What Your Vintage McDonald's Boo Bucket Might Be Worth This Halloween Season

Packrats, check your closets. McDonald's is preparing to bring back its iconic Boo Buckets once again this Halloween season, sparking hope from eBay sellers who've hung on to the 80s originals. But don't get too excited: your collection won't set you up for life. A vintage bucket may pay for a McDonald's meal or two, but not much else. 

Vintage boo buckets — which appeared on McDonald's menus annually throughout the 80s and 90s —  sell for around $20 each on eBay. As with most collectible McDonald's toys, your Boo Buckets will fetch a higher price if you have a complete set. A set of three vintage buckets in good condition can sell for around $75. Despite the high hopes of eBay sellers, even the most collectible Happy Meal toys won't finance a new condo — or even cover the down payment. A select few fetch upwards of $400, but most collectable toys top out at around $20 to $50. Many toys are worth next to nothing. 

McDonald's Corporate is betting that its new batch of buckets will be a hit with parents who grew up on the originals. Last year, they launched on October 15th; this year, a post from @snackolator on Instagram confirmed that Canadian locations will launch the buckets on October 21st. The Canadian designs feature reinterpretations of the classic ghost, witch, and pumpkin designs, plus new black cat and scarred Frankenstein faces. Customers will have to wait to see if the designs are available in the United States.

The return of the plastic buckets seems to be part of a larger ploy to prompt customer nostalgia. Recently, McDonald's began experimenting with adult-sized Happy Meals. The recent McDonaldland launch featured collectable tins emblazoned with classic characters like the Hamburglar and Grimace, clearly aimed at older customers who remember the characters from their childhoods.

This isn't even the first time that Boo Buckets have made an appearance on the Happy Meal menu this year. In July, the brand launched Lil McDonald's Happy Meals, featuring tiny toys inspired by the chain itself. The launch featured a miniature boo bucket alongside cash registers, drink dispensers, and not-so-big Macs.

The Lil McDonald's collection proved to be a hit among collectors: The mini buckets are worth as much as the originals. On eBay, a mini bucket complete with packaging and its accompanying sticker sheet can sell for up to $24.98. Think twice before raiding your child's toy box, though. The McDonald's collectables market is fickle: Other sellers struggle to fetch $.99 for their minis.