Top 10 Amazing Discontinued Cereals

This is in memory of all the crunchy goodness we’ve lost over the years. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Discontinued Cereals We Wish They Would Bring Back.

For this list, we’re looking at popular cereals that have been taken off the market. Brands that have been exclusively relegated to a rotation of seasonal releases will not be considered. Sorry, Count Chocula.

While true to the Nintendo brand, the clunky name may have played a role in its demise. What the Nintendo Cereal System lacked in catchy naming, it more than made up for in pretty much every aspect of its design, concept and branding. The box was designed to look like oversized NES game packaging and came with stickers, Nintendo Power Cards, and the chance to win a Power Pad NES accessory Most impressively, the NCS actually delivered two cereals in one box, each based on one of their two flagship games - Super Mario Bros. and Zelda. Powering up in 1986, the NCS used its last life in 1989.

Eating cookies for breakfast - it was basically a childhood dream come true. And honestly, apart from the fact that they’d been labelled a breakfast cereal rather “snack crackers,” as kids, we really couldn’t tell much of a difference between these and their cookie-like counterparts. Appearing on shelves just two years after the snack crackers, this line of cereal was proof that Nabisco’s Teddy Grahams were a force to be reckoned with in the grocery store. Sadly, this wickedly delicious cereal, which came in honey, chocolate and cinnamon varieties, wasn’t meant to last. After 8 years on the market, it was discontinued in 1998.

We pity the fool who doesn’t get to eat this cereal anymore. Which… is all of us. There’s no denying it, Mr. T knows how to sell his image. He took elements from his roles in Rocky III and the A-Team and blended them into a distinct and enduring off-screen persona - one that he’s been successful marketing for decades. From Mr. T’s Flavorwave Turbo Oven to the Chia Mr. T, the man born Laurence Tureaud has sold many a product, but his cereal… is one we all miss! This bowl full of miniature Ts was pretty much Cap’n Crunch reshaped, but something about that Mr. T box made it taste so much better!

The Flintstones have had a long a successful run in the cereal industry. Fruity Pebbles have been selling since 1971. Same for Cocoa Pebbles. Various spin-off flavors of the week have come and gone over the years, like Bedrock Blizzard and Cinna-Crunch Pebbles, but Dino Pebbles? That’s the one offering that we really wish we could get back. Maybe there’s no room for three flagship Flintstones cereals in the Post Cereals roster. Or perhaps dinosaurs are simply always the first to go. All we know is, we liked seeing Dino take the spotlight - and that puffed rice cereal, mixed with mini dino marshmallows, sure hit the spot.

In a galaxy far, far away… who knows, maybe they still sell this cereal! Honestly, we suspect that the only reason this cereal originally happened was due to the fact that the wordplay was too easy to pass up, and, you know... because Star Wars was a bonafide merchandising juggernaut. Unlike most offerings on this list however, C3P0’s was a cereal parents could actually feel good about giving to their kids. It was basically just Cheerios in a figure-8 shape, but the packaging and theme was enough to make us eat them with gusto. Considering most boxes came with some sort Star Wars swag, we couldn’t get enough!

Sugar-loaded cereals are like crack for kids, so it’s only natural that the sickeningly sweet brands are the ones we’re going to remember most fondly. Case in point? Ice Cream Cones Cereal! Sold by General Mills in the late ‘80s when companies weren’t even bothering to pretend that the cereal they were peddling was healthy, Ice Cream Cones consisted of puffed sweet treats that tasted like your favorite flavors of ice cream - chocolate chip, vanilla and chocolate. Little golden sugar cone-shaped triangles stood in for the cones to complete the visual effect. They only lasted a year in their original run, though it was brought back for a one-time deal in 2003 for the ice cream cone’s 100th anniversary, but what a sweet year 1987 was.

Ice cream is great, but maybe you gravitated more towards to the cereal-ized, deconstructed version of this late night camping fireside snack? General Mills has shrunk down many a treat over the years - some have stood the test of time, like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, while others, like French Toast Crunch, were discontinued, only to be revived due to popular demand. Sadly, this particularly offering, which boldly threw marshmallows into the mix without even bothering to disguise them as something else, is no longer available. It ran from 1982 to 1988, and was briefly brought back in the ‘90s, only to get the axe again.

Yes… General Mills has released a modern TMNT-themed cereal inspired by the animated Nickelodeon series, but that’s not the cereal we want. This show, as well as the contemporary live-action films, may resonate with the youth, but we’re here in the name of nostalgia - and for ‘80s and ‘90s kids, few properties hit the mark like our favorite heroes in a half-shell. Featuring our beloved animated crimefighters on the box, this cereal, true to its namesake, was an odd hybrid that combines a base cereal similar to Chex with Lucky Charms-style marshmallows. And you know what? It was totally awesome.

It’s a thin line that companies need to walk when trying to market cereal based on baked goods to kids. Parents can seemingly accept sweet treat-based products, so long as they’re inspired by traditional breakfast dishes like French toast or cinnamon toast. But when the concept is something like ice cream, or as is the case here, donuts… it’s a little harder to swallow. Parents be damned though - these were awesome. With the familiar face of Cap’n Crunch on the box, these chocolate cereal rings garnished with sprinkles were a home run with the kids. Sadly… they were also too good for this world, and were discontinued.


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a couple honorable mentions:

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Cereal

Urkel-O's

Reptar Crunch

'90s breakfasts came down to two options: cereal or Pop-Tarts. This work of processed food genius finally did away with compromise by giving us the best of both worlds. And then… they took it away from us. We’re not sure who the sadist was who the pulled the plug, but they are never to be forgiven. Debuting in 1994, and unceremoniously getting the axe just a year later, these “Pop-Tarts for your spoon” are a taste of the ‘90s we’d do anything to get back. Served in Strawberry and Brown Sugar Cinnamon varieties, we can only dream of the flavors that would’ve followed. It's a world of wonder, and missed opportunity.