What is the best Happy Meal toy line of all time?

Cardboard-box collectibles that turned into resale manias, playground currency and, in a few cases, genuine design. Childhood loyalty decides most of these.

1

Pokémon

Trading cards and figures that turned Happy Meals into a collector's market twice over.

2

Teenie Beanie Babies

The 1997 miniature Beanies that sold out nationwide and created a resale frenzy.

3

Hot Wheels

Die-cast cars, the longest-running partnership in Happy Meal history.

4

Furby

Plastic mini-Furbys riding the peak of the late-1990s craze.

5

Disney Masterpiece Collection

Tie-ins for the Disney animation renaissance, from The Lion King onward.

6

McNugget Buddies

Costumed nugget characters that became the brand's own mascots.

7

Changeables

Food items that transformed into robots, at the height of Transformers mania.

8

Barbie

Miniature dolls that ran in parallel with Hot Wheels for decades.

9

Super Mario

Nintendo figures that put the plumber in a cardboard box with fries.

10

Minions

The Despicable Me characters whose talking figures became a global run.

11

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Turtle figures from the peak of the first cartoon boom.

12

Space Jam

Looney Tunes basketball tie-ins from 1996, plush and plastic.

13

Beanie Babies (2000s reissues)

The follow-up Beanie runs that tried to repeat the 1997 stampede.

14

Shrek

DreamWorks' ogre in a run of figures that rivalled Disney's numbers.

15

Stranger Things: Tales from '85

The 2026 tie-in with twelve collectible toys and a digital game.

16

Inspector Gadget

A 1995 build-your-own set where each meal added one limb to the detective.