The think maybe the ring I collected box tops for was a "Sky King" thing; it had a little telescope stuck through a cube on top; the cube was also made so you could flash signals in the dark by pushing down on the case and exposing a phosphorescent spot.
I sent in milk bottle caps for a Cisco Kid Singing Lariet; it turned out to be a folded scrap of cardboard on the end of a string, with another piece of string to trail when you whirled it around. At least it did whine when you spun it.