Sports reporter buys world's oldest Twinkie

Darren Rovell bought a Twinkie recently for “an undisclosed amount over $1,000.”

If you’re wondering why anyone in their right mind would do that, understand that the Twinkie likely dates to 1976, and Rovell believes it is the oldest sealed Twinkie in the world.

If you’re still wondering why someone would spend more than $1,000 on a Twinkie, even a mint-condition, sealed 1976 Twinkie, you don’t understand Rovell. The former ESPN/CNBC/Action Network reporter, who earlier this year founded the sport collectibles media platform CLLCT , loves unusual collectibles.

In a commentary posted on his website Tuesday , Rovell recounted some of the interesting items he’s picked up through the years. He bought Shaquille O’Neal’s LSU college ID. He purchased a Tiger Woods signed lap dance ticket and Bruce Springsteen’s health insurance card.

So a sealed, 48-year-old Twinkie fits right in that bizarre spectrum. When Rovell learned the Twinkie was available at a collectibles show in Cleveland, “I knew I had to have it.”

After one man purchased the rare junk food for $1,000, Rovell convinced him to turn around and sell it to him for a profit, for an undisclosed price. (For anyone thinking they should get into Twinkie collectible flipping to generate some extra income, don’t do it.)

Rovell has meticulously researched his new possession and found that, incredibly, there is another Twinkie from that era in existence, only that one is unwrapped. A chemistry teacher in Maine put a Twinkie in a glass case in 1976 to observe the decay. He retired in 2004, but the Twinkie is still going strong in the decay game, on display at the school.

But Rovell is fairly certain he’s got the oldest sealed Twinkie, and hopes to get that certified by the Guinness World Record Book.

“We will soon find out because if any collector owns an older one, I expect it to surface soon,” Rovell wrote.

[Darren Rovell on X/Twitter]

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