Another Team Meeting at Work

This evening was our team meeting at work.  Historically the meetings have ranked rather low on my "Highly Anticipated Things To Do" list, but that changed last year when I realized it's a source for new cans. 

At November's meeting last year, I was able to score a Cardinals World Series Pepsi can (read about it here).

At our last meeting in April, I scored four aluminum bottles (read about it here).

And tonight there were about 8-10 cans to choose from.  I had them all but one...

And now I have that one too.  I can't wait for November's meeting...

Another Saturday, Another Antique Mall

It's that time of the week again; time to browse thru a local antique mall.  The one we went to today was about an hour from our house and I had no idea it was even there.  And this place was HUGE!!!  It took us over two hours to rush through it (we had our young kids with us).  And unlike most antique places I've checked, this one actually had some soda cans!!!  I couldn't buy every soda can I saw, so I choose these five:

I plan on doing a couple of posts this week to highlight a couple of these special cans.  There were several more convention cans and "special" cans I didn't buy, so maybe some day I'll have to go back...

But this place was a small heaven for beer can collectors.  One booth had 5-6 old beer cans bagged together and each bag was $1.95.  Several other booths were selling singles.  But this booth was the most impressive:

They were selling trays of 24 beer cans for $8.95 per tray.  I looked thru all the trays and only found two soda cans, one of which I already have.  But for the beer can collector this would have been an awesome find!!!

Also, I met a beer can collector there.  He said he has a few soda cans he wants to get rid of from trades and I said I have a few beer cans I want to get rid of from trades.  He lives about twenty minutes from where I work, so there may be a local trade in my near future.

By the way, the peach box on top of the beer cans in the pic above was full of bags of bottle caps.  I had considered collecting those at one time but decided to go with soda cans instead. 

2012 Olympic Coke Cans (complete)

On June 4, I started a post about the 2012 Olympic Coke cans.  I was on a quest to collect all six cans of the set.  I updated the post every time I got a new can.  So if you'd like to see how the quest progressed, you can read about it here. 

Today I got can #6 and my set is complete.  In addition, I also got an Olympics Diet Coke can.

Coca-Cola Can Radio Offer

I went to a flea market today on the lookout for any old soda cans.  There are always a lot of soda bottles, but usually not many cans.  The only can I found worth buying was this Coca-Cola can.  After getting home, I dated the design to be around 1970-1971 (notice "caramel colored" written under the Coca-Cola logo).

But the reason I bought the can was because of the offer on the side of it, "Can radio... yours for only $5.95 with proof-of-purchase."  The offer ended on February 29, 1972, reinforcing that this can is probably from 1971-ish.

The reason I liked this "ad can" was because it's the first vertical ad on a Coke can I've seen.  I don't know how common or uncommon that is, but I thought it was pretty cool.

So what did I pay for it?  Well there was a plain Coke can next to this one.  I asked the guy how much they were and he said, "$3 each or both for $5."  I think I already had the other one, so I just wanted this one.  I said, "How about $2.50 for just this one?"  And he replied, "$2 and it's yours."  That's the first time a seller has bid me down.

A Tour of My Collection

I still have around fifty cans that haven't been "processed" yet (meaning they haven't been added to the website or shelved/boxed with my other cans), but this is my collection as of today.

This is shelf #1.  It starts with 7Up and alphabetically goes thru some of the major brands thru Hi-C.

Note: the spaces have been left intentionally to allow for new cans to be added without having to shift other brands around.

This is shelf #2.  It starts with Hires root beer and goes thru some of the major brands thru the Walmart line of sodas.

Shelf #3 contains Sprite, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Shasta.

Shelf #4 holds my Coke cans and short 8oz cans.

And these are two additional shelves. 

The gray ones on the left hold the soda brands that don't fit on shelves #1-4.  They are organized alphabetically in the trays.  The bottom shelf has six trays of foreign cans.

The black shelf on the right holds my large 16 oz cans, slim 8 oz cans and any other odd-sized cans.  This is where most of my energy and juice cans are.  I also have some 12-packs of soda on this shelf.

The boxes on the floor are cans I haven't added to the trays yet.




And now for the two overall shots of my collection:

Shelves #1 and #2

Shelves #3 and #4 and more

What I don't have pictured are my can sets such as the 7UP Bicentennial 50-can set, the 24-can Star Wars Pepsi set or the two 1970's RC sets of baseball player cans.

Antique Shopping

We spent a lot of today driving around southern Illinois visiting all kinds of antique shops.  Among other things, I was on the lookout for "antique" cans.  But unfortunately I wasn't having any luck.  Until...

We found Big Lots!!!  We ended up back in civilization and did some real shopping where I found plenty of cans I didn't have.

Last year my wife and I recorded season one of a taste-testing podcast called The Aftertaste Report.  And after today's haul, we are considering doing season two.  But with school starting next week, things are about to get hectic so we'll have to see if there's time for another podcast.

Variations of the Wild West

When people come by to see my can collection, I remind them that there are 2000+ different cans.  And then they proceed to point to my four Wild West cans and say, "Well those are the same."  And then they get a can education.

Sure, they are all Wild West Sarsaparilla (whatever that is), but the cans are different.

These first two cans are both straight steel.  Notice the sides of the body are straight all the way from the bottom to the top.  Also, both the bottom and top are separate pieces attached to the body.  That's how you can identify a straight steel can.  By the way, these two are different because one says "12 FL OZ" and the other "12 FL OZ - 354 mL".  Also, one is still sealed and one is open.



 This is an extruded steel can.  Notice how the bottom is rounded and made of the same piece of steel as the body.  Only the top is a separate piece of metal on this can.

There is a third type of steel can which I don't have a Wild West example of, but this Dad's root beer can volunteered to model.  It's called crimped steel.  It's top and bottom are separate pieces like the straight steel, but in this case the sides of the body aren't straight.  Notice how they are crimped inwards near the bottom and top?  





And then there's the aluminum can.  The bottom of aluminum cans is also molded from the same piece of metal as the body, only the top is a separate piece.  And aluminum cans usually have some kind of recycle symbol on them.






If there is no recycle symbol, extruded steel cans and older aluminum cans can sometimes be hard to differentiate.  So what's an easy way to tell which it is?  Use a magnet!  A magnet will stick to any steel can but won't stick to aluminum.

And now you've had a can education.

We Can't Always Get What We Want

Yesterday I spent some time where my wife works.  We were doing some updating of her office (rearranging furniture, adding shelves, painting, etc).  During one of my trips through the building I noticed a small refrigerator.  I stopped.  I had to check for cans...

Jackpot!

Inside were two 8 oz cans I didn't have.  My "cantuition" skill is getting pretty sharp, I can now sense when cans are near.  Not really.  But as I was working one of the cans from its plastic 6-pack ring my wife strolled by and told me those are there for a specific reason and they would be missed.  Rats!

In 15 months of can collecting, this was the first time I was told "No."

A Dew Day

The day started as any other.  But twelve hours into it, I owned four more Mountain Dew cans.

The first can I got literally rolled right up to me.  I was outside and the wind was blowing.  I saw a can blowing across the parking lot and it stopped at my feet.  It was the "Batman Rises" can (the can on the left in the pic). 

A little while later we stopped in a small store for drinks and I saw the newest Live Wire and Voltage can designs, so I grabbed those.

And our last stop was at a Dollar General where I found the Diet Mtn Dew "Batman Rises" can. 

I wish I could dew this every day!!!

Lunchables

I've said it before, I like to find brands of soda/drinks that I didn't know existed.  And so is the case with today's find.  I received a box of cans and inside was this can of Lunchables cola.

I'm familiar with Lunchables because my kids are in grade school and it's one of their favorite lunches to take.  So when I saw this can I thought, "Who knew they even have their own cans of soda?"

A Bust in the Dust

This morning I accompanied a group of men who go around town to do handyman chores around the homes of the elderly who can't do the work themselves any more.  My particular group was assigned to clean out an old, dusty dilapidated shed that is going to be torn down soon.  Conditions were right for a dump dive!

Near the end of my "shift" I was disappointed I hadn't found a can yet among the rotted shelves, rusted tools and dust-covered boxes and containers.  And then I pulled up some old wooden stakes and I found a stash of eight dirty cans.  The problem was, they had all been crushed after the person drank them.  All of them were aluminum and the ones I could recognize were relatively newer cans that I already have anyway.  A couple of the cans were so crushed I don't know what brand they were. 

So what could have been a great can find turned out to be a bust... until my dad came over this evening and said he found this "rooster can" while on his daily walk the other day.

 

So I did end up with a treasure today after all.

The Batcan

On July 20, "The Dark Knight Rises" releases in theaters.  We recently watched the first two Christopher Nolan Batman movies at work during our lunch breaks in preparation for the release of the third one.

I read a while back that Mtn Dew was coming out with a special color-changing can to promo the new movie, so I alerted my "peoples" to keep an eye open for it.  And the winner was a co-worker named Ken.

He came in to work week before last and handed it to me.  He had picked it up at a convenient store on the way to work.  I normally don't drink soda but I bottom-opened this one and drank it to celebrate the fact that I now had the can.  Whew, I had energy that afternoon!

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.