It's Mine

We got our shipment of beverages for the break room at work yesterday and I did my normal scan for new cans.  That's when I saw these colorful Diet Coke cans.

I looked it up online and found Diet Coke has a new promotion called "It's Mine."  It's a pretty lengthy article, but to sum it up Diet Coke created 36 base designs for their new 12 oz glass contour bottles.  Using some fancy HP software, the base designs were used to automatically create millions of new graphics.  A select number of designs will appear on their other items such as 12 oz cans, 16 oz cans, etc.

So if you're really into collecting, have fun.  Go out and see how many of those bottle graphics you can find.  I'll stick with collecting cans.

Kickstart Valentine's Day (year 2)

I knew the fourth round of Mtn Dew Kickstart energy drink flavors recently launched, so I've been patiently waiting to find them and buy them.  And then I got my chance yesterday while running around with the family.

The new cans are 12 oz slim cans, the same as the last batch of flavors.  These four are:

     1. Blueberry Pomegranate

     2. Blood Orange

     3. Watermelon

     4. Pineapple Orange Mango

I normally don't drink energy drinks, but I'll have these on standby in case of emergency.  I'm curious to try some of these flavors.

02/22/16 Update

I made a mistake.  In the above post I mentioned Pineapple Orange Mango was one of the four new flavors.  NOPE!  That was a flavor from the last round of flavors.  The 4th one is actually Midnight Grape.  Someone gave me the grape can over the weekend, so now I have all four new flavors.

But with answers come more questions.  The three new cans I bought were 12 oz slim cans.  The fourth flavor is in a 16 oz can.  Does that mean there are two sizes for each flavor?  The search continues...

Sprite Holiday Design

I found two new cans at work this week.

Pic taken on 1/27/16

One was a new Coca-Cola can featuring a shirt design.

The other is the Sprite holiday can which I'm a bit confused about.  My place of work just purchased these cans of Sprite last week, so I assumed this is the 2015 holiday design.  But looking at my collection website, this looks like the exact same design on a Sprite can I got during the 2014 holiday season.

2014 Sprite holiday can

I think it unlikely Sprite used the same design two years in a row, but I can't explain it otherwise.

Dr. Pepper's New Cherry

I'm not sure when it happened, but the cherry on Dr Pepper cans got a new look while I wasn't paying attention.  A man from my church brought a bag of cans to me this morning and I found these Cherry Dr Pepper cans inside.

Also in the bag I found yet another Diet Coke holiday can I didn't have.

And earlier this week, a coworker gave me a Monster can I hadn't seen before.  It's called Pipeline Punch.  Figures not included.

This Week's New Cans

No crazy stories this week.  No weird cans.  Nobody looking at me like I'm crazy.  Well, maybe.  But here are a few cans that found their way to me.

The holidays cans continue to trickle in.  I had a regular Coca-Cola version of the "Naughty or Nice" can and now I have the Diet Coke version too.

Speaking of Coca-Cola, this new football can showed up at work.  I like how the stitches are Coke bottles.

I can't mention Coke without mentioning Pepsi.  Also at work, I found this Diet Pepsi can with the information "Now Aspartame Free" written above the logo.  

At Walmart yesterday, I found this Mad Max Rockstar can.  It's a promotion for the Mad Max Fury Road video game, which I have yet to check out.  I've been too busy dealing with cans.  haha

Instant Snow in a Can

I like an occasional gimmicky can that's not a soda can.  And the kids gave me something for Christmas I've never seen before.  It's instant snow in a can.

I noticed right away it had English and French print.  Wow, an import :)  The directions say to put the contents of the can (which rattles around in the can like a sugar cube) into a container, add water, and you get something that looks and feels like real snow.

The can is about the size of an 8oz shorty here in the USA.  On the back of the can I saw it comes from Canada.  Yep, that explains the French.  But the weirdest thing about the whole can is the fact that there is a pull tab on the top which removes the entire lid (like a can of pudding), yet on the bottom there is another tab that looks like the top of a soda can.

The kids were excited to open it and try out the snow.  But I had to deny them that joy, this thing is going in my collection.  Unopened.

Merry Christmas

What I Got Out of Training (vol 2)

I had two days of training at work last week. There was plenty of coffee and energy drinks around me both mornings.  On the second day I noticed the guy next to me was drinking a Monster energy I didn't have yet.  It was called Ultra Black and had a cool red/black design on the textured can.  

I have no problem asking for cans any more, so I'm proud to say I now own a Monster Ultra Black can :)

You can read my first training story here.

Cranberry Sprite Zero

A couple at church had driven to Texas and back last week.  Their daughter, who lives here, had mentioned how she likes Sprite Zero Cranberry but she hasn't been able to find it in our area yet.  So the couple stopped at several Walmarts on their way back from Texas until they finally found it.  They bought several 12-packs, some for them and some for their daughter.

As they were finishing that story at church this morning, he looked at me and said he'd save one of the cans for me.  He came by this afternoon with this one.  It's a nice, clean design.

I asked how it tasted and he said the cranberry flavor was a bit milder than he expected.  He said he'll bring me a full one to church next week.  Awesome.  Taste-test inbound...

Two Cans Yes - Five Cans No

I was doing some Christmas shopping today and saw this Diet Coke aluminum bottle at Target.  It has a neat "digital"-looking design, so I picked one up.  

At Big Lots I found this V8 energy drink.  The problem is I don't care for V8 products.  My kids like them but they sure don't need the energy boost this provides.  Maybe we'll leave it out for Santa to drink :)

We also stumbled upon an antique store we hadn't been in before.  One of the booths had five colorful Coca-Cola cans from other countries, including Canada and Germany.  I took a minute to arrange them in such a way I could get a good picture of their colorful designs and realized I'd left my phone in the car.  It had died earlier and was recharging.  So you'll have to take my word for it that they were some pretty neat looking cans, but at $5-$10 each they weren't neat enough for me to buy.

Christmas Cans 2015

It has begun.  The Christmas cans are here.  This year, Coca-Cola continues its Santa Claus theme in addition to its nickname theme.  This equates to who-knows-how-many variations of the can.  Hopefully not too many.  I've also seen holiday-themed aluminum bottles of Coca-Cola with different nicknames/phrases on them.

Are any other collectors getting a headache yet?  :)

My dad found this can on the side of the road and brought it to me.  It's damaged, but it's my first Christmas can of 2015.

12/4/15 Update
We got our monthly supply of beverages at work and I scored this "Secret Santa" Diet Coke holiday can.  It features white and silver snowflakes in the background.

12/13/15 Update
I went out to eat with my parents yesterday and my dad handed me this Coca-Cola can he had found on the roadside (is that weird thing to say?  haha).

I love the fact that there are check boxes next to "naughty" and "nice" so you can select one.

It's a Small World

My can collection is not a secret at work.  Co-workers often bring cans to see if I have them or not.  Last week a co-worker sent an email to me with a link to Google Maps showing the immediate area surrounding our place of work.  And within a 12-minute walk (according to Google) is the Brewery Collectibles Club of America (BCCA) office.

I've been familiar with the BCCA for a few years now.  I've visited their website many times just looking around.  There's a lot of interesting info there.  Although I don't collect beer cans, I do have many of them that were included in some of the lots of soda cans I've bought.  I was so surprised to find out they are essentially "down the street" from where I work.

At the risk of looking like some weird kind of stalker, I drove past there this morning and snapped these pics just to verify that Google was correct.  And it is.  Now, is there an NPCC office in the neighborhood that I don't know about?

Dry Hiney

Today was a nice fall day in the Midwest and I spent it on the road visiting various shops and markets.  I saw a lot of beer cans as usual and not many soda cans.  But one can caught my eye and although it's not a soda can, I had to buy it.  

The can is from 1983 and celebrates the 175th anniversary of a local winery.  It's an aluminum can with a ring pull tab.  And it gives a short history of the Hiney Winery on the back of the can.  

So why did I "have" to buy this can?  First, I don't often see a wine can (in fact, this may be my first).  And second, where else can you get a dry hiney for $1.50?

Black Ops III

Yesterday we got our monthly beverage delivery at work.  I'm usually the first to check out the pallet of goodies looking for new cans.  This month I got the new Call of Duty Black Ops III Mtn Dew cans.

I was hoping for a spookier post for Halloween, but this will have to do.  I haven't got any Halloween cans yet.  I'll have to keep looking...

Always on the Lookout

The company I work for received a pallet of fifteen new laptops earlier this week.  Of course we're all excited about the new hardware, but my mind instantly went somewhere else.

After the boxes were emptied, I used a razor blade to cut off the top of each box, in essence creating fifteen "trays."

When I got home, I was able to get 24 cans in one of the trays.  Perfect!  Just what my mind's eye had seen.  I now have an organized way to store 360 more cans.  And since the shelves I built in the basement earlier this year still have some empty spaces, these will fit nicely.

As a collector, you're obviously always on the lookout for the thing you collect.  But when storage options and space become concerns, you also watch for other things that can benefit the collection.

Dr Pepper + Football = Star Wars?

When it comes to American football, I'd rather be collecting cans.  I've never been into sports.  But recently Dr Pepper has had a series of cans showing different aspects of football.  There are also Diet Dr Pepper versions of the cans.

But tonight I'll be tuning into Monday Night Football.  Not for the excitement of the sport.  Not for the great half-time show (which I've been informed not every half-time includes a show).  But it's for the new Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens trailer.

And to commemorate tonight's big event, here's one of my favorite Star Wars cans from my collection.

By the time you read this, the trailer will be watchable all over the world.  So sit back, have a Pepsi, and enjoy.

Last Weekend

Last weekend while running around with my sister, we were leaving the parking lot of a strip mall, trying to get back on a busy road.  While waiting for a break in traffic, I noticed a bright orange can lying in the grass close to a nearby sidewalk.  I may have said something like, "I sure wish I had that can."  So she jumped out of the car, ran over to the sidewalk and brought the can back to the car.  I was right, it was a new can for me.  It was a Monster Ultra Sunrise can.  It seems there are new Monster cans every week.  When I got home I cleaned the can real good and now it sits with almost a hundred other Monster cans in my collection.

And there was a Big Lots nearby so I had to go in there to check out their can selection.  I found a Starbucks Refresher with the new design, two different UP Time energy drink cans, and a small 5.5 oz can of Campbell's tomato juice.

Not bad for just running around town.

Lionel Richie at Church

Last Sunday when I walked into church, a gentleman came over to talk to me.  He said one of his co-workers had a few old Pepsi cans he wanted to get rid of, so this man from church thought of my collection and took the cans.

After church we met in the parking lot and he gave me the bag of cans.  A couple of them were beer cans that I gave back.  Another one was a can I already had.  But one was a cool can from 1985 celebrating the 50th anniversary of a Pepsi bottling company in Columbia, Missouri.

And the cans that surprised me the most were three Lionel Richie Pepsi cans from the mid 1980's, each featuring one of his hit songs.  I had no idea there was a collectible series featuring him.  Upon closer look at the cans, I saw it was a series of 6 cans.  These are numbers 1, 4, and 6.  So I guess someday I will need to find the other three to complete the collection.

3 of the 6 Lionel Richie Pepsi cans

But my question this week is, does anyone else have a good Lionel Richie at church story to share?  haha

Summer Ski

There's a bottling facility for Ski in my area, so I've always been aware of the soda even though I'm not sure I've ever drank it.  Ski is a brand of the Double Cola company and was introduced in 1956.  It's a citrus soda made with lemon and orange juices and has been compared to Mountain Dew, Squirt, Mello Yello, etc.  

It's a can with a design that doesn't change very often.  Since the 1980's, there have only been two major designs (with possible slight variations) that I'm aware of.  The earlier cans were white with one green and one blue stripe (see picture below).  Then in 2009 the cans went to a solid color scheme (see picture above).  I have a few cans with the solid color scheme, but only one with the earlier design (circa 1980's). 

Extended steel can

And for the summer of 2015 only, a limited edition can has been released to celebrate Ski's 60th anniversary.  Someone found this can on the side of the road and gave it to me, which is what inspired me to do a little research on Ski.

2015 Limited Edition

So where did the name Ski come from?  When it was created in 1956, employees were asked to come up with a name for it.  After a ski weekend trip, one of the employees suggested "Ski" and the name stuck.

Dewshine

I keep seeing Mtn Dew Dewshine at the store.  It's been out for quite a while.  So I finally decided to give it a try a few weeks ago.  And these are my thoughts on it.

To me, it tasted really sweet.  Almost too sweet.  Could it be the real sugar?  Maybe.  It also left a light but strange aftertaste in my mouth.  After I drank the first bottle, it was about a week before I tried it again with the second bottle.  At that point I decided to give the other two bottles away.  But a couple more weeks went by and I got thirsty so I tried the third bottle.  It's a taste I'm just not acquiring.  I have one bottle left and I still might give that one away.

But as far as its clear look and the old-time packaging, it gets two thumbs up for me.  I even kept one of the bottles for my very small bottle collection.  I just wish they would do a limited edition in cans.

Abraham Lincoln's Big Lots

I was in Springfield, Illinois, a few weeks ago.  Everything in Springfield is about Abraham Lincoln.  The Big Lots I visited there didn't reference Lincoln, but I have dubbed it "Lincoln's Big Lots."

And what a great find.  I left with sixteen new cans for my collection.  The cashiers must really think I'm a thirsty person.  I found some Big Hero 6 cans, which my son loves.  And this pile is full of energy.

My general rule of thumb when visiting different cities: Always check Big Lots.