Hay River resident Matthew Lakusta says he has spent 17 years collecting different types of cans from around the world, and is now pursuing a Guinness World Record that did not exist until recently.
After Lakusta’s initial application was rejected for being “too specific,” he shared more details with the company.
That is when a new title for “Largest Energy Drink Can Collection” was created, he says, a development that he suspects was a result of his inquiry.
On Friday night, he had been due to hold an official count in an attempt to bring him one step closer to securing the record. The Hay River Heritage Centre will have Lakusta’s can collection on display this weekend from 11am to 5pm daily.
Judy West-Pratt, the museum’s seasonal manager, expected transferring the cans to the museum to take at least three hours and involve a dozen people.
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“I think we’re going to have lots of people. They’ll go in, see the collection and spread it around. A gentleman from little old Hay River is going to be in the world records book,” West-Pratt told Cabin Radio.
For this particular title, Lakusta said he was asked to provide “a bunch of different evidence” including a detailed inventory and photographs. Besides that, the count has to be recorded on video in the presence of witnesses.
So far, Lakusta has just over 1,000 cans, the number he understands is needed to set a record in a category like this, not currently held by anyone.
“Everything has to be different,” Lakusta explained.
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“Let’s say it’s a Green Monster. Sometimes, a Green Monster will come out but they have changed the can labelling or added a promotion or changed the size.”
Lakusta says he began collecting energy drink cans as a teenager, when they were “quite new to the western world and taboo.” At the time, he said, some people were concerned about the drinks’ negative health implications and as a result, initially there weren’t many brands in sight.
The can collection was not supposed to grow as large as it has. Lakusta said he noticed one of his friends put a colourful can on a shelf, decided it “looked neat,” and set about assembling some of his own as artwork.
“It started with a Monster [can] and I was like – you know what? I am just going to put the next one up there, too. Every time, I got a new one. I wasn’t really searching them out for a while, it was just sort-of an accidental collection,” he said.
“At some point in time, you look at it and you’re like, ‘OK, I am definitely collecting these.’ … Then it just starts becoming part of your life. You’re excited to find a new one or a different one.”
When the collection was still small, he was able to put them on display in one room. The cans have since been tucked away at a storage facility. Lakusta said only a few of his close friends have actually seen them.
As the collection expanded, he noticed people around him became excited for him and wanted to get involved in the process.
“People are like, ‘Oh, I found a new one. Do you have this one?’ They get engaged in your own collection,” he said.
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“It becomes a fun little weird quirk about you that people also find interesting. They also have fun doing it. So, well, why would I stop?”
Lakusta does not know what he wants to do with the collection in the future. Ideas include opening a shop that uses the cans as decor, handing them to a museum or simply taking them to a recycling depot.
Most of the cans come from trips to countries outside Canada like the United States, European nations and Japan. He admitted his hobby means his luggage is frequently checked at airports.
“To move them, I have to be delicate. If they’re full, they can bust open. If they’re empty, they get crushed,” he said.
“I take a can, put a sock around it and put it in a shoe box or put it inside a shoe. Basically, find ways to put it in a secure part within my bag. I’ve never once had an issue where one of my cans exploded in my bag.
“Every once in a while, I’ll see a tag that says: You’ve been checked by the TSA.”
