Every McDonald's Happy Meal Toy From 1990, Ranked

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Since its launch in the late 1970s, the McDonald's Happy Meal has remained incredibly popular. But it took some tweaking before it became the cultural staple it is today. It wasn't until about a decade later that McDonald's partnered with Disney for the first time. In 1987, McDonald's began offering toys and sticker books inspired by movies like Cinderella and Sword in the Stone, cementing the Happy Meal and its toys as a core part of millions of childhoods.

More changes followed, and by the mid '90s, Mickey-D's was chasing trends. The fast food giant offered Happy Meals themed for specific Disney releases, Furbys, various Muppets movies, and more, with the decade producing many of the most memorable old-school Happy Meal Toys. Even Beanie Baby fever made it to McDonald's kids' meals, with the wildly popular 1997 Teeny Beanie Babies Happy Meal.

The fact that 1990 was in the middle of these changes makes it something like a Happy Meal toy capsule. Have I driven myself insane researching every single Happy Meal from the year? Yes. But it was worth it. Because 1990 realy was a turning point. Happy Meals had one foot in the past with dinky, McDonald's themed toys (some of which are amazing — that's a spoiler), and one in the future with major motion picture tie-ins and Mario Bros Happy Meals. So, let's have a look at what worked and what didn't. I'll be ranking the toys  based on how fun they look, whether they seem durable, and how collectible they turned out to be.

The first thing we have to talk about here is how terrible a lot of the Happy Meal names were in 1990. Sportsball is literally a joke people make when they think sports fans are over invested in the guys who are good at throwing or kicking (and it doesn't get better from here. Wait until we get to "Hats"). Admittedly, I'm put off by everything about this Happy Meal, including its toys. The tagline for the ads was "Have a ball," because apparently copywriters could phone it in well before ChatGPT, and the toys were just ... tiny balls. 

There were four to collect: a basketball, a baseball, an American football, and a soccer ball. They were all McDonald's branded, had no affiliation with teams or sporting events, and a little smaller than a stress ball. Perhaps they were child-sized stress balls designed to be used when kids got mad about how terrible their toy was? If I had been able to speak in 1990, I'd probably have asked to talk to the R&D team about this one. Presumably, no children were consulted.

This was a tough Happy Meal toy to find much record of. McdonaldLand-Dough seems to have been a precursor to several McDonald's and Play-Doh collaborations. In addition to tubs of dough, later iterations of the idea included Play-Doh tools and some pretty cool dough-shaping suggestions, including entire Mickey-D's meals. 

The 1990 modeling dough Happy Meal toy wasn't Play-Doh branded at all, and there probably aren't  many specimens left today because ... well ... tubs of dough don't age well (and a good few were probably eaten by confused four year olds). All in all, this entry into the rankings gets zero points for collectibility, and it doesn't sound very fun either. 

The one notable thing about this Happy Meal is that it was a McDonaldLand toy. Originally conceived in the '70s, McDonaldLand and its cast of characters has cropped up repeatedly in Happy Meals toys up until the late '90s. Most of the characters made a comeback last year in the form of McDonaldLand playing cards, although "Captain Crook" and "The Professor" were notably absent. 

So the thing about the "Hats" Happy Meal toys is that they really were just hats. While the simplicity of the idea is great, the hats themselves were low quality, with plastic so thin it's surprising any lasted long enough to be resold. 

There were four to collect, including a fireman's helmet featuring a rather demonic-looking Ronald McDonald, an orange number that might belong to a small park ranger, a yellow hard hat that screams Paw Patrol to the modern eye, and a green bowler hat featuring an excited Birdie. The last one breaks somewhat from the workman-like theme, but I suppose tap dancers put in long hours just like the rest of us.  

Getting down to brass tacks (which would definitely do a number on all four hats), these toys were probably fun for an afternoon or two. Unfortunately, that's not enough to beat the competition, especially as there was quite enough single-use plastic in 1990 without throwing a bunch of hats on top. 

Before the Beanie Baby and McDonalds collaborations, we had Berenstain Bears Happy Meals. In 1990, there were four Berenstain Bear books to collect: "The Berenstain Bears and the Attic Treasure," "Life With Papa," "The Substitute Teacher," and "Eager Beavers." According to Reddit users, they were full of useful PSAs for kids such as not watching too much TV and how important it is to avoid joining a gang.

This wasn't the fast food chain's first time teaming up with the furry family — there were some figurines in 1986, and several other book sets — but it was the last. We can't blame the books themselves for this. Both the books and the bears feel deeply '80s. They're too educational for '90s kids raised on grunge, game consoles, and Pokemon cards. And let's be honest — they don't make sense with a Happy Meal. Even the most avid book worm would have been a little bit disappointed to get a PSA about too much TV bundled with their junk food. At the very least, they were probably a great addition to family libraries.

McDonald's Boo Buckets are iconic. First introduced in 1986, they remained a near-annual tradition until 2012. Originally, the buckets were all styled like pumpkins. In 1989, this changed, and the buckets became a motley three-man gang made up of a pumpkin, a witch, and a ghost. The brand offered  a glow in the dark bucket for the first time in 1990. Well, the first glow in the dark Halloween Pail at least — that was the official name for this seasonal Happy Meal toy during its early years. 

Boo Buckets returned in 2022, and soon became an annual tradition again, this time with some new characters available. Throughout the Halloween Pail Happy Meal's long lifetime, the toys have delivered. They do what they say on the tin, offering reliable Halloween props every year (apart from that late-2010s hiatus). Still, they're just buckets with faces on them. Plus, they're so ubiquitous they're floating around everywhere, with old Boo Buckets selling for just a few dollars on auction sites. 

Just three years after the first Happy Meal collaboration between Disney and McDonald's, Happy Meal toys became a key part of many movies' launch campaigns. "The Rescuers Down Under" was an adventurous film starring some very brave cartoon mice, an albatross, and a kangaroo rat. Although it's not particularly well remembered, it was important enough to get its very own Happy Meal the year it came out in theaters. 

The toys themselves are pretty cool. They're tiny image viewers shaped like camcorders (which were extremely exciting in 1990). They're also functional; put your eye to the viewfinder and you can scroll through illustrated scenes from the movie. I love toys that actually do something, so they get points for that. Plus, they're extremely cute. That being said, they look delicate, breakable, and easy to lose. Plus, the Rescuers franchise sputtered out after Down Under. Maybe these toys would be more memorable if the anthropomorphic mice they feature had achieved more of a legacy? 

In another example of terrible naming from whoever was behind 1990's Happy Meal Toys, we have "Beach Toys." These are very hard to research and don't seem to be particularly well remembered. That's partly because of the name, and partly because several of them were blow up toys intended for use at the seaside or a lake. At the very least, they went in the bath. And most of them probably ended up popping or simply wearing out. 

With eight toys to collect in total, outdoorsy kids were probably enthusiastic about coming back to Mickey-D's to complete the set. There was a beach ball, two buckets, two different digging tools, and three floaties featuring McDonald's characters. The little inflatable catamaran is undeniably cool, and the tools and buckets look like they're pretty decent quality. This was a Happy Meal toy set that probably made both kids and parents happy while getting plenty of use. It must have been reasonably successful, too, as beach toys came with McDonald's kids' meals repeatedly throughout the '80s and early '90s. 

Turbo Macs came with Happy Meals in both 1988 and 1990. The brightly colored plastic cars were pull back and release, making them fun to race. They're another McDonald's branded toy featuring the restaurant's own characters, but compared to others, they feel a little flat. There isn't a cohesive creative idea or story behind them, and they look, for want of a better word, plasticky. Really, though, Turbo Macs have landed mid-table simply because other toys (some of which were also cars) were cooler.

Okay, so here's the concept: Tom & Jerry are in a band together. Obviously, Tom is tickling the ivories and Jerry is behind the drum kit. What, that's not enough for you? Fine, we'll put Spike on bass and get Droopy to sing.

These toys are slightly inexplicable as the concept of a Tom & Jerry band seems to exist only for this Happy Meal. With that said, they are very cute. The Tom & Jerry Band marked the first time McDonald's gave away toys themed for the cartoon, but it was nowhere near the last. There were at least three other collaborations, but cat and mouse lovers had to wait twenty years for the second, which included games, puzzles, and a lunchbox. 

Maybe this initial collab didn't go too well? I can imagine these bright, tough looking little figurines might have been beloved as collectibles, but since they don't really do anything, they might have been a miss for kids. 

"I Like Bikes" was apparently a regional Happy Meal that came with one of four bike accessories. (At least this name rhymes this time!) On top of that, the toys that accompanied these meals actually look pretty useful. 

Bike-themed Happy Meal gifts included a horn, a mirror, and a Birdie-themed spinner shaped like a little red and yellow airplane. The fastenings appear sturdy, and the Happy Meal isn't advertising anything but McDonalds and the pure joys of cycling. It might also be a rare success for McDonald's promoting healthy habits. A grimace-shaped handlebar mirror is certainly a much better giveaway item than the fitness trackers that burned people a few decades later. 

Barbie figurines and Hot Wheels cars were available in Happy Meals at the same time in 1990, launching a tradition that would return repeatedly during the decade to come. The pairing makes logistical sense as Hot Wheels and Barbie are Mattel properties (and weirdly enough, their respective creators were married). Looking at the actual toys, however, it seems like the Hot Wheels cars were just more interesting than the mini Barbie figurines. Tiny diecast cars are fun, building them tracks is fun, and they last forever if you don't lose them. But the Barbies? They were tiny dolls that didn't do anything but stand there.

This, of course, brings us to the gender of it all. I remember wanting a car and getting a doll during later Barbie and Hot Wheels Happy Meal giveaways, and I'm sure I wasn't alone in my annoyance about getting a doll in a dress (and that it went the other way for some, too). These would be way, way higher up the list if the dolls were race car drivers or the Hot Wheels cars were Barbie-themed (Mattel has actually made Barbie Hot Wheels in the past). It just feels like Mattel and McDonald's missed an incredibly easy crossover opportunity — and then kept missing it for a decade.

The first year of the '90s was also a banner year for the Happy Meal's development. On top of the Disney and Mattel collabs, 1990 saw McDonald's first Super Mario crossover. Released alongside the game, this Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal came with one of four "action toys." The toys featured characters from the game that jumped, back-flipped, and zoomed around on wheels, making them a lot more fun than a static action figure. 

Mario, Luigi, and even winged tortoise Koopa Paratroopa are now absolute icons, but in 1990, when the fourth game came out, Nintendo was still building a brand for the Italian plumber and his frenemies. This Happy Meal must have helped, as McDonald's offered five further Mario Happy Meals over the next three and a half decades. A sixth ran this year featuring a whopping 12 Mario characters. The toys look fun, but they get extra points for being the first chapter in a wildly collectible Mario x McDonald's legacy. 

"Dink, the Little Dinosaur" was a CBS cartoon that ran from 1989 to 1991. (It must have been repeated later in the 1990s, too, because I remember watching it.) Every episode was full of dinosaur facts, a little bit of danger, and a ton of very cute critters (you can watch the full series on Apple TV if you want to revisit it). Clearly, this rating is inspired partially by my own nostalgia, but what did you expect in an article about vintage fast food memorabilia?

There were six Dink, the Little Dinosaur toys to collect, and every one of them is adorable. The toys, which are crafted from thick plastic, make the characters look a little like The Land Before Time meets Pokemon. Judging by how many are still floating around they must be pretty hardwearing, and they have drainage holes that make them suitable for bath time use or messy play.  

TaleSpin was another short-lived TV series, this time from Disney. The Happy Meal toys that represented it at McDonald's are wheeled diecast planes (a bit like Hot Wheels cars) with wings and propellers. There were four to collect — Baloo's Seaplane, Kit's Racing Plane, Molly's Biplane, and Wildcat's Flying Machine — and each of them was manned by a tiny character. 

While I'm 100% sure that these metal planes were thrown around liberally causing bumps, bruises, and maybe the odd broken window, they just look like so much fun. Their propellers spin, the wheels work, and they're bright and cheerful. My adult brain tells me I would definitely step on one of them in the dark if they made it into my home, but my inner child still wants to collect the whole set (and play with them while drinking a McDonald's milkshake). 

I'm a sucker for a good quality toy. And I'm also a sucker for The Jungle Book (the original animated movie, not the creepy 2016 CGI monstrosity or the very much of-their-time stories by Rudyard Kipling). So, of course I love the four wind-up figurines that came with the 1990 Jungle Book-themed Happy Meal. There's Shere Khan the tiger, Baloo the bear, Kaa the sneaky snake, and King Louie the orangutan. Each of them does something different when you wind their mechanism — Baloo dances, Kaa moves his head back and forth, Shere Khan pounces, and King Louie does a flip. 

Toys like these balance collectibility and fun really well. They're more than just action figures promoting a movie; they're iconic, timeless, and just the right amount silly. The only bad thing I have to say about them? My research has got "I Wanna be Like You" stuck in my head, and I'm worried I'm going to be humming it for days. 

We're back in McDonaldLand again. And this time, we're going camping. The Camp McDonaldLand Happy Meal was available in April and May 1990, and it made sure kids were ready for the best Summer camp experience of their lives. 

The meal came with kids camping tools adorned with Mickey-D's characters. There was a green Birdie mess kit (aka lunchbox), a blue Grimace canteen, Fry Kid utensils that all packed neatly into the handle of a the knife, and a Ronald McDonald collapsible cup. 

These little tools might not be remembered well, but they likely got used a ton. These are more than just toys. They're practical, invite creation and adventure, and they're the epitome of early-90s kitsch. There's no way McDonald's would give away branded camping kits now, and it's kind of beautiful that the world was once a more simple place. 

Oh, did you just get back from Camp McDonaldLand? Well, you're in luck! The McDonaldLand Carnival rolled into town while you were away. This Happy Meal came with one of four carnival rides that kids had to assemble themselves. Assembly included inserting the McDonaldLand characters into the various carnival attractions. There was also a wobbly pre-assembled Grimace for children under 3 years old (which was a bit weird as Grimace also came with the merry-go-round). 

Apart from the rogue Grimace evil-twin, the bases of the rides could be slotted together once you'd collected them all. This means kids could design their perfect McDonaldLand Carnival. It also allows collectors to display the toys in a way best shows them off. It looks as though Happy Meal creatives may have been planning to add more toys to the McDonaldLand's carnival line in the future, as the base tiles could easily be slotted into larger configurations if there were a few more rides. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. There was a McDonaldLand Amusement Park Happy Meal in 1999, but it wasn't compatible with the earlier toys and the mechanisms and materials were made of thinner, lower quality plastic. 

McDonald's first teamed up with Peanuts way back in 1983, when the brand sold Camp Snoopy glasses to promote the VHS release of "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." This 1990 Peanuts Happy Meal was the next crossover between the beloved comics and the golden arches, and it was the first Happy Meal of many to feature the characters. Snoopy even went to space via the Happy Meal in 2019, with a set of toys NASA helped to design. Back in 1990, however, things were much more terrestrial, with four Peanuts characters spending time down on the farm. 

Playmobil-esque, each of these figurines comes with a rustic accessory and a job to do. The accessories can be swapped around, as each figurine has hands that can clip to the wheelbarrows, carts, and mechanical farming tool included in the play set. This offers plenty of opportunities for imaginative play, while the quality of the figurines and the never-ending popularity of Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and their friends makes these Happy Meal toys particularly collectible. 

The second best Happy Meal toys of 1990 were the Fry Benders. These weird little guys were another McDonald's-branded toy, and like the McDonaldland Carnival, assembling them was part of the fun. The Fry Benders gang has four main members, as well as boombox-toting small-fry, Tunes, the under 3 option for this Happy Meal. Tunes' companions are Grand Slam, Roadie, Freestyle, and Froggy — all of whom came with their own stylish accessories. 

These accessories could be swapped around, making the Fry Benders somewhat customizable. The instructions that came with the toys suggest swapping the Benders' wheels and flippers, for example. It's all very late '80s and early '90s, right down to the brightly colored plastic and the Benders' outfits. Beyond Tunes' boombox there are roller skates, over-ear headphones, backward caps, and classic baseball gear. The Fry Benders are toys I would have loved as a kid and would happily have on display today. 

Out of all the toys on this list, The McDrive Thru Crew were the easy winners. The pull-back friction cars are yet another McDonald's brand Happy Meal toy. Cute, tiny, and very weird, the vehicles and their drivers are all food themed. 

There's a ketchup bottle being driven by a burger, a milk carton manned by a milkshake, a hamburger bun with some fries behind the wheel, and a very cheerful potato controlling the fourth and final vehicle. The McDrive Thru Crew toys have the x-factor for collectors precisely because they're so strange (and rare, according to eBay listings). They're not attached to a larger property or another company, they're early-90s McDonald's through and through. What more could a Happy Meal fanatic ask for? They're also zippy, charming, and look really fun to play with. I know I'll keep an eye out for them in junk shops from now on.

Perhaps I'll have to commission a real milk carton themed car. Here's my vision: I drive my McDrive Thru Crew style carton up to the McDonaldLand Carnival to meet my pals the Fry Benders. Everyone is very impressed with my new whip. There's probably some breakdancing too, because obviously Tune has his beatbox. Okay, maybe a full sized McDrive Thru style vehicle is a little fanciful, but the next time McDonald's releases a new version of an old Happy Meal toy, it better be these guys.