We all want what we want when we want it. But there are those among us who practice patience in their desire for a particular product due to the fact that it’s only around for a limited time. No, not the McRib — we’re talking sugary, often electric-neon colored kiddie cereals: Boo Berry, Count Chocula and Franken Berry. Says one adult fan of the stuff, when it’s on the shelves in October, “I eat as much Boo Berry as I can.”

Yes, Boo Berry, the cereal that tinges your milk light blue and is a favorite of sugar-loving children everywhere. The aforementioned 35-year-old Boo Berry devotee tells the Wall Street Journal he even dresses up for Halloween as the cereal’s blue ghost.

“It’s the best cereal there is,” he adds. That’s why he’s got to stockpile the stuff — it disappears from shelves like its ghost soon after Halloween. Same goes for Count Chocula and Franken Berry, which are also General Mills products.

Another man profiled by the WSJ travels from his home in Canada, which is without spooky cereal, to grab a bunch of boxes of his favorite, Count Chocula, as well  as plenty of the other kinds for his friends back home.

“I’m a kid of the ’70s,”  he explains, “and what kid didn’t eat the monster cereals?”

The first to hit the market in 1971 were Count Chocula — it’s chocolatey, if you hadn’t inferred that by now — and strawberryish-flavored Franken Berry. Boo Berry joined the club in 1972, but siblings Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy died out in 1982 and about 1992, respectively.

Basically, they’re all bowls full of sweet, sweet artificial flavor, and that’s what their fans love about them.

I remember being able to get all three whenever I wanted (if my mom wasn’t paying close attention at the grocery store and I could hide it under the Raisin Bran, hoping she just wouldn’t notice), because they used to be available year-round.

But General Mills’ marketing manager explains that the company cut distribution around Halloween in 2010, ostensibly to get the biggest bang for its buck. After all, Halloween comes but once a year.

“We wanted to focus on the pre-Halloween weeks to best capture the holiday excitement and enthusiasm for the products,” he explained. “One of the most amazing things about the monster cereals is the passion of the people.”

He wouldn’t say how well the cereals sell, but Walmart’s spokesman told the WSJ it sells “tens of thousands” of the boxes daily in October.

If stockpiling doesn’t get you enough sugary delight, there’s always eBay, right?

So we want to know…

Boo Berry Is Big at Halloween With Kids, Hoarders and Resellers [Wall Street Journal]

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