Astrosniks were an attempt by Bully, a German company, to replicate the success of Smurfs. They were essentially space Smurfs. They were first introduced in Europe in 1975, and eventually made their way to the States in the early 1980s. They never really became a hit here, probably because they didn’t have a cartoon tie-in like a lot of the biggest toylines (although there were plans for a show, it just never came to fruition).
In 1983, McDonald’s licensed the Sniks for a Happy Meal campaign. The figures were altered from their original designs to feature the famous Golden Arches to tie them to McDonald’s. Sometimes the alterations were as simple as adding an M to a part of the figure. But others are a little more extensive – as you’ll see at the end, I have a few retail Sniks side-by-side with the McDonald’s version so you can see the differences.
I also have the Happy Meal boxes for the McDonald’s Sniks.
The Astrosnik translite sign is courtesy of Consumer Time Capsule. This guy is the collector of all things McDonald’s and he said the Astrosniks sign is nearly impossible to come by. He has one in his collection and it’s the only one he’s ever seen. Man, what I wouldn’t give to get my hands on one of those…
McDonald’s released another series of Astrosnik Happy Meals in 1984, but I’ll share those with you some other time.
