The Hat Trick

One Halloween tradition of mine is something I call the Hat Trick. I'll eat at least one box of every Monster Cereal that year. Back before they were seasonal, I ate them regularly. Their return every fall is highly anticipated each year. Part of what makes the Hat Trick so fun is that there's other Halloween cereals. So I make a plan and work in as many as possible... or at least the ones I want to. Unfortunately Fruit Brute isn't returning this year, that's a shame. He's a good one.

Dig That Mad Scientist Monster Kit

Smacks is a pretty good cereal, but I can't lie, it takes a good prize inside for me to get a box. I don't have to explain how badass the glow in the dark (swoon) Mad Scientist sticker set was. I've already expressed my appreciation for Mad Scientist here before, but man what a great toy line. As an adult I still love it's imagery and just looking at this ad for it just does it for me. Too gross, too yucky, too perfect.

The stickers in this set was pretty great. If you'll notice in the below back of box art, you'll see the paper insert with the perfect backdrop for bringing these freaks to life on. The stickers were an assortment of parts, enough to make three monsters with. Either with matching parts or mismatch together some real weirdos. There's no wrong way to be a Mad Scientist.

Eat Breakfast And Bust Ghosts

There's something about the glory days of breakfast cereal commercials. Today you have Tony the Tiger playing baseball so they can encourage a healthy lifestyle with your bowl of sugar. Back then, they'd brag about the bowel of candy you could eat, give you a prize, and even have a contest you'd actually want to win! All while the commercial was fully animated and entertaining. The internet is 90% people saying things used to be better and in this case it's absolutely true. Somebody let the guy who's allergic to air conditioning dictate things and now we're all pretending to be healthy because Captain Crunch doesn't come with a baking soda submarine anymore.

Oh hey, Ghostbusters. This commercial is great. The animated portion with the kids and the ghost is just a thing of astronaut. I misspelled beauty and spelling check suggested astronaut. It's pretty well animated too, in a long forgotten style that just warms my heart to see. There's a contest to win a trip to the Ghostbusters headquarters! That's pretty great. I love the generic Ghostbuster used in the spot too. I think what gets me the most is the free included record. By the time of this commercials airing (1989) record players were still fairly common. A thing of the past sure, but you likely had access to one.

I remember the records that would be on the back of cereal boxes and their inability to play well due to the nature of removing said rerecord via perforated line. You could play it, but never mind. This record looked to be bagged and inside the box of cereal. That's pretty nice.

This Damn Cursed Cereal Commercial Will Haunt Your Dreams

I don't know exactly what the curse is here. The back story, the complete effects, not much other than it's a 3AM challenge type of thing. So last night I watched it at 3AM and I saw that clown bastard every time I closed my eyes for what felt like an eternity. I've mentioned many times my overnight work hours, what I don't normally mention is that I'm 100% alone for 80% of my work night. I freaking swear I saw him peaking at me from around the corner. It got to a point where I was checking under my desk regularly. Could it have just been my imagination, yeah maybe. Or maybe this damn Bootleg Ass Rice Krispy asshole won't go away! Most sites just ask you for money, not me, no way. I ruin your chances of sleeping. Happy Halloween, here's a fucking cereal clown from hell.

Christmas Crunch (1988)

My Mom still has all those ornaments from the back of the box.

Kellog's Starbots

Earlier today (yesterday for you) I was opening a Kinder Joy Egg and my prize was a fun little robot that transformed into a boat. Not my first robot from a Kinder Egg, but one that really surprised me. Because it made me think a whole lot about Starbots. Starbots (for those who might not know) was a cereal premium from the mid-80's that found a special place in the hearts of people like you and me.

Starbots weren't just cheap plastic toys, they were cheap plastic transforming robots in a time when Transformers and Gobots were in hot competition with each other. Transformers were always generally expensive toys. Gobots, Convertors, not so much, but Transformers... yeah. For us from blue collar families there were sometimes pretty wide gaps in between getting a new Autobot or Decepticon due to that. However, a box of cereal? Your ass was getting one every week and holy crap STARBOTS. They were basic and they sure were fun. Available in a variety of colors and it was up to pure random chance over which one you got that week. You know, they might be one of the reasons I like blind packaged things so much.

Alpha Bits Haunted House commercial

Just what in the hell is going on here? Just pure insanity and breakfast with Frankenstein? 

Wait... what did that skeletons button say?