Bewitching Blend Tic-Tac

A busy day means a quick post, but that doesn't make today's any less special.  Throughout the Halloween season, there are so many products released that some get lost in the shuffle or don't make my radar.  Usually, the smaller the product, the less I notice it.  I guess that makes sense, but it's important to give all Halloween products their due diligence so that we continue to receive such a vast variety from so many different companies.  Sure, they may not all lead to 1,000 words, but not everything has to.  There's only so much I can say in today's review, but Halloween Tic-Tac's deserve to be featured!

These Bewitching Blend Tic-Tac's aren't new for 2014, but I never gave them the respect they deserve in the past.  Tic-Tac's aren't something I normally by.  This is the type of product you hope somebody else has when you're in need of a mint.  But when you see that a company has changed things up in celebration of your favorite season, ya gotta reward that with a few pennies.  What's so special about this?  The way it look!  Orange and Apple flavored Tic-Tac's aren't especially intriguing, but together they make Halloween art.  Combine that with a purple sticker, a pretty witch, and her Bewitching Blend logo and we officially have Halloween in our pockets!

This Witch is impressed.  I don't know if she enjoys the flavor or is green with envy after seeing a non-green, non-scarred, Bewitching Witch on the Tic-Tac sticker.  I feel for her, as do most women who look at the People Magazine covers, but she has nothing to worry about.  Personally, I prefer my Witches green and gross.  Frankenstein would probably wife this Witch up!  But maybe I'm totally off-base.  Maybe she is impressed with the flavor!  After all, they're not bad at all!  The Green Apple Tic-Tac's are delicious, but the Orange taste like medicine.  Believe it or not, I actually like that because there's nostalgia attached to it.  I guess I'm weird like that, but I enjoy Orange Tic-Tac's and certainly don't eat them for fresh breath.  If you're looking for something minty and refreshing, you gotta go the traditional route.  These are for your fruity taste buds and they're worth the few cents.  Just think of how cool you're going to be once you whip these out from your pocket and offer them to your friends.  Oh snap, look at you!

8 / 10

Halloween Lunchables

I don't know about you, but I have had very little luck in terms of finding any Halloween candy, costumes, or decorations.  There are a few places, like Michael's Crafts and Party City, that are offering a bit, but I like to hold off on the bigger items until October rolls around.  In September, I'm all about new items, cereal, food, and drinks before we get into Haunted Houses and spooky visits a month later.  Unfortunately, my local Walgreens and Target are still not cooperating and, for the most part, they're still focused on "Back-to-School."  Luckily, during yesterday's search, I found something that bridges the gap between Justin Bieber folders and the thrill of Halloween!

Halloween Lunchables!!

In my life, I've never had a box of Lunchables.  I was always intrigued by the commercials and, at times, found myself jealous of kids who had an awesome assortment of DIY munchies at the cafeteria table, but it wasn't something I ever had.  As a kid, I went from bringing my Batman lunchbox filled with peanut butter and jelly, Ecto-Cooler, and Ninja Turtle fruit snacks to buying a relatively good lunch from school.  There was never an in-between but, looking back, it would have been great if that in-between existed and featured a Lunchables cameo.  Buying them yesterday gave me a "Step Brothers" moment and reminded me of when they put on the night-vision goggles.  "Can you imagine if we had these when we were 12?"  Even better, I got 'em when I'm 26!

I'd heard about these Halloween Lunchables about a month ago and they've been found by a number of Twitter friends since.  Every review I heard was a good one and, let's face it, there was no way I was passing up a food product that is completely decked out for Halloween.  The box I saw pictured featured Dracula, but then I found this guy staring back at me in the frozen foods aisle.  His stale grin may not say much, but it says enough to screw over the Vampire and bring Frankenstein home with me.

Look, Lunchables are great.  Frankenstein is awesome.  But the true selling point is pictured above.  Not only are you getting an appropriately colored green witch made out of chocolate to snack on, but you're getting Kool-Aid Ghoul-Aid, as well!!!  No.. not the traditional packet we've all come to know and love, but a Ghoul-Aid JAMMER!!  These are the real deal, folks!  Just check out Dinosaur Dracula's full review of an entire BOX of Ghoul-Aid Jammers!  It's amazing.  I knew they were coming, but never expected a promotional tie-in like this.  Just imagine how cool it must feel to be a 3rd Grader, sitting at the cafeteria table, with a Ghoul-Aid Jammer and a witch head for dessert.  You instantly become the coolest kid in school, or you're getting beaten up for celebrating Halloween in September.  Either way, you'll probably be writing about it in 20-years.

Having never had a box of Lunchables before, I didn't know how to go about eating them.  I asked my girlfriend if they had to be microwaved, which led to a stare much like the one Frankenstein gave me at Target.  "Do you really think little kids microwave these at school?"  What do I know? I'm a picky eater.  I like my nacho cheese hot, but now I'm in the loop and will pretend and act as if this story isn't true.  Regardless of how out of touch I might have been with these Lunchables, I loved the presentation of both the box and the food and couldn't wait to free that milk chocolate witch from her wrapper.

I love everything about this candy!!  First of all, my box was left in the trunk for about an hour on an 82-degree day so I thought she might have melted.  Fortunately, only water makes witches melt and this lady was strong enough to withstand the heat.  Second, I'm proud of Lunchables for giving us a treat that actually resembles the one on the box.  I wasn't sure if she'd actually be green, which is the only true color for a witch, but I'm glad they didn't trick me with the box art.  This is legit!  Finally, the details are only second to the flavor.  The milk chocolate witch head is just as good as any other popular candy you're going to find this season.  In fact, I'd take this over a Reeses peanut butter pumpkin, any day!  Blasphemy, right?

After unwrapping the witch, who I've named Hazel, I placed her back in with her nacho men.  They'd attempt to protect her from an untimely demise, but I couldn't wait until all of the nachos were gone before devouring her.  Her destiny was already written, but the nachos I had prior were very, very, good!!  I wasn't expecting much out of Lunchables when it came to flavor, but these are wonderful!  I don't know if they'd fill me up, especially compared to the food I ate at 7th grade Lunch, but they're definitely tasty.  The Dracula version was a "cheese pizza" variety, but I chose this one instead.  To be honest, I might actually go back for the other.  It's that good!

For as good as everything was, nothing compares to the main event - Kool-Aid Ghoul-Aid!  After all, The Holidaze 2013 Halloween logo is based on this very drink!  I mean, when kids see this in the aisle, they won't be able to pass it up.  I often talk about Hi-C Ecto-Cooler and, for many kids of this generation, this may very well be what they remember as their "Ecto-Cooler."  I love the fact that we grown-ups (who haven't really grown up) can enjoy this drink, but I'm even happier for the kids living in 2013.  They don't know it now, but sometime down the road, they're going to look back on this Halloween season and remember it for things like Kool-Aid Ghoul-Aid Jammers, Lunchables' chocolate witch heads, Monster Cereals, and the nostalgia that they'll one day ignite.  But in the meantime, let us nerdy adults enjoy the moment and rejoice in Ghoul-Aid FINALLY becoming one hell of a Jammer!

I drank half of my Ghoul-Aid out of the Jammer pouch, but the rest of it had to be poured into my new glass bought at Target for a mean buck.  It's not really a glass, it's a plastic, but I love it and wanted to feel like a real-life, spooky ghoul while drinking out of a cup made from golden skeleton bones.  That's badass!  Of course, the Ghoul-Aid looks as amazing as it tastes.  It's a deep purple color that looks like the blood of an evil demon.  The only downside is that I finished it way too fast and now I'm craving more.  Yet another reason to go out, apologize to Dracula, and bring him and his pizza home.

As mentioned, there was no way Hazel was making it longer than the nacho men, but I only took her mouth and chin away from her.  The rest survived a bit longer before she met her delicious end, but I like how she's looking down, wondering where the hell her mouth went.  Sorry, Hazel.

If you're reading The Holidaze, you're probably a fan of Halloween and, believe me when I tell you, this is one of those products that you'll want to pick up!  One of many, this year!  I believe there was a Halloween version of Lunchables last year, but it didn't include Ghoul-Aid and that alone is worth the money.  Even at my age, this is an item that I'll remember years from now and, obviously, I tried making it more fun than it actually is to enhance the memory even further.  Target and Walgreens may be off their game, but this is another indication that we're in the midst of an unbelievable Halloween that has only just begun!

A very special thanks to Strange Kids Club, and John from FEARnet and Freddy in Space for bringing more attention to the designs than I could have imagined!

Bobble Monsters

Fall is in the air here in New Jersey.  I love Summer and all that comes with it but, once we reach September, I'm ready for the heat to subside.  Let the Sun take a break and have the wind pick up the slack.  Usually, we don't begin to feel that chill in our bones until late September but, thankfully, things have already begun to cool down around here.  Oh yeah, it's hoodie season.

To celebrate the unofficial return of Autumn, the Halloween Bobble Monsters are making their Holidaze debut.  Things things are about 8 years old, and I couldn't tell you where we bought them, but I thought they'd enjoy being photographed outside and displayed here for nobody to see.

First up, we have The Witch.  I've never named these Bobble Monsters before, but I think it would be a more interesting read if I did so right now.  So, let me see.  I think I'm going to name this Witch.. Bridget.  It's not a very menacing name and, in fact, it's my girlfriends middle name, but I've been to Salem, MA enough to know that Bridget Bishop was the first person to be put on trial and executed for being a witch.  So, this tiny green Bobble Monster is named in her honor.  Of coure, the ghost of Bridget Bishop will most likely be making me a visit now, but that's to be expected when you mention the Salem Witches.

Now that Bridget the Bobble Monster has her name, let's discuss her appearance.  She is your typical Halloween witch with green skin, warts, a big black hat and orange hair.  Why are witches always depicted this way?  I've never met a witch but, if I ever do, I'm willing to bet she won't be green.  Actually, if she was green, my first guess would be that she's an alien, not a witch, and that wouldn't even scare me.  No, regular old ladies are much more frightening.  Walt Disney had the right idea when he created the witch in Snow White.  Now, SHE was scary!

Of course, like every other witch ever portrayed during the Halloween season, she has to be stirring some form of magical brew in her cauldron.  What could it be?  It appears to be brown or yellow.  It looks like corn, but it could be oatmeal.  Regardless of what spell, potion or posion Bridget is mixing up for all of us, I know I won't be taste testing.  No way.  Just look at her smirk.  She's up to no good.

Secondly, we have a goofy looking skelaton who we're going to name Femur.  Now, really, is anybody afraid of a skelaton?  What is he going to do?  Witches can cast spells, Dracula bites, Frankenstein has super strength and the Wolf Man is, obviously, half wolf.  When you come across those monsters, you know you're in trouble.  But, a skelaton?  I don't know.  I guess he can bite you or hit you over the head with one of his bones, but that's no different than any other living human being.  So, I'm guessing Femur is a good guy.

See, Femur is obviously walking through the graveyard, and that would be scary if Femur wasn't a skelaton.  Now, had this Monster Bobble been a zombie, then this would be an all new ball game.  Zombies are undead beings who have risen from their demise in search of human flesh.  I can think of at least 9 movies based on zombies and rightfully so.  But a skelaton?  I can't think of one horror flick based around a skelaton.  That's why Femur has to be our friend.

Now I feel bad that I've made fun of Femur and his monster race.  It's not his fault he has no skin or special powers.  He's just a bunch of bones looking for a body bag.  Sorry, Femur.. Oh well, on to the next..

Ahh, yes.. I've decided to name our third Monster Bobble.. Dr. Acula.  Eh, okay, that one sucks.  Get it?  See what I did there?  Sorry, now I'm just being a pain in the neck.  Damn, I did it again..

Dr. Acula is doctor of hematology.  He's a very smart man who always wanted to be a vampire.  He appears to be a menace to society, but it's really just a front.  He recently purchased this Dracula costume from Party City and used his Mom's lipstick as under eye make-up.  He knows a good optometrist who hooked him up with some yellow eye contacts and he bought the fangs at Spirit Halloween.  He looks great, he's even posing, but he's just not the real deal.  Dr. Acula is not a vampire, he's just a doctor..  But hey, that's better than being a lawyer.  They're real blood suckers..  Oops, I did it again

Last, but not least, we have our final Bobble Monster and his name is, of course, Frank.  I was going to attempt a bit more originality, but when it comes to this infamous monster, nothing seems to fit better than Frank.  I guess we can call him Frankie, or even Franklin, but I think he prefers the more classic variation.

This is my favorite Bobble Monster because he's so damn happy.  His smile is huge and, considering I've seen bums dressed better than Frank, I give him a lot of credit.  Really, Frank is an inspiration.  He's obviously gone through some type of head trauma.  His clothes are ripped, barely fit him and don't match.  He was born with green skin and abnormally big feet, yet, here he is walking through life with a smile on from bolt to bolt.  If only we could all be more like Frank.  Of course, come at Frankie with a flamed torch and he'll flip his lid.  There's only so much a man can take.

Even though nobody reads this blog, I hope whoever does enjoyed reading about the Bobble Monsters.  They're all very unique and have their own personalities.  In fact, I think I can make some sort of cartoon based off of what I wrote today.  Maybe they can all be roommates or live in the same haunted town.  I'm not sure yet, and I'll probably never develop the idea, but it's fun coming up with one.  We'll see..

Well, until next time, say goodbye to the Bobble Monsters.  Bridget, Femur, Dr. Acula and Frank all big you a fearful farewell, but I'm sure they'll make some type of return before this Holidaze comes to an end.