Friday, January 26, 2007

Oriental Trading Company Candies

I’ve been eying the stuff on the Oriental Trading Company website for years, just wondering if it was any good. I really have very little need for four dozen candy rings, but I just wanted them so much.

So I put together what I thought was a modest order of items that I knew I couldn’t get anywhere else (they do carry a lot of items you can find in the grocery store like candy bar miniatures):
1 x Valentines Candy Rings (4 dozen) - $4.95
1 x Everyday Candy Rings (4 dozen) - $4.95
2 x Gummy Candy Band Bracelet (1 dozen) - $2.95
1 x Candy Shot Glasses (6 each) $4.95

(More on the Candy Shot Glasses next week!)

The Gummy Candy Band Bracelet came in four colors, each with a different inspirational word on them.

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All of them were less than stellar looking. They looked and felt a bit dry to the touch, kind of like old Play Doh. They were each individually sealed in little clear cellophane sleeves (and those were all inside another sealed bag) so I don’t think it was a storage issue on my side. However, I did buy them on sale (they were normally $5.95 a dozen and I got them for $2.95, so maybe you get what you pay for).

Purple :: Faith :: Grape - very dark and pretty purple, and I only think it was grape flavored, it was hard to tell. Faith has a strong bitter aftertaste to it for me.

Yellow :: Strength :: Pineapple - pretty good! A nice floral fruity flavor with a good tangy bite and no weird aftertaste. Strength is good!

Green :: Hope :: Apple - tangy and fruity and actually pretty tasty. Hope is edible!

Orange :: Dream :: Orange - also rather tasty. It had a good rounded orange flavor with both the zesty notes and the tangy bite. Dream had a slight aftertaste to it, not a bad one, but a little like chemicals or artificial flavors.

On the whole, I liked the novelty of the bracelets, but as you can imagine the reality of wearing a gummi on your wrist isn’t that appealing after about five minutes. You can gnaw it off your wrist, but if it’s all about the taste and texture, these leave a bit to be desired. I think I’d prefer a clear gummi like Haribo makes instead of this opaque stuff.

They make other varieties for different holidays, there’s a Halloween set and I thought they had an Easter one (but I can’t find it on the site now).

It’s not something I’d order again and I’m kind of sorry I got two dozen now. 4 out of 10

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The Everyday Candy Rings are just stunning to look at. Instead of the chunky ones that I used to buy when I was a kid that were impossibly thick and uncomfortable to wear. These are petite little compressed dextrose creations, rather similar to the Candy Blox I reviewed earlier this week.

The rings are small, or fit small fingers. I could only get them on the top of my smaller fingers or my pinkie (my ring finger size is an eight). The bands come in four differen colors:

Pink Band :: White Jewel - After eating this one, I’m not afraid of the pink ones. A light raspberry flavor, it has a little bitter aftertaste but overall I find it agreeable. This is the only one that made my fingers a little discolored.

Yellow Band :: Orange Flower - the candy is a soft lemon flavor, no sour tang to it.

Orange Band :: Pink Flower - this one was bad the first time I had it, a bit sour in an unpleasant “bad burp” way. Subsequent ones were just fine. They taste a little like Froot Loops.

White Band :: Yellow Star - I think this is pineapple. Again, soft with only a light flavor and no tartness.

I really liked these. They’re compact and even though they don’t really fit my fingers they’d be great for kids because they’re not too much candy and are less likely to make a big mess. They’re also darned attractive.

They’re individually wrapped and easy to stow in your pocket (so I plan on carrying them around to blogger events to hand out to my new friends). The flavors are okay - not quite as tasty as the Candy Blox, but they all arrived in great condition (only one out of the 4 dozen was broken). The price per item is only 10 cents each, so if you’re planning a theme party for a little girl (Princess!), this might make a nice addition to the favors.

I give these an 8 out of 10 ... definitely something I’m going to keep on hand as the Candy Blogger.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:33 am Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewOriental Trading CoCompressed DextroseGummi Candy4-Benign8-TastyChina

Comments
  1. I’ve tried the firefighter dalmation lollipops and the bone-shaped gum from Oriental Trading—and honestly, they were both pretty gross.  Even my kids spit them out.

    Comment by Karen Samuels on 1/26/07 at 1:10 pm #
  2. Cybele's avatar

    Karen - I had to go look up those products.

    The dalmation lollipops don’t even look like candy ... fat free? What were they made out of? Plastic?

    I’m disappointed to hear that about the bone gum, I was actually looking at those. But I’m not surprised.

    Comment by Cybele on 1/26/07 at 1:15 pm #
  3. Those rings are too cute! They look tasty, too.

    Comment by patti on 1/26/07 at 1:22 pm #
  4. The shot glasses are hilarious! I have a cousin who will eat anything gummy, one year I found gummy cheeseburgers for her birthday, she loved them! I always found gummy anything repulsive! And with all of that synthetic coloring, even if it is fat free, it’s probably eating a hole in your liver!

    Comment by Imani on 1/26/07 at 2:11 pm #
  5. Those candy rings are so great!!! I want one or two or three and I want them to be adult sized smile

    Comment by Helen on 1/27/07 at 10:09 am #
  6. the rings are cute

    Comment by A on 1/27/07 at 11:55 am #
  7. my family and I are very familiar with Oriental Trading Company, and I would warn you about most of their candies.  They are like everything else OTC sells, mass-produced at the cheapest rate with little to no quality control. Every so often they will have something acceptable, but it’s usually repackaged from another vendor (and can be found cheaper elsewhere).  When ordering from OTC, always remember what they are: suppliers for carnivals and other charity events. Prizes that are so cheap that you can practically give them away.  They do try to slip in some more upscale items, but upscale for OTC is what you find at dollar stores.

    and I’m saying this as a long-term customer (my kids’ school and our church do a lot of carnivals and soup suppers with games).

    Comment by Jim Kosmicki on 1/29/07 at 4:25 am #
  8. Well, I was pretty jazzed that the Candy Blogger was willing to give the OTC a try—as a parent of small children I’m familiar with the catalog and had wondered about some of the “novelty” items.  On the strength of the review, I ordered some of the rings for my 7-year-old’s school Valentine party—they have the advantage over all the plastic cr*p that they are, well, biodegradable.  Thanks, Cybele!

    Comment by good enough cook on 1/29/07 at 4:05 pm #
  9. Does anyone know a good source of lollipops that would include cactus-shaped lollipops?

    Comment by Pat on 3/08/08 at 7:53 am #
  10. Oriental Trading Company is owned by the right wing Carlyle Group.  Oriental Trading Company has a long history of recalls for safety issues like lead.  Everything you get from Oriental Trading Company should be tested for lead and melamine.  Also keep in mind the kind of people that work for the Carlyle Group including former US President George H. W. Bush, former British Prime Minister John Major and former US Secretary of State James A. Baker III along with George Soros.

    Comment by Super Liberal on 1/07/10 at 1:35 pm #
  11. Cybele's avatar

    Super Liberal - I’m sensing an agenda. Are you going to now comment on every candy made in China that’s been reviewed here?

    Comment by Cybele on 1/07/10 at 1:37 pm #
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