Don't forget the 10¢ deposit in Michigan!

During a recent run through eBay I stumbled on something that shocked me. A Krystal Coke bottle for over $100? Actually, that isn't outrageous, as a few bottles have gone for astronomical amounts of late: A 65th birthday (1997) bottle with the cardboard tube sold for $200.00. I think this may have simply been another eBay Sniper-fight, but GEEZE! A 70th birthday (2002) bottle for $74.99 and another for $133.63 both with the red velvet bags. I've seen these two different bottles go for big money in the past. The big thing is for them to have the tube or bag. Occasionally you'll see one pop up with a certificate as well. Those bring bigger money, of course. The bottle I saw the other day wasn't a 1997 or 2002 bottle, though. It was a 2007, 75th birthday bottle. Like these:These cost me a whopping $13.00 for all of them. The front row I got down in Macon last Christmas. Buy a combo meal, pay an extra dollar, get a bottle. The back row cost me postage only (about $10) from my top secret Krystal Kollectible Konnection. You can get the bottles on eBay now, and prices have stabilized at roughly $10 a set plus postage: $9.99 currently, plus $12 postage or $9.99 currently, plus $7.70 postage. Postage rates may vary as these are likely calculated to ship them to me. Of course you'll still find people trying to get rick off the clueless masses who don't know how to shop on eBay and insist on charging outlandish amounts like $25.99 plus $10 shipping. Anyway, this clearly shows you why a 6 month old bottle listed at over $100 raised an eyebrow. Then I Clicked On It. The first thing I noticed was the red bag. 75th bottles didn't come with a bag. Then I noticed the contact name in the listing. That's Tiffany that you've heard many a mention of here at Krystal Adventure. Suddenly it started to make sense. (Yeah, so I am a bit slow some days.) This is a special bottle. A very special bottle. Signed by the Krystal King, James F. Exum Jr., number 75 out of limited run of 500. With a red bag and a certificate also signed by the King. Oh yes, this was special indeed. The newest and hottest (coolest?) Krystal Blog on the block, Krystalist.com had the scoop, of course. This is a charity auction with proceeds going to Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I am unsure if this is an "official charity" of Krystal or not, but you may have noticed if you go to the Krystal Lovers Lounge at Krystal.com on the right side on the "bulletin board" is a link to FCA's website. It's been there for a long long time, too. While I would certainly love to own this exceptionally rare piece of Krystal memorabilia, the current price is sitting at $510.00, and it ends tomorrow around 11:21am (eastern time zone). What is likely driving the price so insanely high is that it is not only a Krystal Kollectible, but it is a Coke collectible. I know a couple of Coke collectors and those people are crazy. All in all I think it's a great idea. I am only sorry I never got around to giving a link and props to it sooner. If you think that the price is a bit too rich for you, don't let that discourage you. I am quite sure FCA would love for you to contribute even if you don't get a Coke bottle. And then you won't have to drive all the way to Michigan to get that 10¢ deposit back! And speaking of Michigan. The Red Wings finished stomping on Nashville today to move into the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. What may have been their undoing was the loss of their captain, Jason Arnott, in what I think will go down in history as the first celebratory concussion on sports history. After scoring a big goal 2 games ago, he got mobbed in the corner by his team mates, getting slammed to the glass, then piled up while he lay on the ice. He was slow to get up, and didn't play any more. The camera caught moments of him sitting on the bench in obvious pain, screaming about something. They announced he didn't play the last two games due to a concussion, haven't officially said what caused it. I'd bet a $510 Coke bottle, his team mates gave him a concussion celebrating his goal, and thus indirectly knocked themselves out of the playoffs. It was fun to see that after Nashville had beaten on Detroit for 3 straight games, they started beating on each other instead. Go Red Wings!