Breakfast Cereal, Toys or Serial Collectors
In
Australia and around the world, cereal premiums were a big thing. A cereal
premium is a promotional item, like a toy or prize, that is included
inside or advertised on a cereal box as an incentive to encourage its purchase.
It’s hard to believe these days that
cheap little toys given away free in the 1960s now control huge prices and are a
much sort of/must have item for (predominantly) men over a certain
vintage.
They
were manufactured by Rosenhain & Lipmann (commonly called R & L) and were
small plastic toys that were very popular in the 1960s and to some extent the
1970s. Manufactured in Port Melbourne, they came in boxes of Kellogg's and
Sanitarium breakfast cereal. They were massive in their day, even supplying
overseas markets.
Some
of the most popular of these toys come from the mind of UK cartoonist Harry
Hargraves. Hargraves was a popular cartoonist in his native England and decided
to try a new life with his family in Australia in the late 1960s. It was here
that Bruno Lippman (the L in R&L) saw his work and invited him to create
and design some original concepts. It was from here that he created the Camel
Train, Toolie birds, Crater Critters, and the Totem Tribe. Names that still
resonate and are highly valued by collectors.
Even
though breakfast cereal is still popular and commands a whole aisle in
Supermarkets, toys are no longer a selling point. The market was hijacked by
the Fast-food chains and proprietary items and franchises from movies, TV
shows, popular books and comics. The advent of electronic media was also a nail
in the coffin of most physical toys. But
another aspect had changed, with regulations and the makeup of the premiums.
Toys
these days have to pass the Gullet test. A block of aluminium with a 3.5 cm (an
inch & a quarter) hole in the middle that represents a child’s windpipe. If
any new prototype or part thereof slips through, it doesn’t get made.
In
his book Searching for Kingly Critter. Barry Divola travelled around
Australia exploring the R&L history and the people who are obsessed with
collecting these small pieces of plastic. There are Police, Television
Producers, Accountants, and Computer experts all constantly on the search for
the elusive item to complete their collection. Some are happy to have a certain
piece as it is, others need it to be in original condition, in the original
cellophane packaging if possible.
They
search Op shops, Trash & Treasure Markets, Garage Sales and Antique Malls.
They constantly trawl eBay for new listings. One has compiled an encyclopedia
of every known item, its production date, available colours, short runs and
even items that have production mistakes but still made it into the boxes. That
book is Breakfast Barons Cereal Critters and the Rosenhain & Lipmann
Legacy by Craig Hall.
It’s
known as the Bible in the world of Cereal Toy Collectors.
Why
do they do it? To relive that childhood joy, the thrill of the hunt, historical
passion or just because it’s cheaper and a lot less messy than heroin?
Popular
Melbourne Herald cartoonist WEG designed
a set of funny pop musicians, which became huge in Japan, but were never seen
in Australia and are now hugely collectable. It was revealed he didn’t even know
they went into manufacture until years later.
Before
you think it, every collector has heard the phrase “I’m sure I have some of
those in a box at home” a thousand times, and nobody ever does.
