Little Plastic Figures

I used to have a ton of these little plastic figures that I'd pick up in toy stores, yard sales, Happy Meals or where ever I could get my hands on them. These little guys were all over my bedroom when I was younger. Now that I'm an "adult" and "all grown up," what remains of my collection is now regulated to a few shelves hanging in the playroom. From time to time when there's nothing better to talk about, I'll share a couple of these treasures with ya!


I wanted to start off with two of the cooler pieces of my collection. The man you see driving the police car is none other than Big Mac, the resident law enforcement officer of McDonaldland. This is a 1986 Happy Meal toy that I got in Canada. The striking gentleman standing in the background in the one and only Turnpike Man. Turnpike Man was the mascot of the New Jersey Turnpike! Why the Jersey Turnpike needed a mascot I do not know, but Turnpike Man was promenantly featured in various ads and posters hanging up in the turnpike rest areas. I was already familiar with Turnpike Man's work when in 1994, on the way home from Six Flag's Great Adventure, we stopped for some Roy Rogers' at one of the turnpike rest areas (at about two in the morning) and discovered that if you ordered a large drink it came in a souvenir Turnpike Man cup! Of course I screamed in delight, and the woman behind the counter was so surprised that I knew who Turnpike Man was (yet alone was a fan of his) that she went in the back and came out with a Turnpike Man little plastic figure for me to cherish! Twelve years later, TM still stands proudly in my collection.