Buzz
1. Urkel-Os
As Family Matters became a hit on ABC, Steve Urkel’s popularity reached unprecedented heights. The quirky neighbor turned pop culture icon had it all: a memorable catchphrase, a viral dance move, and lunchboxes for children. In 1991, ABC teamed up with Ralston Foods to bring Urkel-Os to grocery store shelves. This strawberry and banana-flavored cereal included special "Urkel For President" prize packs, featuring campaign buttons and "Help Urkel Find Laura" maze games.
An unopened box of Urkel-Os can now fetch up to $100 on eBay.
2. Mr. T Cereal
The early 1980s were marked by the rise of Laurence "Mr. T" Tureaud. Following his roles on The A-Team and his own Saturday morning cartoon, Quaker Oats launched Mr. T Cereal in 1984. It quickly became a favorite among children and even made a memorable cameo in Pee Wee's Big Adventure in 1985.
3. Rainbow Brite
Inspired by the Hallmark Cards' Saturday morning TV series, Ralston introduced Rainbow Brite Sweetened Cereal in 1985. The cereal boasted "natural" fruit flavors and included fun giveaways like Rainbow Brite kites, stickers, and Crazy Chain charm bracelets.
4. Smurf Magic Berry Crunch
After the Belgian comic strip and animated series arrived in the United States, The Smurfs became a major cultural phenomenon in the early '80s. Hanna-Barbera Productions debuted a Saturday morning cartoon on NBC in 1981, while Post Foods introduced
5. Dino Pebbles
Post currently offers two popular cereals based on The Flintstones—Fruity Pebbles and Coco Pebbles—and launched Dino Pebbles in the late '80s. This version was essentially Fruity Pebbles with marshmallows shaped like dinosaurs, palm trees, and surfboards. Unfortunately, Dino Pebbles didn't perform as well as its Fruity and Coco counterparts, leading Post to discontinue it in the early '90s.
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal
In 1989, Ralston released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal to capitalize on the massive success of the after-school cartoon. The cereal featured "ninja nets," which were simply lightly sweetened Rice Chex, and "ninja marshmallows." Inside the boxes, prize packs included green ooze pouches, mini-comics, and TMNT cereal bowls.
Currently, an unopened box of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cereal can fetch around $45 on eBay.
7. Transformers Cereal
With the slogan "More Taste Than Meets The Eye," Ralston pulled the plug on Transformers cereal before it even hit the shelves in the mid-'80s. The cereal was set to capitalize on the success of the Saturday morning cartoon and Hasbro's popular toy line, promising that the cocoa-flavored cereal would "transform ordinary milk into chocolate-flavored milk!"
It is believed that Ralston discontinued Transformers cereal due to a dip in toy sales at the time. Although it never made it to retail, test boxes of the would-be cereal are now considered valuable treasures on eBay, with collectors snapping them up for at least $350 each.
8. Nickelodeon Green Slime Cereal
In 2003, Nickelodeon collaborated with General Mills to release a special edition cereal called Green Slime in celebration of the 2003 Kids' Choice Awards. The cereal consisted of corn puffs shaped like green slime and marshmallows shaped like the Nickelodeon logo.
9. Tiny Toon Adventures
Etsy
In 1990, the Quaker Oats Company launched Tiny Toon Adventures Cereal, featuring oat cereal pieces shaped like letters spelling out "Tiny Toon." Despite being a low-sugar option, it struggled to compete with more popular cereals like Kix and Honey Nut Cheerios.
10. Xena: Warrior Princess—A Taste of Honey Cereal
eBay
In 2001, Rittenhouse Archives and Sci-Fi Hobby partnered to release Xena: Warrior Princess—A Taste of Honey Cereal. This exclusive, limited-edition cereal wasn't found in grocery stores, but only in comic and collectible shops. Three different boxes were produced, each featuring Xena, Gabrielle, or Callisto on the front, and they each included trading cards and honey-toasted cereal inside.
Currently, a full set can be purchased for approximately $80 on eBay.
11. The Simpsons
Simpsons Wikia
Since its debut in 1989, The Simpsons has held the title of the longest-running sitcom in television history. Over the years, the show has ventured into various food collaborations, launching five different cereals. Starting in 2001, Kellogg's introduced Bart Simpson Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch and Homer's Cinnamon Donut Cereal in the United States. In 2002, the brand expanded to Great Britain and Australia with Bart Simpson No Problemo's, a frosted multi-grain cereal loop featuring mini chocolate discs. Later, in 2003, the Bart Simpson's Eat My Shorts cereal, a syrup-flavored multi-grain cereal, was released in the UK.
In 2007, Malt-O-Meal launched Frosted Krusty-O's, available exclusively at 7-Eleven to coincide with the release of The Simpsons Movie and the premiere of season 18. Each of these five cereals was released with a limited run of less than one year.
