McDonald's Happy Meal POG 2019 - Superman in Metropolis
Welcome Back to the Drive-Thru, Collectors!
If you were anywhere near a McDonald's in Europe in 2019, you might remember the POG wave that landed that year - a colorful assortment of spinning top disc toys that leaned hard into DC superhero territory and classic Looney Tunes humor. Today I want to focus on one piece in particular: the Superman in Metropolis POG, a fun little spinning top that captures the Man of Steel in his iconic city setting. It is part of the broader POG 2019 Happy Meal assortment, and it is a genuinely satisfying piece to hold, examine, and spin.
The POG 2019 Set - What You Are Working With
Before diving into this specific disc, it helps to understand the wave as a whole. The POG 2019 assortment is a large one, and it draws from two very different licensing pools. On the DC side, you have multiple Superman variants - including Superman Rescuing, Superman in Space, Superman's Emblem 1 and 2, and this one, Superman in Metropolis - along with Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman 2, Wonder Woman 3, and Wonder Woman's Emblem) and The Flash (Flash 1 and Flash 2). On the Looney Tunes side, there are multiple Taz, Tweety, Sylvester, Wile E. Coyote, and paired character discs like Taz and Bugs Bunny or Tweety and Sylvester. Rounding out the set are original characters like Vera, Yeti, Tickles, and a handful of Team-themed discs (Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team Investigation, Team in Desert), plus a Surprise disc and a Victory disc.
That is a lot of ground to cover, and it means that collecting the complete POG 2019 set takes real patience and intentional hunting. Each piece is a small plastic spinning top - think of a flattened disc about 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter with a rounded base that allows it to spin when you twist it between your fingers. The format is unmistakably retro, and that nostalgia element is a big part of the wave's appeal.
Superman in Metropolis - Up Close
The Superman in Metropolis disc is cleanly executed. The top face features Superman positioned against a Metropolis skyline backdrop, all rendered in bright, saturated colors that pop well for such a compact piece. The classic shield emblem reads clearly, the blues and reds are bold, and the city setting behind him gives the disc a sense of place that sets it apart from other Superman variants in this set. Where Superman Rescuing is all about action and Superman in Space goes cosmic, this one is grounded - literally and figuratively - in the world he defends.
The plastic itself is firm and smooth, standard for McDonald's Happy Meal spinning top pieces from this era. There is no articulation or moving parts beyond the spin function itself, but the disc spins reliably when launched correctly and holds its rotation with decent stability on a flat surface. For a small Happy Meal freebie, the print quality is sharper than you might expect - the graphics stay legible and colorful without blurring or bleeding at the edges.
What I appreciate about the Superman in Metropolis disc is that it commits to a specific visual idea. Not every piece in a large wave has that - some feel like generic filler with a character logo slapped on. This one actually builds a scene, and for a toy this size, that extra layer of storytelling makes a real difference on the shelf.
Collector Notes
The POG 2019 wave is a completionist's challenge. With so many pieces spread across two licensed properties plus original characters, building a full set means you will almost certainly end up with duplicates of the more common discs while still hunting for the harder-to-find ones. Superman in Metropolis sits in the middle tier of the DC group - it is not the rarest disc in the wave, but it is not the one you grab in every blind pull either. Condition matters more than you might think with spinning tops, since the printed faces are prone to scuffing if the discs are tossed loose in a bag or box. Mint examples show the graphics at their best and are worth seeking out if you are building a display.
From a display standpoint, POG discs look sharp when grouped by property. Lining up all the Superman variants side by side - Rescuing, in Space, in Metropolis, and both Emblem discs - immediately shows the range of visual approaches within just one character's coverage. Pairing that with the Wonder Woman and Flash discs creates a strong DC section that contrasts nicely with the more cartoon-forward energy of the Looney Tunes half of the set. Small display risers or shallow trays work well for keeping the discs visible and upright without them rolling around.
For storage, small zip pouches or divided organizer boxes protect the printed surfaces while keeping the collection sorted. Grouping by series - DC Heroes together, Looney Tunes together, originals together - makes it easy to see exactly what you have and what you still need to track down.
Superman in Metropolis is on my need list, and I have it marked in the Collectiblz app while I keep an eye out for a clean example. If you are tracking your own POG 2019 collection, the app makes it easy to log what you have and flag the pieces you are still chasing.
- K.M. 🎁
