General Mills Monster Cereal Figures – The Ultimate Collector’s Dream
If you ever wondered what happened to those tiny plastic monsters from your childhood cereal bowls, you might want to start digging through old storage boxes. A set of four of the General Mills Monster Cereal characters in black is selling for $2,500.00, making these small figurines worth more than some cars.
These spooky speedsters represented Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry – the holy trinity of breakfast monsters from the seventies and eighties. This color had a limited run, which contributes to the rarity of this particular set. Even more stunning is that even in full color, a complete set of the four characters in the box is still being sold for $2,499.00.
The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine Rub-Ons – A Psychedelic Fortune
Back when the Fab Four ruled the airwaves, boxes of Nabisco Rice Honeys and Wheat Honeys featured Beatles-themed boxes and Beatles’ Rub-Ons as prizes in 1968. These weren’t just any ordinary cereal premiums – they coincided with the release of the animated film “Yellow Submarine.”
The rub-on sheets featured “8 different rub-on sheets – with all the fantastic characters from the ‘Yellow Submarine’ movie” that kids could apply to books, cereal bowls, or anywhere else they wanted. Today, these Beatles cereal boxes are some of the most prized and valuable boxes among cereal box collectors – garnering around $1,000 in online auctions. That’s enough money to buy roughly two hundred boxes of modern cereal.
Kix Atomic Bomb Rings – Secret Compartments Worth Big Bucks
In the ’40s, Kix would include these rings in their cereals that had a red tailfin at the top. These weren’t just decorative jewelry – they had a hidden function that made them incredibly appealing to kids of the era. The tailfin could twist off and kids could hide things in the compartment.
The rings featured intricate designs that reflected the post-war fascination with atomic imagery. On the side of the ring were etched lightning blast explosions. Just the Kix box alone, advertising the ring inside the cereal, goes for $2,500.00 on eBay. Even more remarkable, the ring itself goes for as much as $650.00.
Cap’n Crunch Whistles – The Sound of Money
Every kid who grew up in the sixties remembers the tiny whistles that came in Cap’n Crunch boxes. These weren’t just simple noisemakers – they became legendary among phone hackers in the 1970s for their precise 2600-hertz tone. In the ’60s, families would find tiny little whistles in their boxes of Cap’n Crunch.
What seemed like a simple promotional toy turned into something much more valuable. The Cap’n Crunch whistle goes for as much as $139.99 on eBay. The historical significance of these whistles extends beyond breakfast tables – they became part of early computer hacking culture when people discovered they could manipulate phone systems with their specific frequency.
Freakies Figurines – The Weirdest Goldmine in Cereal History
Freakies figures came in boxes of a relatively short-lived cereal of the same name. Freakies cereal was produced by Ralston and available in the U.S. from 1972 to 1976. Seven different Freakies figures were made, each in a single color and representing a specific creature from the story that was created to go along with the products.
These bizarre little creatures have developed an almost cult-like following among collectors. There’s been a lot of fantastic toy premiums that came in cereal boxes over the years–especially prior to the 1990s–but the Freakies rank as some of the all-time greatest. The characters had names like Goody Goody, Grumble, and Snorkeldorf, each with their own distinct personality and backstory. Complete sets of these figures now sell for hundreds of dollars, making them some of the most sought-after cereal premiums ever produced.
Honey-Comb Monster Mitts – Ghoulish Gloves with Growing Value
Monster Mitts were found in Honey-Comb cereal in 1974. They were cheap plastic gloves with ghoulish designs. What made these premiums particularly memorable was their genuinely creepy artwork that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror movie.
The designs were surprisingly detailed and disturbing for children’s cereal premiums. One looked like skin was unzipping to expose bones. Another had blue veins and an eyeball. Another was scaly like a sea monster and, in fact, showed Loch Ness style sea monster. The fourth one had red veins with a spider crawling up them. The slogan encouraged kids to “Trade with friends – Collect all four Monster Mitts”. These macabre mitts have become highly sought after by both cereal collectors and horror memorabilia enthusiasts, with complete sets commanding impressive prices at auctions.
