Cereal Premiums: A Part of This Complete Breakfast

It’s fitting that on a Saturday afternoon, the day of the week associated with cereal and cartoons, I would come across an almost extinct pairing: a character-based premium in a box of cereal. None of this five-UPC-codes-and-an-order-form-then-wait-six-to-eight-weeks business. It was right there in the box, hermetically sealed either for my protection or that of the toy.

For me to extol the virtues of cereal (especially the sugary variety endorsed by iconic characters) would be post onto itself. Simply put I love cereal. Bluntly stated, I love cereal even more when there’s a toy in the box. It could be something as simple as the thick cardboard Madagascar figures offered in Cheerios in 2005 and all-of-a-sudden I’m whistling showtunes for no damn good reason.

You can imagine the royalties I owe Jerry Herman after seeing this one:
Yes, Spider-Man 3 Water Squirters. And who should I acquire upon my first purchase of the specially-marked package? (If you answered Spider-Man, you would be correct):

According to the back of the box, I’m three water-squirters away from acquiring friends. I’m kidding, of course – according to Dale Carnegie you only need one additional water squirter in order to win friends and influence people. In case you’re curious though, the remaining characters are Sandman, New Goblin and Venom.