The popcorn bucket industrial complex has been growing at an exponential rate. Once only the purview of theme parks, intricately-designed popcorn buckets are now found at every movie theater advertising your favorite blockbuster. Disney World is still the king of the popcorn bucket, though Universal Orlando Resort has created some great ones in recent years. This new Universal Studios bucket for Super Nintendo World may be one of the best, and also the most complicated to bring home.
Universal Studios Japan just debuted a brand-new popcorn bucket for its Super Nintendo World. It’s a “Bob-omb,” the anthropomorphic explosive device from the Mario games that looks like the classic cartoon version of a bomb, that might raise a few eyebrows when trying to get it through airport security.
#スーパーニンテンドーワールドあの爆弾のような敵がポップコーンバケツで登場‼💥ボムへい ポップコーンバケツ6/23（月）販売開始📍販売場所：ピットストップ・ポップコーン爆発してしまう⁉と思っちゃうドキドキのシーンを再現した機能が付いてるよ発売をお楽しみに❣️ pic.twitter.com/mgeDrKXGhPJune 14, 2025
I mean, I have no idea what airport security would think if they saw this go through an X-ray machine. It might only scan as a hollow piece of plastic, but if anybody gave it a serious look, I can imagine some security officials having questions. It doesn’t look like a “real” weapon, but certainly the TSA could still take issue with it based on how other people might perceive it if they saw it. If the TSA can take issue with “thermal detonator” Coke bottles, then a “bomb”-shaped popcorn bucket is absolutely fair game.
As somebody who was mildly worried I might have an issue when I brought my Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lightsaber through airport security, I honestly might get nervous trying to transport this. Of course, if I was too nervous, that might be when security would get concerned.
This may be one of the best popcorn buckets ever devised. First off, it looks perfect as a “real” version of the Bomb-omb, which was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2. However, it’s also functional, as it makes for a simple receptacle for popcorn, and is even round, which is going to make cleaning the thing a lot easier.
The only problem with the Bob-omb bucket is that right now, it’s only available at Universal Studios Japan. That park had the first Super Nintendo World, so it’s not surprising that it debuted the bucket. That said, we now have two Super Nintendo Worlds in the U.S.: a small one at Universal Studios Hollywood and a much larger version at the brand-new Epic Universe park at Universal Orlando Resort. One imagines that if the popcorn bucket proves popular, the design will make its way stateside.
Currently, the only popcorn bucket available at Super Nintendo World on either coast is themed to Mario Kart. While it looks cool, I would buy the Bob-omb bucket in a second, even if I were going to have some explaining to do to get it home.
