12.07.08
Toppo (for men)
Do you know what I love the most about J-List? It is the fact that you can get some odd seasonal, limited, or slightly less popular stuff on their site. The incredibly elusive Winter Pocky? A J-List snack item. Limited run Meltykiss Dark Rum? (Not linking because you can back page to it up there at the top) Also a J-List item. You do have to be alert and persistent if you are looking for a particular item because their stock rotates pretty darned fast. Otherwise, they pretty much are guaranteed to have or have had or will have said item for sale.
Shipping is kind of a cow though, but for something like Toppo for Men? Worth it. Especially if you are piggy backing a couple other hard-to-find-locally items onto the order.
So! Toppo. For Men. I really wish I had already reviewed Men’s Pocky because then we’d have a compare and contrast between goo on the outside and goo on the inside but alas. Something to look forward to for next year maybe. I am amused at the whole “sweets for men” idea because it is really a foreign (heh) concept. Most of the guys I know are down with the sweeties, although there are a higher percentage of guys of my acquaintance that don’t particularly go for chocolate than there are gals that are meh on the cocoa. Still, those chocolate dissing dudes wouldn’t say no to a Reese’s Pieces or two. As I understand it, Japanese men are not supposed to like any sort of sweetie thing because it’s not manly or something of that nature. They are, however, permitted to share their Sweetie’s sweetie and thus can get around the whole “Men don’t do sweets” thing. That’s mostly second hand though so don’t take it as true fact (unless it shows up on Wikipedia. HA!).
But! If men want to be seen in public munching on a sweetie without a Sweetie on their arm to share in the nomming, Toppo (and also the Pocky division of Glico) has them covered. Toppo for men is pretty similar to Toppo everywhere else in that it is a pretzel tube filled with goo. In this case, it is a nice dark crunchity chocolate pretzel tube filled with dark bitteresque chocolate. Because bitteresque chocolate isn’t sweet and therefore manly. Or something. The chocolate tastes a little like a cross between the standard American dark chocolate and baking chocolate. There is some sweet but there is an awful lot more bitter dark chocolate. It’s kinda tasty. And absolutely manly.
We taste tested these over at my mom’s house since she is probably Men’s Pocky’s biggest fan. Most people were down with the Toppo for Men which guarantees at least a 3 or a 3.5 rating. My mom said that she liked them, but preferred the chocolate on the outside (Pocky). That seems more like an aesthetics thing rather than a ‘docking pea points’ thing so no deductions. Looking at the other Toppo, I’d say that Toppo for Men falls into the general range of a
4 wasabi peas out of a possible 5 wasabi peas Rating.
