Back in 2016, McDonald’s released a series of motorized “pull back” vehicles themed after DC characters (with their Happy Meals). My kid ended up with all of ’em, and now that he’s getting older and we’re purging a lot of the older toys, he passed them on to me. They’re actually pretty nice for Happy Meal toys, reminding me of the stuff from my own childhood rather than the useless (branded) hunks of plastic they usually hand out.
The cars were copies of various Hot Wheels Originals designs, though quite a bit bigger than the regular 1/64 scale of the Mainline and most other branches of the brand. Like any “pull back” toy, you wind the gear by rolling it backwards and then it zooms off upon release. The kicker here is that each car had a distinct special feature that made it operate in a unique way. The bags were numbered:
- Superman (Driftsta)
- Batman (Maximum Leeway)
- The Flash (Epic Fast)
- Green Lantern (GT Hunter)
- The Joker (Great Gatspeed)
- Robin (D-Muscle)
- Cyborg (Nitro Tailgater)
- Aquaman (Time Track)
Conspicuously absent is Wonder Woman, though it’s not entirely surprising seeing as how these were specifically marketed as “for boys.” Still, it feels a little strange to omit her yet include a single villain (Joker).
It’s worth mentioning that the paint job on these things is quite impressive for what they are. Multiple colors are used on each car, the logos and graphics are durable, and we even get metalflake on a couple of them. And while they’re “just plastic” (instead of the diecast metal we’re used to) the material seems to be of decent quality. These things have taken their fair share of hits and bumps and falls and tumbles and you can’t even tell. I can’t even begin to tell you how many Happy Meal toys I accidentally broke while trying to assemble them or assess some aspect of their functionality.
Superman’s claim to fame is his ability to ride only on his back wheels. I suppose this is meant to symbolize Superman taking flight.
Batman kind of zig-zags all around and cuts small circles. It’s pretty cool to watch if you have a nice big stretch of floor or a large table. Not totally sure how it relates back to Batman (if at all) but it is a neat trick.
The Flash is just a straightforward pull back – no strings no gimmicks. I guess this makes sense since the Flash is just trying to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.
Green Lantern has a weird little “power” – he starts off going half speed for a few feet before launching off full throttle. No idea where the correlation with Green Lantern is, or maybe there just isn’t one.
The Joker comes with a fifth hidden wheel. The gimmick is that this extra wheel is oblong, which makes the car bounce as it rolls along. It reminds me of those little wind-up chattering teeth so often associated with clowns.
Robin also has a fifth wheel tucked away out of sight, but this one functions a bit different. I’m not sure if it winds another gear or what, but somehow it allows Robin to go forward a bit before throwing it in reverse and moving backwards. He’ll actually do this 3 or 4 times depending on the pull-back.
Cyborg runs with the whole concept of storing up energy and releasing it later. Instead of speeding off as soon as he’s pulled back, it winds the motor. When it’s time to roll into action, push the button on the roof and watch him go!
Aquaman has the distinction of giving us a choice. Via a small switch on the underside, we can make him go straight, to the left, or to the right. Naturally if goes left or right it results in him going in circles. I guess this is indicative of Aquaman just swimming around in the ocean…?
This is definitely a neat little set to have in homage to DC. As simple Happy Meal toys they didn’t have to have pull back motors, but they did! They also didn’t have to have individual features, but they did! That’s about it for now. Got any other cool prizes at McDonald’s? Tell me about ’em below!
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