Toy Chest Tuesday! Halloween McNugget Buddies!

I love holiday themed toys and nothing screams holiday themed toys quite like Halloween. Last October I featured some fun Halloween-ized items to enjoy and I will do the same this year! Halloween is super fun and so are costumed McNugget Buddies. These cute lil morsels of plastic rib meat came out in the days when McDonald's really knew how to throw a good Happy Meal. Who wouldn't want a chicken McNugget dressed up in a costume on their toy shelf? Ok, maybe not a real greasy fried chicken McNugget, but hand me a plastic McNugget with a cute face and I am totally hooked. Let's check out some photos!

The McNugget Buddies Happy Meal toys actually started out as a non-holiday themed toy in 1988 with McNugget Buddies dressed as all types of different people. There was a rock star McNugget Buddy or a tennis player McNugget buddy, to name a few. Things changed though in 1992 when McDonald's released the highly popular Halloween McNugget Buddies. The first line featured six toys (not all are shown here) that ranged from McNuggula (Dracula) all the way to Monster McNugget. The series would garner quite the following and appear as a Halloween themed Happy Meal for a few other times throughout the '90s.

 

 Pumpkin McNugget

Released in the first series of Halloween McNugget Buddies, Pumpkin McNugget had a cute pumpkin costume. He also had green dots for some eye color.

The beauty about these Buddies was that they were completely interchangeable. There were all kinds of combinations and spooky creations the collector could come up with. These were the Modulok of Happy Meal toys. I also liked how the pumpkin could actually come together on its own.

 

 Mummy McNugget

And here we have a McNugget buddy missing half her costume. (I had the bottom part but I placed it somewhere else, because I can't find it.) The bottom half was just a bandaged mummy piece with the golden arches in the center. Mummy McNugget had some fun distinctions. Aside from the cool spider crawling on her head, her eyes were two different colors. Now I say she, and I suppose the McNugget Buddies could have any gender attached that suited the owner, but McDonald's made distinctions to show which McNugget Buddies were girls and which ones were boys.

Mummy McNugget had a dusting of light purple eye shadow and some lashes. That was really all it took to explain the gender of the nuggets. But considering some McNuggets could have come from the same chicken, would they then have their own unique personalities or would they be like alternate personalities of the main chicken? (I'm thinking way too hard on that one.)

 

 McBoo McNugget

McBoo McNugget was different from the other McNugget Buddies. For one there was only one piece for her costume. The ghost costume was actually really cool because at the right angle it looked like the McNugget was actually hovering on the ground.

McBoo was also the only girl McNugget that did not have eye lashes. She only had pink lipstick on. Also, there was an Under Age 3 version that had a slight biography on the bag. It read- "McBoo McNugget, she wrote the BOOk on Halloween fun." I like this little piece of McNugget Mythology, but what can we truly learn from that sentence? Well, McBoo was clearly an author in her spare time from scaring folks, and she happened to also write a best seller on Halloween fun. She is like the Martha Stewart of McNugget Buddies. Some would say that a McNugget Buddy Mythology is completely unnecessary, but I disagree. I think it is important to know and understand just who these McNuggets are and what part of the chicken they came from.

Witchie McNugget

Don't call this McNugget a witch. She is Witchie! In the olden days, I usually involved her in story lines ranging from a torrid romance with McNuggula to a plot involving fast food world domination. She was my favorite McNugget Buddy. I loved the hat and her McDonald's pride. She was the only Buddy from the first series that had two golden arches on her costume.   

Her face also had so much personality. That was the fun thing about McNugget Buddies. These were just Happy Meal toys, but a lot of thought and creativity went into these pieces of plastic and they really hold up so well today.

 

 Spider McNugget

1996 saw a diverse series of McNugget buddies, two of which we are about to look at. There was even a Ronald McDonald costumed Buddy! On a side note, wouldn't that have been awesome to have the McDonald's characters as costumed McNugget Buddies? I mean a McNugget Buddy as Birdie would have been mind blowing. Anyways, the Spider Buddy was a very fun monster costume. It was also one of the bigger items available, as the spider costume had three eyes and eight legs.

And I totally dig that deep purple eye shadow! This was another favorite of mine, because it was just such a refreshing Buddy. Who would have ever thought it would one day make sense to own a McNugget dressed as a purple spider? Oh I just love it!

 

 Fairy Princess McNugget

One of the more human type costumes, the Fairy Princess featured some really cool things. A cute Goldilocks wig is just the beginning. This McNugget has the full made up experience. Eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick grace her face, while her costume bottom is made up of glittery clear plastic! A fast food fairy tale dream come true! I love glittery plastic. I mean glitter inside plastic is such a hallmark of my childhood, though I was well into my teen years when this series came out. (Of course that didn't really stop me.)

Check out all that glittery plastic! Oh it is just the best! Sadly though, there would only be one other line of Halloween McNugget Buddies. 1998 would see a release of glow in the dark Halloween McNuggets, and I believe that was it. The McNugget Buddies have not been involved in a Happy Meal campaign since, and I just find that to be awful.

 

The world needs more McNugget Buddies. They were an iconic Happy Meal toy and should have their long awaited return to the fast food spotlight immediately. It sickens me to think that there are some generations that have not gotten the chance to own a Halloween McNugget Buddy. For shame.

 

For those who like their McNuggets with a face, these cute Happy Meal toys can still be found on eBay and other secondary selling sites for mostly affordable prices. Some folks ask for some obscene prices on mint McNugget Buddies, but deals can still be had. Trust me! 

 

So enjoy this trip down the Toy Chest Tuesday Lane! Feel free to leave any comments about McNugget Buddies, and keep it here as there are always great things just around the corner! For example, there is some exciting toy news that is a big deal!

 

Oh I can't wait, some of you already know, but check this out- new Jem dolls  Integrity Toys has announced 4 new Jem dolls, and they can be purchased through one of their dealers from this list: Integrity Dealers They all look fantastic, and I will be posting my thoughts soon!