Apple Pie Toast Crunch

Name: Apple Pie Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Technically, I've already reviewed this cereal, but I feel like the individual components were overshadowed in the Caramel Apple Toast Crunch experiment, and I've been meaning to give these two cereals their own spotlight (stay tuned for the other one).

Taken alone, Apple Pie Toast Crunch is very sweet and apple-y; it's reminiscent of pie filling and not just mashed apples, which is pretty cool. The sweet, fruity flavor dulls a little bit as you progress through the bowl and your tongue acclimates to it, but it's a fun holiday cereal that I enjoy. If you have some Dulce de Leche Toast Crunch to add to it, all the better! My rating of two bowls from before shall stand.

Rating: 🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: If your tongue isn't completely desensitized by the end of the bowl, it's sweetened with apple and cinnamon.

WinterFest Fruity Pebbles

Name: WinterFest Fruity Pebbles
Variation: Fruity Pebbles
Manufacturer: Post

Review: This year, Post is offering a winter holiday version of its popular Fruity Pebbles cereal, which is functionally very similar to Halloween Fruity Pebbles, in that it's a cosmetic variation (red and green for Christmas) with the "same fruity taste!" you love (or so one would assume). That also means there are no surprises in store for you. Me? I'm still waiting for Cocoa Pebbles to get the holiday treatment. Any holiday. (How about... red strawberry pebbles mixed in with the usual cocoa, for Valentine's Day? Give me a call, Post).

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Fruity.

Gingerbread Toast Crunch

Name: Gingerbread Toast Crunch
Variation: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: I'm not crazy about gingerbread, but I was excited when I saw this new holiday edition of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, because it's a clever idea, and on point for the brand (what's a holiday version of bread? Gingerbread!). Visually, it looks like regular CTC. Digging my spoon into it, I'm reminded of CinnaGraham Toast Crunch; my predominant impression being that this is CTC, but blander.

There is an unmistakable gingerbread flavor, which is pretty neat. But I'm not in love with it. Maybe it needs some frosting. As far as holiday versions of Cinnamon Toast Crunch go, I think I'll stick with Sugar Cookie Toast Crunch, or Apple Pie Toast Crunch. Or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch Rolls. There are a lot of options, and this isn't going to become one of my favorites. But it was a fun idea, at least.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Gingerbread-y.

Froot Loops Wonka

Name: Froot Loops Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Variation: Froot Loops
Manufacturer: Kellogg's

Review: Can I just say, this cereal has a ridiculously unwieldy name*? I get that it's a media tie-in, but where's the creativity and advertising savvy? Also, it's kind of heartbreaking to have a cereal with "Chocolate Factory" in the name that has absolutely nothing to do with chocolate. On the other hand, adding a berry flavor to what is normally a citrus cereal is an intriguing idea. I can't help but note a similarity to Post's release of Berry Pebbles this year.

Upon opening the box, I see Froot Loops, but with little purple specks. I'm reminded of Kellogg's other cereal tie-ins for Disney which used the star-shaped cereal pieces. Did Kellogg's catch on that their "berry stars" weren't very good, and decide to use the proven formula of Froot Loops instead? Or did they just take Froot Loops, and dumb it down to the level of The Little Mermaid?

It's unusual, digging into a bowl of Froot Loops and getting a berry flavor instead of a citrus one. I don't think I like it as much as regular Froot Loops. In fact, it does indeed remind me very much of Kellogg's berry stars cereals like Hocus Pocus 2. The more bowls I eat, the more I feel like I've been duped. The milk does turn pink (not really purple) and "berry-licious!" as advertised. But it's not enough to repair my impression of this impostor masquerading as Froot Loops.

Rating: 🥣
Leftover Milk: Pink and berry...y?

*This is a case of me being punished for buying the cereal as soon as I spotted it, as later versions have shortened the name to "Froot Loops Wonka", and ditched Gene Wilder (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense anyway, given that this is a tie-in for a movie with a new actor cast as the character) in favor of giving Toucan Sam an opportunity to dress up. Plus, there's a fun-looking treasure hunt on the back of the box. I think the marketing is an improvement, but I'm going to assume it's the same cereal; anyway, it's not worth taking the risk of buying another box.

Lucky Charms Hidden Dragon

Name: Lucky Charms Hidden Dragon Reveals in Milk
Variation: Lucky Charms
Manufacturer: General Mills

Review: Check it out - Lucky's new charm gives him the power "to reveal what is hidden"! (Now there's a great power). I have mixed feelings about the appearance of the new marshmallows. Dry, they have a multi-colored, speckled look that effectively imitates the pattern of dragons' eggs (as if that were a real thing). But they do have a tendency to look just like messier versions of the unicorn marshmallow. The way they change color in milk (the white parts dissolve to reveal more color) is cool, but they don't change shape, so it's not like you can't tell what you're gonna get. I like the vibrant colors (the green eggs and the red and yellow flames look great), but I fear the dragons might suffer from the same problem as Galactic Lucky Charms' marshmallows did, in simply being too busy.

I've also seen boxes without the hidden reveal.

Nonetheless, it's a great concept for this cereal. And it tastes just like regular Lucky Charms, so there's no gamble there. That said, I'm a little disappointed that Magic Gems are already nowhere to be seen. What's the point of getting new marshmallows if none of them stick around? And how many different marshmallows does this cereal need, anyway? But I guess that's the nature of the novelty market...

Rating: 🥣🥣🥣
Leftover Milk: Mildly oat-y and sweet.