The Burger King Toys That Could Make You The Most Money
Toys bring out the inner kid in everyone, especially those coveted toys in Burger King's kid's meals. Of course, it was a treat to get the burger and fries, but the real prize was literally the toy that came inside the box.
Burger King launched its Kids Club in 1990 in response to McDonald's Happy Meal in hopes of capturing some of the market share from their rival fast food competitor (via The New York Times). Burger King's kid's meal was a quick success with 1.6 million kids joining the club to receive promotional toys and child-sized meals. Additionally, Burger King dropped in new advertising led by a group of cartoon characters that featured Kid Vid who discovered their illustrator's Whopper — and since we're traveling down memory lane, think faint whispers of a-ha and their iconic video Take on Me.
But what really hit it out of the ballpark was the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videotapes kids could badger their parents to purchase. No worries if you don't know what a videotape is — trust us, they were a thing. From the commemorative Disney glasses to the Simpsons toys to Rugrat tchotchkes and everything in between, these pop culture branded toys were a hit.
But have you ever wondered what your old Burger King toys would be worth today, and how much money you could make if you could part with them?
How much are your Burger King toys worth?
If you have any of the retro Burger King toys from those early days, you could be sitting on a mint. Need proof? Remember the Walt Disney character collector cups Burger King put out when Disney released their animated Pocahontas in 1995? While the movie wasn't necessarily historically accurate, it did leave every kid wishing they could have a fun raccoon friend to run around with in the forest. It also resulted in many a parent or babysitter making a Burger King drive thru run in hopes of scoring one of these cups.
Whether you got the one with Pocahontas and John Smith looking lovingly at one another, or the one with Meeko the raccoon looking sweetly mischievous, or Governor Ratcliffe or Chief Powhattan, it was definitely exciting. Maybe it even made you break out into your own Disney family sing-along, or even better, your own version of carpool karaoke before it was even a thing. Today, these vintage, still-in-the box cups are going for $14.99 each (via Etsy). Sell a few, and you, too, might be singing with all the colors of the wind.
Burger King and The Rugrats
And hang on to your diapers because those Rugrats toys that had fans of the Nickelodeon show purchasing kids meals left and right to collect them all — and those babies could fetch you as much as $209 for a complete set of 12 characters that were part of the promotion of the 1998 Rugrats movie release (via Mercari).
Rugrats was wildly popular among kids and adults, with over 23 million viewers tuning in each week to watch it. The popularity of the show's sassy characters resulted in the perfect pied piper promotion for a fast food chain wanting to attract children (via Morning Call).
Maybe you have the smaller collection of Rugrat toys Burger King gave away earlier that same year. These cute little windup toys could get you a cool Andrew Jackson for a complete set of five unopened characters that includes: Jumpin' Chuckie, Crawling Tommy Wind-Up, Wind-Blown Angelica, Trikin' Phil/Lil, and Reptar Rev (via eBay). That's 20 bucks that could be lining your wallet, rather than a few unopened toys collecting dust in your closet.
Got any Burger King Pokemon toys to sell?
But the set of Burger King toys that could make you the most money if you've kept them in pristine, never-been-played-with condition may surprise you. The pièce de résistance of coveted Burger King toys may just be the Pokemon merch that was released in 1999 when these creations were the stars of their first animated movie. That's right, before the augmented reality of Pokemon Go or Ryan Reynolds starring in the Pokemon movie Pokemon Detective Pikachu, kids actually played with the surprise Pokemon they got in their Burger King kids meal.
With over 50 creatures to collect, these prizes were even more sought after because they were also encapsulated in a red and white Pokeball. While these Burger King toys brought the Pokemon card game to life in a new and fun way, they were also at the center of controversy that centered around child toy safety concerns, as two small children suffocated via the Pokeballs (via Vice).
If you didn't surrender your Pokemon collectibles in the subsequent recall and have a complete unopened collection of these prized toys, you could be sitting on as much as $400 (via eBay).