Coca-Cola Continues Olympic Tradition in Vancouver

For the past 7 years, Vancouver has been in the back of the minds of Canadian Coca-Cola collectors. Would there be commemorative Coca-Cola packaging for the 2010 Winter Olympics? In the past, Canada has always been lagging far behind other countries when it comes to Coca-Cola collectibles.

But sometimes less is more.

It's been obviously since this past Fall that Coca-Cola would be every bit as dedicated to promoting its Olympic branding as it has been at past Olympic Games, and collectors, such as myself, are thrilled.

In the current edition of The Cola Conquest magazine, Phil Mooney talks about how Coca-Cola pin trading and pin collecting has become a major Olympic activity for collectors. For Vancouver, there have been dozens of unique Coca-Cola pins that have been snatched up by collectors - some early Olympic 2010 Coke pins have been circulating for nearly a year already.

The pin offers that immediately come to my mind are the Canadian pins that feature Coca-Cola in a unique Canadian expression of patriotism - showing the maple leaf and Olympic logo. Movie theatres SilverCity and Cineplex offered an Olympic combo at their concession stands that included a large popcorn, large fountain drink, candy, and a special Coca-Cola Olympic pin for $13.00. Right now, in the heart of the Olympic Games, I spotted this pin on eBay going for around $10-$15.

By far the most popular pins are the daily Coca-Cola pins - a different Coke pin for each day of the Olympic Games. In today's mail I got my first ever Coca-Cola Olympic 'Day' pin - I opted to buy Day 1 that features the Olympic logo, the Coca-Cola polar bear carrying the Olympic Torch, and of course, the Coke logo. It's a fabulous little pin that quickly sold out from the official Vancouver 2010 Olympic website, where many Coca-Cola Olympic collectibles have been made available for sale.

With technology the way that it is now in 2010, it's easy to get the Olympic Coca-Cola merchandise that you want if you get it when it first goes on sale - and it's easy to take the technology for granted. In 1996 when Atlanta hosted the Olympics in Coca-Cola's own backyard, imagine what the collecting landscape might have been like if Coke collectibles could have been acquired as easily as pins are for Vancouver 2010. In '96 eBay was just finding its footing and the Internet in general wasn't nearly commonplace like it is today.

Older collectors these days will likely soon be telling stories about how hard it was to get a single Olympic pin.... "you had to attend the Games live and line up for hours and hours just to get your hands on a Coke pin," they'll say. Whereas now, with the click of a mouse, you can order something from the Vancouver 2010 Olympics that will show up at your door before the Games are even over.

But that's not to say that EVERYTHING Coca-Cola is easily attainable. Showing up just this week are two limited release aluminum Coca-Cola bottles from the Olympic Pavillion in Vancouver. For these two bottles, you really DO have to be there to get them, at least for a reasonable price. Sure, you can click over to eBay and get one for your collection, but it'll cost you $50 or more. The die-hard Olympic Coke fans won't bat an eye shelling out that kind of cash... but you never know - I might find a way to get one yet, without having to finance the purchase.

So what will these Coca-Cola collectibles be worth down the road? It's hard to say, but something tells me that once Canada's first Olympics in 22 years is in the history books and the pins, bottles, cans, coins and signs have disappeared from retailers, the rare items will still fetch a nice little price; the common things like cans and common bottles will retain a modest value.

I'll be back again with another blog on the day of the Closing Ceremonies, so be sure to pop back for a visit. Over in the pages of the Cola Conquest print edition, in Issue #7, I'll have a full recap of Olympic memorabilia, more photos, and much MUCH more for Coca-Cola collectors. I hope you'll subscribe to our print edition today!