Collecting the Sox

There are some obscure Red Sox collectables out there. There are even some obscure food collectables out there. You can have cereal boxes and wine bottles. Those are pretty obscure. But, I think the John Valentin Sweet Hits Baseball Classic Candy made by Necco takes the cake.

I don’t know why these cadies were produced. The presence of the Jimmy Fund logo on the box implies it was a charity endeavor. Perhaps a portion of the proceeds went to the Jimmy Fund. Maybe Necco does these regionally for sports teams all over the country. The plainness of the box would certainly make that easy. Just replace the pictures of Valentin with Scott Brosius, and you have a candy made for the NY market.

The plain box also gives no clue as to what is inside. Are these like regular Necco wafers? The “classic candy” portion of the name certainly implies this. Or, did they get creative and make them look like baseballs? The options would have been almost endless. I’ve never had any of these candies. How did they taste? How would they taste today? Will they stay fresh in the box forever? Would you know if they got stale?

Whatever they were for, and however they taste, they are a great Red Sox collectable. What a perfect conversation starter. Any new guest to your Red Sox room could be offered some John Valentin Neccos. And, the conversation begins.

Has anyone ever had one?