Fantastic Plastic (and Rubber)

Cereal premiums, toothpaste premiums, detergent premiums, erasers, and just plain premium toys. These were the colorful, portable bagatelles that brightened my childhood.

Crest Toothpaste Premiums: Where They At?

Many yarons ago, when we were all young and alive, Crest toothpaste had these cool toy premiums. We got a lion, an elephant, and an alligator. Some time later at a garage sale we got a bear. The rhino, shown above, we never actually saw, but this is the only picture--the only picture--of any one I have ever seen, anywhere, on the internet.

We still have the lion and the elephant. The bear got chewed up by the lawnmower. The alligator was mine. I loved it. It was cartoony enough to pass for a dragon, and that's what it was in many of my playings. I remember building a tower with tinkertoys for it. It mysteriously "disappeared" after a visit from our cousin, Evil Evie.

I would love to see even just a picture of it again.