(Not A) Football Superfan

Someone I know went to West Virginia a few weeks ago to visit family and brought back this Coca-Cola can to me.

I was grateful for the can since I didn't have it yet, but it's far from an accurate description of me.

But whether you're a sports fan or not, one thing is for sure.  When you're a general can collector as I am, whether the can's subject matter interests you or not... you still want the can.

Cayman Islands

A few weeks ago I got a text from a friend who was on vacation in the Cayman Islands.  He sent the following two pictures and asked if I had the cans.

Neither looked familiar, so I replied that I didn't have either can.  When he got home, he said the watermelon can didn't make it back, but he did give me the Jupina pineapple soda can.  After double-checking my collection, I had an older version of the watermelon can from a previous can lot purchase.

So if only one can could make it back to me, I'm glad it was the Jupina. But maybe next time he goes to the Caribbean he can bring back the watermelon can for me :)

The Food Pantry

It's not uncommon in this area for towns to have food shelters or food pantries set up to provide food and other items for people who need help.  And my town is no different.  Ours is called the Food Pantry.

People are needed to help organize the boxes and crates of food that are donated, others are needed to bag the food up so it's ready for people to take when they come in, others are needed to be there to keep the books and record the names of those who come in for food.  And all that work is done by volunteers.

My parents are volunteers and go there a couple times a month.  And when available, I like to get my kids in there to help out.  Last Monday was another chance to help out.  So we headed to the Food Pantry to pack the brown paper bags with food.

There are a couple of shelves set aside for food that is just about to expire.  Items on those shelves are available for anyone to take, even the volunteers.  So I was excited to see a couple of cans on the shelf that I didn't have in my collection.

 

One is a can of Ice Mountain pomegranate lemonade.  I am not a fan of pomegranate, so I have a feeling someone else will be drinking this one.  The other is a V8 Hydrate can of watermelon coconut water.  Guess what, I don't like coconut water either.  Strike two.

But we worked about an hour packing bags, so I felt I earned the two cans I took.  After all, the food is there for people who need it and I certainly NEEDED these two cans for my collection.

One Can to Reign Them All

So I picked up a cool energy drink can recently from someone.  It's called Reign.

This is sour apple flavored.  I didn't get to try it, but the person who drank it said it's pretty good.

The back of the can lists all the "benefits" from drinking it.  From the looks of it, you pretty much turn into Superman after just one can.  Not bad for just a couple bucks.

3D Cans

Someone recently handed me this empty 3D energy drink can.  It's very cool for a few reasons:

• The colors have a matte finish, not a glossy shine like most cans
• The flavor isn't printed anywhere on the can!
• I commented it looks like a Bomb Pop.  And he said that's exactly what it tasted like.

A few days later he had some more cans for me.  He had gone back and tried all the flavors they had.

I'm not sure which 3D cans are cooler.  These five cans or the real 3D cans I got from Japan.

Gloe Cans

 

It's been a while since I've seen cans in a store and bought them just because I need them for my collection.  But that's what happened last Tuesday when I was in another town and saw these two cans in a Walmart.

Several years ago coconut water became all the rage.  I didn't have any coconut water cans and before I knew it I was passing them up in stores, there were just too many to collect.  A couple of years ago I heard the next thing coming was aloe water.  And these are my first two aloe water cans.

They are labeled as a "Plant Infused Sparkling Water Beverage."  They are also certified USDA Organic.  They are only 5 calories per can.  And the flavors sound delicious.

The first is blood orange (fruit of the Florida vampire, I suppose).  I've got a few other blood orange-flavored cans, but I wasn't the one who drank them.  So I can't wait to try this one.














The other is Fuji apple & pear.  Just the thought of that flavor makes my mouth water.














Not only are they going to be a good refreshing drink, but I suppose the aloe would also be soothing if your esophagus should get sunburned. 

Rockstar

Just when you think you've figured out a storage/organization solution for all of your cans, the collection hits another level and it's back to the drawing board.  That's happened several times to me in the last few years.  Currently most of them are in well-labeled boxes.  Not all of the boxes are easily accessible, but "I know they're here somewhere."

Some of the boxes are dedicated to just one brand.  I recently added a few new Rockstar energy drink cans to my collection and found the Rockstar box.  So I decided to take stock of the Rockstars I've collected since 2011.  If I had been dedicated to just this brand, I would have a LOT more of them, but this is just one of hundreds of brands I've collected in the last eight years, so it may not look like much.

Maybe if I feel "energetic" I'll take a picture of my Monster energy drink collection.  I have 38 Rockstar cans.  I have 108 Monster cans. 

Four Red Cans

Here are some new cans from the last couple of weeks.  What do they have in common?

It's my first Clear American brand can.  And also my first Bubly.  But the peach Nehi and strawberry Fanta are new designs of cans cans I already had.

And that's about it.  Red cans. 

Stranger Cans

I just got two Limited Edition Coca-Cola cans based on the Netflix series Stranger Things.

For those unfamiliar with the series, it takes place in the 1980's.  So for this tie-in promotion, the red Coke can is actually the formula for New Coke which debuted in 1985.  If you missed out the first time around, now's your chance to taste the updated flavor that rocked the cola world!!!

The back of the red can even states "Original Taste" at the top, referring to the "1985 Limited Edition" printed on the front of the can.  For more info on the series and the promo, you can scan the bottle icon on the back of the can.

The Coca-Cola Zero can is really cool because when stood upright it shows the usual logo with the red circle behind the text, but when the can is turned upside down it shows a scene of dead trees and everything dark and dreary... just like the Upside-Down in the show.









I've seen season one of the series, but now need to catch up since season three just came out earlier this month.  Whether you're a fan of the show or a fan of collectible cans, these are definitely worth tracking down for your collection.

Dr Pepper Ten Commandments

Last week at church someone brought a can of Dr Pepper Ten to me and said he noticed it looked different.  It looked a little different to me too, so I took a pic of it in the pew and would investigate later when I had the can back at my house...










Back home I was able to check my can collection website and I found a pic of the TEN can I got in 2011.

Can from 2019

Can from 2011

Yes, there is a difference.  The original TEN can had maroon swirls behind the Dr Pepper logo and the print near the bottom of the can was maroon.  This new can has gray behind the Dr Pepper logo, the same gray as the rest of the can.  And the lettering near the bottom of the can is white.

When did this change happen?  Was it a while ago and we just noticed it?  Or is it truly a brand new design?  I could probably Google it and I find out but I'm going to leave this one a mystery...

Orange is the New Can

Orange can #1 - Clemson orange soda

The Clemson Tigers are a football team from Clemson University in South Carolina.  One side of the can shows they were the 1982 Orange Bowl Champions.

The other side of the can shows their perfect 12-0 season from 1981.















Orange can #2 - Whistle orange soda

Whistle is the brand of orange soda from the larger brand Vess.  This is the 75th anniversary special edition can from 1991.














Orange can #3 - Orangette orange soda

This is a modern-day can of Walmart orange soda.  Notice Walmart's star icon on the side of the can.

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day in the USA

Which means it's time to feature this week's new red, white, and blue cans!

RED = A couple of weeks ago I did a post about tall Coke cans I recently got.  None of them were just the standard, plain Coca-Cola can.  But now, I have one of those too.

WHITE = A Sprite Zero Sugar can found me this week.  So now it resides in a box in my basement.

BLUE = There was a big commotion about the St. Louis Blues recently and this commemorative Pepsi can explains why... they are the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions.  Ok.

Have a safe and happy July 4th.  And 5th and 6th, ad nauseam...

Parade Water

My daughter played with her school band in a parade this afternoon.  There were several organizations in the parade handing out cold bottled water, perfect for temperatures in the 90's.  But what I didn't expect was a float stacked with cases and cases of canned water to be handed out to the parade-goers.  The cans weren't cold, but I didn't get one for my thirst, I got one for my can collection!

Canned Water 4 Kids, that's the "brand."  It uses the logo cW4k.  I've never seen anything like this before.  It's also a .org website.

Bright colors, nice design, a good message.  Just what my collection needs.

I didn't open the can at the parade, it was brought home to be bottom-opened and drained.  But there were a handful of other people who had brought their opened/emptied cans to me for my collection.  It's nice to have others on the lookout too.

Drink up!  And stay hydrated!

Tall Cokes

Three 16 oz Coca-Cola cans found me this week.  The first was a St. Louis Cardinals can someone saw at a store and bought for me.

I'm not sure if this is leftover from last year's baseball season or if it's a new can for this year.  But either way it's a can I didn't have yet.

And the other two cans were from someone who has access to the PX on a military base.  They said there were about a dozen different designs of these USO Coca-Cola cans.  They didn't know if I had them or not so they just got these two for me.  I definitely don't have these, so they may get some of the other designs for me the next time they're there.

I also say Thank You to all who have served or currently serve.  And less importantly, a thank you to all who help add to my can collection.

Pepsi from Hawaii

A while back, someone told me they had a friend who lives in another state that had a Pepsi can made in Hawaii.  Interesting.  And last week that someone got a package in the mail from their friend.

That someone gave the can to me for my collection.  And sure enough, it says it was made in Hawaii.

At first I thought it may be an older can, but then I noticed at the bottom it says "Retro design."  After a Google search, it seems this was a retro promo can from 2018.  And of course, it was made in Hawaii. 

I'm not sure why the state was printed on it, but it made me wonder if they would ever do a collection with a can made in every state.  And of course that made me think of the 1970's 7-Up "United We Stand" collection and the image of Uncle Sam.

Maybe we could get an Orange Crush set and have the cans build an image of Donald Trump.  Ok, no more politics.

The Innocent One

At first glance these two La Croix cans look the same.  But a closer look reveals the font and color difference of the flavor text. 

Both of these are cran-raspberry flavored sparkling water.  I got the can on the left several months ago.  I got the can on the right earlier this week.  I almost threw the new can away because I knew I had the old one, but I decided to make sure nothing had changed in the design.  And that's when I noticed the change in the flavor text.  Whew, that was a close call.  I almost threw away a whole different design!!!

And then something else caught my eye.  Along the bottom of the new can it lists this:

"0 - calories   0 - sweetener   0 - sodium   =   innocent!"

Haha, my first "innocent" can...

AriZona Alita

My son was drinking one of his favorite drinks yesterday, an AriZona green tea, and I noticed the side of the can... Alita.

Alita: Battle Angel is a sci-fi/thriller movie that released in February 2019.  It looked really good but I didn't get a chance to see it in theaters. 

The can shows a silhouette of Alita in a jump/fight pose and the movie title across the side of the can.  It also says "Only in Theaters" and at the bottom says "Limited Edition - Collectible Can."







After a quick Google search, this is the only can made for the movie, so I finally have a complete series in my collection!!!

Summer and Six Flags

Summer is almost here and in these parts that means it's time to get sunburned from a day at Six Flags!!!

I've started seeing the ads for Six Flags on Coca-Cola cans.  This year one can save $15 on a ticket by taking this can to the gate or save $21 when ordering tickets online.

Either way, many people will enjoy the original taste of an ice cold Coca-Cola as the temperatures heat up outside.  But not me.  I haven't had a Coca-Cola in many years.  I remember feeling it burn all the way down to my stomach.  It has too many calories.  It can clean the acid off the posts of my car battery.

What?  Did I just kill the mood?


6/1/2019 UPDATE

A couple more summer ad cans came to me this week.  The first is another Six Flags discount can, this one on Coke Zero.

And the other is for a local water park, Raging Rivers, on a Pepsi can. 

I suppose it's time to get out and have some fun!!!

Dr. Spider-Man

A new movie, a new soda can movie tie-in.  This one is for the upcoming Spider-Man movie Far From Home.

Someone brought these two cans to me this week.  So I jumped online to see how many there are in the series.  There are five.  But for now these two will have to do.

Each design is for a different flavor, as usual.  The ones I am missing are for Dr Pepper Cherry, Diet Dr Pepper Cherry, and a limited edition flavor called Dr Pepper Dark Berry.  I think I'll put some effort into finding all of them this time.  The limited edition flavor got my attention.

6/1/2019 UPDATE

Another Dr. Spider-Man can found me this week.  It's the limited edition flavor, Dark Berry.

So this is my third of five in the set.

Now, where are those other two cans?