THE CEREAL PRIZE PROJECT: GROUP 002(Leon Neon toys,
Yo Yogi! Stamper, Tony the Tiger ball-flipper,
StarBots robot figure and
Flintstones Puzzles)
#006 - Leon Neon Glow Strand: (Mattel, 1986)
Additional Images:
Sealed premium.
I honestly have no idea which cereals came with these and under what scope the promotion lied, but jeezy creezy...it's
Leon Neon! You might remember the toys from an
ancient X-E article, but if not, here's the scoop: Mattel produced these awesome sets of bendable, colored "wires" in pink and green, which would glow in the dark for a admirable stretch of time if you soaked 'em under a lamp for half a minute before turning the lights out. I loved them to death.
As a cereal premium, the original concept is scaled down -- instead of thick, poseable wires, breakfast eaters only received cheaper, small strands of glowy rubber. It was just enough to make us want more, so it's a good thing the traditional store-bought sets were rather cheap. The strands came in either green or pink, complete with clasper pieces in case anyone wanted to use 'em for necklaces or bracelets. And really, who didn't?
#007 - Yo Yogi! "Boo-Boo" Stamper: (Kellogg's, 1991)
Additional Images:
Sealed in package.
Ah,
Yo Yogi!, somewhat of a misfired attempt to revitalize some of Hanna Barbera's classic characters for a new generation. Basically, Yogi and pals were now teenagers with hip clothes, hip catch-phrases, hip adventures and hip cereal premiums -- this one being a Boo-Boo stamper. Kellogg's has offered more stampers than anyone could imagine, based on stuff people like, based on stuff people don't like, based on stuff stuck somewhere in the middle -- like Boo-Boo. The stamper splits in two, with the rubber face under the top and the ink pad hidden on the bottom. The ink's run dry, but if you check out the Boo-Boo sticker and imagine what he'd look like as one of the Predators in alpha-stealth invisible mode, that's pretty much what we were stamping all over our notebooks. Also, I've just confirmed a long lost thrill: Kellogg's stampers really
do make great ninja throwing stars.
#008 - Tony The Tiger Tennis Flippin' Figure Thing: (Kellogg's, 1982)
Additional Images:
Sealed in bag.
Don't know what it is.
Do know where it came from. I'm halfway sure it's a Frosted Flakes Tony the Tiger racquet-swinging ball-hitting plastic-bending some-sorta-thing, but don't go quotin'. It's pretty cool, whatever it is, and the plastic Tony's made of is just pliable enough to let you pull him back to swing at whatever tiny ball or crumpled up piece of paper you can fit on the nearby tee, which unbelievably enough doesn't stand for "Tony." Okay, so it doesn't translate well in print. Hilarious to hear though, I swear.
Many of the premiums given away in boxes of Frosted Flakes, much like the commercials
for Frosted Flakes, lived under the guise of supporting an active, healthy lifestyle. For whatever reason, the flakes' half of the deal far out-values the frosted's, and Tony is free to pretend that
his cereal pushes kids to exercise, sweat, live fast and sweat some more. It's for reasons like these that you've gotta believe cereals like Grape Nuts and Fruit N' Fibre would've really benefited from having a cartoon tiger to talk up how grrrrreat they were.
#009 - StarBots Shuttle Figure: (Kellogg's, `80s)
Additional Images:
Sealed in package. Figure in ship mode.
I hate to give away a big one so soon into the Cereal Prize Project's long reign of terror, but I gotta admit: Kellogg's
StarBots are my favorite cereal premium ever, bar none. There were a collection of four available (you can view the original commercial
here), with each figure able to transform from some kind of vehicle to some kind of robot. Wonder where they got that idea! Yes, as America tipped its giant foam cowboy hat to the
Transformers, Kellogg's took notice, stood up, shouted big nasty words and successfully capitalized on the fad with their very own knock-offs. They're not the kind of toys any kid would've went for in a toy store, but for figures that came out of a damn cereal box, these were the heavyweight champions of the universe.
Each figure arrived unassembled (even the stickers had to be applied), which only made kids more attached to the figures, since they, ya know, built the things. You'll be seeing all of the
StarBots in the months to come, but this one ain't shabby at all -- a blue robot/space shuttle with legs that double as wings and arms that double as things suspiciously piled on top of wings. Like all StarBots, the figure was available in many colors, though none as cool as the metallic silver on display in the commercial. Kellogg's lied to me, man.
#010 - Flintstones Puzzles: (Post, Fruity & Cocoa Pebbles, 1980)
Additional Images:
Puzzles sealed in packages.
Post Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles represent the beautiful thing about breakfast cereals: They're fun. They're sweet, they're colorful, they're Saturday morning cartoon fuel. They're Sunday comics. They're good even without the milk. Perhaps best of all, they come with freeeee toys. The Flintstones' cereals provided some of the most interesting premiums of 'em all over the past several decades, and though the puzzles shown above definitely aren't fitting the bill of "interesting," you'll see what I mean as we get to the good stuff.
The puzzles came one per specially marked box, each double-sided with a different
Flintstones character on each side. Of course, this made putting the puzzles together a heck of a lot more difficult, as you'd be looking for Betty's shoulder in a pile of Barney's ass and torso.
--
Matt (6/11/05)
