Oreo O's

Name: Oreo O's
Variation: Nabisco Cookies
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This cereal consists of crunchy loops that don't have the perfect texture of Oreo cookies (with the crumbly outside and the smooth inside), but it's a good imitation of the flavor. Mildly chocolatey, but with an unavoidable creamy overtone. Actually not one of my favorite chocolate cereals, and with all the other options available, I'm not likely to go out of my way for this one. But then, while I like Oreos, they're not one of my favorite cookies, either. I remember a time some years ago when this cereal was accompanied by two other Nabisco cookies in cereal form (and two cookies I like more than Oreos) - Chips Ahoy, and Nutter Butter. I regret not getting a proper picture of those. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll release them again some day.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Tastes unmistakably of cookies and cream.

Chocolate Cheerios

Name: Chocolate Cheerios
Variation: Cheerios
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: As with any variety of Cheerios, you have to temper your expectations. You're not going to get indulgent bites bursting with chocolate. It's more of the typical oaty flavor of Cheerios, but with a mask of cocoa. That said, I like it. The cocoa flavor is front and center, and you can see (and taste) how it even turns the milk chocolatey. It may not be Cocoa Puffs, but I would definitely eat it again. Throw in some dark chocolate clusters, and then we might really be on to something!

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Surprisingly, the best chocolate milk I've ever had from a cereal!

Blue & Green Krispies

Name: Rice Krispies Blue & Green Color Mix
Variation: Rice Krispies
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: It would be just like Kellogg's to hamstring my enjoyment of what should be my last box of plain, old, boring Rice Krispies, by instilling me with doubt over the fact that I was expecting "Spring Colors" at Easter, and instead got "Blue & Green Color Mix" at St. Patrick's Day (it is pretty, though). Is this really the last holiday variety I'll need to pick up? I wasn't expecting a Valentine's Day version, after all. And why is the name so generic? "Blue & Green Color Mix" is descriptive, but it's not as poetic as "Spring Colors". Are we going to get "Red & Green Color Mix" instead of "Holiday Colors" next Christmas? Regardless, I hope this is the last batch of Rice Krispies Treats I'll have to make for a while. Heaven forbid we get a Blue & White Dads & Grads Edition in June... (For once, I hope the cereal companies aren't listening).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Plain.

Chocolate Lucky Charms

Name: Chocolate Lucky Charms
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I already love Lucky Charms, and my favorite cereals tend to be chocolate with marshmallows, so really, this is a no-brainer. If there's any flaw with Lucky Charms, it's that the regular pieces are so dull (although I maintain that the balance between those pieces and the marshmallows is what defines the classic cereal), so making them chocolate is an obvious choice. This cereal should be as ubiquitous as chocolate versions of other classics (e.g., Chocolate Toast Crunch, Cocoa Krispies, Cocoa Pebbles), but you don't see it as often, do you? This is a limited edition that was released for St. Patrick's Day, so it has clovers, coins, and pots of gold for marshmallows. The milk leftover is not the most chocolatey I've tasted, but it's enough to make it worth drinking!

Also available with the standard complement of marshmallows.

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly chocolatey.

Waffle Crisp

Name: Waffle Crisp
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Post

Review: I was very curious to try Waffle Crisp and Eggo Homestyle side by side, to see how they compare and contrast. And once again, there is a maple smell before I even open the box. The box is even yellow, too! But with more of an orange fade around the corners.

The cereal pieces themselves are noticeably different. They're blockier - these are square waffles, not circular ones - and darker, almost brown. I still think the sweet, syrup flavor could be stronger, and the taste has a weird background note that tends to linger, but the texture is not unpleasant.

I think Eggo Homestyle gets the mouthfeel of waffles down better, and I would give it the slight edge (as long as you don't eat them side-by-side - Waffle Crisp has a more intense flavor that can blow out your tastebuds for Eggo Homestyle), but I would say that either one is a good choice if you want waffles in your cereal bowl.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet and maple-y.

Eggo Homestyle

Name: Eggo Homestyle
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I like to have waffles on occasion, but generally I eat cereal for breakfast as a substitute for more traditional breakfast foods. So, cereals that imitate breakfast foods - while an excellent concept - are not usually the ones I get the most excited for. However, Eggo is a premier brand name for waffles, so let's see how these are.

The maple smell is noticeable even before you open the box. The cereal pieces are almost a glowing, pale yellow. They seem to be imitating the yellow of the box, rather than the slightly orange-ish cast you get from a waffle browned in the toaster. It's a tiny bit off-putting.

They're crunchy, but the flavor is a bit subdued. I do get a subtle hint of that distinctive waffle flavor and texture. Honestly, if I were eating these as waffles, I would probably pour on more syrup. Otherwise, it's a pretty decent facsimile.

I definitely regret getting the chance to try the chocolate version of this cereal, which I remember seeing on the shelves, but doesn't seem to be available anymore. I'll be interested to see how Waffle Crisp compares (and contrasts).

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Sweet and maple-y.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Name: Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Variation: Frosted Flakes
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: I have to wonder if Disney turned to Kellogg's to collaborate on a promotional cereal for their new Star Wars show (last year), after General Mills botched their Mandalorian tie-in. Although I don't know where their marketing was at, because I almost completely missed this cereal. I didn't even know it existed, until I was browsing Big Lots at the end of the year, and I noticed a box wedged between two rows of cereal, pushed toward the back of the shelf. I pulled it out, and it was this cereal! It was the only box they had, and I bought it up straight away.

I love the concept of this cereal. Firstly, I like novelty cereals that add a twist to an existing (and proven) product. Too many pop culture tie-ins appear to be reinventing the wheel, only to end up exploiting name recognition to sell an inferior product (I could link to at least a handful of cereals I've already reviewed for this blog). This is just Frosted Flakes, but with a mix of "light side original & dark side chocolate". I love the idea of pitting the light side and the dark side against each other (although it's reminiscent of the marketing from the last trilogy), represented by the combination of regular and chocolate flakes.

Would it betray an allegiance to the Sith if I said that, being half chocolate, this cereal is at least 50% better than regular Frosted Flakes? (Actually, I'd probably be a rogue Jedi skirting the line, with a strong moral compass but an anti-establishment streak). The most surprising thing is that I kind of like it. It's much more pleasant than when I mixed half a bowl of Cocoa Krispies with regular Rice Krispies (which wasn't chocolate enough). I must be warming up to Frosted Flakes. At the very least, they deserve credit for being so adventurous with their product. I doubt I'd buy this cereal again when I could get a box that's all chocolate instead, but I think it deserves more than a one bowl rating.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Actually decently chocolatey.

[Flashback] Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Notice: Flashback reviews have been written from memory, without having the cereal in front of me. I started taking pictures of notable cereal varieties several years before I decided to start a blog reviewing them. As such, details beyond whether I simply liked the cereal or not may be hazy, especially regarding the quality of the leftover milk. Whenever possible, I have made an effort to procure another box of the cereal for a proper review (even the ones I didn't like), but due to the ephemeral nature of many of these novelty cereals, this is not always possible.

Name: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Variation: n/a
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Notable as the only novelty cereal I encountered between the time of the initial COVID lockdowns and when I got vaccinated a year later (since I wasn't personally visiting grocery stores during that period), this is a cereal that was spotted in December of 2020, capitalizing on the breakout success of The Mandalorian (which I believe was already in its second season). I really wanted to like it. But to be honest - like almost everything else in 2020 - this cereal was a huge disappointment. All I remember was that it was completely bland. Not even the adorable baby Yoda-shaped marshmallows could save it. I couldn't even finish the box.

Rating: 🥣