What A Teas!

Yesterday we traveled a short distance to attend a family Christmas party.  A new area, a new city, I was on the lookout for new brands.  We stopped at a Quik Trip after the party and this rather large, friendly-looking lady in a green dress kept staring at me from the shelf of the drinks cooler.  Sweet Leaf tea.

We probably have these closer to home, but I've never seen them.  So I bought all six flavors.  We're not big tea drinkers at our house, but we'll be giving these a try.  Merry Christmas to me.

Jones Halloween Cans - Year 2 - 2006

Jones Soda, known for its unique soda flavors, started releasing Halloween-themed 8 oz cans in 2005.  They released four flavors each year until 2009.

The Halloween cans were available again in 2006 with the return of Berried Alive (formerly Scary Berry Lemonade) and Candy Corn and the new Gruesome Grape (a renamed version of their regular flavor, MF Grape) and Spider Cider, of which I don't have the can yet.

2006 Jones Halloween cans

The Spider Cider I don't have

My First Trade

I reported last week that I made my first trade.  Someone saw a can in my collection that they needed, so I traded it for some of his doubles.  The package came in today and this is what I got.

Attack of the clones

The above batch of cans is to help kick-start my Dr Pepper and Mtn Dew clone collections.

This other batch is some of the unwanted extras that came with other cans he bought.

In all, I got 78 cans in the trade.  If I could do a few more trades like this I will reach 2,000 cans well before my April 2012 goal.

A big THANKS goes out to G!!!

Jones Halloween Cans - Year 1 - 2005

Jones Soda, known for its unique soda flavors, started releasing Halloween-themed 8 oz cans in 2005.  They released four flavors each year until 2009.

In 2005, Jones released Halloween Limited Edition 8 oz. can 4-packs exclusively through Target. The four flavors included two renamed flavors (Scary Berry Lemonade and Strawberry Slime) as well as two originals (Candy Corn and Caramel Apple).

2005 Jones Halloween flavors

My New Goal

On April 11, 2011, I started my can collection.  As of this post, I have 1,494 cans.  In four months, my collection will be one year old.  My goal is to have

2,000

cans by April 11, 2012.  Definitely doable.  And I think I'll reach this goal with time to spare.

Now where is that 1,495th can???

April 11, 2012 update - The counter sits at 1924 today.  It doesn't look like I made the goal, but theoretically I did.  During the last year there were two shipments of cans that had problems in transit and I didn't receive all the cans I should have.  In one shipment, I lost 17 cans and in the other 63!  So:

1924 + 17 + 63 = 2004

It should have happened kids, but it didn't. 

* Click here to see the current can count *

Can Watch: Capture the Flag

Back in February of this year, Diet Coke teamed up with The Heart Truth to launch "Capture the Flag", a national program to raise awareness for women's heart health programs.  For the campaign, Diet Coke added The Heart Truth's red dress symbol to its Diet Coke cans along with a big red heart.  There were four different can designs.

The two I have

I have two of the four designs.  The first one I have shows a figure holding a large white flag with the red heart on it.  The other can shows a figure standing next to the red heart.

The two I need

One of the designs I don't have shows a figure lifting the red heart over its head.  The other shows the figure standing on top of the red heart with a ladder leaning against the heart.

I've seen many of these cans this year but they've always been the same two designs.  So I will continue to watch for the other two designs. 

* The picture of the cans I don't have came from the internet.

The Skipper Has Set Sail

I have plenty of doubles to trade.  But today, for the first time, I shipped a can from my main collection.

The person I traded with needed this can for his collection of Dr Pepper clones, so I was more than glad to give up a can to help a fellow collector.  In return, I will be receiving several of his doubles that I don't have.  We both walked away happy from this trade.

The can I traded was a Cragmont - The Skipper

Farewell, Skipper!

December 12 update - Today I got the package with the cans I received in the Skipper trade.  Click here for the post.

3D Cans from Japan

Back in July, I bought some cans from Japan.  In the listing it said some of the cans were 3D.  I couldn't wait to see what that meant. 

It's hard to get the total effect in a picture, but you can see that the sides of the can have a diamond-dimpled texture which makes for interesting reflections at the right angles.

The downside to the "3D" effect is that the can feels a bit thinner and is more susceptible to dents.

 


This particular can is the Kirin brand of Chu-Hi, an alcoholic drink often canned and sold in convenience stores and vending machines.

Dragon Ball Z

I got this can in a lot I bought on eBay.  And I don't know what it is.

Dragon Ball Z (front)

Obviously, the character on the can is from the anime show Dragon Ball Z.  At first I thought the 50/50 meant it was a half & half flavor, but upon Googling Gotenks (which I originally thought was the brand of the drink), I found this:

Gotenks is the powerful result of Trunks and Goten using the Fusion Dance, and the first fusion character to be seen in the Dragon Ball manga and the Dragon Ball Z anime. 

Of course!  What was I thinking?  Gotenks is a character.  On the side of the can it says "Helsi, all famous TV characters," so now I'm assuming Helsi is the brand.  But nowhere on the can is there a clue as to what kind of drink or flavor it is.  The back of the can isn't any help either, it's written in Japanese.

Dragon Ball Z (back)

 I'm not sure if this is part of a larger set or just a one-off collector can.  So I'm going to leave this on my Japanese shelf as a novelty item.

Kickapoo Joy Juice

Back in June, I made a post about Fred Flintstone's favorite drink, Cactus Juice, and its real-world counterpart.  I recently found out I have another such drink in my collection, Kickapoo Joy Juice.

Li'l Abner was before my time.  I had heard of the name, but knew nothing about it until now.  This is from the wiki entry:

Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Written and drawn by Al Capp (1909–1979), the strip ran for 43 years, from August 13, 1934 through November 13, 1977. Read daily by scores of millions of people, the strip's characters and humor had a powerful cultural impact.

And what was Li'l Abner's favorite drink?  Kickapoo Joy Juice, which was originally coined as a "volatile brew" in the comic strip.  The real-world counterpart is a non-alcoholic citrus-flavored soft drink brand owned by The Monarch Beverage Company.  The can even states it's "The Original Dogpatch Citrus Soda."

For more info, check out Kickapoo's wiki page.

Cans for Trade

The next best thing to getting a can I don't already have is getting a better condition can of one I have.  So what do I do with the lesser quality cans?  I put them in trash bags, essentially adding to my "B" collection.  If I see a special promo can I already have, it goes to the "B" collection.  And before I knew it, I had four trash bags of "B" collection stock.

3/4 of my "B" collection

What am I going to do with these cans?  Hopefully start trading.  All of my trade cans are from the last few years.  So if anyone is looking for a newer can, I might be able to help.

Click here to see the Trade section on my official collection site.

2011 Holiday Cans

Halloween cans have come and gone.  Make way for the Holiday cans...

These are my first two for this year.  The Diet Coke was a gift from my sister on Thanksgiving and the Sprite from a co-worker earlier in the week.  I'm ready for some more...

2011 World Series Pepsi Can

Two nights ago, I attended our quarterly team meeting at work.  When I entered the conference room, I noticed a few people had cans of soda on the tables in front of them.  I quickly found the barrel of iced soda cans and started digging.  I found two cans I didn't have, a Brisk lemonade can and this Pepsi World Series can.

This was a real surprise because I didn't know Pepsi had their own World Series can.  And this happened just a few of days after I acquired the Coca-Cola World Series can.  So now I wonder, "Are there any other brands that produced a World Series can?"

Same Name, Different Brand

Back in July, I got a Shasta Moon Mist can in a lot I bought on eBay.  Just last week, I stopped in a gas station and saw a Faygo Moon Mist can, so I had to buy it.  Of the 1500 cans in my collection, this is the first time I've seen two different brands with the same crazy flavor name, although I'm sure it happens quite often. 

Moon Mists

Current Excitement: A Can from Australia?

My daughter's piano teacher recently headed to Australia to visit her daughter until the end of the year.  So I had a short conversation with her revealing I have a can collection and since she was going to be in Australia...

She asked how many cans I want.  Haha.  I don't want to be an inconvenience, so I said I'd be happy with one... or two, three, four, whatever she could fit in her suitcase.  I told her to make sure she empties any cans she brings back!  I was going to suggest a separate shipment of cans back to me, but again, I don't want her to have to "work" on her vacation.

As I said, she's going to be there for the next several weeks, so only time will tell if I'm able to add a can from Australia to my collection.  I'll be sure to post an update as soon as she gets back.

*** Click here to read the update on this post ***

Game Fuel: Modern Warfare 3

As a gamer, I love the Game Fuel cans from Mountain Dew.  The first Game Fuel was for Halo 3 in 2007, the second for World of Warcraft in 2009 (two cans), and now in 2011, they have released one for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

The Game Fuel line is a limited flavor release of usually 12 weeks.  The Modern Warfare 3 flavor is a tropical flavor.




  
And how did I get this can?  My dad was out for a walk, saw the can on the side of the road and picked it up for me.  He had no idea it would be one of my favorite cans in my collection.

I also have the two 2009 World of Warcraft cans, but I do not have the 2007 Halo 3 can.  Yet.

Retro Big Red

Jones Soda made the switch to real sugar from high fructose corn syrup a few years ago.  Then we got Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback in 2009, also made with real sugar.  Dr Pepper was soon to follow with Dr Pepper Heritage.  And earlier this year 7 Up released their Retro version.

So who else could jump on the "real sugar" bandwagon?  How about Big Red?  Ok.

* This picture is from the internet, not my personal collection.  It's another can I need to watch for....

Cans from Vacation

Why has there been a lack of posts this week?  Because my wife and I just got back from a Bahamas cruise for our 11th anniversary. 

I saw dozens of cans on the cruise and during our stay in Florida, but given the way we packed I couldn't bring many cans home.  If there had been more time, I would have gathered some cans and shipped them home UPS but we had a tight schedule. 

But that doesn't mean I came home empty handed!  Here are my new cans:

Pepsi:  The first night we were in Ft Lauderdale, I saw this Pepsi can in a parking lot advertising FAU Owl Athletics.  I like cans with local advertisements.
Coca-Cola:  The "Arctic Home" cans are common now, but I got this on the cruise ship itself.  I will still be looking to get a bottom-opened one, but this is a good memento of our trip.
Ironbeer:  I had never heard of this brand.  I found it in a trash can on Miami Beach. 
Chek:  I have a couple of older Chek cans, but this one we found on the ground in a Taco Bell drive-thru in Ft Lauderdale.  We had gone into a Winn Dixie earlier that day and I saw all the different flavors of Chek available, but I didn't buy any. 
Minute Maid:  I got this one on the plane back to St Louis.  As they served everyone their mid-flight drinks, I mentioned to my wife that I didn't have this Minute Maid can, so she asked for it and the lady gave it to us. 

Something to keep in mind... if we drive somewhere on vacation, I can collect a LOT more cans!!!

Summit Cans Have New Design

Earlier this year Shasta did a makeover of their can design.  After acquiring quite a few different flavors, I started seeing the new can designs for the flavors I already had.  So many of my Shasta flavors have two cans.

I found out this weekend that Summit, the ALDI brand of soda, has done the same thing.  The old Summit can design started with silver at the bottom and blended upwards into the color associated with the flavor (purple for grape, orange for orange, etc).

The new design has removed the silver and is now a solid color.  In the picture above, the old can design is on the top row and the new can design is on the bottom.  These are the only three cans so far that I have both designs.

November 26, 2011 update - I just got the new Citrus Twist can last night.  Here are those two designs:

Old and new

Fact or Fiction?

I found this online.  Some people claim it's real, others say it's fake.  Either way, I don't want to try it.