14 Vintage McDonald’s Happy Meal Boxes We Wish Would Come Back

Back in 1979, McDonald’s ad exec Bob Bernstein had a lightbulb moment: Why not turn the packaging itself into the main attraction and toss in a toy? And with that, the first McDonald’s U.S. Happy Meal was born. As we learned from McDonald’s archivist Mike Bullington in our exclusive interview, collectors will spend a lifetime hunting down rare vintage McDonald’s memorabilia, but the toys and glassware are a bit easier to find than specific Happy Meal boxes. Considering most folks weren’t hanging onto their cardboard for decades anticipating a cult following, a lot of iconic Happy Meals are lost to history, but we’re determined to keep the memory alive.

Happy Meals might notoriously be marketed to kids, but they’re fair game for all ages. With so many celebrities teaming up with McDonald’s in recent years, such as Saweetie and Angel Reese, Happy Meals are becoming coveted collector’s items the minute they’re released. Between the fun freebies, nostalgia, and bargain price, McDonald’s clever meal kits are loved by all. Happy Meals have changed in many ways over the years, and we’d fork over our last dime for any (or ideally all) of these 14 Happy Meal boxes to make a return.

The third Happy Meal ever was released in 1979: The Star Trek meal. As McDonald’s first movie collaboration, this release was epic. The “Star Trek” television series debuted in 1966, and by 1979, director Robert Wise decided it was time for a motion picture. Its release coincided with the beginning of McDonald’s Happy Meal era, and what better way to promote the new flick? The Star Trek meal was space-themed, obviously, with word games and activities printed all over the box.

Whether you were playing with toys in the ’80s or not, the Playmobil Happy Meals were fun for everyone. Each box was designed like a building of sorts so you could assemble a little set for your Playmobil collection. There were pieces in the back that punched out so you could even elaborate the scene, and each McDonald’s Happy Meal came with a different little Playmobil toy.

The same year McDonald’s released the Playmobil meals came the McDonaldland Express. This train depot was run by none other than Ronald McDonald, with Grimace, Mayor McCheese, and the Hamburglar in tow. This was the first of many non-cardboard Happy Meal containers, with each “box” being a mini plastic train. There were four different train cars to collect, each a different color and style, with dozens of stickers to customize each car.

The following year, McDonald’s introduced another train-themed Happy Meal with McDonaldland Junction. This one was a hit, running for a few months through March of 1983. Each illustrated Happy Meal box depicted the McDonald’s clan gearing up for some train travel, whether that was Grimace checking out the routing board or the Hamburglar lurking around the signal tower. With each box having a different design, you could collect all of them to build your own little railroad depot.

The summer of 1983 ushered in another extra special Happy Meal – McDonald’s Ship Shape. This was nautical themed, with four different plastic boats to collect. The boat itself was the Happy Meal container, but the best part might have been the jumble of McDonald’s stickers that came with each meal, allowing kids (or adults) to customize their fleet. The Ship Shape Happy Meal was such a sensation that McDonald’s brought it back two years later, but we sadly haven’t seen it again since.

Celebrating the 1984 Olympics, these special pails captured America’s excitement over hosting the L.A. games. The handled plastic pails, complete with a lid and shovel, featured McDonald’s characters enjoying a beach day. They were ideal for beach adventures, whether that entailed making sand castles or chilling some drinks, but they also functioned as zany, fun home storage.

Sticker collecting was all the rage in the ’80s and ’90s, and McDonald’s really helped nurture that. Just like the Ship Shape boats, this 1985 Happy Meal came with sticker sheets, but here, they were the main attraction. The Sticker Club Happy Meal box featured tons of classic activities like word searches and connect the dots, but it also came with a pack of stickers kids could treasure and trade. Every box had a unique theme like “sticker club picnic” and “trading days,” with each featuring a different setting for customers to stick and display their stickers.

Steven Spielberg’s 1982 hit movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” didn’t just garner a cult following, it prompted years of merchandising. The mini alien was everywhere; lunchboxes, plushies, notebooks, and even jewelry. In 1985, he appeared on a McDonald’s Happy Meal. Despite being a few years after the film’s release, E.T. was just as popular as ever. Each of the adorable boxes, which featured punch-out movie characters and puzzles, came with one of four movie posters rather than McDonald’s usual tiny plastic toys.

McDonald’s Halloween pails had a long run, but sadly, we’ve only seen them a few times since their glory days of the ’90’s. The spooky pails, each equipped with a lid and handle, first debuted regionally in October of 1985. The Halloween buckets were such a smash that McDonald’s brought them back in 1986 and sent them nationwide. They seemed to pop up nearly every Halloween after that, with different variations of jack-o-lantern pails, witches, and ghosts. Fans were ecstatic to see the classic Halloween pail design return in 2022, so let’s cross our fingers McDonald’s revives them again.

Kids love transforming toys, especially in the ’80s when they were on the up-and-up. I totally get the appeal — it’s like a two-for-one toy. McDonald’s came out with its first Changeables Happy Meal in 1987, which was the chain’s take on little transforming robots. Although, rather than high speed transportation, these characters went from robots to McDonald’s food items, such as Quarter Pounders, McNuggets, and fries. The Happy Meal boxes illustrated six different food Changeables in action, along with the usual puzzles and trivia, and each came with one of the iconic toys. Changeables made another appearance in the spring of 1989, adding two more transformers to the clan.

With so many electric and insulated food containers available today, classic lunch boxes are almost a thing of the past — but not for collectors. As far as bang for your buck, these adorable On-The-Go lunch boxes were one of McDonald’s best Happy Meals. Small toys hardly make it a week around rambunctious kids before getting left behind somewhere, but these lunch boxes could be treasured forever. Plus, this one appealed to the parents just as much as their little ones. There were a few different colors to collect, each with a different McDonald’s scene embossed on one side, and it came with plenty of stickers to personalize.

The McNugget Buddies have to be one of McDonald’s most adorable creations. The tiny nugget-shaped characters looked like little Mr. Potato Heads (which McDonald’s previously featured in a regional 1987 Happy Meal), but with a whole lot of personality. Each Happy Meal box was another fixture of “McNuggetville,” such as a post office and beauty shop, so consumers could build out an entire town for their little McNugget Buddies.

McDonald’s first collaborated with this DC superhero in 1992 with the release of “Batman Returns,” but given the film’s PG-13 rating, some parents weren’t too keen on the promotion. McDonald’s made up for the mishap the following year with its Happy Meal for “Batman: The Animated Series.” Given the show’s beautiful animation, the Happy Meal boxes looked like their very own comic book. Each box featured different Gotham City scenes with fun word games, and, of course, a mini action figure.

As the absolute genius behind the Muppets, “Sesame Street,” and countless others, Jim Henson was the king of puppeteering. This wasn’t Henson’s first project with the fast food giant. In 1988, McDonald’s released a “Fraggle Rock” Happy Meal. As awesome as that one was, the Muppet Workshop was more interactive. The small toy Muppets were each split into three pieces, allowing collectors to mix and match Muppets to create their own wacky little characters. The box itself was also full of fun, and given Henson’s legacy, it’s become a special collector’s item.