A Sunday at the Cinema and Just Born’s Movie Theater Boxes!

Yesterday was a Sunday, and it was also a movie day.  I was finally getting out to see the film an old friend of mine had made; Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green.  The flick was wonderful (though a real tear-jerker), and on top of that I discovered a trio of new movie-theater-exclusive Just Born candy boxes!

My girlfriend and I had eaten lunch just before this, so we really weren’t planning on hitting the snack bar.   But we were a bit thirsty, and I had to make my political statement for the day.  You see, there was this sign on the theater doors as we entered:

Taking a Stand For Soda Sign

First they came for the 64-ounce sodas, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t thirsty.

Then they came for the jumbo popcorn, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t up for all that butter.

Then they came for the cheese-filled pretzels and I didn’t speak out because I was lactose intolerant.

And then they came for my giant Hot Tamales, and there were no other jumbo-sizes left to make my super-large combo work.

A-hem.

So, we ordered our soda, and suddenly an item on the candy display shelves caught my eye.

Theater Candy Display Shelves – August 26th, 2012 – Regal’s Kaufman Astoria

It was that Hot Tamales box with the cool marquee lights design around the border.  I’d never seen THAT before!  [Note:  My childhood movie theater go-to candies were always Hot Tamales and Milk Duds – it warms my heart that I still get to have those options.]

A quick investigation identified that they had similar boxes for the standard Mike and Ike, as well as Just Born’s Zours.   While I hadn’t planned on picking up any candy that day – I left the concession with three boxes.

When I got them home, I took note of the other differences beyond the marquee design.

The box sizes are smaller than the “theater-size” boxes you find at retail stores (which recently went from 6oz to 5oz standard).  These are 4oz boxes and 3.6oz for the Zours.  They are also made of a thicker brown cardboard, unlike the thinner, slicker white cardboard typically used on Just Born boxes.  These are more like cereal box material and construction, which makes them different and oddly appealing because of it.   Finally – they are distributed by a third party:  Summit Food Enterprises.  I’m assuming that Summit must repackage confections specifically for the movie house trade.

In short, these are not your typical Just Born candy boxes.

Here they are:

Just Born – Summit Food Ent – Hot Tamales – movie theater edition – candy box – 2012

Just Born – Summit Food Ent – Mike and Ike original fruit – movie theater edition – candy box – 2012

Just Born – Summit Food Ent – Mike and Ike Zours original fruit – movie theater edition – candy box – 2012

I gotta say, I really dig these theater-exclusive box designs.  It’s just a simple marquee light frame design, but it really does make the boxes pop.  As a collector, finding these was super-fun, and they’re going to make awesome additions to my Just Born collection.

And that’s everything for today’s post.

See you next time!