Quisp
(Quaker, 1999)

Gimmick: The king of '60s cereal cool returns!

New Technology: Sometimes old technology is best—saucer-shaped discs of pure sugary glory.

Purported Flavor: "Crunchy Corn Cereal."

Actual Flavor: Crunchy sugar with the faintest whiff of corn flour.

Yes, the dream of millions has come true: the pink propeller-headed alien has flown back to a grateful planet Earth. But is this reissued cereal as good as the original? Honestly, it's difficult to remember the exact flavor of the '60s/'70s vintage. But it appears as if the food scientists of the Quaker labs have stuck to the original recipe—the ingredients panel does not include any artificial flavors or even corn syrup… just the pure goodness of refined white and brown sugars. The texture doesn't seem quite as crisp as I recall, but that may simply be due to a forgiving memory. What's even more exciting is the efforts put forth by the Quisp marketing team: a superb wrist watch, excellent T-shirts, and cartoon hijinks by none other than the Spümcø artists. On the back of the box, you'll find a comic strip and at quisp.com there's even a Flash cartoon starring Quisp in a Spümcø-style adventure. Truly, this was a masterstroke of marketing—Spümcø is a fitting heir to the Jay Ward mantle. While most adult metabolisms may not be able to absorb large quantities of Quisp, it is comforting to know that it's on supermarket shelves for a new generation to discover and puzzle over.