10 Vintage Fast Food Collectibles Everyone Used To Have In Their Kitchen

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The fast food industry is a juggernaut, there's no denying it. Since its birth in the early 20th century, the giants of the market have consistently and successfully found new ways to make money — not just through new menu items and meal promotions, but through collectibles. In July 2025, for example, McDonald's launched a new range of Lil McDonald's Happy Meals, complete with mini toy versions of some of its most iconic menu items, its tills, and even its self-service kiosks.

McDonald's has long been a master of producing collectibles that people love, and it's not alone. In the 1980s and '90s, many different fast food chains launched collectible kitchen items like fridge magnets, plates, and even fancy glassware. Read on to find out more about the vintage fast food collectibles everyone used to have in their kitchen, as well as what they're worth now (spoiler alert: if you can bear to part with them, some might make you a pretty penny today).

For many people, a trip to Burger King was a special treat in the 1990s. The fast food chain was slightly different from the way it is today. In fact, for a time, it even offered evening table service. But one of the biggest draws for many kids — aside from the chicken tenders, fries, and burgers, of course — was the promotional products. The Kids Club Meals included toys often associated with films or TV shows like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" or "The Little Mermaid." And then there were the Disney cups.

In 1994, every kid wanted a limited-edition Disney cup. These collectible items featured designs from Disney favorites like "Aladdin," "Peter Pan," and "The Lion King." Many people still have their Burger King Disney cups from the 1990s. Some still drink from them regularly or have even handed them down to their own children. If you've lost yours, you can buy a whole set on eBay. At the time of writing, a set of 12 is listed for more than $86.

However, if you still have these cups in your kitchen, drinking from them might not be the best idea. In 2010, a laboratory test commissioned by The Associated Press found high levels of lead and cadmium in the decorative paint of many old fast food collectible glasses. The Burger King cups that were tested were from the 1980s, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Many people feel huge waves of nostalgia when they think about McDonald's in the 1980s. At the time, the fast food giant was solidifying the recognizable chain we know today, with the widespread use of drive-thrus and the popular Happy Meal (which had been introduced in 1979 and continued to evolve). Kids loved collecting all the toys that came with Happy Meals, and in the mid to late 1980s, McDonald's released collectible plastic lunch boxes as special Happy Meal premiums.

These promotions, which sometimes emphasized the portability of the meal, were a huge hit with children — although not everyone used them for lunch. For some, the boxes turned into crayon storage, but the idea was that you could collect all four colors and eat your takeout McDonald's out of them. If you remember the McDonald's lunch boxes but have no recollection of what happened to yours (let's be honest, the 1980s was a long time ago), don't worry — you can still buy them on eBay. Phew.

Most fast food collectibles were for children. That was certainly the case for McDonald's and Burger King. But in the 1980s, Arby's decided to offer something for everyone: Christmas glassware. One year, there were four glasses in the set, each with a gold rim and a holly design around the bottom. Another year, the fast food chain offered a similar design in a goblet shape.

Despite the price (each glass cost 69 cents in 1983, for example), Arby's Christmas glassware proved impressively durable. People are still finding them in house clearouts today. For some, they've even turned into unlikely family heirlooms, handed down through generations. The biggest draw of the glasses was that they didn't look like typical fast food collectibles plastered with bright colors or cartoon characters. Many even considered them quite pretty.

The good news? You guessed it — you can still buy Arby's Christmas glassware today. One set of four goblets from 1986, for example, is selling for $12 on eBay at the time of writing.

Another popular collectible to come out of the fast food industry was the McDonald's Garfield mugs. While Garfield's copyright is often listed as 1978, most sources and collectors indicate that the popular glass mugs were released by McDonald's in the mid-to-late 1980s. The mugs were made of clear glass with a picture of Garfield on the front. Some designs featured the iconic orange cat skateboarding, while others showed him lounging in a hammock, rowing in a canoe, or sitting on a seesaw. All depicted speech bubbles with Garfield quotes.

Many remember drinking from them for years, and like most fast food collectibles, you can still buy them on eBay (or luck out and stumble upon them at a flea market) if you fancy a trip down memory lane. But be careful — much like with the Disney cups, these mugs might contain high amounts of toxic metals like lead and cadmium. If you find one in the back of your cupboard, it might be best to keep it for display and nostalgic purposes rather than everyday use.

It might seem hard to believe now, especially if you grew up in a fridge magnet household, but these fun little kitchen accessories haven't been around forever. Their use didn't really become widespread until the 1970s. Very quickly after that, they became a popular collectible item, loved for their quirky designs (and practical uses, of course).

McDonald's cashed in on the fridge magnet craze quickly. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the fast food giant released many different fridge magnet designs. One magnet from 1997, for example, depicts Ronald McDonald sitting down holding balloons. In the 1980s, it also offered magnets featuring McDonaldland characters like the Hamburglar and Grimace.

If memories of having McDonald's characters chilling on your fridge are flooding back, you can satisfy that nostalgia by picking up vintage McDonald's fridge magnets on eBay. At the time of writing, a set of two magnets from the 1990s is listed for around $17.

Many remember heading down to A&W in the 1970s to sit at the drive-in, chat with friends, eat a burger, and guzzle root beer. The drink has long been associated with the chain, and if you're wondering which came first, A&W's famous root beer or its restaurants, the answer is the former. The company actually started as a root beer stand in 1919. The root beer was so popular that many customers took the mugs home with them — a fact reflected in the sheer number of vintage A&W root beer mugs for sale online at the time of writing.

If you've got some stashed in your garage, they might actually be worth a fair amount. One collection of vintage A&W root beer mugs, for example, is listed for more than $163 at the time of writing. Granted, it's quite an impressive collection with 21 mugs in total. Still, even smaller collections fetch a decent sum — another set of 13 is listed for just under $100.

Pizza Hut in the 1980s and 1990s was iconic. As soon as you pulled into the parking lot and saw the bright red roof, you knew you were in for a good time. There was usually a jukebox, a Pizza Hut buffet, games like Ms. Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, and collectible glasses you could take home. In 1982, for example, the chain sold special "E.T." glasses for 99 cents each with its medium or large pan pizzas (which remain some of Pizza Hut's most popular menu items).

Many still have the "E.T." glasses in their kitchens. But if you weren't a fan of the iconic alien, you had other choices — glasses decorated with Care Bears or characters from "The Flintstones," for instance. If you want to stock up now, you can, but beware — they don't come cheap. One set of six Care Bear glasses from 1983, for example, is listed at just under $200 on eBay at the time of writing.

Disney released "Hercules" way back in 1997. Can you believe it? While it's now a classic and much-loved movie, at the time, Disney struggled to pull in viewers. But it wasn't for lack of trying. The major entertainment corporation was on a mission to bounce back after a string of underperforming movies, and it threw everything at "Hercules" — even hosting a huge celebratory parade in New York's Times Square. And it seems even McDonald's was a big part of the film's promotion.

The Golden Arches released "Hercules"-themed plastic dinner plates featuring the movie's iconic characters, like Zeus and the Muses. The plates were actually a hit with many people, and some continued to use them for years after their release. They're worth a fair amount now, especially if they're in good condition. One complete set, for example, is listed on eBay for more than $109 at the time of writing.

We've learned about McDonald's rarest and most memorable collectibles straight from the archivist, and it's clear the chain has covered all the bases over the years. We've had mugs, fridge magnets, and plates — and now we're onto drinking glasses. In fact, each decade, the Golden Arches seemed to offer a set of must-have glasses.

The chain opened in 1940, but by 1948, it had released promotional green glasses, and similar ones followed in the years after that, including the popular purple 1955-era glasses. Then came the character glasses. In the 1980s, the fast-food chain promoted "The Great Muppet Caper" with fun, colorful drinking glasses, and in the 1970s, it sold similar glasses with McDonaldland characters printed on them.

But again, while it's true that your collectible McDonald's cups could be worth a lot of money, it's worth reiterating that if you have these glasses in your kitchen, it's probably best not to actually drink from them. In the 1970s, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency conducted tests on the McDonaldland glasses and discovered dangerous amounts of lead.

If you were a "Star Wars" fan back in the 1970s and 1980s, chances are you were on a mission to collect all of Burger King's special themed glasses. The chain teamed up with the movie franchise and Coca-Cola in 1977, when the first film, "Star Wars: A New Hope," was released. Then, in 1980, it released new designs for "The Empire Strikes Back," and in 1983, it released more for "The Return of the Jedi."

Some still have the "Star Wars" glasses at home, and if that's you, you might be sitting on a fortune — especially if you have the complete set. At the time of writing, one set of 16 glasses is listed for an impressive $550. Another singular glass with a rare misprint error is also listed for a whopping $1,200. But again — and we can't stress this enough — these glasses are probably not safe to drink from, due to the potential presence of toxic heavy metals.