The Accidental Collection — Puzzle Cans

A common byproduct of collecting items is the secondary, or as I like to call them, accidental collections. These are groups of items that could form their own collection if separated from the herd. Case in point, I was recently surprised at the number of puzzle cans I have amassed over the years, while adding items to my other collections. These cans usually reside within the shelves of their respective focus area, but when I piled them all together, a whole new collection emerged.

I have always loved collecting puzzles, and have dozens of them on my shelves. Of course, most puzzles come in shallow rectangular boxes, but these 5″-tall cylindrical cans were all the rage in the 70’s. I have had a lot of fun tracking them down at toy shows and antique malls. They look great on the shelf and I even enjoy building the puzzles every now and then.

My favorite puzzle cans have to be the Batman Super Foes ones. Unfortunately, the Riddler can I got on eBay was shipped in a manila envelope (yes, really) and was crushed when it arrived — I was equally crushed. I still need to track down the Penguin can. There are also a few other Batman and Superman cans that I have yet to find, and maybe some others. I haven’t got any Marvel cans in my collection, but that will definitely change if I ever come across any!

You know me, I love them apes. There are three Planet of the Apes cans out there, so two more that I need to find. I was thrilled to find this Dracula puzzle not too long ago for just five bucks — this one and the other universal monster puzzles are pretty hard to find.

I don’t know if these are the only three Six Million Dollar man cans or if there are more out there — I know that there is a series of Bionic Woman puzzle cans, but I haven’t bit that bullet yet.

I don’t remember this episode of the Six Million Dollar Man, but it couldn’t possibly be as amazing as this image.

Puzzle cans are fun to collect because they are fairly common and affordable. If you have any puzzles that you think would fit well in my collection, hit me up on email, and maybe we can work out a trade.

Have you ever stepped back from your collection and realized that you “accidentally” started another collection?