Space Raiders

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A standard pickled onion packet of Space Raiders. This is of the smaller £0.25 variety.

Space Raiders are a cheap snack food, intended to fill the same niche market as crisps, and are supplied in similar packets. They are made from corn and wheat and available in several flavours: pickled onion, salt and vinegar, beef and spicy (a cheese flavour was previously available, but appears to have been withdrawn due to political intervention). They are made by KP Snacks in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in the UK and are especially popular with children (due to their low cost and spacey packaging). They remained at an inflation-beating retail cost of 10 pence from their introduction in the late 1970s all the way until later October 2007, when the price was hiked to 15p. The price has continued to fluctuate reflecting the volatility of the underlying commodity prices. As of June 2008, the bag that originally cost 10p is now 25p.

The mini comic story available on the backs of packets have, over the last 25 years, spanned from the adventures of 'Vauxhall Astra and her Space Pirates' through to the current stories of aliens being afraid of the crunching sounds of the snacks being eaten. These snacks hold nostalgic notions for many British adults today.

Flavours: Beef, Cheese, Pickled Onion, Salt & Vinegar and Spicy.

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[edit] Cultural References

• In the acknowledgement section of their 1979 album Canadian Progressive Rock band Rush thank "Space Raiders (10p)"

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