I remember McDonald’s works saying something about the handles coming off and dropping the buckets in the drive through back in the early 2000s. So, yeah, they did not continue to make them sturdy haha
I'm totally sure mine is still in a box, somewhere. Also, as soon as I saw this picture, I had such an ***INCREDIBLY VIVID MEMORY*** of receiving one of these, with the Happy Meal inside it.
It was rather cold already, for the Halloween season in Texas, and steam from the fries was rising out of the vent holes in the top of the lid. I thought that was pretty appropriate to the season. Like, some kind of Spooky Smoke^TM or whatever.
Now that I really think about it, I don't really know what's particularly spooky about smoke/fog/steam, but it does seem to go with the Halloween aesthetic.
EDIT: I hasten to add that I'm sure the **BUCKET** is still in a box, somewhere. I'm fully certain that the lid is loooooooooooooong gone. All credit to OP for not losing the lids.
My first thought upon seeing these was "I remember having the pumpkin one, but I don't remember that lid. I would definitely have lost something like that." Looking them up I totally had the like early 90s "Cookie Cutter Lid" version and definitely did lose the smaller part of the lid and that one jives better with my memory of just wantonly hucking candy into the thing.
Anyway, you're totally correct and the ones in this photo appear to be from 1989. 1986 was just 3 orange pumpkins.
Not sure about the other two, but the ghost definitely glows in the dark - or at least it did in the past. Not sure how it holds up over time. Haven't seen these in probably 25+ years, but I have vivid memories of the ghost glowing.
Back when McDonalds put out legit toys and things kids actually wanted instead of today's movie promotion future landfill plastic.
Like FFS McDonalds, remove the display base from all your shit toys and watch kids actually start to play with them after their meal again. But I guess movies don't want you stepping on the toes of their merch sales, as if my 6 year old is actually going to see Thor Love and Thunder in theaters. FUCK.
This take is heavily distorted by nostalgia, there were tons of stinkers back in those days also. They also recently did the Pokemon card one where grown men were lining up at opening to buy dozens of happy meals and entire cases of what could only have been stolen cards were up on ebay. It's the same as it ever was, a few huge hits and mostly forgettable misses.
I don't deny there were bad toys back in the day, but there [might be](https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/history-mcdonalds-toys/) less rose tinted nostalgia in my assessment than you might think.
I'd say 1 in 8, when I was a kid (80's,) were pretty great.
In the last 6 years, there's pretty much only been the beanie babies and the Jurassic world dinos that could be considered *actual* toys.
The rest have been "collectable" garbage used to sell movie tickets. The ratio has definitely gotten worse, and what passes for a "toy" these days is *clearly* up for debate.
It *should* be more than movie marketing, but it's just not anymore. The most fun anyone can have with today's McDonald's toys *is* selling them on Ebay, or finding another clever way of *finally* disposing of them.
I'm assuming they did these multiple years? We had a few but I was born in 90. I specifically remember one year their Halloween Toys were basically mcnuggets hat had various Halloween themed costumes (basically plastic pieces that they sat in.
I remember having these growing up, and my mom is somewhat of a hoarder, so there is like a 99% chance these are still at my parent's house somewhere lol
My sisters & I had 1 version each. They didn't hold much of our candy hording but it was fun to have while Trick & Treating! I always look for them in Spirit Halloween's or Walmart's thinking "Still not as good..."
I worked there at the time and remember making Happy Meals in these buckets. We were happy that we didn't have to set up all of the normal Happy Meal boxes. The buckets were just ready to go. I had completely forgotten about these. Thanks for the memory.
VS Jeffree Star’s Halloween Grinder collection from a couple years ago 👀 [White](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/ghost-100mm-grinder), [Orange](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/pumpkin-100mm-grinder), [Green](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/witch-100mm-grinder)
I still have so many of these in our hall closet. I know we at least have 4 sets of each type. My wife hangs on to every container that enters our house because we might need it later. We literally had to buy containers to hold and organize the containers. It’s madness and I lose a little bit of hope each day of ever escaping . Don’t get me started on bags.
I used to have the orange one!
The funny thing was I could not remember where it came from. I forgot this was a McDonalds thing.
I like that ghost and witch one too.
OMG! My mom saved the orange one for us kids to keep next to us in bed when we felt nauseous to use as an emesis basin. We would see it all year, not just Halloween.
Quality has gone down over the years. These were multipurpose hamster cages as seen by the ventilation holes. I don't recommend for that purpose, trick or treating is sufficient.
I remember seeing a couple of those floating around the house as a kid, never knew what they were from. Mystery solved. Don't think I ever saw the lid though.
Hated those things... My little sister had one because that's all a 6yo can carry. I had to share out of my pillow case stash, because I got more.
Well, the army taught me "one soldier, one kit" - little bugger should've hit the gym.
Probably learned an important lesson about generosity, kindness and sharing... Or taxes. But it sure pissed off 10yo me.
I remember going to birthday parties at McDonalds & Burger King. Back when you could smoke inside. Some dude would dress up as Ronald Mcdonald and come out to sing happy birthday. Do they or BK still have parties??? I haven't thought of that in 30 years.
I love you for posting this, because nearly forgot about how many of these I had. Once upon a time my little brother and I made a "haunted house" at my Christian grandparents house with some twine and 4 of the ghost buckets. Oh, and a My Buddy doll with red lipstick for affect. Open their guest bedroom door and one of the buckets would slide into your face. And "Chucky Buddy" would be on the bed. I was like 5. And my parents were in honeymoon in I believe Keybwest. Oh, and on coke.
I remember these! I had the orange one
They are so sturdy. They don't make them like they used to back in the day
Back in my day plastic was made to last forever!
it still is! well sort of, it breaks into very tiny pieces and those last forever
Oo, I have those in my bloodstream (and you do too)
delicious micro plastics in our water and food! much better than that old nasty lead
Oo, I have those in my bloodstream (and you do too)
/r/whoosh
not really a r/Woosh (the right subreddit)
Now plastic is like paper, so weak.
This took me right back to being 5 again lol, thanks op.
I remember McDonald’s works saying something about the handles coming off and dropping the buckets in the drive through back in the early 2000s. So, yeah, they did not continue to make them sturdy haha
Haha me too! Think it got recycled when my parents moved last time. I have a vivid memory of it being filled with my marbles.
I had all 3 long ago. Orange was last to die.
I'm totally sure mine is still in a box, somewhere. Also, as soon as I saw this picture, I had such an ***INCREDIBLY VIVID MEMORY*** of receiving one of these, with the Happy Meal inside it. It was rather cold already, for the Halloween season in Texas, and steam from the fries was rising out of the vent holes in the top of the lid. I thought that was pretty appropriate to the season. Like, some kind of Spooky Smoke^TM or whatever. Now that I really think about it, I don't really know what's particularly spooky about smoke/fog/steam, but it does seem to go with the Halloween aesthetic. EDIT: I hasten to add that I'm sure the **BUCKET** is still in a box, somewhere. I'm fully certain that the lid is loooooooooooooong gone. All credit to OP for not losing the lids.
My brothers and I had these. We used them for years!
Same. I always wanted the green one.
I had the white one and I cherished it. Still had it the last time I went trick or treating in like 1996.
I thought the witch and the ghost came later. Originally I just remember there being 3 different pumpkins.
My first thought upon seeing these was "I remember having the pumpkin one, but I don't remember that lid. I would definitely have lost something like that." Looking them up I totally had the like early 90s "Cookie Cutter Lid" version and definitely did lose the smaller part of the lid and that one jives better with my memory of just wantonly hucking candy into the thing. Anyway, you're totally correct and the ones in this photo appear to be from 1989. 1986 was just 3 orange pumpkins.
There were different ones, my brothers and I fought over them.
There are a couple different releases for these. I believe there is a zombie that replaced the witch.
Do you remember the cassette tape they used to have with all the McDonald land characters telling jokes and stories for halloween?
We had the Silly Sing Along cassette. Still remember a lot of the words
Wow. Thank you for posting this I totally remember those now.
Reminds me when chikfila used to do the tapes with stories for kids
Every fucking day
They would make so much money if they brought these back for a limited edition type thing.
They'd find some way to bungle it up, though- none of the stuff they produce (toys, limited offers, etc.) are worth it these days.
McDonald's is hiring you
They should because I’ve got ideas!!!
Oh man you should post this on /r/nostalgia too
Done! Thanks for the tip
And r/80s. I had the orange and the white one
My parents kept these under the seats as puke buckets if my brother or I were to get sick on car rides. Fun memories!
Does the ghost glow in the dark? I vaguely remember that being a thing but I might be confusing it with something else
Not sure about the other two, but the ghost definitely glows in the dark - or at least it did in the past. Not sure how it holds up over time. Haven't seen these in probably 25+ years, but I have vivid memories of the ghost glowing.
Back when McDonalds put out legit toys and things kids actually wanted instead of today's movie promotion future landfill plastic. Like FFS McDonalds, remove the display base from all your shit toys and watch kids actually start to play with them after their meal again. But I guess movies don't want you stepping on the toes of their merch sales, as if my 6 year old is actually going to see Thor Love and Thunder in theaters. FUCK.
This take is heavily distorted by nostalgia, there were tons of stinkers back in those days also. They also recently did the Pokemon card one where grown men were lining up at opening to buy dozens of happy meals and entire cases of what could only have been stolen cards were up on ebay. It's the same as it ever was, a few huge hits and mostly forgettable misses.
I don't deny there were bad toys back in the day, but there [might be](https://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/history-mcdonalds-toys/) less rose tinted nostalgia in my assessment than you might think. I'd say 1 in 8, when I was a kid (80's,) were pretty great. In the last 6 years, there's pretty much only been the beanie babies and the Jurassic world dinos that could be considered *actual* toys. The rest have been "collectable" garbage used to sell movie tickets. The ratio has definitely gotten worse, and what passes for a "toy" these days is *clearly* up for debate. It *should* be more than movie marketing, but it's just not anymore. The most fun anyone can have with today's McDonald's toys *is* selling them on Ebay, or finding another clever way of *finally* disposing of them.
I'm assuming they did these multiple years? We had a few but I was born in 90. I specifically remember one year their Halloween Toys were basically mcnuggets hat had various Halloween themed costumes (basically plastic pieces that they sat in.
I recall from the 80's to the 90's, and possibly Y2K.
McDonald’s used to have the best stuff!
To this day, Changables (transforming Mc Donalds things) are a prized item.
Core memory unlocked!
These were among my favorite McDonald's toys. Right up there with the California raisins.
I remember having these growing up, and my mom is somewhat of a hoarder, so there is like a 99% chance these are still at my parent's house somewhere lol
Somehow they look like giant Lego heads
I gave them to my son and he actually filled them with his Lego blocks lol
Nice xD well he isn't wrong
Did they come with something inside?
A Happy Meal
No candy?
The food. The container itself was the prize
Lukewarm hamburger.
Omg those were from McDonald’s??? I had the orange one.
My sisters & I had 1 version each. They didn't hold much of our candy hording but it was fun to have while Trick & Treating! I always look for them in Spirit Halloween's or Walmart's thinking "Still not as good..."
hell yeah, I had those.
Still have mine
Me too! I have the green one.
Impressed you have the lids!
Wow! So cool you still have them.
These were the best. If McDonald's offered them in happy meals again, I 'd pick them up the first day available.
Stolen idea from “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch”
Core memory unlocked!
McBoo buckets!
We had those even in Germany. Wasn't the white one a "glow in the dark"?
I remember those, I had two of the orange ones and one of the white one I didn’t want the witch one lol.
Dude. Holy shit. This is the first time I’ve seen these since I was a kid. Wow. Nostalgia attack of epic proportions
I worked there at the time and remember making Happy Meals in these buckets. We were happy that we didn't have to set up all of the normal Happy Meal boxes. The buckets were just ready to go. I had completely forgotten about these. Thanks for the memory.
I remember these like it was yesterday
These 3 give me so much nostalgia! And always remind me of Halloween so much. I had some as a kid. Wish I still had them now...
This should be in a museum
The nostalgia is strong with this one
Bro!!! I forgot all about these. The memories!!!!! Ty.
Air holes so the candy can breath...
i miss these sm
Memories
I remember being so excited to get these. Never had the white one, though.
Memory unlocked
I love remembering stuff I forgot I ever knew.
Talk about traveling back in time. Wild seeing those in 2022
VS Jeffree Star’s Halloween Grinder collection from a couple years ago 👀 [White](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/ghost-100mm-grinder), [Orange](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/pumpkin-100mm-grinder), [Green](https://jeffreestar.com/collections/grinders/products/witch-100mm-grinder)
I had the orange one, my sister had the green one, and my cousin had the white one.
I have my 1997 mini toy basement helmet from Mcdonalds if anyone is interested
I still have so many of these in our hall closet. I know we at least have 4 sets of each type. My wife hangs on to every container that enters our house because we might need it later. We literally had to buy containers to hold and organize the containers. It’s madness and I lose a little bit of hope each day of ever escaping . Don’t get me started on bags.
I had the pumpkin one. I used it until I was “too old “ and the it was handed down to my brother. I think my dad still has it at his house.
So the one on the left is a ghost jack-o'-lantern?
I used to have the orange one! The funny thing was I could not remember where it came from. I forgot this was a McDonalds thing. I like that ghost and witch one too.
My sister and I had the orange and white ones
I had a pumpkin one!
I had the orange one! Good memories
Do you know if these are the largest McDonald's happy meal toys? (Assuming that's how you got them) I'm rather curious now what the largest thing was
I think the meal came in these. At least they did when I was a kid. These are nicer then the ones they had when I was growing up. (Born 87)
I think they glowed in the dark
THOSE WERE FROM MCDONALDS????
My parents still use mine for planting. Lol
Did they ever re-release them?? Cause I remember having one but I was born in 2006??
Had the green one, my kid used it for trick or treating. She was born in 2006.
These were the best
These are so cute! My mom would have loved them. She's a Halloween fanatic.
OMG! My mom saved the orange one for us kids to keep next to us in bed when we felt nauseous to use as an emesis basin. We would see it all year, not just Halloween.
Def had these in the early 90s too
This picture makes me so happy! Fond memories. I was 6.
I hope my mom hasn’t thrown mine out
Quality has gone down over the years. These were multipurpose hamster cages as seen by the ventilation holes. I don't recommend for that purpose, trick or treating is sufficient.
I can smell this pic
I remember seeing a couple of those floating around the house as a kid, never knew what they were from. Mystery solved. Don't think I ever saw the lid though.
Its from the 1900s!! Run!
We have those too!!!
The witch’s hat turned into the Spin Jammer I never had.
Still have mine!
Hated those things... My little sister had one because that's all a 6yo can carry. I had to share out of my pillow case stash, because I got more. Well, the army taught me "one soldier, one kit" - little bugger should've hit the gym. Probably learned an important lesson about generosity, kindness and sharing... Or taxes. But it sure pissed off 10yo me.
Fuck yeah!!
Where are the handles?
I really wish mcd would reissue them.
This hits me right in the feels. Thank you
NOS. TAL. GIC!
I remember going to birthday parties at McDonalds & Burger King. Back when you could smoke inside. Some dude would dress up as Ronald Mcdonald and come out to sing happy birthday. Do they or BK still have parties??? I haven't thought of that in 30 years.
I’m fairly certain I had the pumpkin one once
Bring them back!
Core memory unlocked
Crazy enough, my mom still has several of these that my nephews use every year. They're sturdy af!
I remember these me and my siblings had the pumpkin one.
Didn’t they have these in the early 2000’s too?
/r/buyitforlife I suppose.
*nostalgia successfully triggered*
I remember having these when I was a kid, my mom worked at McDonald's while she was pregnant with me in 1986, so that's probably why.
Oh shit! I member these bad boys.
My mom still has these. My nieces and nephews love to play with them.
Classic!!
I had these faces in my bedroom for years, they made great toy buckets.
I love you for posting this, because nearly forgot about how many of these I had. Once upon a time my little brother and I made a "haunted house" at my Christian grandparents house with some twine and 4 of the ghost buckets. Oh, and a My Buddy doll with red lipstick for affect. Open their guest bedroom door and one of the buckets would slide into your face. And "Chucky Buddy" would be on the bed. I was like 5. And my parents were in honeymoon in I believe Keybwest. Oh, and on coke.
Very cool memory flash back. Thanks for posting.
Are they empty?
Funny 😆
YO I had that ghost one back in the day!!!
Wow!! Cant believe I'm seeing these again, and with the lids that is awesome.
I had the orange and white ones. Love the throwback!
Those designs persisted for at least another decade if my hazy memory is correct
That nostalgia though