Wheaties cereal is known as the breakfast of champions. For John Carpenter, it’s the breakfast of collectors.

Last week some officials from General Mills contacted Carpenter who has the world’s largest privately owned sports memorabilia collection. Officials told Carpenter of their plans to put his picture on the cover of the cereal box.

“My mom got a call and they asked to speak to me. The man asked me, ‘Are you the guy with the sport collection?’

“He said that I was in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and then he asked, ‘One quick question. You meet the criteria to be on the box. You’ve got 30 seconds. Do you want to be on Wheaties or not?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’”

The inclusion of Carpenter on the cereal box is part of Wheaties current project to promote a variety of sports personalities, items and events.

Carpenter said the box bearing his picture is expected to hit the grocery shelves in approximately two weeks.

Famous for their sports celebrity covers, baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig was the first person to be on the Wheaties box. Others include Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and dozens of other big names.

The product is distributed to regional and national markets.

“I don’t know if it’s regional or national, but I don’t care. I’m on the Wheaties box. That’s all that matters,” said Carpenter.