Transformers One - ELITA-1!

King Jr - Transformers One - Elita-1 & Cybertronian Cycle - Burger King 2024

I ate Burger King a couple weeks ago for the first time in close to 20 years. The burger was actually great. The fries were not as good as they used to be sadly. I did the same thing with McDonalds a couple years ago and I thought all of it was gross and couldn't believe how much I used to eat it in my youth. But I digress. The whole reason I dabble in fast food as an adult is to fetch the rare female kid's meal action figure. Funny thing though, the highly astute BK employee assured me I was getting Elita-1, but underneath my Whopper was Orion Pax. I ended up ordering the whole set on eBay. When this Elita-1 figure was first shown, I feared she would be the only movie figure of her. There had already been a lot of Transformers One product shown, but all the early product was devoid of females (despite Chromia, Arcee, Elita-1, and Airachnid all being listed on iMDb). But luckily there now seem to be a ton of Elitas coming. Let's check out the BK Elita-1 and her Cybertronian Cycle mode below!

The Spiderwick Chronicles - SPRITES!

McDonalds Happy Meal - The Spiderwick Chronicles - Sprites - McDonalds 2008

The Spiderwick Chronicles are a series of five children's fantasy books by Holly Black written between 2003-2004 (with an additional six tie-in books published through 2009). I really appreciate when faerie lore is taken seriously. I grew up poring over the creepy encyclopedic Faeries by Brian Froud and therefore have a healthy awe and fear of the fey. Ted Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin series epitomizes the dark and mysterious faerie aesthetic I love. And coincidentally I discovered Holly Black when Ted illustrated her Good Neighbors trilogy. She clearly carries the same respect for the genre that I do. I immediately began reading The Spiderwick Chronicles and really enjoyed it. The movie adaptation had come out a few years prior in 2008, but I hadn't seen it. When I did, I was predictably disappointed. I find that big studios often miss out on the nuances that make these properties so great. In this case, the movie started great, with a slow creeping discovery of a magical world under our noses. I loved the atmosphere.

Batwheels - BATGIRL!

Burger King: King Jr Meals - Batwheels - Batgirl (Cass Cain) - Burger King 2023

In late 2022 a new animated show debuted on HBO MAX called Batwheels. I was intrigued because I am drawn to all things Gotham. But I knew it was completely geared towards kids and wouldn't become a true obsession of mine - and I was mostly right. The show has a great concept: essentially mashing together the worlds of Disney/Pixar's Cars with the Batman Universe. There are so many outlandish character-themed vehicles in Gotham, it doesn't seem that crazy to actually give them voices and fully flesh out their personalities. I found it very clever. But I wasn't expecting to be so drawn to the human characters. They have really fun designs and the roles are filled by interesting characters - namely Duke Thomas as Robin and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl. I've been wishing for action figures, but all the official toys have been (predictably) vehicles. But then I was surprised by some Burger King figures from December that totally scratch that itch. Let's check out Cassie Batgirl below!

Buzz Lightyear - MIRA NOVA!

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - Mira Nova - McDonald's Australia 2001

There's something about Happy Meal toys that thrill me when they're made right. I feel like a majority of the time I only see weird gimmicky plastic contraptions or my favorite characters inexplicably in the driver's seat of a little car. But every so often you get these cool little action figures. Of course, the downfall is the best ones have an annoying habit on being Australian and very tricky to obtain on the secondary market. This Mira Nova figure is a prime example. The American Happy Meal line were little "launch vehicles", but the Australian set were four well-designed action figures. Buzz Lightyear of Star Command was a Toy Story spinoff from 2000. It expanded on Buzz's "fictional" life before ending up in Andy's toy bin. Mira Nova is a rookie Space Ranger and Princess of the Tangean people. She has telepathic abilities and can phase through walls. There were a number of toys produced for this cartoon, but Mira was always left out. Until Australian McDonald's swept in to save the day! Let's check her out below!

McDonald's Hook - MERMAID!

McDonald's Happy Meal presents Hook - Mermaid - McDonald's Corp 1991

Every time I watch some incarnation of Peter Pan I spend the whole time wishing and hoping that the mermaids will be represented properly.  It's kind of a silly part to view as the highlight of the story, but it's totally my favorite part.  I was in Middle School when Hook came out in 1991.  This Steven Spielberg film starred Robin Williams as the titular boy -- who did grow up.  Peter was reluctantly dragged back to Neverland to fight Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook.  I haven't seen this movie in twenty years, but I think I would still like it today.  I specifically remember being thrilled with the Mermaid scene.  If my memory serves me correctly, when Peter plunges off the gangplank, there are several colorful mermaids who greet him under the water.  Of course I told all my friends my favorite part was the swordfight or something, but we all know the lure of mermaids.  The merchandise for the movie was pretty scant, limited to a small action figure line from Mattel and a 4-piece Happy Meal set from McDonalds.  None of the toys are great, but hey, Mermaids will always have a home in my collection.  Let's check her out below!

Korejanai Robo CATWOMAN!

Justice League X Korejanai Robo - McDonald's China Exc - Zarigani Works 2014

I've always wanted robot versions of all my favorite bat-ladies but I never thought I'd actually get one.  Granted, this isn't the cool sleek version I expected either.  Korejanai Robo is a line of "intentionally lame" toys meant to conjure the nostalgic feelings of disappointment from getting a bootleg toy on Christmas morning instead of the real deal.  Korejani Robo roughly translates into "Not this robot!"  I believe the original robots are made of wood and imported as designer toys by companies like Kotobukiya.  The DC Comics versions were released this year in both blind box format as well as McDonald's Toys in Hong Kong.  This Catwoman figure is the super exclusive figure of the bunch because she was only released as a McDonald's Online exclusive when you placed an internet order for delivery.  Also, I beleive the Joker figure is only available in the McDonald's HK locations (as opposed to the rest of the figures who you can find elsewhere in the blind box assortments).  Let's check out Robo Catwoman below!

The Girls of W.I.T.C.H.!

W.I.T.C.H. Action Figure Keychains - McDonalds 2005

W.I.T.C.H. is an Italian Magical Girl comic book created in 2001.  Like most magical girl properties, i.e. Sailor Moon, Winx Club, Angel's Friends, etc, W.I.T.C.H. was extremely popular and was soon bought by Disney and turned into an equally popular animated series by 2004.  The comics are currently being released in America in digest form and show up regularly at my lcs.  W.I.T.C.H. follows a typical magical girl premise of five girls (Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin - catch the acronym there?) being granted elemental powers to perform a task.  In this case, they are guarding portals to other magical realms.  Despite the popularity of the comics and cartoon in the US, there has been very little merchandising of the property here.  And frankly I find that a little surprising because the character design is very catchy - matching outfits, cool style, witchy stripes, and fairy wings... how can you beat that?  Well in 2005 McDonalds released a series of 6 figural keychains that I personally think top all the Italian dolls and Kinder figures on the market.  (After the keychain loops got chopped off at least).  Let's check them out!

Batman Beyond's INQUE!

Batman Beyond - Inque Bendable Color-Changing Figure - Burger King Toys 2000

Batman Beyond was very cool series.  It had a fun premise, fantastic character design, and an overall tone that was a nice change from its animated predecessors.  My only issue with it was a lack of strong female characters.  Inque was hands down the greatest part of the show for me.  She was a shapeshifting, relentless femme fatale who proved to be more of a threat than most of Terry's other rogues.  It's a true shame that we didn't see more toys of these characters back in the day.  This Burger King Kids Meal toy is pretty cool.  I normally despise bendies, but with Inque's powers, it totally makes sense.  She's a good size to blend in with other figures and her sculpt is surprisingly great.  This figure also has an awesome, but very annoying, feature of color-changing skin.  It's supposed to turn really dark, but it kind of just gets a dark tint.  Plus, to expose her normal skintone for this review I had to keep submerging her in ice.  This figure is also a keychain and subsequently has a plastic gadget coming off her head.  I'll be sure to Xacto that off soon.  Let's check out Inque below!

McDonald's Happy Meal - LAVAGIRL!

The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D - McDonald's Toys 2005

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most fast food toys are total wastes of plastic.  I just know there are landfills teeming with random licensed knick-knacks permanently infused with the smell of french fries (and the environmentalist in me hates that).  Occasionally though, there is real thought and design put into these toys and they become the standouts in the crowd.  In 2005 there was a kids' adventure movie titled The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.  This movie wasn't well-received for the most part (mostly due to the distracting 3-D effects), but the general plot and creativity of the movie appealed to a lot of kids.  The movie received little to no toy merchandising outside of a few weeks as a McDonald's Happy Meal theme.  The toys were great.  The most exciting ones were straight-up action figures of the two titular characters (even the secondary toys were cool, like shark and lava water squirters).  Kids who loved this film would love these toys.  Let's check out Lavagirl below!

Jack-in-the-Box KARATE KICK BATGIRL!

DC Super Heroes - Jack-in-the-Box Kids' Meal Toys - 2001
 
Animated figures were something I avoided in my collection for years.  That was mostly due to the fact that I just didn't watch many cartoons.  But it was also a little bit because I just didn't like the quality or design of the toys.  In my mind, they were overpriced, too small, not articulated enough, and they just couldn't stand up properly.  It wasn't until years later that I became more of a character-driven collector, then I couldn't ignore the gaping holes in my collection.. especially for my Batgirls and Catwomen.  I'm still not a completist when it comes to animated figures.  I usually just try to find the single best representation of an era.. or at least limit myself to unique sculpts and skip the numerous repaints.  It was my constant eye out for the best representation of a character that led me to these awesome Jack-in-the-Box toys from 2001.  I reviewed Supergirl last month and easily proclaimed her to be the best animated Supergirl out there.  This Batgirl gets the same nod from me.  She's amazing.  And she's even better than Supergirl because her action feature is practically unnoticeable.  Let's check her out below!

Jack-in-the-Box POWER PUNCH SUPERGIRL!

DC Super Heroes - Jack-in-the-Box Kids' Meal Toys - 2001

I love when promotional toys are made to blend in with an established retail line.  I really never need to see a tiny ill-formed Batgirl riding a motorcycle or a weird Wonder Woman-shaped card case.  No, what I want is action figures.  Imagine if cereal boxes and Happy Meal bags contained exclusive JLA figures or never-released Young Justice toys?  I would easily be twenty pounds heavier, but my improved collection would more than make up for the extra weight.  Very few promotional toy lines have achieved this ideal, but this 2001 DC Super Heroes collection from Jack-in-the-Box Restaurants is arguably the best of them.  The entire series of nine figures is roughly the scale of various Mattel JLA or Kenner Animated toylines.  The only downfall is that they actually tried to improve on the retail lines by incorporating action features (which unfortunately often distort the sculpts).  One of my favorites of this series is Power Punch Supergirl.  Let's check her out in detail below!

Brazilian Toy Arts BATGIRL!

 
Brazilian Fast Food Chain Bob's Exclusive DC Toy-Arts do Mini-Figure 2013
 
Brazil seems to have the best fast-food exclusives.  I'm currently hunting down at least three different ones on MercadoLivre.. although "ebay-prices" seem to be a phenomenon on all sorts of commerce sites, not limited to ebay itself... *sigh.*  This current line of five Batman figure is a follow-up to 2010's Justice League (Liga da Justica) which was a rather obvious knock-off of Hot Toys' Cosbabys.  This Batman is a distinct departure from the Cosbaby-style, but there are still more similarities than differences.  These figures are unarticulated 2.75" PVC figures with non-removable bases.  They are cheaply constructed, but don't necessarily look it.  Plus they make a great addition to any super-deformed or vinyl hero collection.  I'm eagerly waiting to get my hands on a Catwoman.  I only wish they made cool fast food exclusives here in the USA.  It's been way too long since I've had a reason to go to Burger King.  Let's check out Batgirl below!