New York-based graphic designer and illustrator Oscar Bastidas remembers the joy he felt as a child in Venezuela when his mother took him to McDonald’s.
“I remember when the first McDonald’s opened in Caracas and everyone went crazy,” Bastidas Remezcla said in a recent interview. “After I ate my cheeseburger, I played on the playground for two hours.”
In one of those cheeseburger Happy Meals his mother bought him around 1988, Bastidas received a Macro Mac, a small plastic toy that transformed from McDonald’s famous Big Mac hamburger into a robot. The toy was one of the few things Bastidas, who would later work at McDonald’s as a teenager, brought with him when he moved to the United States. It served as inspiration when McDonald’s commissioned him to design some of its collectible cups for the newly launched Collector’s Meal series.
“For some reason, this (Happy Meal toy) survived all my moves,” Bastidas said. “It was an emotional anchor for me.”
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With his Macro Mac on his desk, Bastidas designed three of McDonald’s six new collectible cups. The first cup, which features “McDonaldland,” a fantasy world where Ronald McDonald and his friends live, includes an image of the Macro Mac. Customers can also see characters such as the Fry Kids, the McNugget Buddies and Grimace.
“I wanted to recreate McDonald’s in my own style,” Bastidas said. “I wanted to add a little bit of value to the story behind it. At the same time, I had to respect the look and feel of the collectible.”
The other two mugs designed by Bastidas featured Beanie Babies and another featured a mashup of Mattel’s most popular toy lines, Barbie and Hot Wheels.
“I’ve had a lot of fun exploring and researching all the collectibles,” Bastidas said. “There’s a huge fan base that loves these (collector’s mugs).”
Many of the fans, Bastidas said, are drawn to the nostalgia of the collectible cups. That was the first feeling Bastidas had when McDonald’s contacted him to inquire about his interest in designing some of the cups.
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“When (McDonald’s) told me about the project, I exploded inside,” he said. “It was super meaningful to me. I was excited because it brings nostalgia. You remember all the crazy McDonald’s toys you got as a kid.”
Bastidas is also curious to see how long his designs will last beyond McDonald’s history. A quick search on eBay shows how seriously McDonald’s collectors take vintage items. Half a century from now, Bastidas’ mugs will likely still be on the market for a new group of middle-aged people. They’ll remember getting their first McDonald’s collectible mug as a kid in 2024 and want to recreate the magic.
“For me, the fact that these mugs will last for generations is priceless,” Bastidas said. “People will keep them in their kitchen cabinets for years. They will create their own memories with these mugs.”
