M & M candies, surely one of the most popular brands in the world, was first manufactured in 1941 by Mars and originally sold to American soldiers during the Second World War. The idea behind M & Ms was that the hard candy coating would stop the chocolate from melting, even in hot climates. The candy was initially packaged in cardboard tubes, and the lovable M & M characters were introduced in 1954, and started appearing on TV in 1972. Originally introduced to create brand awareness for the candy, the M & M characters have become part of popular culture over the last 50 years and have become highly collectible.

Over the last 50 years, the brand has gone through many changes, although the 1980s were a particularly important time for M & Ms. The candy was chosen by the first space shuttle astronauts to be part of their food supply; today M & Ms are proudly included in a display of space food at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. In 1987, a red candy was also returned to the bags of M & Ms - in response to numerous consumer requests.

Today, secondhand M & M collectibles are fairly easy to find at flea markets, yard sales and collectors fairs, although the older pieces are now highly sought after and priced accordingly. The Internet (particularly eBay) has also become a popular source for buying, selling and trading collectibles. Collectibles can be anything from ceramic items, to toys and games, M&M dispensers, to clothing and advertising items. Older M & M advertisements, the original plain cardboard tubes and even the different designs of the empty candy bags themselves are all highly collectible.

Perhaps the most valuable M & M items are the set of 33 flag toppers that were produced in the early 1990s in conjunction with the World Cup. (A topper is a small plastic M & M character that tops a cardboard tube containing the candy) These items - particularly the rarest of the set, the M & M topper - can today sell for anything from $$50 to $300 each. Toppers from foreign countries, which are square in shape rather than round, are highly collectible too. Perhaps the largest collectibles are life size replicas of the different M & M characters, often used in store displays.

The most popular items to collect are the many different ceramic items, particularly the cars. Seasonal items are also popular - many collectors eagerly await the new M & M collectibles produced especially for Christmas, Easter or Valentine's Day. These seasonal collectibles can often be purchased at a discount at large department stores and toy stores, once the holiday is over. As with many other collectible items, if you resist the temptation to take the item out of the box, it will be worth more in years to come.

Displaying your M & M collectibles is fairly easy - most of the pieces can be effectively displayed in glass cases, the sort that are normally used for dolls or toy cars. A few dedicated collectors have an entire room in their house devoted to M & M memorabilia; some people deliberately concentrate on the smaller items that are easier to store and display.

Websites

http://www.mms.com
Official site, history of the candy, etc.

http://www.mnmclub.com
Official M&M collector's club site

Books

"The Collector's World of M&Ms" Patsy Clevenger
http://digbig.com/4gtmf

"M&Ms Around the World," by Ken Clee & Joyce Losonsky paperback Feb 2000
http://digbig.com/4gtme