Fresh Faces

To celebrate more than thirty years of hip-hop music, Sprite has released its "Fresh Faces Series" cans available only this summer.

I got my hands on one of the six cans in the set.  They are 16 oz cans and feature a cool green brick wall in the background.  The gold band at the top is a nice touch, too.

The can I have is the one that lists the five artists being highlighted.  But the coolest cans are the other five, each showing one of the artists in the set.

You can read more about the promotion here. 

Call of Duty: BO4

Fall is getting close, which means another Call of Duty game is about to release.  This year's offering is the 4th installment of the Black Ops series, aka Black Ops IIII.

And as always, Monster energy drink is doing a promotion for the game with their Black Ops IIII branded cans.

Last weekend was the closed beta for those who have pre-ordered the game which featured a few multiplayer maps.  In a few weeks the next beta will be available, that one giving a sample of their battle royale mode.  And on October 12, the game will be released.

This can was given to me by a co-worker a couple of weeks ago.  I had no intention of getting the game, but as it draws nearer and the hype-train pulls out of the station, I'm starting to get an itchy trigger finger.

Recycling Day

I will begin this post by clarifying the cans mentioned in this story are NOT from my collection. 

As far back as 2015 I mentioned in a post that my kids decided to recycle cans they gathered for some extra money.  Word spread, friends and family started donating a can here, a can there, a bag here, a bag there...

And this was my garage a few days ago.  My parents had also started to keep cans to recycle and had a smaller pile of bags in the corner of their garage.  And with the possible purchase of another car soon, I needed my garage back.  So my dad loaded their bags on his trailer and came to my house where the kids loaded our bags on the trailer.  Then we took a family trip to the recycler.

We counted roughly 100 bags in total.  Almost all were aluminum cans, but there were about a dozen bags of tin cans people from church had brought to us.  The recycler said they took tin as well.

The main machine they used was this red beast.  The bags were emptied into the hopper on the right side (#1 in the pic).  A belt carried the cans up to the top and dropped them into rolling baskets (#2).  We filled more than a dozen of those baskets.  The rolling baskets were then gathered on a scale built into the floor (#3).  The white bags are the tin cans being weighed on the scale.  After the cans were weighed, the rolling baskets were rolled to a machine on the far right side of the pic (#4) and the can were dumped in and crushed.

It took quite a while.  It was a very hot and humid day.  The recycling place was filthy and the dirt road and parking lot were muddy from recent rain.  There were sweat bees and wasps buzzing us the whole time.  But the kids didn't mind any of that because at the end of the trip they had a check to split.

I forget the exact numbers, but we had over 200 pounds of aluminum @ $.45/pound and around 100 pounds of tin @ $.08/pound.  It was a pretty good day.  Each kid got over $55 and I got my garage back!

Epilogue: We are no longer in the can recycling business.

Alcohol @ Work?

Ok, that title might contain a little click-bait.

Recently I arrived at work and sitting on my desk was this can of Seagram's.

I've only known Seagram's to be an alcoholic drink, but upon closer inspection I noticed this was a can of ginger ale. Alcoholic cans often have very cool designs, and this looked like one of those.  But since it's ginger ale, it made its way into my collection.

And again this week I got to work to find this can of "beer" on my desk.

But it's ginger beer, not beer beer.  I Googled this particular brand and they only carry two flavors, this one and a diet ginger beer in a cool blue can.  I checked my collection and sure enough, I already have a Barritts can but that one is an older extruded steel can.

I love having variations of cans, and this is a good example of a can design not changing much in many, many years, but being just different enough to warrant keeping both cans.

This only leaves one question... when's Happy Hour?

Updates from This Week

Sure, I got some new cans for my collection this week.  But the ones I want to mention are updates to previous recent posts:

Update 1 - Michael Jackson Diet Pepsi

Update 2 - Coca-Cola summer cans

Update 3 - Diet Mist TWST

More to come...

Sierra Mist with a Twist

Maybe I've been under a rock.  Maybe I've had blinders on.  Maybe I just don't pay as much attention to soda as I could should.

Last week a co-worker brought a funky green can to my office.  The design looked like something from the Brady Bunch Hour back in 1976-77.  I noticed a small yellow lemon that said TWST.  Hmm, some new hipster beverage?  Then I saw it said Mist TWST.  A quick check with Google and I had all the answers.

PepsiCo's Sierra Mist came on the soda scene in 1999 and used high fructose corn syrup until 2010.  Then it became Sierra Mist Natural when they replaced the HFCS with sucrose, aka table sugar.  

In 2016, they reverted to the high fructose corn syrup and changed the name to Mist Twst.  And that's the can I was given.

But in breaking news, just this month they are returning to the 2010 formula using real sugar.  And they are changing the name once again to... Sierra Mist.

My head hurts.



7/27/18 UPDATE

Earlier this week someone from church dropped off a bag of cans for me to recycle.  I always check to see if there are any I need for my collection and what did I discover?  A Diet Mist TWST, just days after I wrote this post about the brand I'd never heard of.

Summer with Coke

It's summer, which means Coca-Cola has begun their traditional can messages.  I've had a few come my way already, so here's the pile so far:

I'm sure that pile will continue to grow as the weeks go by.

7/27/18 UPDATE

It's been a couple of weeks and more of the named cans have found their way to me.  Here's the updated group picture.

Britney, Michael, and Ray

There's a new set of Pepsi cans out, and I have two of the three cans:

A co-worker asked if I had any of the "singer" cans yet and I said no.  The next day he brought Britney Spears and Michael Jackson to work with him.  Well, not the real Britney and Michael.

I like that each can has a different retro design, although Pepsi currently has the old Pepsi design in stores already.

So now I'm on the lookout for the Diet Pepsi Ray Charles, the third and final can in the set.  Hit the road, Coke, and don't you come back no more no more no more no more...

7/27/18 UPDATE

At work today I noticed a new batch of Diet Pepsi cans.  They featured Michael Jackson.  I double-checked my blog to see the MJ can I had at home was regular Pepsi.  So now I wonder if there's another Britney can out there too.

Can of Water

I was called to serve jury duty last week.  While I was out of the office one of my co-workers was given a can of water, who in turn gave it to me today.

It's from Anheuser-Busch, who often sends cans of water to disaster areas such as during floods or tornadoes.  This can also carries the American Red Cross logo.

I have other A-B cans of water, but not this particular design.  And usually the print is black and white, this one has color.

On the side of the can it notes the use of the American Red Cross logo and is labeled "not for sale."

It also has an expiration date on the bottom of the can.  In this case, it was November 2014.  Oops.

So if there's a zombie apocalypse anytime soon, I'll have my stale can of water nearby... to either drink or eBay for lots of $$$$$.

Father's Day Cans

Another year, another Father's Day.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

I received a couple of cans this weekend.  The first one is a novelty can from my kids, who'd be more than happy to give this one a "taste test"...

The other one is a current St Louis Cardinals Coca-Cola 16oz can.

Cans.  They're not just for Christmas anymore...

Clear Cans

Last year I posted about a Monster Hydro "can" someone gave me.  It was the Mean Green flavor.  And I already had the orange Tropical Thunder flavor.  That just left one flavor left to get...

And I bought that one last night.  For some reason the Walmart closest to me never had the Manic Melon flavor.  So when I finally saw it yesterday I grabbed it!!

So if you pretend the middle bottle is full of a bright green drink, you'll see my complete collection of plastic Monster Hydro cans.

Ok, now it's time to drink the other two...

Lighter Spiders

Are you afraid of spiders???

How about these Lighter Spiders?  Someone recently gave these three sugar free energy drinks to me.  I love the style of the spider image.  And the orange can would make a great Halloween prop.

The three flavors are Original Citrus Bite, Mimic (Classic Energy Flavor), and the most chilling flavor... Widow Maker Berry Bite.

The orange can shows they have a suggested retail price of $.99, but these were purchased 3/$1.

I plan on putting these in the fridge and waiting for that sluggish summer afternoon when I need a little pick-me-up, then I'll break out the spiders...

2006 St. Louis Cardinals

Winter is now hibernating and the warm monthly flea markets are back!  Today we went to one in an old loading warehouse near the River.

I've been there several times and have never bought a can there, but today I saw a few on an island marked "$1 table."

I knew I had the Coca-Cola 2011 Cardinals World Series Champions can (shown up front in the pic) but I wasn't sure about the 2006 cans (with yellow bands around the top).  For $1, I'd risk it.

I bought one and checked my records when I got home and I did NOT have this can yet.  So who's the champ now?

The Coca-Cola swoosh is also interesting.  I don't remember it looking like this 20 years ago.  But then again I don't remember much from 20 years ago.  haha

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

It's the newest movie franchise tie-in... Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  And the first can has landed in my collection.

T. Rex (can 1 of 4)

I've seen these designs at the store for a few weeks, but I just got my first one earlier this week.  It's the T. Rex.  The other three are Stiggy (diet Dr Pepper), Indoraptor (cherry Dr Pepper), and Blue (diet cherry Dr Pepper).

The movie releases in about a month.  I wonder if I'll have the other three cans by then?  I'll update as more cans arrive...

The Newest Old Pepsi

There is a refrigerator where I work that's kept full of drinks for the employees.  Once a month a pallet arrives of sodas, juices, water, etc.  And I always peruse the pallet after it's delivered to see if there are any new can designs.  Earlier this week, there was:

2018

I was very surprised to see the old design back on Pepsi cans.  It seems there's been a resurgence of old designs in the last few years, with Pepsi even having an previous retro can in their Pepsi Throwback campaign from 2011.

2011

But the new "old" can doesn't have the yellow Throwback banner, it looks very much like the old cans.  It does have a line at the bottom of the can that says "Same great Pepsi taste - retro design," but it isn't very intrusive in the overall aesthetics.  

The back of the can is nothing remarkable, just the regular nutrition info.

But it's still neat to see.  Here's to the future!!!!  I mean, the past!!!

Bottles, Bottles, Bottles

** Spoilers **
This post doesn't have a happy ending where I find a super-rare can for cheap at the last shop I visited.  But it does mention the Monkees' Banana Nut soda.  Read on...


I spent the day in Paducah, KY, today checking out various shops and flea markets.  As usual, I didn't see many soda cans for sale.  In fact, I only saw one Coca-Cola can, it was the 1991 Braves National League Champs can... and I already have it.  But I did see several bottles.  Here are the finds I left for someone else to find:







An old Royal Crown 6-pack carrier with six bottles in it.  Good and old, but not for me.

Several Coca-Cola special promotion 6-packs with bottles.  Again, neat to look at, but not for me.











And finally, the aforementioned bottle of Monkees Banana Nut soda... 

Totally up my alley, but not worth the $5 asking price to me.  But for that Monkees fan out there that's been searching all over for one of these, you're welcome!

Monster from Toronto

Earlier this week a co-worker traveled to Toronto, Ontario, for training.  On his first day back, he came into my office and set a Monster energy drink can on my desk.  It had no special promotions or video game tie-ins on it.  I wondered why he brought a plain, regular can to me.  And then I noticed it was a 473mL can!








He said it was my souvenir from Canada.  Although it looked like a can from America, a lot of the writing on it was French.  So this will be the newest can added to the "Canadian Wing" of my collection.

And a few minutes after he left my office, another co-worker came in and set a small, empty 6.5 oz can of Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso on my desk.  He said he found it lying in the parking lot.  So I cleaned it up and added that to the "Little Can Wing" of my collection.

Although it doesn't sound like it, sometimes I do actually work when I'm at work.

Monster Hydro

I've known about Monster Hydro and their plastic "cans" for a while.  I've known there are three flavors available.  And I've had one in my possession for a while, I just haven't drank it yet.  But there's one thing I didn't know.

The can is actually made of clear plastic.  As I said, I've had a full one for a while, but it wasn't until someone recently gave me their empty can that  I realized the color comes from the drink inside.

What'll they think of next?

Summit Party

I was at someone's house yesterday and saw a lot of empty soda cans sitting around the house.  I politely grabbed one of each flavor for my collection. 

It looked like I missed a big Summit party.

Cabo

Last weekend I saw this 4-pack of Cabo sparkling water at Big Lots for $1.  What could go wrong?

After I cut the "fish choker" plastic off the cans, I handed one of the cool, refreshing beverages to someone I was with and they gladly opened it, poured some into a cup, and took a drink of the grapefruit-flavored drink.

Later I picked up the can to throw it away and noticed it was still nearly full.  I asked what they thought of the drink.  Well, it wasn't pleasant.

I took a drink from the can and it had already lost its "sparkle" (carbonation).  They said it was the aftertaste, the bitter feeling still in their throat after taking a couple of drinks, that they didn't like.  I didn't drink enough to have much aftertaste. 

There are three cans left for me to offer to visitors.  And now I know there's a lot that can go wrong in a $.25 can of discontinued sparkling water.