Collectible of the Day 181 - ESB McDonald's cup from Australia and New Zealand

[darthskellington]

Today we will take a look at some plastic McDonald's cups from 1982. These were available in Australia and New Zealand, and came in three styles: Red - Villains, Yellow - Droids & Vehicles, and Blue - Heroes. I recently acquired some of these, and compared them with a friend's cups. As it turns out, they are different.

My cups, seen on the top of the stack, are from New Zealand. My friend's cups are from Australia. There are several differences between the cups, including height, width, logo size, image quality, and raised lips on the top and bottom of the cups (or lack thereof). For more details, check the posts below.

In short, these are a great example of the regional variations found in mass produced vintage items. Differences aside, both versions feature wonderful artwork that captures the feel of the 1980s and vintage collectibles. These particular cups can be tricky to find, especially here in the US, so don't be surprised if it takes you a while to track these down.

 

[darthskellington]

Height: The New Zealand cups are slightly taller, measuring about 4 & 7/8" tall. The Australian cups are shorter, measuring about 4 & 5/8" tall.

Lip: You can also see on the Australian cup that is has a pronounced lip on the top edge.

 

[darthskellington]

Bottom: The New Zealand cups (left) have a smooth bottom. The Australian cups (right) have a raised lip, just like their top edge.

 

[darthskellington]

Top: New Zealand cups (above) measure about 3 & 4/16" across. With the larger lip, the Australian cups (below) are slightly wider, measuring 3 & 6/16" across.

 

[darthskellington]

Coke Logo: You can also see a slight height difference in the Coca-Cola logos on the cups. While all the other graphics are identical in size on both cups, the Coke logos visibly different when held side by side. The New Zealand logo (above) is taller measuring 14/16" tall. The Australian logo (below) is 13/16" tall.

Image Quality: This may just be the case with the examples we had on hand, but the New Zealand cups also had much cleaner images, while the Australian cups rougher or grainier. See the black outline in the image above, compared to below.

 

[Buzz Bumble]

I do remember seeing these around / advertised, but I don't have any.
(I've only ever been to McDonald's about three times in my entire life.)

 

[darthskellington]

If you run across any for sale, please let me know. I'm currently in the market for a yellow NZ cup, and all three of the Australian versions. OneCardShy is looking for all three NZ versions.