Wax Eye “Cereal Killers” trading cards
I remember the glory days of the 1980s, ripping open packs of Garbage Pail Kids (much to my mother’s dismay). My friends and I laughed at the low-brow humor found on both the front and back of the cards, as any self-respecting fourth grader would. I know that Garbage Pail Kids are still around, but they don’t hold the same place in my heart today.
Fortunately, I have found a great set to take its place: Cereal Killers by Wax Eye. Combining the parody aspect of Wacky Packages with the gross-out factor of GPK, Cereal Killers is perfect for fans of horror movies or parody trading cards in general. Each card is a mash-up of a horror icon with a breakfast cereal.
For instance, put Michael Myers on a Wheaties box, and you get Halloweeties: The Breakfast of Maniacs. The artist, Joe Simko, does a great job of capturing the essence of horror and incorporating that into the descriptors found on the cereal boxes. Look again at the Halloweeties box above: it’s “Made with 100% WHOLE PAIN” and includes “Marshmallow Pumpkins with Massacred Skin Flakes.”
On the reverse, the cards feature either puzzle pieces or a comic. Three different puzzles can be formed, creating super-sized versions of card #1 (Zomb’a Crunch), #2 (Frosted Freeks), or #25 (Honey-Chrome). Out of the three boxes I opened, I was able to complete only puzzle #1.
Speaking of the boxes, how fantastic is the packaging? Each package contains three mini cereal boxes, and each box contains twenty cards, an eyeball gumball, and a special premium: either a blacklight sticker, temporary tattoo, fridge magnet, gold foil card or an original, hand-drawn sketch card.
Pack 1 | Pack 2 | Pack 3 |
42 Omen O’s | 44 Tix (double) | 41 Honey Cut Deleerios |
36 The Silence of the Grahams | 33 Ghoulden Grahams (double) | 15 Hex |
26 Bloody Bunches of Throats | 30 Good Fiends | 38 Hick’s Mix |
7 Children of the Corn Flakes | 4 Chucky Harms | 6 Halloweeties (double) |
50 Grosslix | 55 Reaper’s Puffs | 39 Ape-Guts (double) |
43 Corn Pufftasm | 45 Bloody Smacks (double) | 42 Omen O’s (double) |
31 Homicidal Killer | 34 The Phantom of the Oatmeal | 36 The Silence of the Grahams (double) |
27 The Ring O’s | 16 Gloomy Pebbles | 26 Bloody Bunches of Throats (double) |
8 Frankly Burried | 5 Zomb’a Crunch’s Crunch Brains | 7 Children of the Corn Flakes (double) |
48 Zomb’a Crunch’s Peanut Blooder Crunch | 54 Zomb’a Crunch’s Black Christmas Crunch | 50 Grosslix (double) |
44 Tix | 21 Angry Jacks | 43 Corn Pufftasm (double) |
32 Tales from the Crisp | 35 Alien-Bits | 31 Homicidal Killer (double) |
28 Death | 17 Chainsaw Toast Crunch | 27 The Ring O’s (double) |
9 Fright Loops | 37 Eye Pops | 8 Frankly Burried (double) |
49 Village of the Grahamed | 47 Razor Cut Brain | 48 Zomb’a Crunch’s Peanut Blooder Crunch (double) |
45 Bloody Smacks | 22 Natural Grudgenola | 44 Tix (triple) |
33 Ghoulden Grahams | 11 Exorcrisp | 32 Tales from the Crisp (double) |
29 Creepix | 18 Golden Curse | 28 Death (double) |
10 Clockwork Porridge | 6 Halloweeties | 9 Fright Loops (double) |
53 A Bitemore on Oat Street | 39 Ape-Guts | 49 Village of the Grahamed (double) |
It is difficult to pick my favorites, because each one brings a smile to my face. But if you held a machete to my throat, here are the three best that came out of these boxes:
The only complaint I have is the collation of the packs. Each pack contains 20 cards, but as you can see in the chart above, I only got three new cards in the third pack and ended up with 20 duplicates out of 60 cards. I hope Wax Eye is able to improve this ratio in series 2 (and I truly hope there is a series 2). I realize a complete set is not guaranteed in the package, and Wax Eye does provide links to facilitate trading on their website, but twenty duplicates out of sixty total cards still seems a bit much.
Other than that, Cereal Killers are fun cards, and I highly recommend them to my horror-loving, card-collecting comrades out there.
Posted on January 10, 2012, in reviews, toys & games, trading cards and tagged Cereal Killers, Wax Eye. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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