Royce's SPAM Collection: cans of SPAM, photos and more

Royce's SPAM collection: more evidence of hoarding behavior

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My collection of Hormel SPAM cans began as a joke.

I was working on an anti-spam project at work, and some friends bought me a regular can of SPAM for my cube.

Things sorta snowballed from there.

The Collection
The Usual Suspects - edible items in the collection
Non-edible items in the collection
SPAM on the Lam - list of wanted items
Suicide Pill - why I don't eat 'em
Other collectors
Links

The Collection

As of September 2009, a photo of my collection of SPAM cans (24 unique cans and packages):

Feel free to use this photo of my collection of Hormel SPAM cans - the more, the merrier!
Please attribute it to me, with a link to this page. Here is the license:

This image of Royce's SPAM Collection by Royce Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 US License.

Please link to this page in your attribution as "Royce's SPAM Collection" (or just "Royce SPAM" if you're short on space).
You can use http://xrl.us/rspam as a short URL. Share and Enjoy!

I've seen the photos of my SPAM collection around the web - in PowerPoint presentations about email spam, on blogs and forums, on Photobucket, and in other places. Here are some older pictures of my collection, under the same license, with links to other people using the photos:

2007-06 - 21 unique cans (search web for current filename) (old)
2005-04 - 14 cans (search web for current filename) (old)
2003-03 - 10 cans (search web for current filename ) (old)

The Usual Suspects

Here is the lineup of what is in my collection, with credit given (where I can remember):

SPAM "Classic" (regular flavor) 12oz sizes, in a variety of packaging:

SPAM with "get SPAM stuff" blurb
SPAM with "Free SPAMMOBILE" offer
SPAM 70th Anniversary (acquisition)
SPAM In Honor of Guam's Liberation (courtesy of Michael Jacques of Guam, 2009-09)

Standard 12oz size, different flavors:

SPAM 25% Less Sodium (acquisition)
SPAM 25% Less Sodium - 70th Anniversary (acquisition)
SPAM 25% Less Sodium - Hawaii collector's edition (courtesy of Donna Graham)
SPAM 25% Less Sodium - 2010 can design (acquisition) (not yet pictured)
SPAM BBQ (?)
SPAM Black Pepper (courtesy of Michael Jacques of Guam, 2009-09)
SPAM with Cheese (?)
SPAM Garlic (courtesy of Dan Solodon)
SPAM Golden Honey Grail (courtesy of Pat Whitesell and Keith Riley)
SPAM Hickory Smoke (?)
SPAM Hot & Spicy (courtesy of Dan Solodon)
SPAM Lite (courtesy of Dan Solodon)
SPAM Lite - 70th Anniversary (acquisition)
SPAM Lite - 2010 can design (acquisition) (not yet pictured
SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey (?)
SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey - "New Great Taste" (as opposed to the original un-great taste) (?)
SPAM with Real Hormel Bacon (direct acquisition from Casey Collins, April 2005)
SPAM with Stinky French Garlic (2006 UK edition, taller can, courtesy of Jason Alexander)

Different sizes and SPAM-based products

SPAM - 7 oz oblong with plateful photo (and third-party "IT'S PORKTASTIC" label (a "You Don't Know Jack" reference), both courtesy of Josh Buesseler)
SPAM - 7 oz oblong with burger photo (unkown source)
SPAM spread - 3 oz round can (acquisition?)
SPAM Spreaders, three different flavors (eBay acquisition)
SPAM Single packet (courtesy of Keith Riley)

Spamalot variations

I actually have three variations of the Golden Honey Grail, but only one is pictured. They are:

The empty one handed out at the New York debut of Spamalot (eBay acquisition)
The full can available only from the factory (courtesy of Keith Riley)
The full one for sale at the Vegas show (courtesy of Pat Whitesell)

Non-edible SPAM-related items:

SPAM puzzle (courtesy of Curt Ehrhart)
SPAM cookbook (courtesy of Ann Fernandez, not yet pictured)
SPAM-ku: haiku book (?)
SPAM can made into a coin bank (?)
SPAMMOBILE toy car (acquisition? - not yet pictured)
SPAM mug (courtesy of Robert Stiver, given to him by a Hormel employee! - not yet pictured)
Old-time Hormel SPAM delivery truck (UK, LLEDO die-cast) (not yet pictured)
SPAM pen (not yet pictured)

SPAM on the Lam

There are a number of variations I'd still like to have in the collection. If you are aware of any other variations not listed here, please let me know!

Standard United States modern cans

SPAM Lite - multiple alternate designs
SPAM Island Special Edition (only available in Guam, Spam Kelaguen recipe on the back)
SPAM Operation Education (standard can with small badge)
SPAM Classic with "Book of Spam" offer badge

International versions

SPAM 1937-2007 "70 Years of Great Taste" 340g (Canada)
SPAM Mild (Korean, maybe also Japanese)
SPAM A Great Taste Around The World - 2006 Football World Cup - commemorative limited edition:
SPAM commemorating UK rugby (2007 limited edition can):
Japanese - multiple styles
Korean - Fresh Onion, Mozzarella Chicken, Sweet Potato, Single Classic
SPAM Black Pepper (UK can)
SPAM Bacon (UK can)
SPAM Smoke Flavoured (international variant of "Hickory Smoke")
Mexican variants Pavo (Turkey), Reducida en Grasa (Light), and multiple deviled ("endiablado") types, including regular, Jalapeño, Pimiento, and Champiñon (mushroom)

Retired US forms

Deviled SPAM - multiple sizes
SPAM with Cheese Chunks
SPAM Family Size
SPAM Smoke Flavored ('70's edition)
SPAM Special Economy Label
SPAM Special Spamburger can edition (1997)
SPAM round soup-sized can

Non-standard formats

SPAM Spread
SPAM 7oz Lower Sodium (25% and 50% versions)
SPAM Spreaders - multiple formats - original, bacon, black pepper (British)
SPAM Fritters (launched 2006)
SPAM Single Classic (updated version of the one in my collection)
SPAM Single Turkey (both with and without the word "Turkey" in large letters)
SPAM Single Lite
SPAM 25% Extra Free (British)
SPAM 50% Extra Free (British)
SPAM Spread Snack Kit
SPAM Spread with Pineapple (circa 2003) (Australian?)

Non-food items I'm interested in

Spam 130pc Puzzle - same can size.
Spam Dice Game - same can size.
Spam Crazy Eights card game - same can size.

But of course, I'll never get them all.

Suicide Pill

No, I don't actually eat them! But since I'm allergic to eating birds, the office joke for a while was that I could take one for the team by popping the top off of a can of Turkey and wolfing it down before being interrogated by the competition (if they broke into our building in some act of physical corporate espionage).

Other collectors

Mr. Whitekeys has a much larger SPAM collection than I do.
The guy who writes the Splenda Sucks blog apparently has a much larger collection of canned meat, including SPAM variations that I don't have and an amazing pre-1937 Hormel Spiced Ham can.
Flickr user 2yay has a SPAM collection.
Flickr user spamburger has quite a SPAM cube.