The start of all this is back in 1987, when McDonald's released a series of 6 transforming-robot toys called Changeables. As seen above, they were simple, robust, and boldly simple design. Between my brother and I, we got one or two each of the ones shown here, the McNuggets, the Egg McMuffin and the Quarter Pounder bot. They very quickly became among my favorite bots, often mixed in with other Happy Meal toys. For one reason or another, we missed out on the rest of the original set, though I had looked enviously at the artwork and advertisements for them. (See BattleGrip, previously my best source for Tonka Play People, for a look at the original Happy Meal box art.) What surprises me more is that I didn't get any of the 2nd series in 1988, which featured 6 new bots plus reissues of 2 of the originals (which I will get to in a moment). I did sight these later bots in the second-hand stores, eventually mixed in with the dino-themed Series 3, but I never bought any for reasons I didn't quite analyze. In hindsight, they simply weren't the same. I did remain interested, however, in getting the ones I missed the first time around. Eventually, many years later but still a long time ago, I found all the ones I didn't have all together. Here's the lineup of the rest.
As seen here, the rest of the set were a Big Mac, Fries and a Shake, the first 2 of which were revived with Series 2. What interested me was that, while the Big Mac had pretty much the same "plan" as the ones I had all along, the Fries and the Shake were quite different. The fry bot is just kind of odd, almost troll-like, while the drink bot is downright towering, to the point that it looks even taller than it actually is in a lineup. (What I really can't account for is that the McNuggets bot is taller than all the rest except this one.) I was happy to pick them up, and have continued to revisit them regularly. Here's a lineup of the set in alt mode.
Of course, in rational hindsight, this doesn't really make much sense, if any. They could kind of blend in, if they were full-sized, which is more than can be said for a lot of alt modes. On the other hand, they would still be small. Then the big problem is, they look like things that are edible, which isn't much of a survival trait. That wouldn't be too much of a problem if their adventures were inside a McDonald's; after all, most people who saw unattended food on a table or counter wouldn't just grab a bite. (Clearly, the best disguise of all would be a burger with one bite taken out of it...) Sooner or later, however, either someone is going to try to eat them or just throw them in the trash, though that would certainly make for an adventure in itself.
Meanwhile, there's the further question of how these things age. For the most part, they hold up very well. The arm joints are solid to this day, while the "waist" articulation has gotten a little creaky on the McNuggets. The only one to have trouble from an early date is the McMuffin. For some reason, his design has the body raise only halfway, which looked vaguely cool on the original. On the one I could find, however, it has long since worn out to the point that it simply won't stay up at all. Here's a closeup of how he would have looked in his prime.
And here's a rear view of four of them. It shows certain problematic aspects of the designs, but also just how well-constructed they are.
And why not one more pic with the Truckstop Queen and Ken R. Wampa? As I was saying, looking delicious isn't a survival trait...
With that, I'm ready to bring another meandering memory to an end. As a bonus, here's links for a Toy Galaxy video and a commercial for Series 1. That's all for now, more to come!
And thus we see the genesis of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
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