The days are getting shorter and before long there could be frost on the pumpkins. This time of year is great for pez collectors because Pez releases the collector’s boxed sets and tins and this year is no exception. Several pez conventions just happened and there is still another one coming up in October and there is even a pez maze for folks to enjoy this month. No wonder it is so much fun to collect pez!
The long awaited Harry Potter pez set arrived in the Pez Collectors Store and it is truly outstanding! Harry, Hermione and Ron are on mini pez stems and Dumbledore, Hagrid and Voldemort are on full size stems. The relative size differences of the characters is further emphasized in the boxed set by the placement of the pez in the tray, making Hagrid look extra tall and Hermione look the shortest. Only 100,000 of this limited boxed set were produced and they won’t last long with all of the pez collectors and Harry Potter fans! Use the easy summoning charm of Accio to order your Harry Potter Pez set now from the Pez Collectors Store. Buy them in the numbered collector’s box or loose to save on shipping!
The Limited Edition Star Wars Crystal Pez Tin shaped like Darth Vader’s head features crystal head Darth Vader, R2D2, C3PO and Yoda. Yoda is the newer mold version B and the copyright on the back of the heads is LFL, except for Darth Vader who still has the 1997 Lucasfilms, Ltd. copyright which was seen on the original crystal Darth Vader. I was actually quite surprised that they did not have the Disney copyright! All of these are on footed stems with 7.5 patent numbers. These new crystal Star Wars limited edition Darth Vader tins are limited to only 300,000 worldwide and with the popularity of Star Wars, these will quickly be snatched up by Star Wars collectors and pez collectors. Order your set in the limited collector’s Tin or loose to save on shipping!
Halloween is coming soon and there were no new dispensers released this year. There have been reports of the Baby Vampire and Black Cat being released on card with glow in the dark stems. The Witch, the Black Bat and the Flat top Pumpkin can also be found on glow in the dark stems, now and from previous releases. These seem to be appearing mixed in with the standard stems at some Walmarts and other locations, but they cannot be ordered directly from Pez this way. Collector Jim Dubberly found the complete set shown below at Walmart.
Meanwhile, we want to wish everyone a very Happy Halloween! This Great Pumpkin Patch Pez scene was created by Brian Cornett and it won first place in the Pez on the River pez costume contest. I purchased the diorama and Steve and Sue Heraly photographed it, then created this awesome image for me! Pez collecting is so much fun and pez are so much more than little pieces of plastic!
Lyman’s Orchard in Middlefield, CT is celebrating Halloween in a 4 acre cornfield with two miles of confusing, winding paths shaped like The Visitors Center Pez Pal Boy Dispenser. As an added bonus, they will donate $1.00 of every admission to the American Cancer Society. Visit them from now until November 1.
Looking forward to November, we expect to receive the final volumes of the Presidents Pez. Volume 8 features Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, while volume 9 features Bush, Clinton, G.W. Bush and Obama. Each set also features an awesome POTUS Seal pez dispenser. Personally, I think the likeness of the Presidents is not nearly as good as in past sets. Pez Co. should have stuck with the same sculptor or artist to finish the series, but the Presidential Seal looks great! We expect to have the sets available in early November, just as soon as Pez Co. can get our shipments to us!
On the European side of the globe, Pez International has confirmed that Fluttershy will be added to the My Little Pony pez assortment during the second quarter of 2016. No word on this dispenser coming to the USA, but then we were surprised by the addition of the other My Little Pony pez to the USA lineup this year, so anything could happen in 2016!
The voting for the 2016 European Convention and Gathering dispensers took place at the 2015 Vienna International Pez Convention and the winner was Lovey, the emoticon with heart shaped eyes which will be made in crystal and on the stem color of the convention host’s choice with printed stems specific to each convention or gathering.
In the USA, several pez gatherings just happened in the past 10 days or so – Sin City Pez Gathering in Las Vegas, Pez on the River in La Crosse, WI and Steel City Pez Gathering in Pittsburgh, PA. The reports from attendees at each were great! It seems like a good time was had by all. Early registration has closed, but there is still another chance to attend a Pez gathering in October. The Pezylvania VI gathering is October 24 in Kutztown, PA at Renninger’s Antiques and Farmer’s Market. This has been an awesome event in the past and it is great to see it revived by a new host! Information can be found at www.pezylvania.com
We are excited to announce that the Pez Collectors Store Grandstands will be back in stock within a couple of weeks. The displays have been revised with a narrower gap in the lip that will more snuggly fit the toes of a current thick footed pez and our own new PCS shoes. The revised grandstand displays will be available within a few weeks in the Pez Collectors Store and will now hold current and vintage pez in PCS shoes snuggly and securely!
In the past, we had to make the gap on the front of the shelf wider to accommodate the square toed shoes for no feet pez, as these were the only shoes readily available to collectors. We have designed our own shoes which are being molded now and will be available within a month or two. Our PCS shoes will fit small and medium size vintage pez stems as well as current no feet stems with the thicker spine, thus replacing the need to have 3 different size shoes. The thickness of the feet on the PCS shoes is the same as a current pez with feet, thus eliminating the need for a wider gaps on shelves to hold the shoes. Likewise, PCS shoes will be made of transparent, clear, colorless plastic so the color of the stem will show through, eliminating the need for multiple color variations and trying to find a color to match your stem! The samples shown below are prototypes of our new shoes - the prototypes are not as transparent, clear or colorless as we expect the final shoes to be, but you can get a good idea looking at these!
And, we also have a new PCS Heart shoe for valentines and other hearts. The toes face forwards so you can display your Hearts facing forwards instead of sideways! We hope to have our first shipment of shoes within 6 to 8 weeks!
There is another new exclusive Pez release on the horizon coming from Canada, but we are not able to tell you about it yet. Hopefully, we can reveal all the details soon and will be able to tell you all about this great new set in the next newsletter, so stay tuned!
Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com