August 2009 Newsletter

The Major League Baseball Pez order arrived and despite being told that all of the new baseballs were shipping on “open stock”, only one of the four baseball Pez dispensers came with the newly revised logo on the ball. The Boston Red Sox baseball with the letter “B” is now available, Mint on Card or loose with the SOS option. Sadly the other 3 teams arrived as the older versions. The good news is that we will still have plenty of the old versions available when the new logos for the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees finally are released. This is precisely the reason we will not take pre-orders. We expect items to ship to us based on the scheduled release dates announced by Pez Candy, Inc, but far too often, the dispensers are delayed. We will make the newest dispensers available for purchase just as soon as we get them in our hands!

The Pez Collectors Store added a few limited edition items that we were surprised to be able to get. In 2005, the FX Toy Show commissioned the Earth in Hand dispenser, and then had these printed in various colors for the 2005 and 2006 FX Toy Show conventions. This is an unprinted Earth in Hand Pez dispenser (also shown loose for better viewing) which comes mint in bag with Pez candies, just as the FX toy show originally received. We also were able to acquire some Planet Earth dispensers with the Planet Series Earth Stands. PEZ produced a limited number of these and they were sold only through mail-order online. The Planet Earth was to be the first in the Planet Series, but it also became the last as the series was not continued. Maybe they couldn't figure out how to do the rings?

We also added the crystal Bunny E and some additional 2005 Crystal Convention Chick dispensers, as well as Thomas the Train and Disney Animal Friends mint on European cards.

The 7” basketballs with the Pez Logo and candy bricks is a new licensed item now available in the Pez Collectors Store. These balls come in red, orange, blue and purple colors and you’re sure to have a ball playing with them! I can only imagine the hallways of hotel at the MNPezCon when we arrive with these delightful bouncing balls!
From the same manufacturer, we anticipate receiving 8 inch and 14 inch stuffed animals in Pez Dispenser shapes including a Cow, Yappy Dog, Gator, Elephant, Lion, Panda and Cat (cat with derby without a derby?). These are the items that you might win in a Claw Machine if you are really good or really lucky! These should be available in both an 8” and a 14” version in a few days (hopefully by Monday Aug 3).

The new NASCAR Helmets and Marvel Super Hero Pez have been found in limited numbers on short cards and these are now available in very limited quantities in the Pez Collectors Store. While Spiderman may look similar to the older version, we found a lot of differences. The 2009 Marvel Super Hero Spiderman pez dispenser is a new version of Spiderman on a blue stem with a new head mold. This dispenser has a much more angled center line from the nose to the chin and very different, lighter web lines than previous versions. The trademark and copyright on the old Spiderman is 1999 Marvel on the left side of the head, and the new Spiderman has a TM and copyright 2009 on the back of the head. The new Spiderman has no thumbtab. Unlike the Spiderman shown in the original mockups for this set, the Spiderman is on a blue stem rather than the red stem originally shown. 

We are still anticipating our shipments of the Marvel Super Hero characters and new NASCAR Helmets for the Darlington, Talladega and Daytona International Speedway Tracks and we will have them available in greater quantity, mint in bag, as soon as they are released to dealers. There have been no early signs of the new Disney Fairies Terence, Rosetta and Fawn yet, but they are still scheduled for August release, so they should be available soon.  

Before we get to the upcoming releases, we thought we should provide you with some of the other Pezzy news that has been happening over the past month. Pez Collectors have been in the news lately. The Pez Collectors Store was contacted by Harold Nicoll of the Collectors Show on WebTalk radio to do a return appearance and talk about pez. The first time I spoke with Harold was so much fun that I agreed to do it again and the podcast can be heard at the Collectors Show with Harold Nicoll and we hope you will enjoy listening. Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia remains in the news as they are being sued by Pez Candy, Inc. We found an article in the Toy Collector Magazine in which Gary Doss states that they have retained pro bono (free!) counsel to defend themselves and the museum. Many in the Pez collecting community anxiously await the quick resolution of this matter. In further recognition of the popularity of pez as a collectible, collector Paul Telford was recently interviewed by his local TV station and is a featured “Kooky Collector”. Now, none of us think he is kooky for his hobby and he represents us as collectors very well! The video can be seen on Paul's website and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

We can now share with you a few preview photos of the releases scheduled for September. We are particularly excited about the Wizard of Oz Gift Set that will feature 8 new Pez including Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Glenda the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch and of course the Wizard himself! What a fabulous new release, just in time for the Wizard of Oz film’s 70th Anniversary!

Toy Story is also scheduled for release in September. Buzz Lightyear was previously released in a Best of Disney Pixar mix, but now will come back with Woody and Rex the Tyrannosaurus rex as welcome additions. We still don’t know if Buzz will be the same or if there will be some variation.