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?

Michigan Coca-Cola

It was time to hit the road for a sweep of local flea markets and antique stores yesterday.  I don't only look for soda cans, I also look for books and board/card games and a few other things. 

The first thing I found was a set of Coca-Cola salt and pepper shakers.  Only about 2" high, their $12 price tag was a bit much for me.

At the same shop I saw a shelf full of cans... beer cans.

Except for one soda can near the upper right corner in the picture.  It was a Coca-Cola can.  And it didn't look like one I had. 

It's made of aluminum and the bottom is different than aluminum cans now.  So this must have been an earlier aluminum can design (around 1979 according to a CanMuseum.com entry). 

But what I haven't figured out yet is the "Michigan" printed around the top of the can.

I'm not sure if it was an entire 50-state set or a special can because it was canned in Detroit or if it was ad-related (although there's nothing else ad-related on the can) or sports related.

There was enough mystery to justify the discounted price from $5 to $2.50.  Now it's been cleaned up and given a new home... in a box in my basement.

Monster Colors

New Monster cans for my collection this week.

"But these aren't new flavors, don't you already have these?"

"Yes, but the cans I have are older versions with silver tops.  These have colored tops that match the cans' colors.  Variations are just as important to me as a design I don't have.  It's neat to line up the same can to see how its design has changed through the years," says the collector.

"Oh," says the non-collector as they roll their eyes and walk away.

A Small Addition to the Collection

This week I acquired the complete set of four Kool-Aid Sparklers 7.5 oz cans.  There's nothing special or rare about them.  I'm just glad that for once I have ALL of the cans of a series, no matter how small the set is.

These are carbonated versions of Kool-Aid in the common flavors of cherry, grape, orange, and tropical punch.

As a small bonus, this 7.5 oz can of Country Time Sparkling strawberry lemonade also found its way to me.

It's always nice to make a little progress with the collection.

Orange Vanilla Coke

One of my contacts at church brought a couple of cans to me last Sunday.  These are the Orange Vanilla Coke cans.  

These are empty, but he said he'd also bring a full one of each one of these weeks so I can try them. 

One flavor is regular Coca-Cola and the other is Coke Zero.  He preferred the regular one while his wife preferred the Coke Zero version.

The Bible talks about "...my cup overflows."  I wonder if the same goes for cans overflowing.

Where Have They Gone?

It takes work to maintain a website or a blog.  Even just the small posts I write each week can feel like a second job when the week's been crazy.  I've often sat down to relax for a few minutes on the weekend only to realize I hadn't written a can post yet.  So then it's up to find some cans and figure out what to write about.

Early on as my collection grew, I started finding helpful websites full of can images and information.  There were other collectors' blogs showing their cans and telling their stories.  There were clubs, forums, and marketplaces.  I had really jumped into a fun and active hobby.  And I have a folder full of dozens of those websites that I'd visit every week.

A few days ago I found that folder of bookmarks.  I decided to walk down memory lane and visit some of the websites that were instrumental in building my collection and blog and see how they're doing.  More than half of them don't even exist any more.  That was a pretty sad discovery.  There could be just as many, or even more, newer sites out there, but for this post I decided to write about some of the ones I'll miss.

USA Soda
This site was invaluable in finding variations of cans and dates.  At one point the site was down, so I emailed John, the owner, and soon the site was back up.  But now there's a big "Retired" across the front page and none of the image links work.

CanPedia
This was a site similar to CanMuseum, which is still alive and strong.  I dated a lot of cans using the CanPedia, but it currently gives a 500 (Internal Service) Error.

Cans in the Basement
A fellow collector told his story of keeping his cans in the basement.  I enjoyed reading the entries and missed the news/stories after the last post on May 1, 2015.  But I totally understand that life and interests change.

Collecting Soda Cans
This was another blog I enjoyed following.  Its last post was made on October 2, 2014.

rft3
This was a cool blog because it not only covered cans, but it was all about design.  There were interesting cans, signs, etc.  If I remember correctly, he was a bit of a traveler.  I remember seeing sites of other cities featured.

Diamond Coke Cans
To be honest, I barely remember this site, but I know I really liked it at one time because it's in my folder.  Now it's just an internet dead-end.

Larwood Limited
This site was dedicated to antique beer cans and collecting.  I only collect soda cans, but at one time I thought it was useful and neat enough to save it in my bookmarks.

A Guide to Soda Cans
The link to this one is really messed up, it leads to nothing now.  But it's probably a site I used often for can information.

Richard's Can Universe
Another useful site... gone.

The Soda Can Library
Gone.

Mountain Dew Cans
The link doesn't even work now.  Gone.


But there are some websites I bookmarked that are still there.  I plan on doing a post in the future to highlight some of those sites.

I know things change, but all of the sites listed above played a part in my collection and this blog.  And I'm sad to see them gone.

Surge Nitro

In 1999, Coca-Cola brand Surge released a 5-can set promoting WCW Monday Nitro TNT Wrestling.  One of those cans, Booker T, came in a lot I bought a few years ago.




A couple months ago I bought a box of cans at a flea market junk shop and included were three more of the wrestling cans.  So now my count is up to four of the five.

My collection

The wrestlers my cans feature are Booker T, Kevin Nash, Rev Mysterio Jr, and Sting.  The only one I'm missing is Goldberg (picture below courtesy of canmuseum.com).

So watch out Goldberg, your wrestling days may be over, but I'm coming for you...

A Week of Energy

In the last week three energy drink cans made their way to me:

Fronts

The three cans are black cherry Hi*Ball (organic energy drink), pina colada Bang (potent brain and body fuel), and citrus Venom (low calorie energy drink).

Backs

I know I have other Bang and Venom cans, but this may be my first Hi*Ball.  My inventory log has fallen way behind, so I can't instantly tell anymore whether I have a can or not.  Regardess, these cans have now made their way into my collection.

Reverend Pepper

There are several people who watch for new cans for me.  One such person is at church.  This morning he told me there were a few Dr. Pepper cans on top of the coat rack for me.

After the service I looked and sure enough, there were four cans waiting for me.  I definitely have the dogs can on the right.  I may even have both football-themed cans.  But I know I don't have the "Sweet Rewards" can.

After a quick Google search it looks like there may be four different designs for this promotion.  So here we go.  I now have 1 of 4 and am waiting for the others to show up...


6/1/2019 UPDATE

Speaking of Sweet Rewards cans, my second one found me this week:

These are a bit tricky.  The two cans look the same but the icons are different, each icon representing a different summer activity.

7/5/2019 UPDATE

Two more Sweet Rewards cans were found recently:

While wearing sandals, my daughter didn't see this Diet Dr Pepper can lying in a parking lot and she accidentally kicked it, splattering what little soda remained in the can on her foot and lower leg.  While she was feverishly wiping the disgusting leftovers off, I was trying to remove the dent her toes had put in the can.  In the end, the can was fine and is now in my collection.  And her foot is fine.

This Cherry Dr Pepper can was in a bag of cans someone saved for me.

New Game Fuel

I've made several posts on various editions of Mtn Dew's Game Fuel.  So I was pleasantly surprised a couple of days ago when I saw four unfamiliar cans set aside for me at someone's house.  They are Mtn Dew's latest version of Game Fuel!!!

There are a few differences this time around.  They are branded as Mtn Dew AMP Game Fuel, not just Mtn Dew.  They are 16oz instead of the usual 12oz.  They are not associated with any specific video game.  And what's up with that funky top?

First you lift up on the tab-flap-thing.

Then you slide the whole tab-flap-think back, revealing the drink hole.

Then you put the can to your mouth and drink.


Sure, it's resealable, which makes the whole apparatus a bit impressive, but what gamer doesn't finish their energy drink? 

The side of the can even has a "tutorial" on how to open the top. 

And I love the flavors:

* Charged Tropical Strike
* Charged Berry Blast
* Charged Original Dew
* Charged Cherry Burst

Go grab some Game Fuel for yourself and you'll be at the top of the leaderboard in no time!!!

My Super Chill Week

It's been cold here.  Occasional snow and ice.  But that doesn't stop the cans from coming in.  Last week I nabbed three Super Chill cans from a relative's house.

This is the house brand for a local grocery store.  They are boring flavors; root beer, cream soda, and grape.  But still, it doesn't matter what's on the inside, it's all about the looks.  Wait, that's not what I was taught growing up!

Goombay Punch

In 2011 I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and brought back a few cans.  One of the cans I specifically remember not buying in Freeport, Grand Bahama, was a Bahamas Goombay Punch.  I've seen them on eBay and other sites since, but I haven't taken an opportunity to buy one.  Until recently.

Last month I posted about finding a box of cans at an antique store.  In that box was this can.  I'd finally got my Goombay Punch.

And this is an older can.  Notice the pull tab top and that it has not been opened.  In fact, the soda is still in the can.  Pics of newer cans show the size as 355mL or 12 fl. oz.  But this one shows as 12.49 imp. fl. oz., which I assume is Imperial Fluid Ounces.  I think it's my first can to show that.

The ingredients are listed on the side of the can and they look pretty simple.  Sounds like sugar water to me.  But with this one possibly being 35-40 years old, I won't be finding out what the soda tastes like from this can. 

Cool Red Cans

On this cold, icy morning, I decided to feature some of the recent red cans I've collected.  They're not new to stores, they are just new to me.

There's a Clover Valley Cola can, a Cranberry Sprite (which I got during Christmas), a 16oz Cherry Coca-Cola, and a Cherry 7Up.

The pic is a little blurry because it was still sleeting and I had to wipe the lens.  Now let me go see if I've got any hot blue cans to show next week...

The Swiss Monster

This Monster energy coffee can, given to me yesterday, is now one of my favorite Monster cans in my collection.

It's a Swiss Chocolate flavored coffee, so the mountain behind the "M" and the coats of arms that run down both sides are very appropriate.

It definitely has the look of a can from Switzerland (with a little assumption on my part).  I love all the coats of arms on the can.  They add to the Swissness.

And with this morning's fog, it was the perfect time to feature this Swiss Monster.