When I was little, my mom would very rarely buy me the original Pocky as a reward for something I’d done. It was an “expensive” treat so it really only happened once in a blue moon. As I got older, Pocky somehow still maintained that aura of awesomeness. It really wasn’t all that expensive but I only bought it on special occasions.
Then, through high school and the beginning of college I began scouring Asian supermarkets in whatever city I happened to be visiting for the most obscure and rare flavors of Pocky. One of my closest friends at that time was just as weird as I was, so we’d find these unique boxes and scrapbook the packaging. Since both of us are freaks about design, it ended up being a pretty badass collage of Pocky design and packaging.
We always got so excited when we came across a new flavor we hadn’t tried - he even went so far as to order Asia exclusive flavors online and have them shipped to the States. We always tried to get at least three boxes of each flavor (one to eat, one to scrapbook and one for the ‘archives’). There were several times I spent well over $100 at the grocery store on Pocky alone.
The girls who lived in my dorm freshman year of college all joked about my intense Pocky “collection,” as they’d call it. My mom would ship a few boxes to me in care packages and I’d hunt around LA for weird flavors. Everyone loved these convenient little snacks so we’d drink imported teas and munch on Pocky while catching up on gossip. I was by far the most “Asian” of our hall so I guess this was like, their window into my culture. HAHAHA.
OKAY it’s not like I would actually set aside time in my day to hunt for Pocky. NO. I’m not THAT weird. I’d just make it a point to go down the candy aisle at grocery stores and see what they offered. That’s all. LOL. If there were extra special ones (winter edition, tiramisu flavor, etc) I’d buy a few more boxes and set them aside for care packages to PL. But that’s another story…