Save Fruit Pie the Magician!

In desperate times like these, in which Fruit Pie the Magician no longer appears on the waxy paper of the delicious Hostess treat, I ask myself, what would Fruit Pie the Magician himself do? And, deep in my heart, I know: he would appear dressed all dapper in his cape and top hat to perform his signature trick of making Hostess Fruit Pies appear out of thin air. What has become of our trusty friend with a delicate flaky crust? Was he simply "let go" by the powers that be at Hostess, or is the plot more sinister? The Internet is ringing of various theories, and some, such as Shookummike, have already posted eulogies:

"Fruit Pie the Magician is dead (at least here in S.E. New England, which is my stomping grounds). That fun-loving magically inclined anthropamorphic bundle of partial hydrogentated oils and refined sugars has met his maker. He always winked at me from the front of his wax paper wrapper. He was a magician, he was a pastry, he was a friend? No matter what he was, he's dead now."

Fortunately, at least one man, Brandon, is in search of the truth and has set up a site to Save Fruit Pie the Magician. Please visit his site and offer your support. Below is a copy of his facts that serve as a basis of what we currently know, and I would consider any additional conjecture on the current state as exactly that: conjecture.

= Fruit Pie The Magician was an advertising character created in 1973 to represent Hostess Fruit Pies. 

= He was created by Don Duga, who also animated the other Hostess characters. 

= He was one of seven fun characters representing Hostess Cakes starting in the 1970s, along with Twinkie The Kid (Twinkies), Captain Cupcake (Cupcakes), Happy Ho Ho (Ho-Hos), Chief Big Wheels (Big Wheels), Chauncey Choco-dile (Chocodiles) and King Ding Dong (Ding Dongs). 

= He was featured on the Hostess Fruit Pie wrappers from 1973 to 2006, with the exception of Hostess Pudding Pies in the 1980s, which did not have any character on them. 

= He was featured in many TV commercials in the '70s and '80s, often in tandem with other Hostess characters in some urgent need to "save the day" with snack cakes. (Make sure to visit his awesome commercials page!)

= Of the seven Hostess characters who began in the 1970s, all have been retired except for Twinkie The Kid. Fruit Pie The Magician retired in 2006. Captain Cupcake made a brief comeback in 2001.