Thought you might like to know that WHS is currently selling limited edition packs of Opal Fruits (original flavours too) for only £1. I purchased a packet yesterday and scoffed my way through them in no time at all. Must buy another one as soon as I can and enjoy again a slice of my childhood.
Well, what are you waiting for? Get along to the shops now. Oh, and I've just noticed that Home Bargains also has them for a mere 99p. (I see that some eBay sellers are asking for nearly a fiver a bag. Tsk, tsk!)
And guess what - Farmfoods has them for only 89p.
Lol that's brilliant I assume they are the same as the current Starburst ( which I think we're simply Opal Fruits rebranded). I will be in A H Smith's later and will be picking them up. They should keep the Opal Fruits name it's just a great name for a sweet.
ReplyDeleteAnd while scoffing Opal Fruits you can listen to ABBA's two new songs on YouTube :)
ReplyDeleteYou took that too far ☺️
ReplyDeleteAs it says on the packet in the photo, McS, it's the original Opal Fruit flavours. When the name was changed to Starburst, one or two slightly different flavours were eventually introduced, but they're not in the WHS Opal Fruits bag.
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I might even buy their new album, CJ. I'm certainly going to be buying a few bags of Opal Fruits.
Ach, there's nothing wrong with ABBA, McS. They did a few good songs. Hey, even your esteemed David Bowie did songs like The Laughing Gnome - which I bet you've got.
ReplyDeleteI do indeed have Bowie's awful "Laughing Gnome" song Kid, but in his defense he wrote that when he was 19 years old in 1967. Im not an Abba fan but acknowledge they are iconic and are good at what they do . I actually like their poppy songs like "Waterloo", " Ring ring" and "Does your mama know" etc.
ReplyDeleteI've previously mentioned that my local WH Smith's closed in 2014 (the shop is now a Specsavers) so I won't be able to buy any Opal Fruits but I hope you enjoy yours, Kid and Paul!
ReplyDeleteOn seeing the wrapper I immediately heard the jingle "Made to make your mouth water"
ReplyDeleteAnd I actually like The Laughing Gnome, McS, as well as Space Oddity. Jim Reeves rules though.
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I managed to buy the last two packets on display, CJ. Just hope they've got more in the back shop or are going to get more in.
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When I was a kid, T47, me and my brother thought that the Esso Blue jingle was similar, so we used to sing 'Esso Blue - made to make your mouth water'.
ESSO Blue would indeed make the mouth water, but not in a good way!
ReplyDeleteWould make your eyes water too, T47.
ReplyDeleteIt would have a similar effect on the bottom too, as anyone who has accidentally swallowed some petrol while siphoning it from a car would know!
ReplyDeleteAnd which only those who'd done that would know, DS. Tell us all about your criminal career in petrol-siphoning, you rascal.
ReplyDeleteNothing criminal to report! I worked for a car repair company many years ago that had different workshops which weren't all in the same location and we'd often have to move fuel from one car to another (especially if the fuel tank had had to be emptied and cleaned cos someone had put the wrong fuel in) to be able to drive them from, for example, the panel-beating shop to the paint shop or the valeting place.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Bruce Wayne ever had to fo that with the Batmobile, but it works be entertaining to see him swinging through the Gotham evening sky desperately trying to keep control of his guts after accidentally swallowing some Bat-petrol.
That's interesting sure enough, DS, but I think I preferred my version. Do it again, but make it an imaginary story this time. (Hee hee.)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to look for those Opal Fruits in Tesco - you never know.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not there's a link between WH Smith's and ABBA - Frida's boyfriend is Henry Smith, Viscount Hambledon who is heir to the WH Smith's fortune.
I wonder what she sees in him, eh, CJ?
ReplyDeleteApparently Henry Smith has money problems so Frida is probably much richer than he is. Frida's late husband was a European aristocrat so she seems to like men with titles.
ReplyDeleteWent to my local whs today. No sign of any opal fruits. I think they must have put them with the annuals
ReplyDeleteOf course he has money problems, CJ - he has a famous girlfriend who no doubt likes spending his cash. Such is life.
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You need to move elsewhere, AL - the town you're in sounds like a dump. Or at least find another WHS.
It's a topping town. I did pick up a bar of Cadbury caramilk which I've never seen before. Just looks like caramac my favourite chocolate of all time. I think I shall have a nibble tonight
ReplyDeleteA topping town? You mean it's got a population of hundreds and thousands? I tried the Caramilk last week, but I think I prefer Caramac.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find any Opal Fruits in Tesco - only Starburst which I considered buying but I decided to get a pack of Abra-Ca-Debora pancakes instead.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them, CJ - any good?
ReplyDeleteI don't know as I've never bought them before but they looked nice in the pack (there are six pancakes per pack). I'm not a big consumer of sweets but I've always loved liquorice and Tesco sells packets of Henry Goode's Liquorice which I buy now and then as a treat. This is proper liquorice not Liquorice Allsorts covered with all that coloured fondant stuff which I never liked.
ReplyDeleteAlas I'm too far away to stay a chance to pick up a bag of Opal Fruits, so envy you chaps. It does make me wonder, what with first Corgi Toys re-issuing 1960s models and now Opal Fruits getting in on the act, is this part of some nostalgia conspiracy with broader implications? What next?
ReplyDeleteI'll maybe buy a pack if I ever see them, CJ. Remember Sherbet Dabs? Long piece of liquorice in sherbet. Delish!
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It's being going on for decades, B. In 2000, Aztec Bars made a limited comeback, Spangles returned a few years back, as did Marathons, Treets, and all sorts of others, so it's an ongoing thing. There must be money in nostalgia, eh?
Half crowns shillings threepenny bits. That's nostalgia in money. Ha ha ha !!
ReplyDeleteWell, to be pedantic, that's nostalgia FOR money. (But I know what you mean.)
ReplyDeleteBy sherbet dabs did you mean the sherbet fountains versions by Bassett's the long yellow cone tube with the liquorice straw, if so my abiding memory of those was regularly half choked on the fine powdery sherbet " going down the wrong way" after sooking up the powder to strongly . I tried one a few years ago but it was awful sadly our tastes change as we age it was after alk just pure powdered sugar as a kid I loved these as well. W H Smiths in Hamilton was sold out of Opal Fruits 😞 seemingly someone in East Kilbride was buying them all up lol I missed the Aztec bar reissue as well
ReplyDeleteYup, that's the ones, McS. Had one a few years back and still enjoyed it. Home bargains have shelves full of Opal Fruits, so that's the place to try. Old Jamaica is another choc bar that's recently made a comeback, but that's about the third time round now.
ReplyDeleteMy dad loved Old Jamaica.I think I saw that at the time. I wish they would do the odd nostalgic comic ( not big collection) maybe a 1970s Valiant summer special from 1970 etc but unlikely.
ReplyDeleteYou never know though, McS. After all, how likely was it that Smash! would grace a comic again almost 50 years after it disappeared from newsagents? Old Jamaica is in the shops now, but it has a different wrapper and is made by Bournville with permission from Cadbury. (Which is odd, 'cos I thought they were the same thing.)
ReplyDeleteTesco sells Old Jamaica ginger beer.
ReplyDeleteI had a can of Dandelion and Burdock the other day, CJ. Hadn't tasted that since I was a kid. Last time I recall drinking ginger beer was close to 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI love Dandelion & Burdock, Kid, but my local Tesco only sells it in big 2 litre bottles which is no good for me as the pop would go flat before I drunk most of it. A few years ago another shop, Wilko, did sell individual cans of Dandelion & Burdock but not any more. It's annoying how products appear then disappear again - my Tesco used to sell small 500ml bottles of Irn Bru but now they only sell it in 2 litre bottles or packs of 8 cans. And at Christmas 2018 I bought a pack of Hostess Twinkies in Tesco but I never saw any again - I've wanted to try Hostess Twinkies ever since I saw them advertised in American Marvel comics in the '70s so I'm glad I finally got the chance but it seems the pack I bought was just part of a one-off batch.
ReplyDeleteI got my can of D&B in Home Bargains, CJ, so if there's a store in your main shopping centre, that's where to try. Unfortunately, HB don't store their soft drinks in refrigerated conditions, so you'd have to stick it in your fridge for a while when you got back home before drinking it.
ReplyDeleteThere's no Home Bargains here, Kid - anyway I don't own a fridge.
ReplyDeleteNo fridge? Well, run out and buy one right away, CJ. It's the 21st century - every home should have a fridge. You still got an outside toilet?
ReplyDeleteNo, an indoor toilet. I've lived in my current house since 2002 without a fridge and I've coped fine :)
ReplyDeleteYou got an oven? A microwave? Do you eat takeaways all the time? The world needs to know, CJ.
ReplyDeleteI've got an oven. No microwave. Don't eat takeaways. The world now knows.
ReplyDeleteHave you got a freezer in which to keep the food you cook in your oven?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid ( about 5 or 6 years old) we didn't have a fridge we put milk in the sink at night in cold water and veg was kept in a larder that was cool. Meat etc was bought as you used it Don't think I could live without one now all the same . I used to love Dandelion and Burdock but in last few years hardly take and carbonated drinks now find them too sweet
ReplyDeleteI don't remember a time when we didn't have a fridge, McS, and the one we had in the late '50s, early '60s, we had right up 'til the late '70s, if not a bit later.
ReplyDeleteCan't quite understand how anyone cannot own a fridge but hey each to their own. I found opal fruits today in my local whs but not sure I should really be indulging in such sweetmeats. Still no annuals. Bah!
ReplyDeleteSeems like my WHS will be sold out of Annuals before yours even get theirs in, AL. Unless yours has already sold them all. At least you got the OFs.
ReplyDeleteThey can't have sold them all as they have never had them in yet. I have searched high and low in every nook and cranny but will never give up my quest
ReplyDeleteIt's a racing cert that if my WHS has got them in then yours has too. However, perhaps they just haven't put them out on sale yet. Next time you're in, specifically enquire about them, and ask if they're in the back shop.
ReplyDeleteKid, I fear I've made myself sound backward and primitive by admitting that I don't own a fridge! But I find a fridge unnecessary - I buy pasteurised milk that doesn't need refrigerating and nothing else needs to be kept in a fridge actually. Every product I buy says "keep refrigerated" on the instructions but this is nonsense which I've ably proved over many years. Keeping food in a fridge dries the food out and makes it tasteless in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your question: no, I don't own a freezer either.
By the way, my father always kept a jug of water in the fridge specially for drinking because he said the water from the tap wasn't cold enough!
ReplyDeleteMilk that isn't cold though? I couldn't drink it. Incidentally, you can buy wee fridges the size of a hat box (or smaller) - one of those would be ideal for your kitchen. Just to chill your milk.
ReplyDeleteKid, from 1992-2002 I lived in a flat just down the road from my current address and in that flat I owned a small fridge like you described - but it was a bit bigger than a hat box. The only thing I ever kept in the fridge was milk because I was still buying fresh milk in those days. But pasteurised, un-refrigerated milk is perfectly nice - and so is un-refrigerated soft drinks. But each to his own - you prefer your drinks chilled!
ReplyDelete'Cos I'm such a cool guy, CJ.
ReplyDeleteI’ll never understand why they change the names.
ReplyDeleteThey sell Cadbury over here but not really. Hershey bought the rights to sell Cadbury over here and stopped importation of the UK chocs. Unfortunately they made them taste like American chocs by substituting Cocoa oil for the original butter. So what was the point then if you’re going to make it taste different ! You paid to use the name and now you’re putting out a different product!
Certainly the Cadbury’s chocolate that Hersey produced under license in the early 2000s tasted significantly inferior to the UK product, but I believe that the current chocolate takes remarkably similar to the UK goods since Kraft/Mondelez took over Cadbury around 2010 and started enforcing Hershey’s to adhere to the UK recipe as far as ingredient similarity will allow.
DeleteThe other consideration is that many Dollar Stores (think UK Poundland) will sell Canadian Cadbury’s which is “the real stuff”.
It's beyond me too, PS. Maybe Cadbury's chocolate tastes better and by changing the recipe, it brings it down to Hershey's level of quality and is less a threat to Hershey's sales. (Though if Hershey own Cadbury, any profit would be theirs anyway so why bother?) However, if Cadbury's chocolate bars don't make a profit because they don't taste better, Hershey can then quietly abandon the Cadbury name, leaving Hershey as the main manufacturer of US chocolate. Or maybe I'm talking a load of old pants?
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, B - then all is right with the world. I'm sure PS will be glad to know that he can buy the 'real deal' when he wants to munch on some Cadbury's chocolate. I feel like scoffing a bar myself now.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.businessinsider.com/cadbury-chocolate-different-in-us-vs-uk-evidence-2018-5
ReplyDeleteTurns out the US version uses cocoa butter and the UK versions add fat additives!
But according to a totally unscientific survey of four people at Business Insider, one likes the US Cadbury, one couldn’t tell and two liked the UK Cadbury.
I suspect a true choc fan could tell. I can and so can my son and he has no bias ( other than me telling him the UK Cadbury is better!).
Canadian Cadbury eh? The imported ones I get are Greek!
If they really do taste different from one another, PS, they should be fined for false advertising. If it says Cadbury's on the wrapper then it should taste like a Cadbury's bar. Usually the recipe of such things are regarded as sacred. I'll take a wee look at that link when I've woken up a bit more. Ta.
ReplyDeleteWell, my son’s girlfriend finally managed to locate a pack of the Limited Edition Opal Fruits for me and they have arrived here in the US. Had to go for the lime one first, of course. Will now settle down with a 25-cent comic from 1971 (with a 7 1/2p T&P stamp) and try to avoid scoffing the lot while recreating a Saturday morning of my youth.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't open a bag without finishing the lot of them one after the other, B. (And I bought several bags - all finished now, alas.) I've kept the packets and wrappers so that I can enhance my memory of Opal Fruits just my looking at them whenever the fancy takes me.
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