Do you remember the California Raisin figurines from Hardee's in the 1980's? If you answered yes, you must be older like me. A 9 year old version of myself would beg my parents to take me to Hardee's just to get the cool figurines. For only $0.99, raisin figurines were offered with the purchase of either two of the sweet biscuits or another dessert. Looking back at it now I wonder what my kids would think of these figures. Probably they would think they are so dumb. But to me.... it was so cool. Let's take a look back at this little toy you could get at Hardee's.
Hardee's released its California Raisins figurines in 1987, a year after the characters first appeared in commercials. These collectible toys were part of a promotion for Hardee's cinnamon 'n' raisin biscuits.
The California Raisins were introduced by the California Raisin Advisory Board in 1986 with their famous "Late Show" commercial. Hardee's followed up a year later with a line of collectible Raisin figurines, which were given out with kids' meals. They continued the promotion with more sets in 1988, 1991, and 2001.
These days, demand for Hardee's California Raisin figurines isn't quite as high as it was when they were initially released in the 1980s. However, since the cinnamon n' raisin biscuits were discontinued in 2002, demand for the sweet treats has remained quite high. Their efforts finally paid off in 2023 when Hardee's announced it was bringing back its cinnamon n' raisin biscuits after a 21-year hiatus. Yet, despite selling more than 3 million of them during their return (and without the help of The California Raisins), the treats were gone once again by January 2, 2024.
Will they ever come back? More importantly, will the California Raisins ever come back? Come on Hardee's, bring back my youth!