Time to play games

Over the last several trips to America I have managed to pick up quite a few M&M items, these particular ones are all games, including Cards, Jigsaw Puzzle, Monopoly and Yahtzee.  None of these are actually going to get played they will stay mint.

 

New Toppers and Dispensers

Recently I took my family over to New Zealand for a holiday, which was really nice.  Normally people purchase alcohol and cigarettes at duty free but I decided that my dollars were better spent on M&M dispensers.  So, in addition to the alcohol (okay so I did spend some on that too), I bought two new toppers and two dispensers.

The two toppers are part of a set of eight that form a complete train, I will be travelling to America in September (Las Vegas to M&M World) so might just get the rest of the set then.

 

I couldn’t resist these dispensers also, the Chef and Wizard are two of six.

Clocks

The next part of my collection I would like to share are my clocks.  I have two very similar alarm clocks, both of a sleepy looking Yellow Peanut M&M wearing a nightcap and holding a toothbrush.  I only had one up until three weeks ago when my mother-in-law spotted the other with a different coloured base and clock face.  She picked up a bargain at only A$10 as the blue based clock normally sell anywhere between A$20-30 and the red based clock can sell upwards of A$75 depending on their condition.

Toppers

Toppers

Toppers are the plastic decoration that sits at the top of tubes of M&M candies.  They were first introduced into the US market for the Christmas season in 1988.  Since then more and more occasions have shared the M&M candy experience from Valentines Day thru Easter.

I have seven toppers in my current collection some with round bases and some with square bases.

 

The Plain Green M&M with a his toy sack is from Christmas 1993 and the Peanut Green M&M on his sled is from Christmas 1994.

Green M&M with her Easter bonnet and Blue M&M lazing in an Easter egg are from the 1999 Easter season.

Over the years the toppers have also been expanded to include other events such as sports, Olympics and World Cup Soccer.   Most M&M toppers cost less than five dollars (US), however some rarer ones have sold for upwards of $125.  The Plain Green M&M Scuba Diver pictured above is from a collection of six square based toppers (3 surfers and 3 scuba divers) and is valued between $15-25.  I wish I had the Yellow Scuba Diver as he is valued between $60-100.

Collection Part One

This is only part of my M&M collection, I will take individual photos of each item in my collection and post them up soon.

Introducing myself

Hi my name is William Cornwill. I work for Microsoft Australia and have another blog called CodeJedi.NET. I have been collecting M&M chocolate dispensers and other M&M related items for the past seven years. I have decided to create this new blog to share my collection with others who might also collect similar items.

Do you know what M&M stands for? Mars & Murrie.

M&M (Mars & Murrie)
William F.R. Murrie worked for Milton Hershey as a Salesman for the Hershey Chocolate company. Forrest Mars teamed up with Bill Murrie’s son, Bruce to assure a supply of scarse chocolate for their new product: M&M (for Mars and Murrie) during the war years. After wartime quotas ended in 1948, Forrest Mars maneuvered Bruce out of the partnership and went on to become Hershey’s largest competitor.

“Who would have guessed that the idea for “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies was born in the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War? Legend has it that on a trip to Spain, Forrest Mars Sr. encountered soldiers who were eating pellets of chocolate that were encased in a hard sugary coating to prevent them from melting. Inspired by this idea, Mr. Mars went back to his kitchen and invented the recipe for “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies.

First sold to the public in 1941, “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies became a favorite of American GIs serving in World War II. Packaged in cardboard tubes, “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies were sold to the military as a convenient snack that traveled well in any climate. By the late 1940′s, they became widely available to the public, who gave them an excellent reception. In 1948, the packaging changed from a tube form to the characteristic brown pouch known today.”, History of M&Ms