# Do They Still Put Toys in Boxes of Cereal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310 "2025-03-08T23:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/21 "2025-03-09T18:25:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I remember one of the cereal brands printed phonograph records on the back of the cereal box, though I don’t remember what was on the record. I remember getting one of those once. The song was the Dave Clark Five’s “Catch Us If You Can.” A pretty good song for its era, and the record lasted for at least a few weeks on our basic monaural 33/45 speed record player. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/22 "2025-03-09T19:40:09Z")
I can’t find a cite, but I think I’ve read that “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies has the highest production numbers of any record in History thanks to the millions included on cereal boxes. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/23 "2025-03-09T19:51:38Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Here in Europe, the sugar+toy marketing niche is filled by the Kinder Egg. Are they still banned in the USA? I remember buying one for an adult American who had never encountered one and she turned in to a six year old child before my eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/24 "2025-03-09T20:01:30Z")
We seem to be barraged by them every Easter and Christmas but we have a lot of UK, Irish, and Swiss expats in our social circle. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/25 "2025-03-09T20:02:58Z")
Kinder Eggs in the civilized world are a toy in a capsule enclosed in a chocolate shell. Kinder Eggs in the US are a half egg of chocolatish stuff packaged along with a hollow plastic half-egg plastic thing containing a toy. > **[Kinder Eggs Are Now Available in America, But There’s a Catch](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/kinder-joy/)** > > After decades of not having Kinder eggs on American shelves, they are finally available to purchase. But they aren't exactly what we thought... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/26 "2025-03-09T20:05:40Z")
Why do Europe and the United States have different standards for the choking hazard of Kinder eggs? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/27 "2025-03-09T20:07:47Z")
Ah, the old days of cereal box prizes. I remember opening the package and sticking my arm down the box to get the prize as soon as my mom brought the groceries home. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > can’t find a cite, but I think I’ve read that “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies has the highest production numbers of any record in History thanks to the millions included on cereal boxes. When I was 5 my dad dad helped remove the “Sugar Sugar” single off the back of the cereal box and I played that on my parents’ old wood-framed cabinet record player until the needle wore though the cardboard. > [@P-man](#): > > The best prize I got was a toy car from Cap’n Crunch. The best prize ever gotten from a box of Cap’n Crunch was probably [the whistle](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/capn-crunch-whistle). May not have been an Apple Computer Corporation without it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/28 "2025-03-09T20:08:09Z")
> [@Bumbazine](#): > > I remember the little [baking powder submarines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder_submarine) that came in some cereal or other and had half a dozen or so. Hey, thanks! I said I couldn’t remember any of the cereal toys from when I was a kid, but that submarine was one of them! Of course there’s no way I could remember what cereal it came in. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/29 "2025-03-09T20:12:06Z")
I’m sure I had at least one of the subs. And one of these space shuttle Transformers. > **[5 Awesome Vintage Cereal Box Prizes!](https://dinosaurdracula.com/blog/vintage-cereal-prizes/)** > > From Wacky Wallwalkers to tiny boxes of Cherry Cola Nerds, here are five of the greatest cereal box prizes from the '80s and '90s! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/30 "2025-03-10T03:28:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why do Europe and the United States have different standards for the choking hazard of Kinder eggs? In the US, it’s illegal to put a non-food item inside of food. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/31 "2025-03-10T05:03:08Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > In the US, it’s illegal to put a non-food item inside of food.   Isn’t that exactly what toys in cereal boxes are? I mean, the toy could literally land right in your bowl of cereal! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/32 "2025-03-10T05:09:52Z")
I feel like my whole childhood has been wasted now. Why didn’t I ever think of that? Lol ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/33 "2025-03-10T05:35:38Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Isn’t that exactly what toys in cereal boxes are? Sounds like the legalese calls for “imbedded” objects. The toys in a cereal box aren’t embedded into the cereal itself. Google tells me that imbedded and embedded are the same word despite “imbedded” getting redlined by my spellcheck. > Section 402(d)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act provides that confectionery having partially, or completely imbedded therein, any non-nutritive object is adulterated unless FDA has issued a regulation recognizing that the non-nutritive object is of practical functional value to the confectionery product and would not render the product injurious or hazardous to health. From this helpful FDA import alert re: Kinder Eggs > **[Import Alert 34-02](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_107.html)** ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/34 "2025-03-10T05:37:21Z")
So, that’s why showgirls don’t jump out of cakes anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/35 "2025-03-10T06:34:23Z")
I assume this also explains why, when an American bakery makes a **[galette des rois](https://franceunwrapped.com/know/the-history-of-the-galette-des-rois-and-why-the-french-eat-it-during-epiphany/),** it includes the ceramic _feve_ alongside the tart instead of baking it directly inside the way it’s supposed to be. We had American visitors over for the holidays a few years ago and shared a _galette des rois_ with them. They enjoyed the game (and one of them found the _feve_ and got to wear the crown), so a couple years later we contacted a bakery in their area and special-ordered one. It came with the _feve_ in a little plastic baggie inside the box. I guess with the expectation that they’d jam it into the pastry themselves, or come up with some other game for assigning a winner. Very weird. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/36 "2025-03-11T19:27:18Z")
My favorite prizes came in boxes of Honeycomb cereal. They were miniature license plates that you could put on your bike. You could collect a license plate from all 50 states, and they looked just like the real state license plates. [https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1981-honeycomb-cereal-license-plate-3926387230](https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1981-honeycomb-cereal-license-plate-3926387230) ETA: In addition, they were made of actual metal and not some cheap plastic! ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/37 "2025-03-11T19:51:47Z")
Those are a relic from a golden age. By far the best IMO were the bicycle license plates that Honeycomb promoted in the 80’s. They were real, stamped metal, miniature versions of the state license plates, that you could put on your bike! I think it was possible to get all 50 states, although for some reason I ended up with a disproportionate number of Illinois plates. A close second would be a tie between the Captain Crunch bicycle spoke reflectors and the wacky wall walker toys. Ahh, the memories… ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/38 "2025-03-11T19:52:30Z")
You beat me to it! But yes, those mini plates were awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/39 "2025-03-11T20:06:27Z")
Out of the five or ten that I collected, my favorite was [Minnesota’s design](https://www.automobilelicenseplatestore.com/shop/1982-minnesota-vg/). Minnesota’s 1980s-era plates were nearly identical to today’s design. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310/40 "2025-03-13T13:47:53Z")
> Elmer\_J.Fudd > > I can’t find a cite, but I think I’ve read that “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies has the highest production numbers of any record in History thanks to the millions included on cereal boxes. The Monkees had some cereal box singles as well. This was around the time they started outselling the Beatles. I always wondered if the cereal boxes counted towards their singles sales. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-still-put-toys-in-boxes-of-cereal/1015310.md?page=3)