Cinnamon Toast Crunch Amazing Fantasy 15 (General Mills)

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Amazing Fantasy 15
General Mills
2022

On October 20, 2022, Wal-Mart launched an online exclusive box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. Featured on the box was a fabulous rendering of the original 1962 cover of Amazing Fantasy 15, the first appearance of Spider-Man in Marvel Comics. Limited to just 1,962 boxes, and despite being priced at $10.00 per box, the cereal sold out fast - Mainly to scalpers, of course.

The main treasure within this collectable box was on the back. Flipping it over, it would open up, like a book, and featured an abridged reprint of Amazing Fantasy. Yes, that's right. A fantastic and iconic comic right there on the back of your cereal box!

Back in 2024, when I wrote this post, sealed boxes were still relatively easy to come by, on secondary markets, of course. Typically, they sell for between $20.00 and $25.00, with free shipping, which I suppose isn't terrible. I mean, it was decent enough for me to grab one, and by the time you read this, I may have opted to grab more. It's a unique collectible for comic fans, and a fun way to read the origin of Marvel's web spinning super hero.

Based on the label, the cereal expired as of April 20, 2023. While I suppose that's not too long a period between then and now, I still wouldn't recommend eating any of it. But, hey, to each their own if you opt to get a box or two.

For those of you who've never taken a moment to read this iconic story, I took the liberty of posting the book in its entirety below, ads and all. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "B" and "C" stories, but that Spider-Man debut makes up for it in spades. It's a classic read! Enjoy!

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Mousegetar (Mattel / Carnival)

 

Mousegetar
Mattel / Carnival
1955 - 1998

Even if they aren't musically inclined themselves, one of the greatest things I think a parent can do is purchase toy instruments for their young children. Even if it doesn't develop into a passion for the real thing, getting exposed to these forms of creative outlets at a young age have nothing but benefits for children.

As a child, I had many plastic instruments before "graduating" to the real things and expanding from there. One such toy was the funtastic Mousegetar from Mattel and Carnival.

The original Mousegetar was built specially for Jimmie Dodd to use on the Mickey Mouse Club show. It was a four-string instrument, which Jimmie called a tenor guitar. It was based on this that Mattel first produced children's toy versions in 1955. Two different versions to be exact; The standard Mousegetar, and Mousegetar Jr. for toddler sized kids.

Not being a child of the fifties, I naturally didn't have the original versions shown above, nor the 1960's version below.

No, it wouldn't be until around 1980 that I would receive the Carnival brand version, originally released around 1978 / 1979. Based on the pictures I've been thumbing through as of late from Christmas's and birthdays of my childhood, it appears that I had the white version, and my brother received the brown one shown just below it.

Though i know I talked in a recent post about receiving the Muppet's Trap Drum Kit from my grandmother, in looking at pictures, it appears that this particular guitar came first in my life. In fact, I also apparently even received a smaller guitar a year before this one. However, in looking through pictures I can't tell what brand it was.

Carnival released quite a few iterations of the Mousegetar, and sadly, despite the numerous ones shown here, it's not all of them. I simply couldn't find the other two version I know of, one being a boxed version of the above guitar I had as a kid, and the other being a boxed version of the one below.

Truth be told, between the Mattel and Carnival brand ones, I don't honestly even know how many different styles have been released. Heck, there's even Canadian versions which are different from all of these USA released versions.

The last releases I know of where these two (above and below), released by Mattel around 1998. What's interesting to note is how both boxes contradict each other. One says it's the original based on the 1955 version, and the other says it's the original based on the 1957 release. Clearly, it's the same guitar, so I'm not too sure what happened here.

Having been released numerous times over the course of multiple decades, it's understandable that this guitar is not only readily available, but also somewhat affordable. Naturally, the older the model gets, the more expensive it gets, but you can still grab one of the latter releases loose for under ten bucks on a good day. Older ones with the box can garner around sixty dollars, but that's still not a terrible price for something released so long ago.

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The Flintstones (Remco)

 

The Flintstones
Remco
1961

Like The Flintstones? How about motorized wooden or plastic models? Okay, one more question, you enjoy collecting Remco toys? Well, if you said yes to any of those, but hopefully all three of them, then the 1961 line of motorized wooden and plastic models from Remco based on The Flintstones, may be what you're missing in you life. 

Each set, sold separately of course, featured a slew of pieces for kids to put together, including cardboard characters and animals to adhere to each one. If that weren't enough fun in the box, each set came with a comic book style instruction sheet, with full color illustrations.

Remco released three individual sets, Paddy Wagon, Sports Car & Trailer and Yacht. Ironically, if you've seen the sown, you know that neither Fred nor Barney could afford a yacht or sports car. Also not sure what they could have done to end up in the back of a cop car...er...dinosaur. Perhaps they stole the other two vehicles, and ended up arrested in the end?

While I dig the premise of these toys, I'd be lying if I said they were for me. I'm not a fan of building things, not even toys.

Then again, even if I did, the $200.00 complete in the box price is pretty rich for my blood for something like this. Still, they're pretty darn neat.

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Top Of The Pops (Hallmark Records / Pickwick)

 

Top Of The Pops
Hallmark Records / Pickwick)
1968 - 1985

For those of you who caught my post last week on Springbok Hit Parade, this is somewhat of a continuation of that post. As I mentioned in that write up, I spent many of my younger years overseas, which gave me the opportunity to be exposed to a lot of music not necessarily being played on US shores.

One such avenue for this was through the series, Top Of The Pops. These were periodically released vinyls which collected hits from around the globe. However, to get around the high cost of licensing, these particular recordings were cover versions. Some of which were sung by the likes of Tina Charles and Elton John, before they made it big.

While I'd like to dive deep into this series, credit is due where it is due. The below photos come directly from the Top Of The Pops LP site, and you really would be giving this site the dues it deserves by checking them out. They have a fantastic history of this series all laid out, including a history of the label and information on other related titles from Hallmark Records.

Much like the Springbok series my sister played for us, my brother and I didn't personally own any of these records. They belonged to her.

I don't think my sister had many of these records. In fact, the one in the below photo with the girl in red is the only cover I recognize.

It's interesting to note that the series took a sudden hiatus in 1982 with volume ninety-one, and then in 1985 randomly released a volume ninety-two.

Unlike Springbok, there were a few volumes of Top Of The Pops which got remastered and released on CD. However, these are incredibly difficult to track down because they weren't released in the USA.

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