These Are McDonald’s Biggest Happy Meal Toys, According to Its Official Archivist

McDonald’s Golden Arches are some of the most recognized iconography across the globe, and the fast food chain has spent seven decades steadily building its legend. Given the brand’s rich history, someone has to keep it all straight — and that’s where Mike Bullington, McDonald’s official archivist, comes in. With the debut of the new McDonald’s Collector’s Meal and its nostalgia-stoking cup giveaway, Bullington shared his thoughts about the Happy Meals of yore. 

“McDonald’s involves me pretty much right from the beginning, once a decision is made to go on with a project,” Bullington told Food & Wine, explaining that any big promotional rollout requires the context of past campaigns. “The teams will come and investigate what properties they want to explore or use. We do deep dives, I pull all the materials. That’s why the archives are created, right? I really enjoy that.” 

Bullington has helmed the archives since 2005, though they were established in 1987 when the company was based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Now housed at the Chicago headquarters, the archives comprise a very physical place within the building: five semi-loads’ worth of records detail the history of the restaurant and its founders. Beyond paperwork, the archive contains many random odds and ends — like a phrenology report on Ray Kroc from 1905, the original Hamburglar mask, and all the giveaway glassware from across the decades featuring imagery of Ronald McDonald, Birdie, Grimace, and others. 

The archive becomes particularly useful when the brand is working on something like the Collector’s Meal, which gestures to past campaigns in order to remind customers of their own childhood Happy Meals. And in the realm of Happy Meal toys, there have been some undeniable milestones.

“My favorite one is probably our fans’ favorite one — the Teenie Beanie Babies from 1997,” Bullington said. “I wasn’t employed by McDonald’s then, but I remember taking two of my daughters to try to collect those Teenie Beanie Babies. It was just phenomenal, right? I did score points for being that dad that did come home with one for each.”

The explosive debut of the Teenie Beanies is commemorated on one of the new McDonald’s collector cups, so that “fans can relive” the experience. Hopefully this time, scoring the collectible won’t require waiting in a line down the block; Bullington pointed to a 1997 McDonald’s ad that ran in Chicagoland comparing the Teenie Beanie ordeal to nabbing Bulls tickets during Michael Jordan’s heyday. 

It’s safe to say Bullington holds more McDonald’s knowledge than just about anyone, which means his job also involves clarifying misconceptions about the brand. And when it comes to setting the record straight, no character requires more debunking than Grimace, the purple fuzzy creature whose birthday was celebrated with a purple shake in 2023.  

“There are different stories [about] what Grimace is, but Grimace is just Grimace,” Bullington said. “He’s not a taste bud. He’s not a drop of shake. He’s just a lovable character who happens to be purple.” (Grimace graces one of the collectible cups, too, and they’re now available while supplies last.)

There you have it, internet sleuths — some rumors are too good to be true. If you’re ever in doubt about some curious sliver of McDonald’s history, it’s best to consult the official archive.