Boo Buckets Through the Years, From 1986 to Today
Vintage McDonald's Boo Buckets
Whether you grew up in the late 1980s and beyond or became a parent after that and were on drive-thru duty, you likely have vivid memories of bringing home a McDonald's Halloween Boo Bucket.
As one of the most iconic fast food restaurant offerings, Boo Buckets are ingrained in the collective pop culture consciousness as one of the most exciting Happy Meal launches of all time.
Fans will be thrilled to hear that McDonald's is bringing back Boo Buckets again this year and you can get your hands on them Tuesday, Oct. 17. For 2023, the fast food chain is even introducing a brand new Boo Bucket design, with the Vampire Purple Boo Bucket joining in on the fall fun. You can also still snap up the usual ghouls: green McGoblin, orange McPunk'n and white McBoo.
Before you head out to collect this year's new line of Boo Buckets, you might want to take a walk down memory lane. When did Boo Bucket first arrive at McDonald's? Are some versions of the fun Happy Meal additions rarer than others?
Below, we've answered all of your most pressing Boo Bucket questions. Because when it's Halloween, there's nothing more exciting than going down a nostalgic rabbit hole to revel in everything that gave you the most Halloween happiness over the years.
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Related: McDonald's Boo Buckets Are Back Again This Year—Here's How to Get Them
When Did McDonald's Boo Buckets First Launch?
The very first McDonald's Halloween pails made their debut in 1986. Back then, they were part of the Halloween Pumpkin Happy Meal, which included one of the very first three designs. They were all orange, but each member of the trio had a different expression. McPunk'n had a traditional scary jack-o'-lantern face, McBoo looked like a scared ghost, and McGoblin wore an angry expression.
There was a brief test run the prior year in 1985, where McDonald's brought the Halloween Pumpkin Happy meal to select restaurants throughout New York and Boston. While customers got an early taste of what was to become one of McDonald's most iconic holiday legacies, the buckets we all know and love didn't make an official appearance nationwide and throughout all McDonald's locations until 1986.
When Were Boo Buckets Discontinued?
Though the pails have been a beloved Halloween staple over the years, McDonald's stopped selling the pails in 2016. After making them available for 30 years and cementing them as one of the "must-have" annual Halloween goodies to collect, the chain decided to go in a new direction that year after debuting a new Boo Buckets collaboration with Peanuts, featuring different designs with characters like Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
Related: McDonald's Just Dropped 2 New Halloween Bucket Bags—And It's Giving Us Serious '90s Vibes
How Have McDonald's Boo Buckets Changed Over the Years?
In the beginning, Boo Buckets had a very simple design. Each came with a lid and a thin black handle to help make it easy to carry around your Halloween haul. But they haven't remained the same over their 30+ year legacy.
One notable change to their design came in 1990, when the first glow-in-the-dark Boo Buckets debuted, complete with a few new designs: a lime green witch and a white ghost. But it wasn't until 1991 that there was a major change that had bucket loyalists up in arms: the brief switch to Happy Meal McBoo Bags. For an entire year, McDonald's served up "glow-in-the-dark vinyl treat bags" instead of their iconic buckets.
In 1992, the buckets underwent another interesting design change, which included updated faces as well as an interesting cookie-cutter lid. You could remove the middle of the bucket's lid to use it to make Halloween cookies. This design stayed the same for more than a decade.
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In the 2010s, we began seeing collaborations with other characters beyond classic Halloween ghosts, monsters and pumpkins. Mr. Potato Head and friends were spotted on a Boo Bucket, with wraparound scenes featuring the cartoonish potato hanging out in a graveyard or hosting a Halloween party in costume.
After that, McDonald's introduced collaborations with Peanuts, Monster High and other characters geared toward young collectors. The final collaboration was in 2016, when McDonald's stopped selling Boo Buckets. They made their triumphant return in 2022, when the design shifted back to a more traditional look, albeit with a piece of cardboard standing in for the lid.
It looks like the 2023 McDonald's Boo Buckets will look pretty similar to the 2022 crop, though there will be one new addition: the Vampire Purple Boo Bucket, which adds a new color and design to the mix. The handles also seem to be a bit more ornate than the usual thin, plain black ones that have been on the more recent revivals.
Related: All About McDonald's Breakfast: McMuffins, McGriddles and More
McDonald's
Are Some McDonald's Boo Buckets Rarer Than Others?
If you've ever tried to collect McDonald's Happy Meal Toys over the years, you know that some are nearly impossible to get, whether that's due to overall scarcity or the fact that everyone is trying to get one for themselves. The same can be said of Mcdonald's Boo Buckets, especially since there are so many different kinds to collect.
A quick trip to eBay will reveal that even the buckets from their inaugural year aren't as expensive as you might think. Right now, 1986 Boo Buckets are going for anywhere from $10 for one to $55 for a pair, which isn't a bad price for one of the very first versions of the pails. You can even get three McBoo Bags for just $15 shipped.
As a rule, the newer the Boo Bucket, the easier and cheaper it is. Of course, your best bet might be to go to your local Goodwill, flea market or yard sales to find them as cheaply as possible. One of the more expensive items is a Boo Bucket display stand from 1999 that's priced at $99. It has two buckets, but you really can't use them without ruining the paper display, so what's the fun in that?
Interestingly enough, the Boo Bucket-inspired Loungefly crossbody purses are much more expensive to purchase than the real thing. You can get an orange pumpkin version for $105, a white ghost for $125 and the elusive green witch for $216 on eBay. They all glow in the dark, but we're not sure they're the best container for candy.
