The Great New York Candy Extravaganza, Part II: The Haul

It doesn't seem like so much now that it's all laid out, but I was trying to be pretty selective. So, from the back we have:

• two varieties of Pucca: regular shell with chocolate creme filling and chocolate shell with chocolate creme filling. I bought two boxes because these are made by Meiji, the same company that brought us the fantastic Chocorooms. The first thing I did after leaving the store was bust open the box of original flavor. They are little shapes that look like Goldfish and the ghosts from Pacman (or are they octopi?). I was disappointed. The shell is shinier and less crunchy than the Chocoroom stems, which were like a crunchy cookie. But for $1.79 a box, it seemed like a good deal.
• A can of Charms Sour Balls: I'm not particularly big on hard candy, and I seem to have quite a large stash of it right now, but these reminded me of my PopPop. He always had a can of these by his easy chair.
• British Double Decker: I couldn't remember if I had ever tried one of these. I don't think I have. Of course, I threw out the wrapper, so I can't tell you the proper description, but it was nougat and crisped rice in milk chocolate. I wasn't so sure about it at first; the nougat seemed a bit too "fake" to me, but in the end, I decided I really liked it. Here's what the Brits do right: their crisped rice is more sturdy and crunchier than ours.
• A box of Leone Candy Originals in Orange: I have no idea what these are, and at $2.99 for one ounce they were pricey, but the box is so beautiful. They're from Italy and the box says "Breath of Sicily."
• Cadbury Picnic: "Packed with Peanuts and Raisins." I haven't tried it yet.
• Fruitips Fruit Pastilles: These confused me because they have some sort of Asian writing on them. At first I thought they might be a Japanese candy, but I finally saw that it said, "Made in the United Kingdom." The wrapper says 4 times real fruit juices. Four times more than what? Rocks? The first one I sampled was on the Subway when PIC said she was afraid she was going to barf from not eating all day. I gave her one and it seemed to help her, while it did the opposite for me. The two that I've had both had a musky taste to them. Ick.
• Economy Candy's own brand of chocolate in Belgian Milk Chocolate Smores and Belgian Milk Chocolate with Roasted Almonds: First of all, I should've read the ingredients on the almond bar because it clearly says "roasted almond bits." This is my candy bar pet peeve. When you chop nuts up into miniscule pieces, they have an unappetizing texture and no flavor. These were very disappointing. The chocolate was not very good (on par with a stale Hershey bar) and the mix-ins were meager. I'd never know it was a Smores bar if you didn't tell me. I could find nary a marshmallow.
• Tropical Razzles: Again, I couldn't remember if I've already tried these so I figured I'd get them just in case. Haven't tried them yet, but the flavors are pineapple, strawberry-banana, tropical punch, tangerine and kiwi-lime.
• Chick-O-Stick: I bought this thinking it was a Coconut Longboy. Oops. It proudly sports a "Made in the USA" label.
• Adams Sour Cherry Gum: I remember this from when I was little. So far I've just sniffed it and it has that wonderful cherry Bubble Yum scent to it.
• Doscher's Famous Banana French Chew Taffy: If I had read the ingredients first, I probably wouldn't have bought this. Check it out: Corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, egg albumen, soy albumen, corn starch, sodium bicarbonate, artificial flavor and artificial color. They should call it French Artery Clogger.
• And lastly, Ice Cubes, because I need them to do the "I" painting in my ABC series.

Oh, and I bought this tiny little candy dispenser (it was empty; I filled it with Jujyfruits). I figured the Sugar Baby would love it. I was right. It's now become the "special treat." When he does something good, he gets to take the little scoop and get one (yes ONE, Memaw) Jujyfruit.

Next update: candy from a freaky deaky Greeky store.