These 5 Discontinued Breakfast Cereals Might Give You Flashbacks To The '80s

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

For kids in the 1980s, eating breakfast was definitely something to look forward to. During this most radical era, breakfast cereals were arguably at their peak as far as children were concerned. Sugary, bright, crunchy flakes, clusters, and puffs were themed after cartoons and other television shows, toys, blockbuster movies, pop culture characters, and video games. And we can't fail to mention that some of these cereals had epic prizes inside. Furthermore, the retro-style boxes were the stuff of legend. Dozens of the cereals Gen Xers grew up on are now discontinued, and we chose five of them that were truly special in their own unique, multicolored ways.

No matter what was plastered on the box to make these cereals stick out on store shelves, these five options were no doubt thought up by marketing teams to appeal to tykes with a sweet tooth. We realize there are a lot of '80s favorites that are still on the market, but we focused only on discontinued cereals for this article. Enjoy this peek back in time and see if you remember any of these gone-but-not-forgotten classics.

If you were a kid in the 1980s and watched "The A-Team," you know you wanted to be friends with the mohawked, gold chain-wearing tough guy B. A. Baracus, played by actor Mr. T. Fans also knew Mr. T as Rocky Balboa's nemesis, Clubber Lang, in "Rocky III." And, if you couldn't befriend him, you could certainly buy his namesake cereal, which was really just puffed corn and oat cereal sweetened with brown sugar and shaped like the letter "T."

The cereal was immortalized in the quirky Tim Burton film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," in which the title character impersonates Mr. T's persona while dumping a pile of the cereal over his plate of eggs and pancakes before taking a bite. A television commercial for the crunchy treat featured Mr. T narrating, telling viewers, "I know cool, and cool's teaming up with a good balanced breakfast" (via Facebook). And who didn't want to be cool? We don't know exactly why the cereal was discontinued, but Post pulled the plug on this breakfast favorite in 1993.

In the 1980s, the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console was one of the decade's greatest gifts. Kids were mad for the games, many of which became iconic, like "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda." Nintendo cashed in on the phenomenon in every way it could, including the Nintendo Cereal System. The way that Ralston (which actually produced the cereal) packaged it was brilliant.

The Nintendo Cereal System featured two bags of cereal in one box – groundbreaking! Even the top of the box opened on both sides so you could choose one or the other. Both cereals were made with sweetened corn, oat, and rice puffs, but the "Mario Bros." side was described as fruity, while the "Zelda" cereal supposedly tasted like berries. The former cereal contained multiple shapes, including Mario, Bowser, Goombas, mushrooms, and turtles; while the latter featured main character Link, keys, boomerangs, hearts, and shields.

Over the cereal's brief history, you could cut out trading cards from the boxes, find prizes like cassette tapes and posters inside, and the backs of the boxes even featured gaming tips. Despite the popularity of Nintendo, this cereal was only available from 1988 to 1989.

In 1985, Kellogg's released OJ's cereal, an orange-flavored breakfast treat that was marketed as having as much vitamin C as a 4-ounce glass of orange juice (or 100% of the daily nutritional requirement). It was a quirky idea for a couple of reasons. First, we're not sure how we feel about combining the flavors of milk and orange juice together. We're not saying this was the reason for the cereal's short shelf life (it was only around for a year), but it certainly could have been a factor. We can't imagine what this would have tasted like after you brushed your teeth!

Secondly, the marketing campaign featured a cowboy cartoon character named OJ Joe, who lassoed, rounded up, and branded oranges in a makeshift corral, which all seems kind of random. Perhaps an orange-colored fox or fuzzy red panda would have made more sense. The animation and unique concept of OJ's no doubt appealed to kids in the 1980s, and those of us who grew up during the decade might remember it well; but surely only a percentage of us had the chance to actually taste it.

In the 1980s, millions of kids tuned in on Saturday mornings to watch the wildly popular cartoon, "The Smurfs." Tiny, blue, elf-like creatures called Smurfs would battle it out with the evil Gargamel and his crusty cat, Azrael. Since these weekend morning cartoon sessions were so often accompanied by bowls of cereal, it only made sense that a Smurf-themed one would pop up. Debuting in 1983, Smurfberry Crunch was a fruit-flavored, sweetened corn, oat, and wheat cereal.

And, because everyone loved a great sequel in the '80s (like "Ghostbusters 2," "Aliens," and "The Karate Kid Part II," just to name a few), Post released a second Smurftastic cereal in 1987 called Smurf Magic Berries. It also included sweetened, crunchy Smurfberry shapes, but the colors changed from red and blue to red and orange, and now came with marshmallow stars. Smurf Magic Berries replaced the original Smurfberry Crunch, and were available until the end of the decade. Post Cereal actually brought back a Smurf-themed cereal in 2011 when the live-action "Smurfs" film was released, but it wasn't what it was decades earlier. The new version was made with blue and white rice cereal, more reminiscent of Fruity Pebbles.

Circus Fun is a great example of a kid-centered cereal that didn't rely on a toy, character, or pop culture icon to get it in the spotlight. Circus Fun instead relied on a lot of sugar, bright colors, and an adorable clown mascot (clearly prior to these characters becoming symbols of fear, as opposed to balloon animal-making jokesters).

Like so many other cereals of the era, Circus Fun consisted of sweetened crunchy cereal; it also included multicolored circus balls, red hoops, and animal-shaped marshmallows. As if that weren't enough to get your sugar high on, Circus Fun also had packages of candy at the bottom of each box. It was released in 1986 and only lasted about four years on store shelves. Interestingly enough, General Mills already had a circus-themed cereal called Kaboom that debuted in 1969. It, too, was neon-colored, sweet, and made with corn cereal and animal-shaped marshmallows, but this one wasn't discontinued until 2010. In short, Circus Fun was a dream breakfast for any '80s kid — and a nightmare for overstimulated parents.