OUR NEIGHBORS: Wasilla woman catches that Pepsi spirit

WASILLA — Standing in her garage in one of the neighborhoods off Fairview Loop, Sandy Buzby tossed off a line that could serve as her motto.

“If you’re going to do it you might as well go all out,” Buzby said.

She was talking about the attire she wears to conventions for people like her who collect Pepsi merchandise. But she could well have been describing her approach to her hobby. In a detached garage behind her house she has display cases and racks filled with items covered in Pepsi logos.

“Sometimes I come in here and I think, ‘My goodness, where did all this come from?’” she said.

It’s a good question, one for which she doesn’t always have an answer. Buzby said she’s been collecting Pepsi memorabilia so long she often forgets where individual items came from. Anyone who doubts that collecting Pepsi stuff can turn into a lifelong hobby need only step into her garage. There are Pepsi stuffed animals and toy cars, Pepsi Christmas ornaments and belt buckles, neon Pepsi signs and refrigerator magnet, Pepsi ties and hats and T-shirts and jackets.

Buzby said her hobby started between 17 and 20 years ago. At the time, her son Weyland was working for Pepsi in Anchorage as a merchandiser.

“I said, ‘Hey mom, you want to start collecting Pepsi?’” Weyland Buzby recalled.

The collection grew from there. Over the years he was transferred to Hawaii and then to California. When promotional items came to him he’d hold onto them and send them to his mom back in Wasilla, or keep them for his own collection.

Quite a few of the items she has came to her that way, Sandy said. And it’s those promotional items — mockups of graphics for the front of vending machines, empty Pepsi cans used to pitch possible can artwork — that she likes best.

But she’s got way more than that. And she doesn’t just sit on her laurels waiting for her son to send her things.

“She’ll hit the local garage sales and thrift stores and by God she’ll find something,” Weyland said.

His mother said that’s the part she enjoys.

“The fun part about it is the hunt, going on the hunt,” she said.

When she started, she said, that hunt was relatively easy. Lots of people were collecting Coca-Cola, but very few people were collecting Pepsi. But it’s gotten harder, Sandy said, as more people join in the fun.

“It’s not out there like it used to be,” she said. “Now I’ve got to really look for it.”

Weyland shared a story about a case of rare bottles his mom found that go, in Pepsi-collecting circles, for $250 apiece.

“How much did you pay for it?” he asked.

“Thirty-two dollars,” she said, acting sheepish. The thing is, she said, collecting Pepsi stuff isn’t about the money for her. She trades with other collectors more than she sells. The goal, she said, is to make her collection more complete, not to profit off it.

Weyland backed her up on that point. He said he’s personally only ever sold one really rare item — a flag Pepsi produced for its centennial but never used or mass-produced. He put it on e-Bay to see what it would fetch and got top dollar for it.

Sandy said that later she saw the flag at one of her conventions and recognized it. She shared a laugh with the man who bought it.

Over the years, Weyland said, it’s become a family thing. Cousins have their own collections and send stuff to his mom. When the grandkids come by, they love to play in the Pepsi garage. Sandy said she doesn’t mind. The kids know which items are off limits.

Weyland said his own son, Kenny, has been spotting Pepsi logos and collecting what he finds since he was 3 years old. Personally, he said, the impulse to gather old things comes from his own dad, Dick Buzby, who collects Fur Rondezvous pins and other items, though none of his collections are on the scale of his wife’s.

“If you see something old and rare, snatch it. It might be worth something someday,” is how Weyland explains the drive of the collector.

And while he credits his father with putting that spark in him, he said Dick makes grumpy noises about his wife’s hobby, wondering aloud if it’s all worth it or where a new batch of items will fit. But he’s never been anything but supportive, Weyland said. His father attends conventions with his mother and finds display cases for her. Indeed, as the Buzbys spoke Wednesday afternoon, Dick was in Anchorage picking up a load of new items for the collection.

When Sandy and Dick had outgrown their old house, Weyland said, his dad started looking for a new one. He had one very specific thing in mind.

“He was looking for a place that had an extra building just for mom,” Weyland said.

And he found it. Now that, Weyland said, is a true love story.