Nick Fury: Before and After

I'm slowly growing my Dr Pepper Avengers can set.  You can read about the progress here.  With only a couple of cans left to go, I found another one this evening on the side of the road.  But it wasn't pretty!!!

Before

Lucky for me, I have a "tool" that my dad gave me last year.  He doesn't know what it actually is, but it's perfect for sticking inside cans to pop out those unwanted dents and dings (using the smaller hooked end).

The trick is to not push too hard from the inside or the rod will poke a hole through the side of the can.  Tonight's Nick Fury can was the toughest patient I've operated on so far.  It took quite a bit of reconstruction and patient hand dexterity, but I got it to the point of being presentable.

After

Sure, it's not in mint condition, but it's better than not having Nick Fury at all.  And I will be on the lookout for a replacement unit. 

Thanks, Can-Fixin' Hook-Thing!  You saved the day again!

Chicago's Navy Pier

A few weeks ago, I was in an antique store in Georgetown, KY, and found this Pepsi can.  The first thing that caught my eye was the old-time Pepsi font.  I already wanted it.  And then I noticed it was a can for Chicago's Navy Pier.  I'm from IL, so the skyline of the Pier on the can sealed the deal.

After I got home I did a little research on the can.  The Navy Pier was built in 1916 and saw decades of various uses.  It was bought in 1989 and renovated throughout the early 1990's.  In the summer of 1995, it was "reborn" with shopping, eating, a concert stage and more.  And Pepsi released this commemorative can.

The funny things is I went to Chicago for the first time in June of 1997 and spent time on the Pier.  I had no idea it was "new" again. 

So not only does this can look good sitting on my shelf, but it reminds me of my visit to Chicago fifteen years ago this month.  Whew!  Has it really been fifteen years???

"Dream Team" Cans

And what should appear today in the parking lot where I work?  Magic Johnson, of course!

Can 1 of 5

This year, Dr Pepper Snapple Group is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first Olympic "Dream Team."  Back in the 1992 Olympics, they were the first United States Olympics basketball team.

Other cans in the 5-can set are Larry Bird (7 Up), Patrick Ewing (A&W), Scottie Pippin (Sun Drop) and David Robinson (Canada Dry).

Sports are very low on the totem pole of my interests (actually, it may not even be on the pole), but when an orphaned can is lying by my car in need of a good home, I'll take it!  So let's see how far I can get with this set...

10/22/12 Update: My mother-in-law saved this Larry Bird can for me.  That's two down, three to go.
 

Can 2 of 5

 4/12/13 Update: It's been a while, but I got the third can from my father-in-law who was visiting from out of state.  He brought it all the way from home, so I'm glad I didn't have it.

Can 3 of 5

Carnival Coke Can

We just got back from a carnival here in town.  It was a nice evening.  Lots of rides, games and snacks.  And then what do I see lying on the ground before me?

This is can #2 in the 6 can Olympic set that I reported on last week. 

Next up... can #3.

More Shelves

Before

After

My wife called me at work today and said someone was throwing out some metal shelves.  She asked if we needed them for anything.  Shelves?  You bet!

So I got home, cleaned them up, tightened the bolts and proceeded to stack trays of cans on them.  The trays I use fit perfectly!  I figure it'll hold about sixteen trays, not including the very top shelf.  Each tray holds 50 cans.  So I've just been granted space for about 800 cans.  

Just what I needed!!!

Pepsi: Kick in the Mix

I got an email three weeks ago from someone in the United Arab Emirates that I bought cans from last year.  He said he had some new Pepsi cans for me.  I sent him my home address and then forgot about it.  When I got home from work today, the package had arrived.

These are from a 2012 set of Pepsi cans called "Kick in the Mix."  It's a new campaign which fuses football (called soccer in USA) and uptempo music.  You can see the commercial for it here and read an article about the campaign here. 

And this marks another milestone in my can collection... these are the first cans I have with a QR code.  So if you have a smartphone and want more info, scan the barcode and read away.

A big THANKS goes out to BeerCanRich99!!!

5 Hours of Energy?

Two days ago at work, I was minding my own business at my desk when a couple of reps from 5-Hour Energy came to our building.  They went around to each person and handed out a bottle of their energy drink.

I am not an energy drink person.  I've drunk maybe a handful of them just to get the cans.  But I've seen these little 1.93 oz bottles in various stores and wondered if they really work.  After getting my bottle, I jumped online to read about the benefits/drawbacks and I've come away convinced it's a safe pick-me-up (when used in moderation).

So the next time I'm dragging at work and finding it hard to stay awake, I'll break out my little bottle of grape goodness juice and see if it really does work.  When I do, I'll update this post and let you know how it goes.

King of Pop

In 1983, my sister and I pooled our allowance together to buy our first LP vinyl record... Michael Jackson's Thriller.  The record sleeve had the lyrics printed on it and I spent hours following along with the lyrics while listening to the music.  I eventually moved on to other genres of music but I still respect MJ for his life-long music career.

And then I saw this can at Walmart while on vacation in West Virginia last week.  I had to buy it.  The silver graphic against the blue Pepsi background looks "bad" (in a good way). 

I don't necessarily care for the large 16 oz size of brands that normally come in 12 oz cans because they're too big to fit on the 12 oz-sized shelves, but I'll overlook it this time.  This is currently one of my favorite cans in my collection.

London 2012 Olympic Games

When I returned to work from vacation this morning, I found this Coke can sitting on my desk:

I knew it was from my Coke-drinking co-worker, so I thanked him when he got to work.  After reading the fine print, I found this design was for the London 2012 Olympic Games.  Yep, Coke is good about putting out Olympic cans.  And then I saw this:

Can 1 of 6!!  Oh great, another set to collect!!!  But that's ok, I just hope my Coke-drinking co-worker is able to get all six cans this summer. 

Go USA!!!

06/15/12 update - I found can #2 on the ground at a carnival here in town.

06/18/12 update - I got to work this morning and the co-worker who gave me can #1 had can #3 waiting for me.  

07/16/12 update - The co-worker pulled through again and brought this can #4 to work for me today.

08/06/12 update - Another co-worker brought can #5 to me this morning.  Only one to go...

08/20/12 update - A luncheon meeting was held in my building at work today.  The food was catered, but the drinks were in cans.  A co-worker was thoughtful enough to grab two cans for me during the clean up.  One was this... can # 6!!!  My set is complete.

The other can was this Olympics Diet Coke can. 

Thanks to all my co-workers who helped me finish off this set!!!  You can read the sum-up post here.

West Virginia Trip Recap

Today we returned from West Virginia.  I didn't get quite as much time to can hunt this week as I had hoped, but I was still able to come back with a sizable loot pile...

I hope to do some posts soon featuring some of these cans, but a few of the highlights include the new Pepsi Next can, the King of Pop Michael Jackson Pepsi can, the Dr Pepper Avengers Thor can that I scored from the wedding reception we attended last weekend and a 1995 Chicago Navy Pier Pepsi can I found at an antique store in Georgetown, KY. 

As far as the other activities I had hoped to do on this trip, I did not have time to go on another dump dive.  And I stopped at the Coca-Cola house but no one was home.  So maybe next year I can do both of those things.

Overall, it was a great week and I have some new cans and stories to share.