April 29, 2026
KUALA LUMPUR – Collecting Coca-Cola cans might just be the greatest pleasure in life—at least, that is what Eric Lee would tell you.
The 46-year-old from Selangor is a devoted Coca-Cola can collector whose home contains little in the way of conventional décor.
Instead, every wall is a blaze of red—rows upon rows of gleaming aluminium cans stacked from floor to ceiling, their metallic sheen catching the light.
To Lee, these cans, accumulated over more than two decades, are the most beautiful art installation imaginable.
Step through his front door and the scale of it stops you in your tracks.
Thousands of cans, arranged with meticulous precision, occupy every room—the living area, the dining room, the study, even the bedroom.
A visitor could be forgiven for thinking they have wandered into a Coca-Cola museum.
What drove Lee to this singular obsession, and to gradually transform his family home into what he calls a “Coke house”?
Was it simply a love of the drink?
Speaking to Sin Chew Daily, Lee explained that it was the cans themselves—their distinctive designs, their visual appeal, and the history and stories each one carries—that had captivated him.
“Every can is unique,” he said.
“That is what I fell in love with.”
A glass bottle from America sparked it all
The story began more than 20 years ago when Lee flew to the United States to visit his sister.
She gave him a glass-bottled Coca-Cola produced in America—and something clicked.
“I thought the design was something special,” he recalled.
“That was when I first realised that every country—and indeed every American state—produces Coca-Cola cans with different designs.”
The variety of themes and artwork on the cans drew him in completely.
Back to Malaysia, he started collecting in earnest, sourcing cans both locally and from abroad.
The process brought constant surprises and deep satisfaction, and along the way he found a community of like-minded collectors.
“It was only a few years ago that I discovered East Malaysian Coca-Cola cans are produced and sold exclusively in East Malaysia,” he said.
“You simply cannot find them on the shelves on the peninsula,” he said.
Harvest festival cans and a World Cup with two versions
The regional differences fascinate him.
The Kaamatan and Gawai harvest festivals celebrated in Sabah and Sarawak, for instance, have inspired unique can designs available only in East Malaysia.
“Even the World Cup edition cans are different between East and West Malaysia,” Lee said.
Beyond the artwork, some cans differ in height, shape and the curvature of the body—details that matter enormously to a serious collector.
In the early years, Lee joined online communities and the global Coca-Cola collectors’ club at cocacollection.com, where he connected with enthusiasts from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
The collectors swap and purchase cans across borders, building collections that span continents.
Today, whenever he travels overseas, a visit to the local convenience store or supermarket is mandatory—always on the lookout for a design he does not yet own.
Nearly 8,000 cans, and counting
The cans have claimed every available corner of Lee’s home—tucked along walls, nestled beside beams, filling shelves in every room.
The total now stands at close to 8,000 cans.
What began as a personal pursuit has become a family affair. His wife and their four children have all been drawn into the hobby.
“When we go out or travel, my children will spot a can and immediately ask whether we already have that design at home,” Lee said with a smile.
“It has become something we explore and collect together.”
His collection spans an impressive range of themes—World Cup, Olympic Games, SEA Games, and limited festive editions, among others.
To house the ever-growing collection, Lee had custom display cabinets built.
In his quieter moments, he sits and takes in the sight of shelves filled with cans, a quiet satisfaction settling over him.
He and his wife also spend time together cleaning the collection, wiping each can one by one.
Coca-Cola accounts for more than 90 per cent of the collection; the remainder comprises other beverage brands.
“In collecting, we always aim to complete a full thematic series,” he explained.
“The rarer the set, the more valuable it becomes,” he said.
Of all the Coca-Cola can designs produced in Malaysia since the brand’s local debut, Lee has acquired 99 per cent of every version ever released.
The one that continues to elude him: the classic 1984 Los Angeles Olympics edition.
Friends and family, knowing of his passion, have gifted or passed on their own finds over the years—a generosity that has helped him come close to completing the full Malaysian catalogue.
He also asks his Bangladeshi workers to bring back collectible cans when they return home from visits.
Most expensive can in collection: A NASA space relic
Among Lee’s most prized possessions is a limited-edition space can from the United States—one of approximately 20 known to exist worldwide—which carries a price tag of US$1,900 (RM7,510).
Developed through a collaboration between NASA and Coca-Cola, the can was designed for use aboard space missions, supplying astronauts with the drink and serving research purposes. To collectors, it is an extraordinarily rare find.
“That said, it is not the rarest space can in existence,” Lee noted.
“The Russian space can was the first Coca-Cola can to go into space, and its value is even higher—but there are probably only a handful left in the world.”
A global community of collectors
The Coca-Cola collectors’ club organises exhibitions and collector conventions in different countries nearly every year.
Lee, as a member of the Malaysia Chapter of Coca-Cola Collectors’ Club (MCCCC), brings his prized cans to these events to meet fellow enthusiasts from around the world, exchanging and selling pieces from his collection.
Closer to home, to mark Coca-Cola’s 90th anniversary in Malaysia and the MCCCC’s fourth anniversary, the club will hold a celebratory event on Saturday and Sunday, May 9 and 10, at Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Eric Lee keeps a set of Coca-Cola cans with his Chinese name (L); different types of Coca-Cola bottles in his collection. PHOTO: SIN CHEW DAILY