Apparently, I’m collecting McDonald’s Happy Meal toys again.
The McDonald’s Hello Kitty and Friends x Godzilla Happy Meal was released on August 18th. It’s a set of eight toys featuring Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters dressed as Toho monsters.
At this point, we’ve actually collected seven of the eight toys so far.
I didn’t realize when we went to McDonald’s for the first time that we would be collecting the whole set. We bought a few Happy Meals, and I thought that was it. We had gotten some toys, and that was that.
But then we continued collecting them. We even bought one online through Mercari.
The last time we went to McDonald’s, we waited over 30 minutes for our order. There were more than 20 adults standing around also waiting to collect their Happy Meals and figurines.
One of the guys there said he already had the whole collection. He was just there collecting a few more for his friend.
Then I learned that my cousin has the whole collection too.
Apparently, collecting the Hello Kitty toys is a thing.
I don’t even normally eat at McDonald’s.
I hadn’t been to a McDonald’s in years until my husband got interested in collecting the Happy Meal Mario Kart toys last year. He started going to McDonald’s looking for collectible toys. I just tagged along.
As a child, I would go to McDonald’s regularly with my mom. My mom loved their French fries, so I would join her and get a Happy Meal. I ended up with a pretty good collection of random toys, but I wasn’t collecting them in any serious sense. I got a toy because it came with the meal.
I never expected to be collecting these toys again as an adult.
My husband started by getting just one or two of the Happy Meal toys. And then, with the Hello Kitty toys, he kept going. Soon we had more toys, and fewer that we were missing, so he figured we might as well get the whole set.
We learned about a Happy Meal toy tracker that helps us locate which toys are available in real time. We keep an eye out for the ones we’re missing. We go back to McDonald’s multiple times and get more toys.
Right now, we’re one toy away from a complete set. So close!
It’s been a fun little adventure. It reminds me that being an adult doesn’t mean I have to leave all the joys of childhood behind. I can experience it again now going to McDonald’s as an adult and eating a Happy Meal because my husband really wants one of the Hello Kitty toys.
It makes no difference to me. I just join in and enjoy those yummy chicken nuggets that I loved as a child and apparently still love today.