Plush toys, tin containers, key rings, toy cars, clocks, drinking vessels, sports figurines, mini fans and little hands under dispensers.
Created by Mars and Murrie in 1941 for American soldiers deployed in hot climates, confectionary leviathan M&M’s are now resplendently displayed in a Monaco garage whose collectors share its initials.
Mike and Melody Nicholls, both 70, were affectionately called M&M for years, but it wasn’t until an M&M-themed golf figurine that Melody won at a golf tournament in 2017 that their affection for the confection melted their hearts.
Since then, they’ve amassed more than 1500 pieces from Aotearoa and abroad.
While they don’t stuff themselves with the shell-coated chocolate snacks, their garage is stuffed with daily admirers and children in particular leave hyperactive from the free samples.
“We love sharing with people that are walking past, I put the open sign out if we’re home, so that people can call in and have a look, because you just can’t help smiling when you look at them,” Mike enthuses.
“[Melody] keeps saying, ‘we’ve got enough, no more’, then she arrives home and says, ‘I’ve seen one in the secondhand shop’.”
Friends and family think the collection is very them.
“They say we’re both going to die the same year, and then our two sons can sort it out… and our three grandsons love coming here to see our stuff,” Melody says.
When asked if there’s a favourite piece they’ve collected, Mike points to his wife, before Melody races to grab her custom-named M&M character blanket.
By night at this time of year, The Nicholls “go a bit overboard” with Christmas, which includes lights that induce “gasps” from viewers, both on the ground and in the sky who are seconds away from landing at Nelson Airport.
Balcony carols, books on Christmas history and magic by Mike in his Santa kit after six months growing his white hair and beard are the other bells and whistles.
“The kids over the back fence shifted in about this time of year two or three years ago, and they went and told all their mates at school ‘we’ve shifted in next door to Santa’,” Mike giggles.
Mike and Melody Nicholls’ M&M’s collection and their Christmas pop-up display can be viewed at 71 Point Rd, Monaco - it’s hard to miss.
