Welcome back to another edition of CollectingCandy.com’s Wacky Wednesdays! For this week’s post, I’ll be looking at a “lost Wacky” that was originally intended for release in 1973’s Wacky Packages series 5 but was pulled before the series was released. Thirty-five years later, Nastee Crush would finally see the light of day in 2008’s Wacky Packages Flashback series 1, as part of its Lost Wackys subset.
Nastee Crush is a parody of Nestle Crunch, but more specifically it is a parody of the King Size version of Nestle Crunch. Before I get to the original wrapper, here’s a close-up look at the parody sticker as it appeared in the 2008 Wacky Packages Flashback series:
Wacky Packages Flashbacks Series 1 – Lost Wacky – Nastee Crush – 2008
It’s a fun parody with a great gorilla illustration.
I’d love to see a candy bar manufacturer just go with calling an extra-large bar a “Kong Size” instead of “King Size”, complete with an illustration of a gorilla on the wrappers — kids would love it! Come to think of it, Fleer christened their 1981 giant Razzles as “Ape-Sized” so I guess it’s kind of already been done.
The back of the Nastee Crush sticker peel-away indicates the Lost Wacky subset that this one came from:
Wacky Packages Flashbacks Series 1 – Lost Wacky – Nastee Crush – 2008_Sticker peel-away back
I’d been wanting to find the wrapper that the Nastee Crush Wacky was based on for some time, and it wasn’t easy. I’d come across quite a few Nestle Crunch wrappers but none of them ever matched-up — none of them were the “King Size” version I sought. Finally, a few weeks ago I found the matching wrapper and was able to add it to my collection. Here it is:
Nestle’s – Crunch King Size – Giant Poster offer – chocolate candy bar wrapper – early 1970’s
Nastee – Nestle comparison
As you can see, all of the design and typographical elements from the Nastee Crush parody are present in the original Nestle Crunch wrapper shown.
It’s great to finally track down this original, after years of searching.
And that’s everything for today’s edition of Wacky Wednesdays.
See you next time!
