Collecting Cereal Boxes

  The other project or scheme that I had going around the same time was cereal premiums. Mailing away for the free toys or items you got for sending in upcs. You know the limits they now put in forms on the backs of cereal boxes. That was me. In a one year period I redeemed over 30,000 items from cereal companies, mostly Kellogg's. After doing it for about a year I realized there were no limits to how many toys you could send away for. So I started buying upcs from the refunder ladies, by running ads to buy them in there news letter. I also began working weekends at 3 recycling locations. Through all of these methods and a small inheritance from my grandmother.  I accumulated a huge amount of upcs, along with the required original cut off the box forms. At this point I put my plan into action.  I spent every night for months filling out forms  and licking stamps. 

 The avalanche of stuff that started to arrive caught our little post office by huge surprise. Finally they just started calling, saying we have 5 bags of stuff. Can you come and get it? This went on for months, resulting in that line on Kellogg's forms that limits how many you can mail away for. As I said, that was me. I don't think until that 1 year period anybody had ever really taken it to that extreme. Crazy is easy.


 Volunteering at recycling centers is also the reason I currently have more early 1990s cereal box listings on ebay than anyone else. I used to bring home bags and bags of cereal boxes every weekend. At this moment approx 1/2 of all cereal boxes on ebay are my listings. I have also bought cereal boxes from sales reps and the printers who originally made them for Ralston etc. In the past year cereal boxes have helped quite a bit. 

  On a personal not. Recently on a cereal box collectors website it was stated that I bought all my cereal boxes, because I was speculating. Yes I felt the boxes had value. No, I did not buy them. The majority of boxes I have were acquired volunteering at recycling centers. Several of them years at a time. I personally love cereal boxes. I am obsessive but not a completest. So acquiring thousands of boxes I love was what you do, naturally.

It's not as simple as one or the other. Speculator or Collector. To my mind both can inhabit the same space. Amassing large amounts with an eye to value does not exclude the reality of love for the item. Being a bit obsessive compulsive demands I amass large quantities. Love of something sets the direction. Perceived value justifies the endeavor. Without all three I'd just be a hoarder and the TV show has made that look pretty sad. Sometimes people don't fit in the slot you have prepared for them.

The majority of my cereal boxes were through the recycling thingy. That's not to say I haven't or don't currently buy cereal boxes. I do when the price is right. I'm an accumulator, I like lots of something. Anything. Though all the better if I happen to love the pile of stuff. Which in the case of cereal boxes I do.

A year or 2 ago I got real lucky in buying roughly a thousand Ralston Flats at the right price. This was a really nice find. Not mentioned very often in the cereal box collecting community, because I never said much about it. Also I am no longer a joiner, I keep to myself. Rudi is my main confident & she isn't talking either.

In the last 2 years I'm actually amazed how many flats & shaped flats I've been able to buy. And don't get me started on Wheaties. To put it succinctly, They Suck. The whole sports thing does not translate to cereal boxes. Yet that's what people in general always save & think do or should. Yes which means there are a lot of them out there. Taking that thread to it's literal end. The massive amount out there because that is what people save affects value and desirability. I thought I already said that, if not quite word for word.

My Wheaties cereal boxes as collectible opinion is bases on years of having them & nobody wants them. Product, realistic viability in the market place of collectors. The number of people who collect cereal boxes compared to other types of collectors is small. The fraction of those collectors who collect Wheaties is even smaller. This is based on reality not emotion. Sports collectors who cross over is not often enough to offset that reality.

There is a guy who wants over $10,000.00 for approx 2500 Wheaties cereal boxes. I don't know what he is smoking, but I want some. 1. As the quantity goes up, the price per goes down. 2. They are Wheaties for Pete's sakes, get a grip

Wheaties cereal boxes are just like any other cereal box when it comes to collect-ability or saleability. Whose on the box or how old is it. Generic boxes, Jordan boxes etc, not so much. Like I said don't get me started.

Another HUGE misconception by savers of cereal boxes is NASCAR cereal boxes. Again not so much.

People who hang on to stuff usually get it wrong. Characters, Characters, Characters. Cereal boxes are like a TV show with a guest star. The better the guest star, the better the boxes potential years down the road.

There is also the awful factor. The worse the idea, the better the box. Recently Cheerios came out with Yogurt Burst. Really awful. My money is on short lived & 20 years from now a really good box. Along with the awful factor is longevity. How long was it around. When awful meets short lived. Ding, Ding, you have a winner.

You may expect the following. I have just started saving boxes again. Accumulating currents. For anyone who thinks what's the point. In 1990 I asked myself the same question before plunging forward with the recycling project.

This whole addition to the cereal box section is a direct result of something brought up by andycohagen. Thanks Andy this was fun. Got me thinking about stuff.