Do I Collect Dinosaurs?

Last week a guy at work asked if I collect themed cans.  Yes.  He said, "What about dinosaur-themed?"  YES!

That's when I found out yet another Jurassic World movie is coming out.  And as usual, there's a series of cans based on the new movie.

This one is labeled #3 Quetzalcoatlus.  Neat can design.  

I gave up trying to collect entire series years ago, but if some of the cans fall in my lap I'll gladly take them.  I haven't watched the trailer yet for this newest movie, but I might.  I'm more interested in just collecting the cans though.

Graduation Gift

My daughter graduated from college yesterday.  And on the trip I got a new can.

This is another Alani Nu energy drink can, Orange Kiss.  The cans are so artful.  This can came from my daughter's friend.  She saved it for me in case I didn't have it yet.  And I didn't.

My daughter may have received a diploma from a great college yesterday, but I got a new can for my collection.

A Peachy Day for Golf

Well, today we tried to go golfing at a different course than the one from two weeks ago, but the course was closed.  We've had a lot of rain recently and the ground was too wet.  As a consolation gift, the lady at the club house said we could putt around on the practice green and do some chipping for free.  So we spent about 1-1.5 hours getting better by practicing in the chilly breeze with gray clouds overhead threatening to make the ground even wetter.

And then my golf buddy broke out his Red Bull Summer Edition White Peach.

So the day wasn't a total loss.  We got some much-needed practice and I got a much-needed can for my collection.

He Likes Coffee

A guy at work likes coffee.

He's saved a cans for me before, but this week I got two.  One is a Monster Killer Brew Triple Shot called Loca Moca.  Wow.  I felt a little surge of energy just typing the name of that one!

The other is Vanilla Bomb, a Black Rifle Company Espesso 300 triple shot.  A real man's drink.

We'll see what energetic beverage can he saves for me next time...

Red Bull Variant

WAY back in 2018, I posted about Red Bull Summer Editions and the newest can I had, Coconut Berry.

Last week I went golfing.  I noticed around hole 3 what my cart buddy was drinking... a Red Bull Coconut Berry.  This is my new can from that golf outing. 

When you have thousands of cans at home, it's hard to remember what you've already collected.  But this can looked awesome with its white and "chrome" look.  And the flavor sounded pretty funky.  So I took the can when he was done with it.

It was later I checked my blog and realized I already had this flavor... from years ago.  But upon closer examination, I noticed the sizes (both mL and OZ) were printed in reversed order.  This is the can from seven years ago.

It's fun collecting different brands and different flavors, but at my level of collecting I'm also looking for variants.  And this can, even with just the different order in which they listed the can size, is considered a different can.

So if you're a deep collector, always look carefully at the can.  At first glance it may look like a can you already have, but even the smallest change can make it a "new can" for your collection.

Alani New 3

Someone at work really likes Alani Nu energy drinks.

I recently saved these from a terrible recycling fate.  I really wonder what these taste like because the names of the flavors are pretty cool.  Here we have Dream Float, Strawberry Sunrise, and Witch's Brew.  

Of the three I'm most interested in the Witch's Brew.  I wonder what magical powers you get from drinking it.

Vikings

And this week brought a cool surprise.

This cool Monster Juice can with a Viking theme.

The flavor is Viking Berry but I didn't think to ask what it tasted like.  The can has a nifty story which ends "Grab your drinking horn and take a swig, skoll".

What's a skoll?  In Norse mythology, Skoll is a wolf, alongside his brother Kati, who are fated to chase and devour the sun and moon respectively, ultimately leading to the end of the world during Ragnarok.

So this week you've seen a cool can and possibly learned something.

Olipops

As an alternative to the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, I've collected a few Olipop cans.

On the can, these read "Prebiotics - Botanicals - Plant Fiber".  They also have a stamp "Plant Powered - Microbiome Approved".  To be honest, none of that sounds like it should be a drink, haha.

The flavors here are Cream Soda, Crisp Apple, and Strawberry Vanilla.  And I was told they are really good.  Maybe one day I'll try one for myself.

I like the simple, yet effective, artwork on each can.  You can tell what flavor they are even if you can't read.

And of course they support digestive health, as do I.

Herbal Tonic

This is an interesting one.  It's been a while since I've featured and AriZona can, but here's a recent one.

This is from the AriZona Rx Energy line.  It's called Herbal Tonic and is self-described as this:

    "An invigorating blend of green tea, tropical & citrus fruits, panax ginseng, eleuthero root, guarana, schisandra, and vitamins A, C, and E."

Wow, a lot of new words in that.

And I love the old-timey-looking art on the can.  They could have just called it Snake Oil.

Orange Creams

It's great being a collector and knowing people who only drink "diet" versions of sodas, or "zero sugar" versions, or regular versions, etc.

Because when a new design comes out, chances are I'll be getting a couple different variations of the same design.  That's what happened when Coca-Cola released its orange cream flavor.  My parents prefer Zero Sugar, so they had to try this flavor in that variation.  Another family I know buys regular sodas, so I got the regular variation of this can from them.

As in the business world, its best to network and make connections among your collecting circles.  One man's trash...

Tropical Days

Summer is coming!  And I got this can from a guy at work last week.

Such a great design!!!  So different for 7 UP.  This is the zero sugar version of their newest flavor, Tropical.  It's hard to tell from the list of chemical ingredients, but I would guess there's a splash of mango or orange flavor to this.

A couple days after I received this can someone else texted me a pic of the regular version, so I'll be featuring that can in the upcoming weeks.

Bring on the tropical...

College Poppi

I visited my daughter at college yesterday and had a nice surprise.

Seven new cans she's saved for me.  I'll be featuring them in the coming weeks, but this week I chose to show the new Poppi cans.

It's surprising I didn't have the orange can yet.  And I received my first little Poppi, a 7.5oz can of Doc Pop, their version of Dr Pepper.

Overall it was a great trip... as is her journey to try all the Poppi flavors.

Two Peppers

It's been a while since I've mentioned Dr Pepper here, but last week I was given two new cans.

It continues the recent trend towards Zero Sugar and its color black motif.

This is a new version of Cherry.  It's now in line with the current Blackberry design, which to be honest, I didn't even know Dr Pepper had a blackberry flavor.

I think it'd be neat to line up all the Dr Pepper cans I've collected in recent years to show the variations of the can designs and different flavors they've released, but ain't nobody got time for that.

Flavored Pepsi 2

Just two weeks ago I gushed about a new Pepsi can in my collection.  This week I'll continue the gushing.

The same person who gave me the first wild cherry & cream can also gave me this one, the zero sugar version.  As the color black has come to be associated with Zero Sugar, the difference in the cans is in the starburst stripes behind the Pepsi logo.  In the regular version some of the stripes are white.  In this version, those same stripes are black.  Subliminal?  Could be.

The funny thing is they meant to buy more of the regular version but accidentally bought the zero sugar version instead.  As the old saying goes, "One man's mistake is another man's can collection gain."

Watermelon Bull

We went on a college tour last weekend for my son and all I got was this new can.

It's been a while since I've featured a Red Bull can.  I used to try to collect all the editions and flavors as they came out, but I fell behind.

This one is Red Edition watermelon flavored.  It sounds delicious.  My main problem is reading the green print on the red background.  It's a bit of a contrast.  Looks like a Christmas Edition.

Btw, I needed no energy drink boost to make it through the 2-hour campus walking tour.  And my smart watch was glad I got my high score for number of steps in a day!  That's the important stuff.

Flavored Pepsi

I was given a new can this week and it sure looks cool!

The design of this car instantly caught my eye!  And the flavor is interesting also, Wild Cherry & Cream.  The person who gave this to me said it tasted pretty good, they were a fan.

As far as the look of the can, I'm a fan.  It may be a bit busy, but it sure is a neat look for Pepsi.

Orange Week

I was given two cans this week.  I immediately noticed a couple themes.

Here we have an orange Fanta Zero Sugar.  I like the simple yet bold font.  And we have an orange Sunkist, also Zero Sugar.

An orange, zero sugar week.  Who could ask for more?

It Finally Happened to Me

When I seriously started collecting cans in 2011, I read advice from other can collectors and one of the most often stated pearls of wisdom was to drain every can.  I read many stories of cans exploding or leaking, causing damage to other cans or shelves in others' collections.  So I've followed that advice.  For the most part.

I came home from work one day this week and found this in my fridge:

Did some ice melt?  Was the water line to the fridge leaking?  Did someone break into my house and spill water in my fridge?  Those didn't make sense.  It had to be from something on that shelf.

After carefully examining each of the four suspect cans I found the culprit:

It was the can in the back trying to hide behind the others.  When I picked it up it felt only half full.

So it finally happened to me.  I had a can leak.  But how did it leak?  I still can't find the hole, it must be the smallest hole imaginable.  I left it in the sink for a week to slowly drain most of what's left inside, but there's still a little left in the bottom that I can't figure out how to get it.  I've decided to let it slowly evaporate thru the hole I can't find.

I mean, I made a post about it when I got this can.  I put it in the fridge so I could drink it at some point.  It hasn't been THAT long has it?  Oops.  August 20, 2023.  

Ok, so it's been a while.  

4 More Poppi

My daughter is on a Poppi kick.  In fact, it's her goal to try as many different flavors as she can.  Which bodes well for me because she saves the cans for my collection.

The newest batch is Classic Cola, Cherry Cola, Root Beer, and their holiday flavor Cranberry Fizz.

She's enjoying the brand so much that she's tracking her review of each flavor so she knows which ones to buy again and which ones to stay away from.

I'm also enjoying her enjoyment because it means my collection will keep growing...

Another Trash Can Save

What better way to start the new year than a trash can save?  I found this at work and saved it from the Evil Recycler.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest thing I'd seen in a while.  Someone had squeezed the sides when they were done.  And the tab had been ripped off the top.  And it was surrounded by real trash.

I carefully pulled it out of the trash can and gave it a good antibacterial cleaning.  When we got home I was able to get the dents out.  But there's nothing I can do for its missing tab.  

This watermelon lemonade Sparkling Ice is a welcome addition to my collection, warts and all.  Did I mention it also had warts?  It didn't really but it could have.

Slime Soda

On Christmas morning my kids set me on a treasure hunt for various presents hidden around the house.  After finding all ten wrapped presents it was time to open them.  And after starting to unwrap this little fella, I wondered what it could be...

It turned out to be a small, plastic "can" with blue raspberry-scented slime inside.

And to make it even more "real", they included small "ice cubes" for a crunchy slime.

This goes on the shelf with the other novelty cans I've collected over the years.  Next week, back to the real cans...

Veteran's Memorial

Last summer I featured the first Pepsi can in a long time that I found showing an ad for a local attraction.

Recently at work I rescued a Pepsi can from the trash that showed another point of interest.

This one is for the Veteran's Memorial in Perryville, Missouri.

It just opened this year.  I've been thru Perryville a few times this year, but wasn't aware of this place.  

So the next time I'm in Perryville I think I'll swing by to check out the memorial.  If so, I'll update this post with a couple pics from there.

WoW, Yet Another New Can

I went to my son's Christmas program for band at school last weekend and someone brought this little gem to me...

It's the second can in the new Mtn Dew Game Fuel World of Warcraft series.

Last month I featured the other WoW can, and now I have both of them.  This one is citrus blackberry flavored and I was told it was really good.

So let's keep the video game cans coming.  Probably my biggest hobby, second to can collecting of course, would be video games.  So let's keep combining them!

A Racoon?

I got this can from someone recently.  They thought it'd be a good breakfast drink.  Lots to unpack...

• First, this is my first Chamberlain Coffee brand can.  I'm not even sure where it's sold.  
• Second, it's cinnamon bun-flavored latte.  Doesn't sound like it could be any sweeter.  But...
• Third, in the red circle it says this has a "sweeter recipe".  Ouch.
• Fourth, it's made with oatmilk.  I can't knock it since I haven't had it.  But nah.
• Fifth, a racoon playing with a cinnamon roll?

And no, they didn't like the taste of this.  But it sure is an interesting can to have anyway.

Shirley Temple

At a Thanksgiving gathering a few days ago I noticed a new can.

This Shirley Temple 7UP.  I asked what's in a Shirley Temple and was told it's usually just a white soda with grenadine.  My next question was what is grenadine?  I was told just a sweeter version of a cherry syrup, but after Googling it I found out most people mistake it for cherry but it's actually pomegranate.  Who knew I'd fall down a Shirley Temple rabbit hole on Thanksgiving!  

This year I give thanks for my many new cans.

WoW, Another New Can

Someone at work brought this new Mtn Dew Game Fuel can to me last week.

They said the citrus cherry flavor was pretty good.  But for me the main attraction is World of Warcraft.  The game came out in November 2004 and I started playing it in January 2005.  I've played on and off for the last 20 years.  Btw, the game is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

I love the Game Fuel cans!  Mostly because I'm a gamer.  But does this can give a hint as to something coming in the future?   World of Warcraft.  Xbox.  I doubt it.

OREO

Someone brought this can to me at work.

It's a limited time Coca-Cola flavor or OREO!  A small 7.5 oz can, assumedly because one can't handle the taste in servings larger than that, haha.  A few people I know tried this one and none of them cared for it.  But the can does have a very interesting design; the black, white, and red and the stack of cookies down the front.

A fizzy cookie flavor.  Think I'll pass on this one...

Even More Poppi's

A visit from my daughter this weekend brought two new Poppi cans to my collection.

This time it's Orange Cream and Wild Berry.

What started her down the Poppi Road?  The can on the right.  She saw it in the store and liked the can design so much she bought it to try.  Liking it, she started buying other flavors.  And Poppi has a LOT of them.  

I like to encourage my kids to pursue their interests.  Especially when it means more cans for me :)

Another Poppi

I visited my daughter at college yesterday and she had a gift for me.

This is my fifth Poppi can and there are plenty more to collect.  I featured my first four in a post a couple of months ago.

This is the standard grape flavor, which she said is good but standard.

The exciting news is she has 5 more flavors in her dorm ready to try!  So those cans will be coming to me soon...

hAlloWeen (A&W)

Maybe my "Can Collector Card" should be revoked.  This year, I didn't chase any Halloween cans.  I'm sure they were out there, but I didn't see any of them.  Instead...

I think this from last year.  Or the year before?  It's been in my pantry a LONG time.  Regardless, the ONE time a year I can feature it is now.  

I've made it a point to collect Halloween cans in the past, but this year snuck up on me.  So I'll feature a can from the past I haven't shown yet.

With Halloween coming later this week, remember with A&W, it's "No tricks, all treats".

Red Bull Green

This week I made another trash can find at work.

It's been a while since I've found a new Red Bull.  But this one is Green Edition.  And the flavor is Dragon Fruit.

I'm sure I've missed some of these special editions in the last few years, which makes me green with envy for the collectors who've kept up.

Birthday Haul

Last week I had another birthday.  And this year I got a few cans from my kids...

And this wasn't just a quick trip to the local Casey's.  Nope, these consist of steel cans and older aluminum cans.  Let's look at each one.

Wild West Sarsaparilla - I have a few of these already, but they're all variants.  This steel can (bottom-opened to preserve the pull-tab top) promotes it as the "First soft drink of the Old West".  And to be honest, I've always pronounced this flavor as "sassparilla".  Is it just me?  The first time I saw this can I wondered why they had all the extra letters in that word.

Graf's Cola - I didn't show the front of this steel can, but the back reveals the "Great American Inventors" of the Wright Brothers.  There's a nice pic with a great description of what made them famous.  They sure don't make cans like this anymore.

Pepsi-Cola - Next is an aluminum can featuring the Chicago's Navy Pier.  The can is from 1995.  It notes "Come join in the celebration of this Chicago landmark reborn.  Opening this summer."  I had no idea it had re-opened that year.  It was only a couple years later that I would make my one and only trip (so far) to Chicago and visit the Navy Pier.

G. Willikers - Well, the name says it all.  This aluminum can is the first of this brand in my collection.  It's grape.  Gee willikers, that's a boring flavor.

And that's my birthday haul.  Overall, it was a great year.  Thanks, kids.

The Pepsi Three

I featured the newest can design for Wild Cherry Pepsi a year ago and Diet Caffeine Free Pepsi earlier this year, but now I want to get caught up with three other cans.

This is the regular Pepsi flavor, the black can of Pepsi Zero Sugar, and the Zero Sugar version of Wild Cherry.

I'm sure there are other flavors with this design, so keep watching here to see them when I get my hands on them!

Mule

A new week, a new can.

Someone gave this to me at work.  They needed a pick-me-up to get them going one morning.  I'm assuming it's a coffee, I didn't ask.  But ginger brew sounds like a coffee.

Nice, artistic can.  Who couldn't use a mule?

New VooDew

And here's the 2024 version of the Mtn Dew VooDew can:

Just in time for Halloween.  I know a couple people who've tried this.  One said it was a cherry flavor, another said more like strawberry.  I'm not sure which it is, but it does sound good!  And Mtn Dew continues their awesome, colorful can designs.

Instead of candy this year, consider handing this out to Trick-or-Treaters.  The parents will love that...

Saving the Standards

Last week I saved two cans from the recycle bin at work.

What's so special about them?  Nothing.  In fact, I had to doublecheck when I got home that I didn't have them yet.  These are the newest designs of just the regular Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper cans.  And seeing them so often I had just assumed I had them already.  But something told me to check.  And I'm glad it told me because I didn't have them yet.

It's kind of the same idea of procrastinating to watch that movie on a streaming service because "it'll always be there".  And then the movie gets removed and you missed your chance.  Grab the standards before they're gone!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

A movie came out this weekend called "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice".

I went to a birthday party yesterday and was given this Fanta can featuring Beetlejuice from the new movie.  I loved the old movie and cannot wait to see this sequel.

The flavor is Haunted Apple.  I was told it tastes very good!  I sure hope the movie's just as good as this soda review, haha.

So here's to hoping in other 36 years we see the finale of this movie trilogy, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice".

Peach Waterloo

Waterloo sparkling water has been featured on this blog before.  Here's the newest can in my collection.

This can came from work.  Someone brought in a case of this peach flavored water and to be honest, it lasted quite a while.  It turns out a lot of people don't care for the bland taste of sparkling water.  But that's ok, it means more for me.

And to be honest, I also think it's bland.  But I like it.

Monster Variants

In February of this year I featured a Monster Energy Ultra Rosa can.  It had a red/pink top which matched the color of the rest of the can.  But recently I ended up with this silver-topped version pictured below.

In January of this year I featured a Monster Energy Ultra Sunshine can.  The words "Zero Sugar" were printed in white.  Recently I ended up with this "Zero Sugar" can with the words printed in black.

So it depends on how far you want to take your collection.  Are you happy with just having one can for each flavor?  Or do you feel the need to find every version of that flavor, all color differences and variations of text?

I've gotta collect them all!

A Short Week

This week I'm showing two short cans.  

I recently got this newer 7.5oz Coca-Cola Zero Sugar can.  Nothing too fancy about it other than its nice red/black contrast.

I also found this 8oz can of Shasta ginger ale in my pantry.  Not sure where I got it or how long it's been in there, but it's time to move it to the collection with the rest of the cans.

And I just noticed the red and green colors of the cans.  This could have been a "Christmas in July" post had I written it a few weeks ago.

Colorful Monsters

Monster Energy drink sure has some neat cans.  Here are two more of them.

The first can is Ultra Fiesta Mango.  You can barely see some of the artwork on the left side of the can, but both sides are decorated with silver images of skeletons playing various musical instruments, almost in a Brazilian Carnival style.

The other can is Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red.  Again, it's hard to tell in the pic but both sides of the can have artwork.  The left side shows pink oval-shaped bunnies and bears skipping along merrily among the flowers.  The right side has blue evil-looking shapes with sharp corners that look like they're hungry for an oval-shaped meal.

Two neat cans.  And fun too.

4 Poppi

Here's a new brand of beverage for my collection.  It's called Poppi.

What really stands out are the bold colors, the simple artwork, and the matte finish of the cans.  This is a prebiotic soda to help promote a "healthy gut", as one can says.

There are many flavors, but the four I now have are Doc Pop, Raspberry Rose, Strawberry Lemon, and Watermelon.  The names alone make my mouth water.

These were given to me by someone else who drank them, so I'm not sure if the soda itself stands up to all the praise I've given the cans but I'm willing to give on a try to find out some day.