A Popular Video Game-Themed McDonald's Toy Collection Could Be Worth $700 Today

McDonald's is a staple of fast food and to many people, where fond memories of childhood took place. For decades, McDonalds has offered customers ways to save money on their meals, but now you might actually be able to make some extra bucks off what comes with your Big Macs, McFlurries, and more. That's because if you have been an eater of the Happy Meal, you know that every box of food not only delivers the deliciousness you crave, but also comes with a toy, and some of those toys have skyrocketed in value since they were included with your chicken nuggets and french fries.

If you happened to save the Super Mario Bros. 3 toy collection from 1990, you are in luck, because that video game-themed pack is now worth $600 on eBay. The set comes with your favorite Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) characters like Mario and Luigi, as well as an interactive environment that replicates the games gravity defying moves and pits them against foes like hopping Koopa Paratroopa and flipping Little Gomba.

On the other hand, you might be scratching your head at the price of the McDonald's toy collection. After all, how could something offered for free over three decades ago now be worth hundreds of dollars? That's because nostalgia has become a hot marketplace for Millennial consumers who remember these figurines and play-sets from childhood, but now have disposable income as adults to buy these items from their childhood, particularly when it comes to Super Mario Brothers.

All it takes is looking at the $1,360,847,665 global box office for the 2024 Super Mario Brothers movie based on intellectual property first launched in 1985 to know that fans are willing to shell out money for their favorite franchise. Mario Bros merchandise, such as the Exclusive Club Nintendo Platinum Award 2010 Super Mario Characters, are being sold on eBay for $149.95. In addition to these toys, some of the most valuable retro video games ever released are fetching a pretty penny across online retailers and game consoles like the Nintendo 64DD, which can be used to play games like Mario 64, go for over $10,000 on sites like Price Charting.

It's not just Mario and Luigi that have cornered the market on nostalgia. Another franchise with a rabid fanbase for merchandise from back in the day are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). An "Undercover" series Raphael figurine in boxed mint condition goes for roughly $3,500, according to CBR, making it the most valuable TMNT toy of all time.

Beanie Babies were highly sought after toys in the 1990s and have only grown more valuable over time, with the set known as Large Wallace and His Squad going for $600,000 as noted by Rarest. A few Transformer action figures are also worth a ton of money, debuting around the same time that Super Mario Brothers was introduced to the world. And of course, there are McDonald's Happy Meal Toys that are worth a fortune in today's dollars. While you might not be able to get your hands on all of these toys now because they are out of your price range, you might want to hold onto ones that currently come with your next trip to the Golden Arches because in a few decades, who knows, they could be worth more than you ever expected.