t boost sales. That’s why it was for the film to get around that there’s a film out you need that for films, I mean Lego is the largest toy company out there so until LEGO makes a new movie or needs help promoting some big thing similar to a movie that would be the next time there will be a McDonald’s toy related with Lego.
@@constructionproduction4965 it also could be the new direction mcdonalds is taking to appeal to people going through their mid-life crisis.
Yeah, Lego Happy Meals were peak era of my childhood and peak era for both companies, this also goes to Hot Wheels Happy Meal toys and Matchboxes too, but shame what happens to them now and looking at happy meals now, only good ones now is Pokémon Happy Meals where you get Pokémon cards from such, if only Happy Meals have proper Lego sets like back then and proper Hot Wheels cars too, then maybe they'll succeed with kids or us adults trying to relive our childhood and such, they should learn what they succeed with the Pokémon promotion and apply it to others, but knowing McDonalds, well we all know why, right?
Younger a was having one lego movie cup the vitruvius one its was perfect
8:34 Never realized Hakan had a Vahki head as a launcher, or rather a claw
Fascinating, because the Vahki came out 2 years before the Piraka
I don’t know whether to like or hate the LEGO Racers cars that they gave out in 2009 Happy Meals.
they were neat, but not godly
Burger King didn't do much better. Their Toa Nuva kids meals didn't even look like they were made from Lego.
I remember the lego cars. The simpsons burrger king anf mcdonalds toys were always great
The transition to 2001 is insane
I thought I was the only one that noticed 😂
4:32 "TECUYA!" -Jaller.
Oh man lego racers I remembered them fondly. I had like 3 of them but never got the rest
Oh my gosh, I just unlocked the memory of having a Ninjago dragon tellescope
Oh my god,i actually have that 3:39 set somewhere at home
I have vague memory of being in macdonalds snd annoing mom to buy a lego set. By that time i already had a lot of knockoffs that copied lego, police, cars, etc. i just wanted a reall set, and when i built it, i was disappointed cause u know i already had bigger sets and it was a set for kids. Even now its simple but nostalgic and brings back pleasent memories
The only Happy Meal Toyline I genually enjoy doing is the Hello Kitty x Yu-Gi-Oh line we have right now. And a pity that the Red Eyes Black Dragon won’t be available to get in the US, but everywhere else.
Yeah I remember the hockey player ones
10:11 I have gone this long without knowing these were bionicle happy meal toys I had two of these guys and I loved them I think I still have them
Those cups for the lego movie happy meal promotion are still better than an happy meal toy in the past 5 or something years
Arguably yes, but at the time after lego racers it was such a downgrade
I got a happy meal a few years ago and I got a little stuffed Batman I wasnt expecting it and "Woo hooed" out load. I think my first happy meal was the original Mario toys.
This is missing one chapter: In 2018, at least in Germany, McDonald's had a range of Lego compatible off-brand sets of animals, including a turtle, a t-rex, a lion cub, and a cockatoo. They were made of custom pieces but fully compatible with system bricks.
Yeah but this was made for Lego licensed happy meals not off brand compatible stuff
I played with the Batman ones all the time! They pretty much replaced the sets since I was too young to even consider buying Lego sets at the time
This is absolutely amazing keep up the great work can’t wait to see more 🔥!
In Spain they also make Happy Meal toys based on the Lego Knights series
My first Happy meal toy was the Lego Batman Dr Freeze.
The bionicals and batman lines were great for me, but the racers were the best ones.
I honestly love the lego batman one. That might just be because 2008 was the most hype year for gaming for me outside of maybe 2018 due to both smash bros brawl and lego batman, but as a kid I was so excited for that game that pretty much any piece of merchandise relating to it was something I needed. Really though, the only one that I think I really like now is mr freeze because batman, robin, and jonkler are kind of boring character picks, and I do think the 2006-2008 line for bionicle were technically better, but I still think lego batman's my favorite of the group.
The later year LEGO toys weren't LEGO, they were just LEGO branded. The Bionicle lines after the first one counts as not LEGO since they weren't compatible with regular LEGO. Even if they aren't standard pieces made by an outsourced company, they should have some connecting area that is compatible with standard brick or Technic pieces.
iirc, the biggest nail in the coffin for happy meal toys was Burger King, and a child suffocating on a Pokeball lid. After that, things got a lot stricter for happy meal toys, more so than the choking hazard that inspired the 3 and under toy line. Granted this is a foggy memory from almost 20 years ago, so grain of salt and all that.
Pokeball lid was the event that cause strict toy rules.
Bro is like: I went to McDonald’s
Me: I went to subway
Nah the Lego Batman toys absolutely rocked, I played with those for hours as a kid, despite having actual Lego
These weird 1999 happy meal toys were not Duplo at all tho. I had couple that I got when I turned 5 in 1999.
Yeah I’ve been told, sorry about that
The Lego movie cups are still the best things to ever happen ngl
I knew Galado exists!!! I still remember it vaguely but i can't even remember the name! Thank you!!
The Lego Batman McDonald's toys are so nostalgic for me
Oh there nostalgic for me too, I just didn’t like em that much
I played with my McDonald's batman the animated series batman toy for years
I still have all of my old lego racers in bin
Man i love those cups, i still have them
Absolutely LOVE this video 🎉 so good bro. Amazing story telling super entertaining and engaging!
Left inspired
I still fondly remember playing around with Set McDR6US McDonald's Racers Car 6 - EZ Rally, and I still own the set to this day!
Maybe I should try to remake it into a Minifigure-scaled version of it in Bricklink Studio someday?
That would be so cool
What a great video as always, Ace.
Thanks ❤️
For those who don't know burger chef is what burger King was originally called
38 pcs, with another having a minifigure? No way that would go in a Happy Meal today---the Lego would cost more than the food lol
DONT DISS THE CUPS
I still use them to this day
Look, those Lego Movie cups are actually really good and I still use them to this day
I mean yeah there cups, but as a kid, I didn’t go to McDonald’s for cups… that’s what disappointed me
The next video you need to do is what happened to kre-o transformers sets and how did lego got the right for it
I had two mcdonalds bionicles(i will not remember the names now but the winged insect one and the one that the sword glows on the vide) amd i loved them without even knowing bionicle
I think LEGO Batman was the first video game that McDonalds specifically made toys for
Mario?
Sonic 3 (the game) famously was split into two games because the devs needed more time but Sega was already comitted to a mcdonalds promo.
I once have Lego Batman video game Happy Meal 🖤🦇
Happy Meals hit rock bottom once they started making paper toys (or lack there of)
Ever thought of doing Power Rangers?
it's in the cards, I've actually bought some of the sets from dino thunder and spd, but there's so much to cover from the mega lines and I have a list of other failed themes i wanna do before but I'll definitely have the PR one done by march
BIONICLE Happy Meal toys!!!!
Lego motion was the best promotion but I want to know where the spaceman came from
A very enjoyable video
I own 2 of the 2009 Lego cars. They're just barried in my massive bucket of Lego's.
Internet forums from 2008 are wild
Mom, can we get a Lego set?
No, we got Lego sets at home.
Lego sets at home:
5:11 pain
I'm a huge LEGO fan but I can't purchase it as it is extremely expensive where I live, if they released sets in Happy Meals I'd get as much as I could but I get why they don't after watching the video.
Id love them to do this again today but the costs don't make sense anymore.
Pokemon cards are probably the best toys they can do now a days because pokemon already has the factories for printing and packaging trading cards and trading cards being cheap to produce.
Lego bricks or even minifigures would be too expensive, not to mention the politics around waste plastics and child obesity.
Im pretty sure McDonald's promised to stop releasing plastic happy meal toys.
Id love them to do a McDonald's CMF sort of thing just for history's sake.
I think the advent of moulds killed the chance for System sets to be packaged with McDonald's. Even before the decline of physical toys, I bet there was always a concern for smaller elements to be mistaken for food. Or perhaps somewhere along the line, someone argued that it'd be whatever to do one big thing instead of a dozen small things, so Lego was unable to make the old part sets.
Even if they still did the bricks, I don't think kids would have enjoyed getting a handful of brightly coloured bricks with McDonald's people on them, because how will they be able to integrate it into the smaller scale car they've already got?
I think the path Lego has taken was the lesser of all evils. There's probably too much at play even before "the smartphone generation" started eating there.
I recall during the Inika line, after getting Hahli in my happy meal after a night of bowling with the Boyscouts, that because I and my best friend at the time battled so long with our little guys, the scoutmaster's wife went through the effort of learning which character was which so she could get us the full size models as pack incentive stuff.
The day I was able to earn a full size Hahli, because I was able to play with the miniature one was an exciting day for younger me. If I was able to get "the big one" after getting the smaller Bionicle toy in a $5 meal, then I'm sure there are plenty of kids nowadays still getting into Lego because they got an Angry Unikitty thing from McDonald's, or whatever.
[[[Heck, even outside of Lego, Happy Meal toys are basically free advertising. Work was abuzz about The Masked Singer there for a while because some kid left a happymeal toy behind, and it led us down a rabbit hole.]]]
Oh, yeah, and I'm sure there were plenty of reports to Lego HQ about kids chewing on the regular System bricks back in the day, which is why all of the Tohunga are engineered that way. And they probably even got some complaints about those too. Or even complaints from AFOLs about locking out exclusive prints and moulds behind "things aimed at kids."
Lego would rather cut a contract than cut a throat, so of course the LEGO Happy meal toys advertise Lego, rather than contain them.
Man im sad i mised out on the best happy meals ever still a amazing video
Looks like lego got too cheap with their offerings and only gave McDonalds a bare minimum funding.
Fire video
I got jala, didn’t know he was a McDonald’s toy
As someone with a keen interest in the Lego Happy Meal co-promotion, with documentation from the earliest. I like your videos but this one has some major inaccuracies, particularly surrounding those early years. The first Happy Meal Lego co-promotion was NOT 1985. The plane with Minifig you show is from 1985 but was only available at McDonalds located within airports.
If you want to get technical, the earliest know foray of Lego into fast food would have been in the 1970s with fast food chain Burger Chef. They had an equivalent of a kids meal with special toys. The Lego promotion i have a sign for (i think 1977) advertises some small impulse sets that were available during their holiday promotion. These were production sets that could also be found on shelves and are not original models.
The earliest Lego McDonalds went public was a special test market launch in Utah in 1983. The nationwide and Canadian launch was in 1984. The sets for the test market and the 1984 promo were largely the same but would have something different on the packaging, and the advertising leaflet would have been different. I think the Duplo sets were also available during the test market but don’t have my stuff in front of me.
Also, the sets from the late 90s with character face blocks you identify as Duplo are Lego Basic theme, so the blocks are compatible with standard Lego system blocks.
The Galidor items, while shoddy compared to sets on the market are compatible with the Galidor line even if they are a bit awkward.
Ultimately, the original goal of the co-promotion was to build a greater awareness of Lego among children. Lego was pretty big in the US in the early 80s but it had only really found it’s footing in the US by the mid-70s. Bionicle with compatible parts would have been a big deal since that theme was such a departure from the standard Lego offerings up until that point.
We are at the point now where Lego doesn’t need to lean on these co-promotions as heavily as they once did because they are the biggest toy company in the world at this point.
Yeah I agree. There’s a lot of inaccurate things or straight up facts I got wrong. And while I overall love the videos message, there’s a few things I wish I could change, this was the third video I made in the series and from a strictly documentation gathering and fact checking standpoint, I still had a lot to learn (and still do) but I’m getting better at it.
Thanks for taking the time to correct my inaccuracies and set the record straight, if I ever remake this video further down the line, I’ll definitely fix the timeline and I’ll try to tell the full complete story much better.
@@MyBrickOpinionssorry for taking so long to get back in touch, but thank you for taking time to reply to me. I definitely don’t want to discourage you and hope you will continue doing Lego deep dives. To be fair, there’s a lot on Lego history that is not easily accessible- I’ve seen the McDonalds stuff wrong on some of the major Lego history websites, particularly with that set available via airport McDonalds.
There are a lot of great resources out there, and if you ever want you are welcome to reach out to me. I wish my Lego research library was with me, but it’s still sitting in my dad’s house.
I would have reached out sooner but I had some ongoing health issues that had me distracted. I remembered your reply today and wanted to make sure I said something back.
Keep doing what you’re doing, and may you continue to have fun doing it!
When would choking hazards for toddlers not be a problem? 🤣
Believe it or not, choking hazards are a new-ish concept, up until de 1950s-60s most kids played with wooden toys, plastics didn’t take over till much later, and even still small plastic items didn’t come till much much later