X-Entertainment.com X-Entertainment.com A Proud UGO Affiliate
My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.

Summer Megaparty 2010: ICEE Squeeze Candy!

I've written about "squeeze" candies before, which are, essentially, toothpaste tubes filled with impossibly sour glucose syrup instead of toothpaste. That may not be the most fluid way of describing them, but as the contents themselves are not fluid, I can safely declare my cumbersome wording as being completely intentional.

These "squeeze" candies are all over the place and from various makers, but I only notice them during assorted holiday seasons, when they're patterned after cool stuff like blood or shiny Christmas wrapping paper. Beyond such festive forays, I've happily ignored the gooey confections...until today.

Whatever positive adjectives you can think of, ICEE Squeeze Candy deserves them. 7-Eleven Slurpees may be the standard, but that's only because people don't want to admit that the best slushies are more commonly found in K-Mart. Make no mistake, ICEE slushies > 7-Eleven Slurpees. ICEE slushies > almost everything else on the planet.

The slimy snacks taste unbelievably close to real ICEEs, with all of the appropriate sweetnesses and trademark sour notes. I picked up "Cherry" and "Blue Raspberry," staying true to the general rule that "red" and "blue" candies are the only ones that matter. (There's also a green one, but green sucks, so I didn't bother checking which slushie flavor it was meant to represent. Let's assume kale.)

I'm beyond pleased with these, especially the cherry one, which is so delicious that I now live in constant fear that I will lose the battle to its palatable charms, eat the whole thing in a minute, and deal with the intense stomach ache that squeeze candies are so prone to inducing.

If you couldn't tell, I really, really love these. Everything about them. I love that we can eat candy that looks like prop poison from a bad movie about murderous alien plants. I love that the containers manage to fit in both ICEE's hip polar bear mascot and a textual boast reading "TOO COOL!" I love that "Potassium Sorbate" is listed as an ingredient, because now I can end the search for my trip hop band name.

In other news, I kinda tanked on posting everyday in August, huh? I think some allowances should be made considering that I spent a fair portion of the month fending off rogue teeth with German accents. Besides, X-E's eighth annual Halloween Countdown is starting up pretty soon, and I'm gonna Babe Ruth this shit: It's going to be a good one. Haven't decided when we're starting. Pretty soon/not too soon. But boy, it will be fun. And how.

Posted by Matt on 08/31/2010. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 328 comments

1 2 3 14

Love stuff like this. But no green?! Grren is usually sour apple. Sour apple candy is proof that there is goodness in this universe after all.

Chestnuts roasted by Doctor_Who @ 08/31/2010 3:21 PM


Oh man, I LOVE Icees! I’ll have to track these down, they look tasty.

Chestnuts roasted by ULTRAMAN @ 08/31/2010 3:24 PM


I never even saw an Icee machine in my neck of the woods. We had Slush Puppies! The little grocery store in my town had to put up a sign requesting you only put 4 squirts of flavoring in each cup, because my brother would often squirt so much flavoring into his cup that his Slush Puppy would almost be black. Those were the days!

Chestnuts roasted by ~Rae~ @ 08/31/2010 3:24 PM


I’m constantly having an internal debate with myself about the Countdowns. Part of me loves the anticipation and wants to milk it out so I don’t get to excited too soon. The other part of me tells the first part to fuck off and reloads the site every second on the faint hope that it will be starting NOW! Or NOW! or NOW! It’s a viscous cycle…

Chestnuts roasted by drew do @ 08/31/2010 3:33 PM


I can’t wait for Target to roll out their Halloween stuff. They’ve already started to throw some spooky-themed stuff in the dollar and pet sections. I wonder when the real stuff will come out. Everyone is back in school by next week, right?

Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 08/31/2010 3:45 PM


I’m sure these would be great if I liked Icees, or even Slurpees myself. But I never have, even when I was younger. Everyone in my family liked them, but not me. I’ve always preferred a soda as a cool beverage. Maybe it has something to do with the fact I don’t like popiscles either.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 08/31/2010 3:51 PM


Yesterday evening I saw the local Dollar Tree breaking out their Halloween decorations and it made me feel good inside. Nothing can bring a smile to my face quite like finding random plastic limbs.

Chestnuts roasted by Turrel @ 08/31/2010 3:53 PM


Those look dee-lish! I believe years ago, these types of candy were referred as liquid lollipops. Let’s see if I can find them in my neck of the woods.

Chestnuts roasted by Jason @ 08/31/2010 3:54 PM


I used to eat stuff like this when I was a kid, but haven’t for years. Now I want one. Although I do love Gushers fruit snacks because of the goo inside.

I don’t know if anyone else has an “Old Country Buffet” near them, but you can serve yourself an ICEE with your meal there, although they only have two flavors there, Cherry and the frankly kinda blech Coca Cola flavor.

Although I think an ICEE is just something you gotta eat/drink by itself. There is just something weird about drinking one in between bites of fried chicken, ribs, and mashed potatoes.

Chestnuts roasted by King JLA @ 08/31/2010 3:55 PM


I don’t want to derail the thread (but am going to anyway), but remember when everyone here went nutso when Pepsi/Mountain Dew started going retro with their “Throwback” flavors?

Well, Captain Crunch is going retro now, too. Although for some reason still no Soggies.

http://capncrunch.com/cc_products/retroCrunch.aspx

Chestnuts roasted by King JLA @ 08/31/2010 4:02 PM


King JLA,

We have a Hometown Buffet near us that lets you get frozen yogurt instead. I haven’t been there in about two or three years though; the food really isn’t all that good.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 08/31/2010 4:04 PM


That’s hilarious about the Cap ‘N Crunch…because I just moved back to my mom’s house after leaving the town I had been living in, and went to get some cereal, asked her why the packaging was ‘retro’ and she told me she didn’t know what I was talking about. I’m glad I wasn’t going crazy.

Chestnuts roasted by Jaclyn @ 08/31/2010 4:07 PM


Aw, green’s my favorite flavor!

I did a bad job of keeping up with the Megaparty. I pretty much just ended up reading all the entries before this one in one day. As for the Paint contest, I can’t believe you got three Joeys, a Bob Saget, and even a Kimmy, but no Michelle!

Can’t wait for the Halloween countdown.

Chestnuts roasted by Bluejay @ 08/31/2010 4:30 PM


I don’t think I have ever had an actual ICEE. These squeeze candies are right up my alley, I would have gone for them as a kid, and may just go for one now. More than likely I’ll still get just as sticky and messy. Always fun!

Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 08/31/2010 4:41 PM


That looks like the kind of candy I’d never buy for myself (I usually go for something safe when I buy candy, like chocolate or M&Ms) but would be overjoyed to receive as a gift. It kinda looks like children’s toothpaste, it’s just missing the sparkles. Although, maybe that was just the toothpaste I had as a child, and they don’t generally sparkle?

Tomorrow I’m going to put up all my Halloween decorations, so yeah, I’m already looking forward to Halloween and the countdown on X-E. It’s always great, and my Halloween music selection is very much based on the jukebox.
I’m really glad I saved some money to spend mindlessly on plastic bats and fake skeletons when the Halloween stuff arrives in stores.

Chestnuts roasted by Kapprika @ 08/31/2010 4:52 PM


Cap ‘N Crunch shreds my mouth, I can’t seem to navigate it without injury. I’d stop eating it, but it hurts so good…

Chestnuts roasted by Scott @ 08/31/2010 5:00 PM


Matt, it’s great to get updates every day when you do that but don’t burn yourself out.

Chestnuts roasted by jhnnywalkr @ 08/31/2010 5:12 PM


Got some boxes of the retro Cap’n just today! I figured I would hear about it here…

Coca Cola icees are my favorite, but you can’t go wrong with tried and true, red and blue.

Chestnuts roasted by Burninfresh @ 08/31/2010 5:15 PM


Where can I find these things?

Chestnuts roasted by Mike Russo @ 08/31/2010 5:20 PM


Man, Football, fantasy leagues, and the X-E Halloween countdown! Talk about some of the best parts of the autumn! Can’t wait!

Chestnuts roasted by Frank \"Grayhawk\" Huminski @ 08/31/2010 5:27 PM


I am still mad at you Matt… big meanie

Chestnuts roasted by Steffanio @ 08/31/2010 5:35 PM


King JLA,

I just saw Pepsi Throwback on Costco the other week and our local store was carrying Mountain Dew Throwback for a while. I also recall our local Target carrying retro versions of Cherrios, Lucky Charms, and Trix. Our local Target is also the only place I know of that sells ICEEs.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 08/31/2010 6:06 PM


I want one of those retro Cap’n Crunch boxes, but I already have like four other retro cereal boxes, and I don’t like Cap’n Crunch as much as I used to because it rips the hell out of my mouth. Oh well.

So who else here thinks 50s production music is hilarious and awesome? You know, the stuff they used in Ren and Stimpy and Spongebob and driver’s ed films.

Chestnuts roasted by Annette @ 08/31/2010 6:27 PM


Slush Puppy > Icee > Slurpee

Posted on an LJ comm about “sports bottle candy,” essentially that stuff, but in an early 90s style sports bottle. Someone actually showed me that they are still making the stuff!

I used to love the squeeze candies, and lollipop rotators, that they used to sell all the time at KB Toys.

Chestnuts roasted by Tresjolie9 @ 08/31/2010 6:33 PM


Oh the Halloween Countdown is almost here! Man, time is just zipping by! Just went to Micheals to get some records framed and it’s a Halloween haven there. Plus it’s overcast and chilly. Perfect for cider with rum and a viewing of Halloween tonight. Followed by The Fog.

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 08/31/2010 6:44 PM


1 2 3 14

Add A New Comment!