Depending on your age, you either fondly remember getting a McDonald’s Happy Meal toy or a free toy in a box of breakfast cereal.
I know I bought plenty of Happy Meals for my kids over the years, but personally when I was a kid it was the free toy in the box of breakfast cereal that excited me.
And even if my brother and I hated the stuff, we would make sure we ate it all because mom threatened to never buy it again if it just sat there and went stale.
I can only remember two free toys that made an impression on me. One was 2 pieces of plastic that snapped together into a submarine and you were supposed to put baking powder in it and it would be a self propelled submarine in the bathtub for about 10 seconds. The other was a metal clicker that you could drive your parents crazy clicking around the house.
With the Happy Meals, I wish I had the foresight to collect all of the toys with some of the big Disney movie tie-ins. I’m sure a complete collection in mint condition would be worth something today.
Do you remember or perhaps still own any of the free toys?
