Blurb:
Scrumptious sweets packed with traditional flavours can now be transported from the past into the most delicious of presents with the launch of Mr Big Tops spectacular sweet invention.
Fizzy, foamy, gummy and gobstopping-ly delightful, Mr Big Tops’ sweets by post are cute little boxes that pack a big flavour punch. Stuffed full with nostalgia, the vintage virtual sweet emporium is choca-block with retro cool candy and old fashioned treats.
I’m sure you remember buying penny sweets in the local shop. Sherbert lemons, red shoelaces, flying saucers. Many of these are hard to find nowadays, or have been changed out of all recognition.
(Wham Bars have definitely gotten smaller!)
Anyway, while you don’t get as much for your pennies as in the days of our youth, you can still have a lovely trip down sweet memory lane with a twice-weekly (£3.99), weekly (£4.25), fortnightly (£4.99), or monthly (£5.49) selection box of all the lovely retro sweeties you remember from childhood.
There are over one hundred varieties of sweets to choose from on the website. When you subscribe you choose which sweets you would like in your selection.
The box is flat enough to fit through the mailbox.
The packaging is lovely, bright and colourful, and of course is completely recyclable.
The box has little windows to open up, rather like an advent calendar.
Not knowing what to expect, I rather thought there would be a bag under each window.
In fact, there were six bags!
The inside of the flaps have a couple of coupons and discount codes. Bonus!
I’m sure you recognise them all, but just in case your memories of childhood have disappeared into the mists of time I’ll list them.
From the top, clockwise:
Flying Saucers, White Mice, Fruit Salad/Black Jacks, Fizzy Bubblegum Bottles, Vanilla Fudge, and Rainbow Strips.
(Oddly, the latter sweet was not listed on the website. But they’re wonderful!)
These were exactly as I remember them, except I think Fruit Salads have gotten smaller.
They still taste exactly the same.
(I didn’t try the Black Jacks because obviously they are poison. Bleugh.)
Flying Saucers were one of my absolute favourites as a child.
I haven’t tasted them for years, but I’m not ashamed to say I ate the entire bag, one after the other. And they were yummy.
This is a splendidly fun box.
While I admire the dedicated sweetie-eater who would order these twice a week, I think this would be perfect as a weekly or fortnightly treat.
Having separate bags is very sensible, and they are highly efficient for portion control. They are big enough to have a nice treat, or even to share if you’re feeling really generous, but not so big as to be greedy.
You can slip a bag in your pocket or bag, and not have to worry about wolfing your way through the family-size pack you can buy in supermarkets.
I was sent a random selection, but it’s terrific you can make your own choices, and their selection really is impressively large.
Regarding value, you could buy (most) of these sweets in bulk one way or the other and it would be cheaper. But a fiver a week to satisfy your sweet tooth? A couple of takeout coffees cost more than that, and don’t last as long. To have a nice selection mailed to you in beautiful packaging, and to feel like you’re getting a lovely treat through the mail is totally worth it.
This would make a lovely gift for the young at heart. Or if you have a yearning for the days when you bought sweeties with your pocket money then why not make a little gift for yourself?
It’s been a pleasure to relieve some sweet childhood memories!
A different version of this review first appeared on allsubscriptionboxes.co.uk.
