Sugar Bear was the mascot for Post Super Golden Crisp cereal (formerly Super Sugar Crisp and before that just Sugar Crisp) and in 1985, he starred in animated ads featuring confrontations with some wild animals that tried to part the suave, Bing Crosby-like bear from his caramel-colored, puffed-wheat cereal.
Post always did great cereal premiums, and this collection featured figurines of Sugar Bear and all the thugs that tried to mug him in the latest commercials. I was so excited about these toys! My favorites were the gang of greaser tigers.
I had cut out the picture off the box (I think there was an order form so you could get the whole set, which I did). Post's marketing worked, because I never really liked the taste of Sugar/Golden Crisp much (who were they fooling with the name change, really? The character was still SUGAR Bear!).
Yes, I still have the whole set of characters!
Maybe they thought removing the word Sugar would help sell the cereal to "health conscious" parents. I don't remember eating this cereal very much as a kid, but I do remember sometimes choosing cereals just for the premiums and not for the cereal itself.
ReplyDeleteHA! I JUST bought a box of Honey Smacks. (Formerly SUGAR SMACKS). Back in the day.. there was tons of controversy over breakfast cereals being bad for kids. Eventually.. all major cereal brands removed from the word "SUGAR" from their products. My bride and I were just talking about this subject and were reminiscing about old Sugar Bear!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of non articulated figures, and am always on the hunt for cool stuff. I've seen Sugar Bear and the tigers in thrift stores etc. and assumed the cats were from frosted flakes. Thanks for the info!!
TokyoMagic!: Confession time--sometimes I would only eat some of the Super Golden Crisp and then dump the rest in the woods in our back yard.
ReplyDeleteDarrin: Wait a minute--is this "Bewitched"? Are you the same person? Ha ha! We're about the same age, so it's nice to call you by your name! Anyway, I loved getting PVC figures in cereal! The pait application was usually weak, but I didn't care. I'm glad I solved your mystery! Yeah, we probably won't see another character with "Sugar" in the name selling cereal (how about Nutrasweet Newt")?
Did you dump it because you didn't really like it and only wanted it for the premium, or did you dump it so that you could get more cereal and another premium and not have to wait until all of the cereal was consummed?
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!: It was all about the prizes! So, yes, to speed things along, I fed the little woodland creatures Super Golden Crisp. At least it didn't go to waste! Yep, we had to finish the cereal before we could buy any more. I'm glad my parents don't read this blog!
ReplyDeleteHA! You dumped them in the woods? A real life Sugar Bear probably LOVED them. LOL!
ReplyDeleteDo you remember whinnie the pooh (sits on the spoon)? He was a prize in the 70s super sugar crisps. Where can nostalgic toys be found?
ReplyDeleteHey marysayre26! Sorry it took me a few days to respond, but I've been on vacation and away from a computer (I don't have one of those fancy phones that does everything just yet).
ReplyDeleteYes, I have seen those Winnie the Pooh Spoon Sitters! I actually have one of Piglet, which I got at a flea market years ago. You can find them on Ebay pretty easily. There was a Canadian release that also featured Tigger, and characters from Pinocchio and some of the standard Disney gang, too.