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Lunch boxes have been popular for more than 50 years as a way not only to pack a meal but also to make a statement. This year, "Toy Story" and "Hunchback of Notre Dame" boxes should be big.

What were the favorites of yesteryear? In the 1960s, television shows such as "Bonanza," "Hogan's Heroes" and "The Beverly Hillbillies" were popular designs. In the '70s, "The Partridge Family," the Bee Gees and "Welcome Back, Kotter" were favorites. The '80s brought lunch boxes covered with "Mork and Mindy," Pac Man and the "The Smurfs." In the '90s, "Pocahontas," "Casper" and "Batman Forever" have become big hits. "Lunch boxes are a way for kids to compete to see who has what character on the outside of the box," says Jeff Bendy, Toys R' Us store planning coordinator.

Plastic lunch boxes are standard these days, but that hasn't always been so. Metal boxes were once de rigueur. In the mid-80s, a group of Florida parents joined forces to ban the traditional metal box, which, they argued, some kids were using to hit each other. Florida's boycott of the metal box led other states to follow suit. King Seeley Thermos manufactured its last metal lunch box in 1985. Wouldn't you know it? The design was "Rambo."

But metal lunch boxes are making something of a comeback, as the baby boom generation waxes nostalgic for everything from its youth. Metal lunch boxes are being seen again, in collectors-edition designs and at collectors-edition prices. Metal lunch boxes with the Lone Ranger and Space Cadet designs are selling for about $17 at Target. But if that sounds pricey, here are estimated values of some of the hottest and rarest lunch boxes that survived the '60s, according to the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Metal Lunch Boxes:

Mickey Mouse, 1960, valued at $1,500.
The Jetsons (with bottle), 1963, $1,250.
Superman (with bottle), 1967, $820.
Star Trek (with bottle), 1968, $775.
The Beatles (with bottle), 1965, $400.

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