X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

11/26/2007: McDonald’s “Totally Toy Holiday” Happy Meal!

McDonald’s has had several wintery Happy Meals in the past, but none have quite matched the awesomeness of 1995’s “Totally Toy Holiday” campaign.

By 1995, my Happy Meal years had expired. I’m a self-loathing geek to some degree, and once I hit a certain age, I could never bring myself to order a meal meant for six-year-olds. Only after I got my driver’s license was I able to enjoy the magic of a cheeseburger with a free toy, because then I could just use the drive-thru and limit the sight of my shame to the one person working the pickup window.

That’s an extremely long way of saying: “I’m pissed that I was too old for this promotion.” It’s one of the best Happy Meal collections I’ve ever seen, and kids who got into it had the chance to receive “mini” Christmas presents all throughout December.

Basically, McDonald’s got in touch with all of the major toy companies they’d previously established rapport with, and instead of building a holiday Happy Meal around any one specific toy brand, “Totally Toy Holiday” gathered up giveaways from eight different lines, covering boys and girls from toddlers to fourth graders.

One “boy toy” and one “girl toy” were available for each week of December, and obviously, it was a crapshoot. Some of the toys were much cooler than others, and if a boy had his hearts set on, say, the Mighty Max freebie, he either needed a lucky first outing or the ability to convince his parents to let him eat at McDonald’s for four weeks straight.

That was part of the thrill. Kids didn’t have online resources to tell them what would be available on any given week, and though word-of-mouth maybe helped a few of them along, the “Totally Toy” Happy Meal was a lot like gambling. You had to pick your spot. Most parents weren’t willing to “serve” fast food too often, so kids had to roll the dice on when they were going to push for a visit to Ronald’s house.

Let’s run through the eight toys and see how they stack. There’s an obvious survey attached to this entry: If you were of age in 1995, which of the offerings would you have gunned for?

Hot Wheels “North Pole Explorer”: This is a weird one. What appears to just be a nice, ice blue tank-looking thing splits open to reveal a crude playset, where kids can use a hidden lever to make a tiny blue car navigate the frozen tundra. The playset’s mold is basic (it’s a Happy Meal toy, after all), but there are some details: I can spot an igloo, and what’s either a fortress or a pair of giant escalators that lead to absolutely nowhere. Hm.

I wouldn’t have actively sought this one out, but considering my slight fetish for semitransparent glittery blue plastic, I don’t think I would’ve tossed it out of the bed, either.

Cabbage Patch Kids “Cabbage Patch Playset”: Over the course of these toy reviews, you’ll notice that the companies often employed a loose definition of the word “playset.” I’d consider this one more of a “chachka,” but I don’t fault its makers for not using that word: Kids don’t know it, and they’d probably pronounce it all wrong.

Beginning as a mere rocking pony, the toy splits open into a magical world of Cabbage Patch wonder. Using a secret lever, little girls could rock the horse-riding CPK girl back and forth, and spin the outside window to alternate between daytime and nighttime settings. I’m not exactly sure why that’s fun, but then, I never had the opportunity to be a little girl.

Mighty Max Playset: Ah ha! This would’ve been my chaser toy. I haven’t talked about the Mighty Max collection much, but it was brilliant. Each snap-shut playset (often in the shape of a strange creature’s head) opened up into a whole little world for a tiny Mighty Max figure to roam around in. Max, the hero, usually found himself trespassing in some disfigured villain’s lair, meaning that the motif of the playsets and extra figures usually leaned towards the horrific and/or outright bizarre.

Think back to how special it felt whenever you were able to get your hands on a new playset for your action figures. Though small, every toy in the Mighty Max line was a playset. Okay, I’m using the word “playset” too much, right? I know. I see it. I can’t stop. Playset playset playset.

Sadly, this “playset” is really just an attractive-but-cheap puzzle game. Using a lever (more levers!), you can guide a nearly-flat Mighty Max figure up an underground tunnel, trying to make his body squeeze past two also-nearly-flat monsters. It looks nice, but it isn’t much fun to play with.

On the other hand, when shut, the playset looks like a disembodied frozen skull, and those are definitely fun to play(set) with.

Polly Pocket Playset: Next up is Mighty Max’s similarly-styled but more popular sister, Polly Pocket. The deal with Polly was the same: Each toy was a p-word, but instead of having Polly face off against mummies and worm-bodied mutants, she just kinda fed the dog and watered plastic flowers.

In Happy Meal form, Polly lives in a tiny house with a flip-top lid. Inside, we’re free to wheel her around her two-room condo, which consists only of a kitchen and a bedroom. Stickers inside the lid suggest a toy-filled attic, but since Polly can’t physically visit a room that’s only shown in sticker-form, I refuse to count it.

The toy would’ve been cooler if Polly was a detachable figure, but I can understand why she wasn’t: It would’ve been a major choking hazard. I have to say, I’m pretty proud of myself for figuring that out. I could do nothing of note for the rest of the day, and I’d still feel really accomplished.

Fisher-Price Great Adventures “Knight Figurine”: The “Great Adventures” collection from Fisher-Price may have skewed a little younger than most boys preferred, but this set is the sleeper hit of the “Totally Toy” collection. Despite the name, we actually get two figures: A black-armored knight, and a dragon for him to slay. The hollow plastic dragon, with its warty skin and complete lack of pupils, may very well be my new favorite thing in the universe.

I can’t tell if the knight’s supposed to be killing or protecting the dragon. On one hand, he’s holding a sword with the only articulated limb on his whole body. On the other hand, his shield has a picture of a dragon on it. Only that dragon is yellow. Maybe he’s fighting the green dragon, for the yellow dragon? I guess it doesn’t matter much, because in my hands, a silly mustached knight will never win a battle against a cool, warty dragon.

“Once Upon A Dream” Princess Figurine: Also from Fisher-Price, this collection of royal-themed dolls and accessories fizzled out by 1997, leaving nothing but leftover Happy Meal toys as proof that it ever existed. This “Princess” figurine would totally look like a confused boy if you chopped all of the extra hair off. I can’t come up with much to do with the doll other than brush its scalp and wryly comment on its ridiculous similarity to Andy from Family Ties.

Hot Wheels “Vehicle With Ramp”: Though we’ve already seen one “Totally Toy” entry from Hot Wheels, this one reflects the line’s true bread and butter: Diecast cars that hurt like hell when you throw them at people. The set includes a cheapo plastic ramp, but the real star is the neat red car with an exposed engine. I’m sure it was based on an actual, existing automobile, but I’m pretty stupid when it comes to cars. I’m apparently also stupid when it comes to launching cars from tiny, plastic ramps: On my first try, I managed to shoot the thing straight into my half-filled coffee cup, spraying unforgiving black tar onto the pile of mail I had just brought inside.

I’ve decided not to hold this against the toy: It’s a cool car, and a junky ramp is better than no ramp at all.

“Holiday Barbie” Figurine: Barbie’s been involved with many Happy Meal promotions over the years, and she’s shown us better stuff than this. I guess she figured that it just wasn’t worth putting real effort into Happy Meal that was about more than just her. I mean, look at the way she’s posed. “Yup, I’m here, blah blah, let’s get this over with.” Pretty boring overall, but since it was Barbie, it’s likely that this was the most-sought of the “Totally Toy” girly offerings.

McDonald’s has since employed other Happy Meal promotions featuring toys from several different brands, but when thrown under a holiday banner, it all just seemed to click a little louder. Hell, even the food bags were cool!

While I’m something of a purist who firmly believes that all Happy Meals should be served in colorful, house-shaped boxes, this was one great bag! The front and the back featured images representing all of the available toys, who rallied together to help kids solve a number of puzzles and mazes. I’m of the mind that any and all bags should double as timewasters, and this sure beats trying to count the red dots whenever I buy something from Target.

Man I wish I hadn’t given away my box of old McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. I was just out of high school and cleaning under my bed when I found a box full of Happy Meal toys that I gave away, for free mind you, during a yard sale. I’ve regretted this decision ever since.

Only 4 1/2 more days until my first-of-the-season playing of “Christmas in the Stars”. Needless to say, I’m excited.

Would have gunned for the Frozen Skull, and had I got it would have been disappointed probably.

I always thought boy happy meals were better than the girl ones for sure, I would of went for the car with the ramp. See I would of tried to get the car landed in the coffee cup, all stunts are better when something lands in liquid.

Nice new article, and without a mention of the secret torment he’s putting those of us who have noticed through.

My pick would be the Hot Wheels “Vehicle with Ramp”. If I had to pick a second I’d go with the Mighty Max Playset. I’m also a firm believer that all Happy Meals should come in a box. The best boxes were the ones that were perforated so “things” could be removed from the box, accessories for whatever the actual toy was. I also liked the boxes that could turn into a shelter of some sort for whatever the toy of the week was.

In other news potentially relevant to some readers, Kevin DuBrow, lead singer of Quiet Riot, was found dead at his home in Las Vegas. Time to crank up “Cum on Feel the Noize” in tribute.

I have a pretty nice collection of Happy Meal toys from my childhood. My most recent set though was the Wizard of Oz toys they had a few months ago. I don’t bother buying the Happy Meals I just go in and buy the toys I want and the food I want. My 3 year old gets the Happy Meal and her own toy because there are some things I refuse to share!

Wow, that red muscle car is what I would’ve wanted. I loved painting my Hot Wheels and Matchbox with my mom’s nail polish.

That would be a tough call. Which McHappy toy would I chase? I’d skip all o’ these and go for the transforming food items; those were friggin’ sweatness….

i had the barbie one! i really liked it til i pulled her head off on accident :c

I was of age back then, but I don’t remember most of this set. I recognize some of the girl toys from the boxes of my sister’s old stuff, but I think I only got the Mighty Max toy (which was pretty lame to play with, even if it looks cool) and the car and ramp set.

If this was ‘95, I believe that this was the year that Toy Story came out. My priorities were elsewhere that year - Burger King’s Toy Story toys and the puppets they sold as promo items were much cooler, to the point where I remember seeing them in school and being jealous until I got my own set on Christmas. I’ve still got them somewhere…

Did Happy Meals ever come in spaceships and boats and stuff, or am I just crazy?

You are not crazy, and they were incredible. Large, thin plastic boats and ships that were almost impossible to throw away no matter how hard our parents wanted us to.

Maybe I’m completely alone on this, but all of these toys look like crap to me. And I’m not saying that as jaded adult, I’ve enjoyed Happy Meals my entire life, and continue to buy them to this day (I usually end up throwing or giving away the toy unless it’s REALLY cool, but the portion size is perfect for lunch!) but I don’t think that these represent some of the best prizes ever (3 words: Dress up McNuggets) (5 more words: Happy meal food transformer things) (5 more words: Teeny cans of Play-dough) (2 more words: Halloween Buckets)(2 more words: Teeny Beanies. I KNOW, I KNOW but I don’t care what anyone says, those teeny fuckers were cute and I loved them).

All that being said, despite being a girl, I’d have taken the car + ramp. I loved real Barbies but I HATED the stupid McDonald’s versions. Also, holy shit that friggin’ princess DOES look exactly like Andy…

B-Dawg: To a degree, you are correct. It’s the buffet syndrome. A lot is being offered, but nothing is being offered in a main course kind of way. (I do think most of the boys’ toys were adequate, though.)

Sadly I was waaaaay too old in 1995 to want anything but that which I wanted in 1985. So I would go for the CPK figurine.

I still order happy meals pretty frequently, but always through the drive-thru. The toys sit on my desk for a few weeks, then I feel dumb and toss them.

Yeah, Little Brother and I once got Happy Meals in flying saucers. Cool. There were other shapes, too. I seem to remember Dukes of Hazzard boxes shaped like the General Lee and Roscoe’s Cruiser.

If I had a chance to own any particular HM toy type, it’d be just the Changables and TransFormers toys. Because sometimes, my hunger for toy robots can sometimes be unquenchable.

I had just turned 10 when these came out, which means I was just outside the age where I’d have been very interested in these. (I pretty much thought once I hit double digits I was practically an adult.) Still, I seem to vaguely remember that Polly Pocket deal, and I’d still totally go for that one now.

Surprisingly, I was of-age for this promotion, but I never had any of these toys! Maybe it was during my McD’s hiatus? I like the knight/dragon the most, but the Polly Pocket is kind of cool just because they playset is house-shaped. Does anyone remember the Polly Pocket promotion? All the toys were like this, and they were really lame.

I generally have no shame in ordering a Happy Meal these days, because that’s all I’ll eat anyway. It’s cheaper, plus you get a toy. Whether I use it or not, that’s a different story, but somebody will want it. It was embarassing the one time I ordered one up at school, though- I didn’t even think and there was a big line. Didn’t even get a toy, either. I was kind of ticked! The service at all those fast food places was terrible in general, though, so I went back to PB and J for most of the rest of the time I spent there.

kingklash: I remember those Dukes of Hazzard plastic cars/containers too. I know I had the General Lee, Roscoe’s Cruiser, and I believe I also had Daisy’s Jeep.

Nice set, but I’ll agree that all the toys are below average, even for McDs standards. I’ve seen better from all of those toy lines. Coincidentally, the reason why they were able to get all 6 lines to put in the promotion was that they are all owned by Mattel. It’s the reason why you always see Barbie/Hot Wheels or Barbie/Tonka toys every year. Because they can.

I was too old for this set at the time, since I don’t remember getting these at all.

Does anyone else remember one of the best sets of all time, where they had like 26 separate toys that made a huge Train when put together? They had a lot of different sets, like Tiny Toons, Muppet Babies, Mighty Max, Winnie The Pooh, Hot Wheels, Barbie, 101 Dalmations…others.

Speaking of 101 Dalmations, there was another McDs promo that literally gave away 101 toys for the live-action 101 Dalmations movie.

The 101 Dalmations promotion! That was insane, Norb.
How about the 101D snowglobes they had? Lots of people I knew had them- they were pretty neat, now that I think about it.

I would have wanted Mighty Max, as Mighty Max was marvelous. The cartoon was fantastic as well.

well past my time, but i’d have gone for the black knight/dragon combo. sort of a cross between Playmobil and the Galactic Heroes SW toys.

I have one of the Totally Toy line toys sitting on top of my DVD shelf. Little Miss Candi Stripes circa ‘93 with snap-on Christmas dress. Now THAT was a good year for the line! Sally Secrets, Polly Pocket, AND Magic Nursery! Oh yeah!

I totally WAS the right age in ‘95…at that point, I probably wanted the Barbie one, but now I would want the knight/dragon combo.

I never really liked Polly Pocket. It always seemed like my friends got the cool ones, and I only got the one where she could be transported between three rooms on that little conveyor. Although, I still don’t understand why my feminist mother bought me all those Barbies, but wouldn’t let me watch the Little Mermaid.

Def would have went for Mighty Max..I always wanted one of those but I was just getting to that age where I was kind of embarrassed to ask for it….

Oh shit, I have all of the boy ones. I loved mighty max but my favorite of them was the Knight and Dragon

Also, my MM eventually got stuck in a position wedged with the ice monsters. Even Norman wouldn’t be able to turn that gear now.

My sister had that Once Upon a Dream thing, as she was ten at the time. Fourteen is way too old to want Polly Pocket. Too old.
My favorite of the McD’s toys was the Little Mermaid line. Best bath toys ever.

Hmm, ‘95.. I must have missed this one, but I clearly remember both Barbie and CPK Happy Meal toys bringing me much joy when I was younger. Now Polly Pocket, remember when the entire playset (there’s that word again) was pocket-sized??? Now just the doll is. Cop-out.

i would have liked to get the knight.
However, knowing my luck, I would have gotten that godforsaken Barbie-in-a-sleigh.
I mean- what fun is that?
“Oo, look at me. In a Sled.”
And the kicker for me- She has reins to control an animal in which to pull her over the snow, but no beastie!
WTF?!
Total gyp.

Oh holy baby Jesus! Could this be the first time Matt has mentioned Mighty Max, one of the greatest toy lines of all time?! Needless to say Iâ€™d go for the Mighty Max toy. I actually got a little Mighty Max playset at Mc Donaldâ€™s once but it wasnâ€™t the one above. It was ice/Antarctica/abdominal snowman themed. Maybe it was from a similar Christmas collection.

anyways, today I picked up a LEGO Advent Calendar and it is soooooo something you need to blog about Matt!!! It looks AMAZING!!! Role on Dec 1st!!

I was 8 at the time, so I was just the right age for this promotion. I wonder how I missed it…

EEK! The ‘95 Holiday Barbie! I worked at Hallmark at the time that ornament came out,and let me just say,that if little girls were as rabid over the happy meal toy as adults were on getting their hands on her,then I’m sure there was a high death toll of little girls between ages 5-10 in 1995.

Holy crap! I had that crummy Hot Wheels Adventure thing. Even when I was seven, I knew it was a piece of crap. Mighty Max, that’s where the money was. I’m pretty sure I had something similar to the ice skull, but more grey. A less Mighty.

Hell, I’d even play with my niece’s Polly Pocket toys when no one was looking. I have a weakness for tiny, tiny playsets.

On another note, do you remember when Mcdonalds gave away the chicken nugget toys. I loved those toys.

Also how about Burgerking, when they gave away the club house figures. I remember I wanted Kid Vid so bad, and when I finally had him he was like the tech/hacker of my ninja turtle collection team.

Well, I actually had quite a number of these since I was eight in ‘95. I still have that North Pole Explorer somewhere deep in my closet at home, and I had the Mad Max and “Vehicle with Ramp” things until they were lost or thrown away. My sister had two of the Barbies. (She was five)

But if I had to pick now? I would totally have gone of the knight. I probably wanted the knight back then, but didn’t know of it or just didn’t get lucky enough for him. Oh well…

And to continue with the discussion about the December 23rd mystery, here’s my Scooby Doo background kicking in.

After I finally understood all this Brachylagus whatnot with the filenames, I checked out other filenames for other pictures. As mentioned earlier, the big “RatSee” picture (I’m pretty sure it’s a rat, btw) is titled “literallyistooeasy.” Every single fist picture is “NerdHerRig” and Major Burns is “ASONG.” The hazel eye (I wouldn’t be pointing this out if I didn’t think it was important) over the red/green/yellow/blue semi-rainbow is titled “brachylagus_277,” again already mentioned.

So what do we have? These choice words (RatSee/Teaser, RATGET/Target: lady in White, OurMuseHas*Major Burns*, Bat Rib/Rabbit, and Art Evoke/Takeover) need to be looked at as a whole. I’m going to assume that a rat will get the lady in white (Mare?) is a target of… an army of rats? She’s probably going to get kidnapped by rats. (this could be why it’s “literallytooeasy”)

Their “muse” has major burns. Did Santa get burned in the last calendar? I’m a bit too busy to check up on it right now (juggling my biology reading, Super Mario Galaxy, and this) but if he did, and he is in fact a muse, then maybe he’ll have a song this year.

“HerNerdRig,” the fists (I believe there are 29 of them), the bog men with manicures, and the number of the beast all elude me, but here’s my guess. Some sort of evil character will be introduced, and she will have… ancient manicures and a computing rig……..

Anywho, the last thing I’d like to point out is the Art Evoke/Takeover thing. It appears that rabbits will take over something, possibly the world. I also counted the syllables in the sentence and added them to the numbers, which makes up 28 (7+7+7+7). Maybe there is a countdown somewhere?

Hopefully somebody else can chime in and pick up on some things that I and many others have missed. As a fun aside, this is by far the longest comment I’ve left on X-E!

oooh
1) vehicle with ramp
2) knight and dragon (mainly for the knight toy)
3) mighty max

Steffanio-of course Matt will be doing LEGO advent this year, if he didnt, what would poor knacks do, sit around and nap?

Definetly the car with ramp. In other McDonald’s news, I was driving through ND last night and I stopped for a bite to eat. At first I thought I was halucinating, but after I rubbed my eyes the signage was still there. Motherfucking McRib baby! Is this throughout the States? Or just in certain areas? I can’t remember the last time we had the McRib in Canada. It was so good. Mmmmmmm.

I’m also in the “They all suck” group. But if I had to choose one, I’d pick Mighty Max strictly because of the game portion you mention. But by the time this came around I was 15 and chowing on Big Macs, so no more HM for me.

you should definately talk about mighty max. did you have the skull mountain? my favorite playset ever. click my name for a picture.

Advent Conspiracy talk
Could the Rabbits from the end of 2006 be Rabbits from 2002 grown up? 2002 was never finished so we don’t know what kind of crap went down on those last 3 days. I always wondered if it would be worked back into the continuity.

I’d probably go for the Hot Wheels vehicle with and or the knight with dragon. Both seem like something I’d enjoy if I was a kid again.

Speaking of McDonalds Happy Meals promotions, I remember when I was like ten and my aunt worked at McD’s, and for my birthday she gave me a bunch of Hot Wheels that were left over from a recent Happy Meal promotion. That neat, or what?

By 1995, I too would have been too old for Happy Meals…but my brother and youngest sister would have been just the right age. I think we actually had the Hot Wheels North Pole game, though I don’t remember much else. We literally lived down the street from a Burger King and tended to eat there more. That Toy Story promotion was a big thing. I took my youngest siblings to see it when it came out, and despite being scared by parts, my brother wanted EVERYTHING “Toy Story” that Christmas. I think he still has his original Woody and Buzz dolls, and he may still have some of the Burger King toys, too.

more Advent Conspiracy talk (we need a club and a call, maybe a secret handshake and stickers)
Nizz mentioned a page where 6 comes up a lot, which was this? Cause I just noticed that the NerdHerRig is 555 by 555.

I had the Polly Pocket. Meh. I think I only used that Polly set as jail for my other Pollies. I remember being strangely obsessed with those toys back in the day, and now, it’s kinda distressing to see what they’ve become. The charm of Polly was portability. Now, they have more accessories than Barbie! It’s crazy.

The Brachylagus_277 page had a bunch of 7s, four to be exact. Maybe more, I haven’t counted the letters.

Ooooooookaaaaaayyyy…. I just added up all the letters and they come to 49, which is seven squared (7×7). :O

the eyes on Art Evoke kind of look yellow and the title of the front page mentions yellow eyes twice.

I was not the target audience when these came out; I was a senior in high school, but I have the knight and the dragon. I think my nephew gave them to meto go with a plaster castle I have. I usually made them dance together. Maybe they shared a tender kiss.

I too, loved the boats more than any other McD’s toy. But if I had to choose one of these, I would pick the hotwheel ramp thingy.

I have a couple of those happy meal toys sitting on my desk now. won them in a lot while buying some old Remco McDonaldland figures.

I don’t have anything to say about the McDonald’s toys. But as someone who has never really paid attention to the Advent Calendar thing on this site and is only now looking at the backlogs, I must say, the evolution from simply describing what was in the boxes to creating an entire little world with ongoing storylines is some of the most charmingly bizarre madness I’ve ever come across.

Its funny. I was at Mcdonalds today and saw that the “Holiday” toy lineup for this year is nothing more than stupid shrek figures with santa hats on.

I thought to myself how cool it would be if Mcddonalds would go back to more holiday themed toys, like when they used to do mini versions of all the popular toys for that year. I thought back to these exact toys.

I still got them (along with the rest of my old happymeal toys) somewhere in a box in my parents basement. Im gonna have to dig them out.

That’s kind of what color my eyes are, except I always called them “hazel.” lol It took me a while to see what you meant with the yellow eyes thing, but I did find it. Hmm…… Maybe Matt has some sort of trickery or Goonies-level treasure stashed away for we few Truth Seekers. (How’s that for a name?)

Yea the bags always felt like a rip off to me they didn’t soak up the fry aroma enough. Also no punch outs.

My hazel eyes are more gray. Try to work mystery and deputies into the name. I’d like Nizz and Dan to have some say too.

Absolutely! I was just throwing out a suggestion that I knew was crappy to get the ball rolling. =P

Yeah, definitely woulda gone for Hot Wheels “Vehicle with Ramp.” I specifically remember a McDonald’s trip with my friend and her mom, when they had a boy toy and a girl toy. They tried to give me Barbie but I made them give me a car. Ha. Then we went to the Playplace and my friend was Nala and I was Simba (so this must have been right around 1995 or so). I was very non-gender-discriminatory in my childhood play.

You all see the new MT. Dew site??? Dewmocracy! You can vote for a new Dew flavor!

Yup, it says “said2beavirtue” at the top. So I’m assuming that means you have to wait 2 minutes. Dum de dum…

I had turned 5 the month before Xmas ‘95, so Happy Meals were the shit. In fact, I think I went a week or two where I refused to eat anything but McDonalds. I was really spoiled. Anyway, I had all of those toys except the Barbie and the Cabbage Patch thing. I miss Mighty Max.

and, of course,kids don’t remember to wash their hands before touching the things which gives the toys their distinct tint of brown and smell of stale french fry grease.Bravo on finding toys M.I.B. And by M.I.B., I mean mint in bags, not men in black.

Seriously, I LOVED that cartoon. But, the only toy I had of it was the ultimate one: DRAGON ISLAND!

Anyway,I’d have loved the Mighty Max Happy meal toy. In fact, I was of “happy meal age” at the time, but had decided that fast food was too gross for the prizes by then.

One happy meal I DID get was the Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Happy meal. I got a great Robotnik toy! And, the bag it came in was so cool, I had it laminated so I could use washable markers to do the puzzles over again whenever I wanted to (I washed it when I was done).

I would have liked the hot wheels one, I loved and collected them as a kid, still have all of them too.

Mighty Max woulda been 2nd, my brother and I both enjoyed those. I remember having a snake one and the gigantic angry red mountain playset.

Was dragon island that bigass green crocodile head thing that came with a million figures?

I had that and a zombie head playset. I lost all the figures that came with them though except this weird demon thing.

I would have gone for the dragon if given the choice, but as a girl, they wouldn’t have given it to me anyway. Besides that, even when I was 5 I hated McDonalds. Stupid sexist corporation with shitty fake hamburgers.

I’m workin’ on it.. I’m almost done with the first line of the third… line thing. I’ll show the whole thing when I’m done.

Double post to say that I had to copy and paste the bag image into paint to figure out what that dot-to-dot was. Spoiler: It’s a castle.

mezzanine- Yep! That was Dragon island! It even had Skull-master himself as a figure.

The file names for the 2 images are “OnMissl” and “achildachild”… any luck on transposing the message into Word? I think we may be over-thinking that step??? Oh, and is it just me or was that “7 second” page NOT a link until recently? I swear i tried everything on that page, I would have noticed if all I needed to do was click it. I wonder if these clues are being released slowly and thus the ‘en tree’ page can’t be solved until more is unlocked???

Yeah it’s new. I got the first 2 and last parts translated but that 3rd is a beast.

WHY:
IT’S MEANINGLESS IT’S COMMERCIALIZED
WHEN:
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
BUT:
DESTRUCTION IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT A PLAN TO REBUILD. INSTEAD OF PRIMARIES LET’S DO PASTELS OVALS, BETTER THAN CIRCLES.
HOW:
LEAVE IT TO US

I dunno, sounds pretty ominous. Evil interior decorators or something lol. Seriously though, that last line gives me the creeps. (More Scooby seeping out.) Do any of you know what to make of the picture thing under this message? It’s an e-mail address to someone…

Subject: u haf a mined, u can use ur mined Re: Hello? (My subject was “Hello?”)
Body: BatRib/ArtEvoke/WaitWaitWaitWait/

Ben, you’re a Golden God…. now what?!?! Is it possible we can’t do anything until more of the puzzle is ‘opened’?

Looks like we have to wait a while. You can put the WaitWaitWaitWait part in the addy bar all you want, it’ll take you straight back to the main X-E page. Anyway, good going, gang. Soon we’ll find out whether it really is Old Man Jenkins.

I get something at the /WaitWaitWaitWait site. An odd movie file with holiday music and some odd shadows? Good sleuthing, Ben!

..Oh, hey, whaddaya know, there’s a movie file on the WaitWaitWaitWait part now lol. Looks like Matt (or whoever is posting these clues) caught up. =P

OMFG i had a mad max set, it was awsome, it was this purple monster, and inside was this eyeball creature and some hidden doors and crazy stuff, it’s either lost, trashed, sold, or donated
oh how you have made me remember the days of old, early 90’s, good times
keep up the good writing, cant wait for advnt cal

Advent Mystery Deputies
Advent Truth Mystery Deputies
Mystery Deputies of the four sevens

I was born in 1989 so I’m sure I was in my Happy Meal prime when these came out. I actually don’t remember having too much fun with any these, except probably the hot wheels w/ ramp.

It’s weird, I’ve looked up all the collections of McDonalds toys, and I can remember getting some in early 92. I still have this orange mini monster truck on my desk, I’m pretty sure it’s my first.

My grandparents whenever there was a really good toyline would get the whole set at least 6 times over to give to all my cousins and I as gifts. Own all the Power Rangers and Hercules figurines which were AMAZING to play with all at once.

Sorry for the double post, but I’m pretty sure my babyfat finally went away when I stopped eating Happy Meals every other day. LMFAO.

I have to say that the Barbie would have been a kill toy- for a while the Barbies that came in Happy Meals didn’t have hair. When they started coming with hair- ooh, big deal. That’s not sarcasm. You used to get miniaturized small plastic Barbies with hard plastic hair.

Ok, so the image clearly changes colors and… well, that’s pretty much all I got. What’s the song called? And what’s up with the name of the sender of the auto-reply email?

It’s something orange that turns gray. I have NO idea what the song is. =\ The name of the sender (Hssxxlllo Ussall) looks like one of those spam e-mail names that wants to know whether you’re interested in local singles in [your area] but I’m probably wrong.

I’m a bit suspicious that it’s a large MOV file. I wonder how important the quality is.

Furthermore, has anyone figured out exactly what is being featured in the video? I’ve taken a look at the info, and the video is playing back at 1 MBPS at 30 FPS… And it was taken with a Nikon digital camera.

dohopoki: I have QuickTime. Not Pro, though… I’d probably be at the next step if I had it.

I was all about Mighty Max when this promotion was going on and I was pissed that I never got that Happy Meal toy. In light of how crappy it actually is, I would probably have been more pissed if I had gotten it.

I’m pretty sure I had a bunch of those, even though I was 12 by then and way too old for Happy Meals (I’m 24 now, and you know…I’m still getting them). The Barbie looks way familiar, and the other girl toys ring bells (except for that creepy Brian Bonsall drag queen doll, that I’ve never seen before), as does the tank.

i remember trying to collect all the happy meal furby’s. there were always a few that seemed impossible to get and a few that were all too common. i dont eat fast food but if i am attracted to the toy i will buy the meal just for the toy.

I have QuickTime too, but I didn’t find any of that stuff… =P Oh well. This and antibodies and pathogens are making my head hurt.

Knegative, click the 23 on the Advent Calendar to get started. If you want a quick version, look for my first comment on this post for a brief-ish summary of what’s been discovered so far. Dan, DocDragon, dohopoki, Nizz and I have been sleuthing to figure out this mystery.
(Btw guys, I went in alphabetical order. Also, sorry if I missed out on anybody. These things have been coming at lightning speed it’s hard for me to keep up with everybody who has contributed)

Well then, that doesn’t reveal too much that I can see, but it’s an interesting trick I now know. =P

Fellow Advent-urers, Warriors of the #23, etc… I’m gone for the night. Good luck and keep me posted. Thanks for all the help today - no way I’m sleeping tonight… Not when the fate of Christmas hangs in our hands!!!

Holy crap…can I just say how much these kind of internet things just creep the bajeezuz outta me?

Thanks Matt, I now want a Happy meal AND am going ot have night mares about the mov. file

The thing in the Eve video looks like Eevee or one of it’s evolutions. Also, I’m not sure that email was automated.

Yeah, I don’t know either. It looks like an Ear of something and not really like either of the rabbits from 2006 end. Then I thought of Eevee and the name is Eve so I just through it out there.

Eve made me think of December 24th, and the curtain made me think of Vile from MegaMan X, which, in turn, led me to think about Boba Fett. And I swear, there’s a face in the middle! I can see the outline of the eyes (black dots), the forehead, and the bridge of the nose right smack dab in the middle of the screen. It’s beginning to look a lot like a FREAKY Christmas! =O

I still don’t see a face in there… It looks like something obscured by a curtain… And furthermore, what’s that pointy shadow that comes up from the bottom and then curves to the right?

I thought it was a curtain… Click my name to see Vile/Boba Fett. =P Good find, DrummerJay!

Ahhh, got it. The same pointy shadow that DocDragon mentioned is what made me think of Vile. It’s like the left half of his helmet.

Yeah, see I see ears. But I didn’t really think of curtains until it was said. I think we’re all seeing different things.

How sad is it that I had all of these? I never realized that the Mighty Max toys were different in the states, though. The ones here in Canada kind of looked like Wampa faces when they were closed. They opened to reveal a villain lair with some evil skeleton thing in the middle. When a small wheel was turned under the “playset”, Mighty Max would “run” around the skeleton. Howdaya like dem apples?
I think the knight and dragon were my favourites, because I used to be a big sucker for anything fantasy-esque.

Matt I definitely had/still have the Mighty Max Skull and the Hot Wheels car w/ramp. As the son of a mechanic who used to race them back in the day, that the red car is a 1955 Chevy Bel Air. My dad still has 2 of them rusting in the back yard because he can’t let go.

Paul W Those Toy Story toys and puppets at Burger King were amazing, probably the best fast food toys ever. I still have some of the set somewhere, actually. The only other time I ever went nuts and made my parents drive me to BK’s across the land was in ‘93 when the Phillies went to the world series, and BK (in my are at least) had baseballs with John Kruk’s (and others’) likenesses screen printed on them…still have those too, I’m afraid.

Man, I had totally forgotten about the Toy Story craze that I was forced to endure through my nieces and nephews. Not that I had anything against Toy Story, but these kids were just batshit crazy about it. I seem to recall one toy in particular — one of the Buzz Lightyear dolls — being a real tough find. Every kid in my family wanted the thing, and I don’t think a single one got it. Me? I was more about the three-eyed alien dude. Anything that would call a crane machine “home” is aces in my book; the fact that the were three-eyed aliens was just gravy.

The girl I was dating at the time was crazy about those little three-eyed alien guys.

Do any of the other Advent-Urers think we should have a seperate page to unravel this mystery? Or at least a big honking post that breaks down the structure of the mystery as we understand it.

Yes we should, lest we look like crazy conspiracy theorists to the normal commenters. =P

I was going to suggest keeping it in another entry so we don’t wreck every entry up to christmas.

I’m going to post a new entry tonight. When I do, I’ll also post a Box #23 discussion thread, which you guys can bookmark and use as often as you’d like. Doho’s right — we should try to keep it a little clean for everyone else.

Oh snap! I just found something else! You know that big thing I translated? The one that was in windings? The sentence under “WHEN:” is “WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT” and under the Advent Calendar, it says “Click the boxes when the time is right!” =O!!

I was a kid back when those toys were released, and I can say (though not all that proudly) that I still have that Holiday Barbie in my kid’s meal toy box. Which is odd because I never liked it all that much.

A crazy part of me wants to dig through eBay for those “Space Jam” plush toys with the real-style jerseys…

On the toys: Definatley Car with Ramp. In fact, I think I had that. Only toy in that set you can actually play with.

On the Mystery: Damn, I envy you guys with all this free time… Can’t wait to see what this all leads to!

Heh, “free time.” It took me five hours to read twenty pages because this mystery was that much more interesting than the immune system. =P

I DEFINITELY had the Knight and Dragon, remember maybe having that lame Mighty Max puzzle, and my sisters got those Polly Pocket things. Goddamnit, McDonalds used to rock.

The only toy i really remember getting from this promotion was the polly pocket house. I loooooved it and seeing it once again (even in picture form) makes me want to be a kid again.

ah, Toy Story. For some reason the first thing I can think of is that mutant baby/tarantula hybrid. Toy Story and CGI in general didn’t do much for me.

The best thing to come out of Toy Story, were the themed bumper cars at Disney Quest. You’d be in a spaceship and run over asteriods which would come in your car and then you’d shoot them at other cars, and they would light up and spin around. It was set in this cool space-like room and around the line had all these old and FREE arcade games. Too bad Disney Quest is overpriced, especially since its attractions are heavily outdated.

I feel so hideously young now, seeing that I remember having the North Pole Explorer AND the Cabbage Patch Playset.

I also vaguely remember the Once Upon A Dream Princess Figurine - but I don’t know if it was mine or not.

I remember hitting a boy who called me ugly in the face with the North Pole Explorer toy so hard he bled. I was such a sweet child.

the stuff i pull out of peoples pails is amazing. you think people dont go through the trash? ha! like 20 people look through it before it gets tossed into a big pile to eventually be burned for fuel.

My whole theory on #23 is that it’s a Cloverleaf teaser. The monster’s a giant rabbit bent on ruining the good time of timewasting nerds.

It turns out that they’re called Little Green Men (LGMs for short) and that they’re associated with Buzz Lightyear, they’re the techies of Star Command. The reason why they all talk so creepily in unison is because their race is a Hive Mind controlled by an energy ball called the Unimind.

I used to have a Mighty Max toy with this mad scientist set up including a cage, a monster, a secret tunnel and (wait for it)….. A VOLCANO. It seems mad scientists rarely have a background in geology as they always pick the worst locations for their secret lairs. But it was a wicked toy… I also had a polly pocket but honestly, I don’t see the appeal of a miniature kitchen. Why do girls’ toys suck so hard?

I don’t know why they don’t just work the best elements of both into the same toy.

I canâ€™t believe no one has motioned yet the vehicle, (with ramp) is a souped up â€˜57 Chevy!

Kris,
I too saw the McRib signage when I was in Orlando last weekend…couldn’t convince myself to get one though…

Although as I remember, even as a kid I never really wanted the happy meals because I always thought the toys were lame… That and the fact that I preferred the Quarter pounder with cheese & some Chicken McGristle Nuggets.

Dang, I was two when they came out. I guess in my later years I would’ve gone for the Mighty Max Playset, because it looks cool. Great post, as always!

I was 19 in 95 so I would have been too old for these toys. My chaser would have been the Hot Wheels Car with the Ramp though…Awesome!

I agree with Dirk - Happy Meal toys ARE lame. They’re always smaller, crappier versions of real toys. Although I don’t have the same sentimental attachments to them as some people - I rarely went to McDonald’s as a kid and I’ve probably been less than 10 times in my life. My family is into health and exercise and such :p

I got the Arctic Explorer and it was really disappointing, something about how bizarre it is makes it something I’ll probably remember when I’m really old. I think everybody must have wanted Mad Max the most.

Holy crap. I had the Mighty Max PLAYSET and the Knight and Dragon figures. I think I liked the dragon the best, it was pretty cool.

I was eight in 95′ and I wanted the Hot Wheels car and ramp the most, I ended up getting that one and the other Hot Wheels toy. I think I still have them around somewhere…

I remember the many lines of McDonalds Barbie figurines, and the X-mas one you pointed out wasn’t the only one that sucked. At least she had hair; some were just hard hollow plastic. But I had one that came with two snap off outfits. She was a prize indeed.

I’m too lazy to read through all the comments here, but if not already mentioned it needs to be said that Mighty Max was one of the coolest cartoons ever. And also, one of the most violent.

I recall one episode in particular that involved the heroes being stalked by this huge ogre-like villain named Spike, who it turned out had murdered Norman’s (one of the heroes) father. When the the two finally meet, Norman is about to finish him off when Max intervenes, giving him the old “If you kill him you’re just as bad as him” speech.

Norman’s response is something along the lines of “I can live with that” and then he KNOCKS THE BAD GUY OFF A CLIFF, KILLING HIM!

Ah, Mighty Max. I haven’t even thought about that show or toy in years. The toys never appealed to me, as I was past that age where non movie/comic related toys interested me, but my brother got me hooked on watching the show. The show rocked, and I still vaguely remember the ending to this day. I always thought it was pretty messed up for a kid’s show, being seemingly stuck in an endless loop of events from the start of the series. At least that’s how I remember it ending anyways. I’m going to have to wikipedia that.

I agree, Happy Meals toys today are lame compared to what they used to be. I was about 17 in 1995 so I was a little past the Happy Meals phase of my life, but probably could have appreciated them had they been a little cooler. I remember one particular one when I was a kid that was really cool though. My cousins and I all got them at once. They were little trucks that had big tires on them for offroading. The little “house boxes” that they came in were the cool kind that were all interactive. You unfolded them and laid them out and they became the terrain that the trucks drove on. You could bend it so you could create all kinds of hills and things, and there were pictures of all kinds of roads for them to drive on. It was a perfect way to combine the toy with the box it came in.

2)The king of all of them–The Gremlins record books, that told the story of the movie. I saw a lot of those on E-Bay not too long ago and came so close to getting them again. If only I had a turntable to listen to them with.

Oh my…I remember these…I was 11 1/2 at the time, and had a very small appitite, so I got a happy meal. I got the “Once Upon A Dream” Princess Figurine (which I think is still bouncing around in a box in my basement) and my brother got the Fisher-Price Great Adventures “Knight Figurine”.

I also happen to remember they didn’t sell well in my city, and two years later, they used them as ‘Mystery Toys’ in Happy Meals between themes (in other words, between the good toys)
I was sitting in Mcdonalds, enjoying my Big Mac, and a kid two tables over let out an almighty shriek, because she had already collected the whole set, and here they were popping up again, and why wasn’t she getting a GOOD prize for once?!

Ahh so many memories, loved and had the car w/ ramp and the knight doesnt get any better than the knight!

Yeah, I totally would have shot for the Barbie when I was little, and I actually remember owning it, too. Smooth.

I had that barbie.. and my little brother had the knight+dragon. Hell, I think he’s still got it somewhere.

I was…12 in 1995, although I’m pretty sure I had that Barbie. Don’t recognize any of the other toys, though.

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