#EffTheWin - The Minions are back in McDonald's Happy Meal (See the 10 of them here)

About a few posts ago, I featured the McDonald's Minions Happy Meal Preorder option in which you can place a preorder at any McDonald's outlet (priced at about a grand) to be able to reserve a complete set of the all new Minions Happy Meal toys (10 in a set) to coincide with the upcoming release of the Minions movie in theaters nationwide.

We are able to claim our preorder and got our set of the Minions toys, and as promised before, here is my feature about them cute, yellow goggled things.

The toys are packaged in a special big yellow Happy Meal-like design box - Acts as a glorious gift box to surprise the little ones

Beside from the obvious fact that you get to have all of the 10 new Minion toys in one go rather than getting them one by one through purchasing Happy Meals, the customers who pre-ordered get their "Minions" toys packaged in a specially designed yellow package resembling a large McDonald's Happy Meal box. Inside it are the 10 individually packed Minion toys. For me, that is a nice touch by the guys at McDonald's. The packaging doubles as a gift box of sorts - perfect for the kids you are buying the pre-ordered toys for.

My daughter was really delighted when we gave her the package and proceeded opening the packed Minions one by one. Now, are those minions worth the pre-order effort and wait? Here are all the 10 Minion toys and what do I think of them (from a consumer standpoint):

As the new movie is sort of like a prequel, it chronicles the life of the Minions before they met Gru (their boss on the Despicable Me movies). Apparently, the Minions have been around for some time on Earth and had been serving a lot of masters through history like Napoleon, Dracula, and even...a T-Rex. Some of the toys reflect them in these states.

Minion Caveman:

"Me Strong Minion, Me Hack You with..BA-NA-NA!"

Straight out of the prehistoric era, this minion right here dressed in a caveman getup (even has wooden goggles) and with a perplexed look is for sure on "Fight" mode. His choice of weapon.....What else, but a Banana!

Thoughts: With a push of the button at the back of the figure, this minion will swing his "Banana" to hack anyone in his path. The hand is adjustable for different angles of swing. As a bonus, the other hand is movable too. As this feature does not require batteries, the fun factor with this Minion is not limited.

Egyptian Hula Minion:

"Hula...like an Egyptian" (Hula-hoop was misplaced though at the time this pic was taken)

From ancient Egypt, this playful minion loves to do some hula-hoop action. Unfortunately, at the time of the picture taking, this Hula Minion's hoop is misplaced.

Thoughts:  A separate hula-hoop comes with the figure and can be attached to a slot in the mid-portion of the figure. With a push of the button concealed on the top of its head, the mid portion will spin around and if the hoop is attached, this minion can easily break the record for most hula-hoop spins. However, as I stated above, the hoop can be easily misplaced so make sure the kids will be mindful about the hoop so they will not end up with a lonely Egyptian minion. Again, no batteries needed for this one. 

Marching Minion Soldier:

"I got eyes on all sides while Marching, Sir!"

Viva Revolution! From the Napoleonic era, this minion in soldier garb is all snappy while marching with arms swinging and awaiting orders from his commander. At the same time, he is alert as he looks side to side wary of any adversary that might be sneaking for an attack.

Thoughts: This minion, although having a cool soldier outfit, has a very simple feature. A push of a button concealed on his hat makes his eyes move from side to side and his arms swing (like in a marching motion). However, that is just all there is to it. If you consider both arms being poseable as a bonus, then good for you. For me, the moving eyes and swinging arms does not make the cut of being a good feature and because of that, this became my least favorite minion of the bunch.

Guard Minion:

"Hup! two, three, four...Hup! two, three, four"

Donning a queen's guard garb, this elite minion marches like a wind-up soldier along the perimeter guarding the premises of the palace with...of course their favorite choice of weapon: The Banana.

Thoughts:  I really do wonder why this is not the one named the "Marching Minion" because obviously, this minion is the one that really marches. Winding up this little one will make him march on any flat surface. I personally love the design of the "Key" used to wind up this figure as it really looks like the "old school" keys of antique wind-up toys - A nice touch if you will ask me. This figure does not use batteries and that is a good thing too. Just be careful on winding him up too much or you'll risk breaking his mechanism.

Martial Arts Minion:

Finishing Strike: "Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!!!"

This Minion sporting a purple karate gi and a pair of geta, complimented with a spiky hair is never afraid to show his lightning fast roundhouse kick attack. He has mastered the technique and has a black belt to show for it.

Thoughts: This minion has one of the coolest feature in the set, albeit a bit complicated to pull off. This is how it is done; with the Martial Arts Minion facing you, you have to turn his lower half to the "LEFT" without releasing to "charge up" (about two to three turns will do) and when you release the lower half, he will do (literally) fast repetitions of roundhouse kicks that will make Ryu, Ken, and even Akuma envious. Does not use batteries too. As a precaution, just like the wind-up Guard Minion, extra care must be exercised while winding his lower half to avoid breakage.

Vampire Minion:

"I will scare you off..with my Cuteness!"

From Parts Unknown, meet the Vampire Minion. He is one of the many minions who served the famous Count Dracula, although rumor has it that they accidentally killed off the famous vampire by exposing him to sunlight while celebrating the Count's birthday.

Thoughts: For the record, this is my "favorite" Minion Toy in the set. The Vampire Minion may look simple with his face sporting a silly smug. However, by pushing down a knob on this figure's back, his feature activates and he does this:

Scaringly Cute.. eh?

I personally like this minion because this is the only Minion that features a moving mouth. The other minions from this set has static mouths in their design. This Minion actually aims to scare you off; however, he ends up being cute while doing it (kinda beats the purpose). Again, his feature does not need batteries, so you can activate it over and over again (just like what I do whenever I had the chance, LOL).

The Three Main Characters

Now, the Minions movie features a lot of minions, but there are three minions that act as the main protagonists of the film; they are Kevin (The leader and the responsible one), Stuart (The One-eyed mischievous one), and Bob (The little one, stout, and seems to be the baby of the group - has heterochromia too). Of course, they are featured as toys in the set too.

Groovy Stuart:

"Oooh..Groovy!!!"

If there is one thing a minion loves to do, that is dancing a lot and this particular groovy minion is ready to strut his stuff in the dance floor dressed up in a retro dancing outfit.

Thoughts: This is the first of two Stuart toys in the set. His feature is unique as you can make him dance by shuffling his feet from side to side. Groovy Stuart does not need batteries, so you can make him dance without limitations, as long as you want to.

Guitar-Strumming Stuart:

"Please Welcome, Stuart Sheeran"

Armed with a guitar, this minion is out to serenade the ladies with his sentimental gibberish. He encourages you to sing-along with him.

Thoughts: This is the second Stuart figure (a lot of love for Stuart huh?). This minion do sing if you push his guitar a little bit downward, although I cannot make up what tune he is singing. Now, his left hand is movable. You wanna know why? Because he can hold the neck of his guitar in that hand. Nice detail. This figure does use batteries for his feature though.

Lava Shooting Kevin:

Hasta "Lava" Vista, Baby!

Freeze! Kevin is holding a Lava gun! (is Freeze the right term then?) This Minion won't think twice spraying you with Hot Lava if you think you are feeling lucky, punk!

Thoughts: Pulling the trigger of the Lava gun held by this minion will make his gun glow hot red. The right arm along with the gun are movable for different angles of Lava gun-toting minion fun. Having a light-up feature, this minion obviously requires batteries. I personally think that Kevin the Minion deserves a better figure. The Lava gun thing seems kinda off for this popular minion.

Chatting Bob:

Heterochromic Cutie!!!

The smallest and the "Baby" of the group, Bob really loves to chat. You may not understand what he is saying, but he for sure is oozing with cuteness while at it.

Thoughts: Just looking at this minion figure, it is easy to say that this is the bonafide cutie in the whole set and I cannot argue with that. Chatting Bob is indeed the cutest of the bunch. His chatting feature is a winner and you can activate it by pushing the button on the front of the figure (disguised as a pocket). Additionally, his left hand is movable. I love the detail of this figure as it is clear that he is heterochromic (different color of eyes). As usual, since he talks, he is powered by batteries too.

And there you have it folks, all 10 of those new McDonald's Minions Toys.

I gotta say that they are indeed a big improvement over the last set that McDonald's released about a couple of years ago as they have cool new features and a variety of designs. It will be a sure bet that these new toys will get "sold out" faster as compared to the previous set so if you have a favorite among them or you want all these new cute minions, then rush to your nearest McDonald's outlet and get yourselves a Happy Meal or two. Just take it easy on the trans fat though.

Also, do not forget to watch the minions in their own movie, coming to theaters on July 8, 2015.

Until next time,

Ciao!