Toys at McDonalds are often hit or miss. For every Masters of the Universe figures, there are about ten Hot Wheels and Barbies. However, when McDonalds gets a hit, it is often a home run among kids and teens alike. In my humble opinion, McDonalds has had home runs with their Changables, Super Mario 3, and Batman Returns toys. But if you ask me, the personal favorite of many has to be the animated Spiderman line from 1995.
By the mid 1990s, Marvel Comics were everywhere. Just about every comic from that time had ads for various promotions involving Marvel. The X-Tremely popular X-Men had turned from being a popular comic book into a highly successful cartoon and toy line. They even had their own pasta and fruit snacks. At the end of 1994 it was revealed that Spiderman would be the next superhero to get his own cartoon. The cartoon was a hit, and toy lines, pasta and cereal followed soon thereafter. It should come as no surprise then, that McDonalds would want to cash in on Spiderman’s success.
Unlike most of the Happy Meal toys at that time there were 8 items in all, including 4 figures and 4 cars. Since I liked them so much, both now and in Grade 6, I will mention a bit abut each toy.
The Spiderman figure itself was a great start to the line. You could move both his arms and his head and basically that was it. The refreshing part of it all was that he was just Spiderman, and not some stupid “Battle Action” Spiderman that you would find in the toy line. Much like Batman, Spiderman was known for having one 2 or 3 figures that actually looked like him, and about 20 others of him in costumes that have never been seen before. I personally like to mock the new Spiderman dolls that are out in stores now, featuring Spidey as a Grunt, Navy S.E.A.L., Air Force pilot, and Police Officer. I must have missed the issues in which he had those adventures.
Next we had the Dr. Octopus figure that had fully moving tentacles, and overall, looked pretty cool. I remember being really pleased with this figure and had many epic battles between the two. He was also much better than the Secret Wars Doc Ock that I found at a flea market that had his tentacles ripped off. I thought they were fused to his spine...
Mary Jane’s figure really didn’t fit the mold of the rest of the figures, but I guess Ronald McDonald realized that girls would probably be eating Happy Meals during that month as well. Mary Jane came with two outfits that you can clip on. Mind you, these outfits clashed horribly, but what can you do. I remember not being as pleased with my MJ, mainly because she had purple scars on her face and didn’t seem as nice as the picture would have you believe.
Finally we have Peter Parker himself, complete with camera. If you don’t take into account the fact that it looks nothing like Peter, it’s a pretty cool figure. Mainly because his head does a switcheroo and we can see half his mask. Much like in the comic, when his Spidey sense went off. Either that or the folks at McDonalds realized that stupid kids might not know who Peter Parker was, and this was just a reminder.
Next we have the 4 cars that were available as well. Mind you, they never appeared on the cartoon or comic book, but it really came as no shock. They could have used the Spidermobile from the 70s, but I doubt anyone gave it that much thought. Although the Marvel Heroes Happy Meal a few years later did have something that resembled it.
Spidey’s car was pretty simple, complete with moving spider legs. Whether they made his car go faster or not is still a mystery to me.
Next there was the Scorpion car, that had a stinging scorpion tail that moved as he drove. I always liked the Scorpion, so I liked the car. Sadly, his tail didn’t shoot acid, like it did on the show.
Venom was incredibly popular with my friends and I at the time, so we all raced down to the local McDonalds when it was released. And you know that the employees were snickering about us after we left. Regardless, Venom’s car had a chomping mouth on the front and was pretty good for chasing other cars. I think we all would have rather gotten a Venom figure instead, but hey it was only $1.50, so who cares.
Finally we have the Hobgoblin car, which was a variation of his Goblin Glider. Frankly, the Hobgoblin was one of my all time favorite villains, and some of his early appearances make for a great read. The car was pretty simple, as it drove the wings would flap. Simple or not though, Hobgoblin rocks.
These figures can still be found at flea markets and on ebay for reasonable prices. I feel that they are some of McDonalds best toys, and are really nice to have, whether you are a collector or not.
So you might wonder why I did an entire dedication to toys from McDonalds. Frankly, I draw similarities between this and when Kent Brockman did it for Lisa Lionheart. In other news, the President was arrested for murder. More at 11:00 or just turn to another station. Ugh! Do not turn to another station.
