Dinosaur Dracula!

The Big League Chew Easter Egg!

This isn’t something I’d normally do a standalone post about, but it just tickled me too much to cover in any other fashion. It’s an egg, see. An egg filled with Big League Chew.

There are tons of similar Easter treats on sale, where oversized plastic eggs are filled with various candies of one specific “type.” Thing is, Big League Chew rarely gets this kind of play. We might love it, but it’s such a “quiet” phenomenon. It kind of just sits there, way in the back, with no big promotions and less than two bucks in its advertising budget.

I’m not saying that weren’t exceptions, but I’ve never seen Big League Chew get a holiday upgrade to this degree before. This is some real deal crazy good shit, here. I told the same to the stranger standing next to me at Target, in those exact words. It went over about as well as you’d expect. Read More…

Vintage Vending #10: Assorted Awesomeness.

Vintage Vending continues! I’m calling today’s batch “Assorted Awesomeness,” but the prizes really aren’t so hot. Actually, I would’ve skipped this one entirely… if not for one totally killer prize hiding among the weaklings. Take a look, and see if you can guess which it is.

(I’ll tell you later. Don’t worry.)

I’m not sure when this assortment came out. The only thing that gives us a sense of timing is the Hello Kitty button, and even then, it only means that this couldn’t have come out earlier than the late ‘70s. I’m sure the grime and dust could be age-evaluated, but I don’t have those types of connections.

Here are the highlights: Read More…

Mad Mascots Vlog: Mr. Lymon!

The Mad Mascots series continues, with THIS THING:

I call him Mr. Lymon. He’s really old.

Based on the phony fruit that gives Sprite its taste, Mr. Lymon makes everything right with the world. Unlike some of those other mascots who merely dance around product logos and call it a night, Mr. Lymon actually practices what he preaches. He drinks Sprite.

This is his story, in video form:

Click here to see the video in larger form.

And remember to subscribe to Dino Drac on YouTube, so you’ll never miss a video of me babbling on about really old fruit-shaped dolls.

The Wilton Megasaurus Disaster.

It sounded so easy, but nothing ever is.

I’d been waiting for the right moment to make use of this, and last night seemed like it. Released in 1999, it’s Wilton’s “MEGASAURUS” cake pan!

I was drawn to it for obvious reasons, but that won’t keep me from naming them anyway. One, it affords me the chance to bake a cake in the shape of a dinosaur. Two, the dinosaur in question looks more like Godzilla. Three, it justifies my deep psychological need to buy a full gallon of green cake frosting.

There were a few problems, though.

I had absolutely none of the needed ingredients. We don’t have the sort of kitchen where cake-making things are in continuous supply. A trip to the supermarket seemed likely… until I read the directions. Wilton’s cake pans are generally easy to work with, but this one is a beast. Between the layering and the extremely particular icing requirements, I was certain that my time, effort and money would be rewarded with a really crappy dinosaur cake.

It was already 10 at night when I drew these conclusions. Had I waited until today, maybe I would’ve been more optimistic. Maybe I would’ve realized that a cake baked in a mass-produced fun-shaped pan could not possibly be that difficult to create.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait. By hook or by crook, whatever was going to happen with me and Megasaurus had to happen last night. Read More…