The 1970s might be considered the golden age of sugary cereals, but the 1980s were truly its supernova. With every popular cartoon show came a new cereal, often featuring puffed corn and fruity flavors, bringing vibrant colors and sweet flavors to breakfast tables everywhere. While some cereals have stood the test of time and remain staples in the cereal aisle, others enjoyed only a fleeting existence before disappearing from store shelves.
So, for a spoonful of nostalgia, check out these 17 breakfast cereals from the ‘70s and ‘80s that no longer exist.
Crazy Cow
Available in chocolate and strawberry flavors, Crazy Cow became the talk of elementary schools when it first hit test markets in 1971 and after its national release in 1977. When the powdered coating on the multi-grain cereal pellets dissolved in milk, it transformed into a deliciously flavored milk that kids adored. The cereal became so popular that General Mills had to publish ads apologizing for not being able to keep up with demand.
The distinctive packaging, featuring a white cow with brown spots wearing a hat and a cowbell, sometimes included promotional items like Star Wars trading cards. Unfortunately, the beloved cereal was discontinued in the early 80s. Even so, Crazy Cow remains a nostalgic favorite among those who remember it.
Ice Cream Cones
Ice Cream Jones, with his catchy 1987 jingle, “My name’s Ice Cream Jones… I’m bringing you your Ice Cream Cones,” introduced one of the most innovative yet short-lived breakfast cereals of the 1980s.
The cereal featured ice cream cone-shaped pieces and scoops in vanilla, chocolate, and chocolate chip flavors. The brand actively engaged with consumers through various promotions, with many families stocking up on the cereal during a special mail-in offer for wristwatches. Another one of Ice Cream Cones’ promotions included collecting and mailing in proofs of purchase to receive a mini echo piano that included instructions for playing the commercial’s jingle.
Despite its creative concept and promotional efforts, the cereal was discontinued in the same year it was launched. It made a brief comeback in 2003 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the invention of the ice cream cone, but this time only in chocolate chip flavor and without the memorable Ice Cream Jones Mascot.
Ghostbusters Cereal
The Ghostbusters Cereal, launched by Ralston in 1985, is a prime example of ’80s pop culture meeting breakfast innovation. The cereal underwent several brand evolutions during its run: starting as Ghostbusters (1985-1987), transforming into The Real Ghostbusters (1987-1989), briefly becoming Ghostbusters II (1989), and finally rebranding as Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters (1990-1991).
The cereal’s core recipe featured fruit-flavored pieces shaped like the iconic “no-ghost” logo, accompanied by ghost-shaped marshmallows. After its discontinuation in 1991, fans had to wait three decades before getting another taste when General Mills released a new version in 2021 to promote Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Pac-Man
General Mills introduced Pac-Man cereal in 1983. The cereal featured corn puffs and marshmallows shaped like Pac-Man and his four ghostly adversaries: Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.
Its taste was reminiscent of an extra-sugary version of Kix cereal with marshmallows. As the video game sensation began to fade, so did the cereal’s popularity, leading to its discontinuation toward the end of the 1980s, though some markets may have retained it slightly longer. Despite its relatively brief presence on store shelves, Pac-Man cereal remains a cherished memory of when breakfast met gaming culture.
Mr. T
Quaker Oats made history with their first licensed ready-to-eat offering — Mr. T cereal. The sweetened corn and oat cereal, shaped like the letter “T” and fortified with iron and B vitamins, featured a cartoon likeness of Mr. T on every box. The cereal capitalized on Mr. T’s popularity from The A-Team and Rocky III with its memorable marketing campaign aimed squarely at children.
As Mr. T famously declared in commercials, “I pity the fool who don’t eat my cereal,” while boxes often included promotional items like stickers to further entice young fans. However, after nearly a decade on store shelves, the cereal was discontinued in 1993.
OJ’s
In 1985, OJ’s cereal brought the unexpected combination of orange juice flavor and crispy corn cereal to America’s breakfast tables. Containing 10% real orange juice and natural flavors, the cereal stayed true to its tagline, “wholesome goodness of orange juice.” Each serving delivered the vitamin C equivalent of a 4-ounce glass of orange juice—100% of the daily requirement.
The cereal featured a distinctive mascot named O.J. Joe, a cowboy character who “rustled” wild oranges, adding a playful marketing element to the unique breakfast option. Despite its competitive pricing strategy—launching at $1.39 and eventually dropping to just 69 cents in 1986—and its nutritional benefits, OJ’s struggled to find its place in the competitive cereal market.
While some consumers developed a strong affinity for OJ’s, even considering it legendary, the broader market’s hesitation to embrace an orange-flavored breakfast cereal proved insurmountable. By 1986, just one year after its debut, OJ’s disappeared from store shelves.
Donkey Kong
When Nintendo’s barrel-tossing ape leaped from the arcade to the breakfast table, it brought along a unique sweetened corn cereal shaped like the iconic barrels that Mario had to dodge in the original arcade game.
Some consumers compared its taste to Cap’n Crunch without berries, while others found it more similar to the milder King Vitaman. Regardless, Donkey Kong cereal, which featured promotional items like arcade stickers and baseball cards, perfectly captured the growing influence of gaming culture on consumer products.
Though it delighted children with its crunchy, sugary goodness, the cereal was discontinued in 1984. Despite its fleeting presence on store shelves, Donkey Kong cereal remains a cherished memory for many of us who grew up during an era when video games first began shaping popular culture beyond the arcade.
Waffelos
In a time when breakfast cereals were more than just morning fuel, Waffelos stood out as a beloved icon of 1970s breakfast innovation. The cereal’s memorable television commercials featured a catchy western-themed jingle — “Get along, little Blueberry critters, get along”—that became permanently etched in the memories of young viewers.
Despite its devoted following and distinctive maple syrup flavor, Waffelos wasn’t without its quirks. The cereal’s unique texture profile—hard on the inside with a soggy exterior and a crispy middle—often shredded the mouths of kids if it wasn’t bathed in milk. Yet, many still loved the cereal’s strong maple syrup flavor and delightful waffle crisp.
When Waffelos was discontinued in 1982, it marked the end of an era. Although Post’s waffle crisps are still available in stores today, nothing quite compares to the unique taste and distinct charm of Waffelos.
Marshmallow Krispies
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies remains a beloved cereal to this day. However, back in 1982, the company introduced a variation called Fruity Marshmallow Krispies. Promoted as a toasted rice cereal with marshmallow bits, you could hear the familiar snap, crackle, and pop every time you poured some milk into a bowl filled with this cereal.
It was also less sugary than other ready-sweetened cereals of the time. When the cereal was discontinued in the 1990s, many fans were left heartbroken, unable to find anything quite like it, especially since it contained marshmallows with a texture different from those found in other cereals. Though it is long gone, the cereal’s blend of flavor and texture has left cherished memories for those lucky enough to have enjoyed it.
Vanilly Crunch
It’s not every day that you come across a vanilla-flavored cereal, but Quaker Oats Company made it readily available in the ‘70s with Vanilly Crunch. The cereal was yet another unique addition to the Cap’n Crunch lineup that previously included Crunch Berries and Peanut Butter Crunch.
Vanilla Crunch’s origin story was charmingly depicted on its boxes, featuring a character named Seadog who accidentally created the treat by spilling cake batter into Cap’n Crunch cereal. In TV commercials, the breakfast option used to be described as “Crispy, creamy-colored globes of goodness” and was promoted as being fortified with vitamins B and iron.
As its tagline suggests, the cereal tasted like a “crunchy birthday cake,” and people still talk about their desire to savor it again after its discontinuation in 1975.
Smurf-Berry Crunch
Riding the wave of The Smurfs’ animated series popularity, Post Cereals introduced this vibrant blue and red cereal in 1983. While its fruity flavor delighted children’s taste buds, it was the cereal’s infamous after-effect that truly made it legendary: it turned children’s digestive output a striking shade of Smurf-blue.
This unexpected “colorful surprise” sparked both amusement among young fans and concern among parents across America. Despite the initial alarm, the cereal’s novelty factor only added to its appeal among its target audience. When Post discontinued Smurf-Berry Crunch in 1987, it joined the pantheon of beloved cereals that defined breakfast time in the 1980s.
Nerds
In 1985, the Ralston Food Company introduced Nerds cereal, a “tingy, tangy, crunchy sweetened cereal” inspired by the popular candy brand. Each box felt like a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, featuring two distinct flavor combinations—orange/cherry and strawberry/grape—packaged in separate compartments, just like the Nerds candies.
The cereal came with an exciting mail-in promotion: for a couple of proofs of purchase and fifty cents, kids could get a unique two-sided Nerds bowl, designed with a clever gate that allowed milk to flow from one side to the other when lifted. The cereal’s vibrant coloring sometimes had an unexpected side effect—it could turn stool red-orange—but this didn’t stop its popularity.
The product remained on shelves until around 1988, when it was discontinued, likely due to growing concerns about its high sugar content and artificial coloring, as well as the general shift toward healthier breakfast options. Though its run lasted only three years, Nerds Cereal remains a fondly remembered piece of 1980s breakfast nostalgia, with many still hoping for its return to grocery store shelves.
C-3PO’s
Capitalizing on the unstoppable momentum of the Star Wars saga, this honey-sweetened cereal by Kellogg’s featured crunchy, figure-eight-shaped pieces made of oat, wheat, and corn, designed to resemble the character’s distinctive “double-O” eyes.
The box, often showcasing both C-3PO and his companion R2-D2, became a collector’s item in its own right, especially with its enticing mail-in offers for various Star Wars merchandise, including Kenner action figures, plastic Rebel Rockets, sticker/trading cards, and cut-out character masks. As the initial fervor of the original trilogy began to cool, so did sales, and C-3POs were decommissioned from breakfast tables in 1986, leaving behind a legacy as golden as the protocol droid himself.
E.T. Cereal
Hot on the heels of the cinematic blockbuster, General Mills introduced E.T. Cereal in 1984, hoping the beloved character would find a second home in breakfast bowls everywhere. The cereal itself was a rich blend of peanut butter and chocolate, formed into alphabetical pieces shaped like the film’s titular initials: “E” and “T.”
Its television commercial offered a clever nod to the film’s most iconic scene, showing a child luring the friendly alien not with candy, but with a bowl of his own cereal. Despite its creative marketing and a flavor combination reminiscent of today’s Reese’s Puffs, which came a decade later, the cereal’s run on shelves was as brief as its namesake’s visit, and it was discontinued within two years.
Gremlins Cereal
Ralston, the undisputed king of the ‘80s movie-tie-in cereal, served up Gremlins Cereal in 1984. The box featured the adorable Mogwai, Gizmo, and contained sweetened cereal pieces shaped in his likeness. The marketing brilliantly played on the film’s central rules, with commercials warning kids not to get the Gremlins wet—something you were ironically encouraged to break with milk every morning.
The cereal’s most memorable promotion was a mail-in offer for a plush Gizmo that arrived in a cleverly designed shoebox that doubled as his cage, complete with breathing holes punched in the lid. True to the fleeting nature of movie hype, the cereal disappeared from shelves almost as quickly as the mischievous creatures themselves, leaving behind only sweet, crunchy memories by 1985.
Nintendo Cereal System
Perhaps the holy grail of video game-themed breakfasts, the Nintendo Cereal System hit shelves in 1988. This ambitious creation from Ralston packed two distinct cereals into one partitioned box, allowing kids to choose their adventure. On one side was the Super Mario Bros. action series, featuring fruity-flavored character shapes and iconic power-ups like Mario, mushrooms, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Bowser.
On the other was, The Legend of Zelda adventure series consisted of berry-flavored links, shields, hearts, and boomerangs. It was a tangible piece of the “Nintendo Mania” that swept the nation, complete with Nintendo-themed stickers and trading cards inside. Despite its immense popularity, the system was logged off permanently around 1989, making it one of the most sought-after and fondly remembered relics of the 8-bit breakfast era.
Kaboom
A true veteran of the Saturday morning cartoon era, Kaboom blasted onto the scene in 1969, remained a breakfast staple throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, but unlike the other cereals on this list, Kaboom was a true survivor, lasting for over 40 years before finally being discontinued in 2010. Presided over by its namesake mascot, a perpetually cheerful (or to some, slightly unsettling) cartoon clown, this General Mills creation was an oat-based cereal with a straightforward, sugary flavor.
What made Kaboom so memorable was its vibrant, circus-themed appearance. For most of its iconic run, it featured a mix of smiling clown-faced oat pieces and colorful marshmallows shaped like circus animals. In its later years, these animal shapes were replaced with colorful marshmallow stars. While it outlasted many of its flashier contemporaries, its sales eventually dwindled, leaving a void for those who fondly recall its classic, colorful crunch.