Pebbles - Summer Berry Flavor

Summer is right around the corner and those early Summer temps are already starting to pop up on the East Coast.  80, 81, 84.. It's getting hotter and hotter and besides making me wish I went to the gym more, it makes me excited for all the new products and activities in store for us over the next 3-4 months.  Much like the latter part of the year, Summer always brings out the best in retailers, distributors and promoters.  It leads to interesting shelves and even better times out and about in the sun.  Believe me, after the Winter we had in New Jersey, I'm more than ready for that heat and relaxation.  Until then, my eyes are always searching for new and creative products.

As I always do in grocery stores, I was walking down the cereal aisle in hopes of finding something I've never seen before.  I haven't had much luck in recent months so I wasn't expecting much.  As I looked at the same old boxes I've seen time and time again, I realized I was about to strike out again.  I shrugged my shoulders and began walking toward the next aisle when something caught my eye at the very last second.

Now, I'm not that much of a geek that I'd publicly do a solo Daniel Bryan "YES" chant but, in my mind, all I heard was "Ride of the Valkyries."  Instead of being on shelves, these beautiful boxes of new Summer Berry Flavored Pebbles cereal had their own display for the season!  Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved limited-edition cereals because there was so much uniqueness to them.  Whether it was an unusual flavor or amazing box art, they lured me in and I just had to have it bowled as quickly as possible.  As of late, Post has been doing an incredible job with the Pebbles collection.  Most recently, we had Sugar Cookie Pebbles for the Christmas season, but it even goes beyond that and has for years!

Now, it's obvious that this new Summer Berry Pebbles aims to celebrate America.  Whether it's Memorial Day or the Fourth of July, it symbolizes the USA chant!  The red, white, and blue color scheme, along with Uncle Sam's top hat on Bamm-Bamm's head, is enough for me to wave as if it's Old Glory hereslf.  It's an awesome illustration and, as a fan of product art and design, I would have purchased this box even if reviews warned against it.  But how could you go wrong with Berry flavored cereal?  I was about to find out..

Besides the white oats looking like flaky skin, the colors are vibrant and pop loud enough to be confused with Macy's July 4th Spectacular.  Okay.. maybe I'm stretching a bit, but the combination works very well and besides being appropriate for this limited-edition, it's nice to see these three come together in a cereal box.  Personally, I can't remember any time we've had the flag represented in breakfast form so this may very well be historic.  Call up Scholastic and have them publish this in time for next September's school year.  Students need to read this groundbreaking piece of literature ;)

Unlike the Sugar Cookie Pebbles which only had a hint of Sugar Cookie flavor, these Summer Berry Pebbles stand entirely on their own in the realm of cereals.  Besides texture, this cereal tastes nothing like Fruity Pebbles.  Going in, I expected the classic flavor with maybe a small hint of Berry in an attempt to quickly cash in on the season.  Nope.. I was wrong!

The Berry flavor is strong and sweet, but perfect for this limited-edition variety and was a nice change of pace from what I'm used to.  Now, I've never had Bamm-Bamm Berry Pebbles, so this is a Berry flavor that I've yet to experience from a breakfast cereal and that's a good thing.  This isn't Boo Berry, it's not Berry Berry Kix, and tastes nothing like Crunch Berries.  No.. if I were to compare this to anything, it would be a pack of berry Starburst or, if you've ever been to Houlihan's, their Blue Whale cocktail.  I know that's an odd comparison, but there's something about Summer Berry Pebbles that reminds me of an alcoholic concoction.  Don't get me wrong, that's not a bad thing... The only thing wrong with that is it doesn't get me buzzed in the process.  Otherwise, it does a great job of making me feel as if I'm relaxing on a beach with Fred and Barney while Betty and Wilma bring us some Summer Berry.  Ahhhh, the good life in Bedrock!

Coming Soon: TMNT Crush

We live in a unique time.  Thanks to technology, specifically social media, the way in which we acquire news has changed greatly since I was a kid.  Back then, you either watched the news or bought tomorrow's newspaper to find out what's going on in the world.  When it came to new products, you'd either catch a commercial, advertisement, or get lucky when searching the aisles.  But nowadays, the world is at the tip of our fingers and everything is updated in real-time.  Today, with a quick search, it's much faster to find news on Twitter than any other media outlet.  In fact, in that same regard, those of us who used to read the news can now make our own.  Now, more than ever, nobody is a nobody.

In terms of The Holidaze, where I discuss new products, toys, events, nostalgia and, of course, holidays, this new age we live in can be just as effective.  In my down time (and when I'm killing time at work,) I'll randomly search hashtags on Instagram in relation to my interests.  It only takes a second and, before ya know it, there are thousands of #halloween photos to go through.  Try doing a quick #80s or #90s search and go on a trip back in time for a true ride down memory lane.  For so many reasons, Instagram has become my favorite social media outlet and it's where I find a lot of Holidaze topics.

Most recently, while doing a #TMNT search, I stumbled across something absolutely awesome!!

As I've stated here before, I am a HUGE Ninja Turtles fan!  They're my favorite cartoon characters of all-time and, to this day, you'll still find me collecting merchandise and watching the classic 80s toon.  So when I saw this, posted by @its_lpk-all_day, my jaw immediately dropped.  With the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film being released on August 8th, the movie promotion has clearly begun!  This brand new can of Crush Soda is specifically designed for Raphael and is Strawberry flavored to match his colored eye band.  This is almost too perfect that it was hard to believe.  Then, as I looked closely, I started to think it was fake.  If you look at the logo, it looks as if it's poorly cut-out.  So I tried not to get my hopes up, especially because this was the only photo I found, and just forget about it until something else came along.

Then, today, I saw.... this!!  In a similar search, @thepleasuretheprivilegeismine posted this masterpiece!!  If this doesn't make it official, then I don't know what will!  Not only are we getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Crush soda cans, we're getting 12-packs specifically designed and flavored to match all four Ninja Turtles.  Raphael will be Strawberry and I assumed Donatello will be Grape while Michelangelo will be Orange.  That makes sense, but I wasn't sure which blue flavor would be applied to Leonardo.  Well, now we know.. Crush Berry Punch!  As far as I know, this flavor has never been released before and will be making it's debut with our fearless leader!  Now, are there flavors for April, Splinter and Shredder, too?  I don't know, but I highly doubt it.  In reality, the only other flavor I can fathom is lime.  Perhaps we'll get a mutagen TGRI can to represent all four turtles.  That would put this over the top, but I'm already ecstatic over this promotional product.  It's a good sign for TMNT products and I hope to see much much more in the coming months.

As soon as I find these packs, they'll be here on The Holidaze.  Until then, keep your eyes peeled!!