A great Pezzy month is in store for September! In fact, there are lots of new releases scheduled to come out over the next few months. Some of these are releases we have long expected and others are complete surprises! The new pez just keep coming in and, as we used to say in the 70’s, “Keep on Truckin’” seems to be Pez Co’s motto!
There are new Walgreen promotional pez trucks that have just suddenly appeared on the market. These trucks say "Walgreens at the corner of Happy & Healthy", "Nice!", and "up market: fresh". Walgreens - at the corner of Happy & Healthy is their motto, Nice! is their private label brand and up market: fresh is "An innovative mobile tasting tour serving fresh food samples across the country. Showcasing Walgreens commitment to help people get, stay and live well." Each of the three new promotional trucks has one of these three logos appearing on the sides of truck. Sets of these trucks are available now in the Pez Collectors Store!
There is a new set of 7 different promotional trucks for employees of chain stores under the Safeway, Inc. parent brand. This set includes Safeway Food and Drug in Arizona, Northern California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Northern Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, Carrs-Safeway operating in Alaska, Dominick’s Finer Foods operating in Illinois, Pavilions in Southern California, Randall’s Food Markets in Texas, Tom Thumb Food and Pharmacy in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas , Vons Food and Drug in Southern California and Southern Nevada. These different chain stores each have a promotional Pez truck for their employees. These have been ordered and will be in stock soon in the Pez Collectors Store!
Yet another promotional truck is on its way – we contacted Wegmans and a Consumer Services Specialist there was kind enough to send me an image of the 2013 Wegmans truck to share. They have chosen to go with sushi again, but this one features a girl with sushi between chopsticks held up as eyes, so we will refer to this 2013 truck as the Wegmans Sushi Girl truck! These are due to be released in October! We will get stock on these just as soon as they are released!
We also contacted Wawa, as it was reported by Richie Belyski in the Pez Collectors News that he was told by PEZ Candy CEO Joe Vittoria there would be a new Wawa truck this year. Unfortunately, the Customer Service Relations Associate at Wawa indicated that he is unaware of a new promotional pez truck being distributed through Wawa for 2013. He sent my inquiry to Sales and Marketing Department, but they also were unable to confirm anything.
While on the subject of promotional pez, the Target dog is reported to be slowly making its way to Target stores. Once shipped from PEZ which was scheduled for August 15, the dispenser has to be added to a gift card, then distributed to warehouses before being shipped out to stores for sale. While the dispenser is of great interest to pez collectors, to managers and clerks at the stores, it is just another gimmick for moving gift cards and they certainly are not given notice on each new style of gift card that will be shipped to their stores. The most reliable information regarding the expected debut in stores may be as early as September 16. While it is hard to be patient, this dispenser should be worth the wait!
Pez has added the Baby Vampire and Friendly Ghost pez dispensers to the Halloween pez assortments as we showed last month. For those who collect on cards, the pair is on a new Halloween graphic card this year! It looks really nice! We have just a few sets in stock in the Pez Collectors Store!
The Hobbit is the boxed set for the year and it is scheduled to begin shipping from Pez Candy on September 1. The set includes Bilbo, Gandolf the Grey, Thorin, Bofur, Radagast, Kili, Fimbul and Dwalin. We will have these in stock just as soon as they are shipped by Pez Co.
The Winnie the Pooh with tongue is shipping to us from Europe as it is finally available in quantities. It has also been spotted in the USA now as well! This pooh has a thinner, taller head and an open smiling mouth with tongue. We should have these in stock in the Pez Collectors Store soon!
There is also a European version of Sid the Sloth that was released with the Ice Age 4 series in Europe. USA did not release an Ice Age 4 set. This Sid the Sloth has an open smiling mouth. We have ordered these from Europe and hope to have them in stock soon!
Candace is supposed to be added to the Phineas and Ferb assortment in September, but it will be ‘flowed’ into the assortment meaning that they will distribute all the cases that have already been packed and stored in the warehouse before they begin packing cases that include Candace. It could be a while before these will be available, but we will get them in stock as soon as possible.
We are thrilled to have added a new 5 tier grandstand stadium display to our pez display options! This five tier Grandstand Stadium Pez Display is perfect for displaying your pez on a table top or in a shelving unit. The assembled display unit measures approximately 21" x 7" x 8.5" and holds 80+ pez. The shelves have a toe clip that holds the feet of the pez or a pez shoe in place to keep them from falling, yet allows them to be slid from side to side for easy rearrangement without having to move each pez individually as you have to do with a slotted or notched display. The display is made of clear acrylic and it just seems to vanish from sight when loaded with Pez! The display ships flat and is quick to assemble, with locking bars at the top and bottom to hold the assembled display rigid and secure. This display is perfect for those who may need to travel with their pez to conventions as it breaks down to ship or travel flat! To assemble, slide the shelves through the slotted triangular end pieces and leave approx. 3 inches of shelf on either outside end. Insert the top and bottom bar slots into the slots on the triangular ends so they interlock. Add pez and display! These displays are available now in the Pez Collectors Store.
We have added a bonus option for our wall displays, both covered and open options. Two displays can be shipped for the same price as a single display due to the oversize package rates charged by shipping couriers. So, buy two and the second ships free when you select the bonus option!
The adorable woven candy ad sheet wristlet purses sold very quickly last month, so we have ordered additional styles to offer additional options. There is a coin purse size with a clip, a small wristlet purse for a cell phone, money, id, clutch style purse, a larger purse and a tote bag. There is also a new super thin, extra strong tyvek bifold wallet for men or women that is absolutely awesome! These should be arriving by the end of this week.
We are still slowly working on adding the vintage pez we purchased in the estate auction in July with many more to come still.
We also added a unique necklace featuring Mr Ugly! These are really awesome pieces designed by Chris Orlando. We have a few in stock now in the Pez Collectors Store.
As an interesting side note, in a press conference in Linz, Austria, Pez / Haas CEO Manfred Födermayr talked about expectations for the company, anticipating 2013 will be a record year. The article in the August 31 article indicates that Pez has licensing rights to over 1000 comic and game characters, that 60 million pez dispensers are manufactured in China and Europe every year and estimates that there are approximately 30,000 ‘hardcore Pez collectors’ worldwide. The CEO also expressed concerns about piracy, saying that competition is copying the pez candies and the dispensers. “We are under attack every day and we have to protect the world,” says the CEO. The article also states that Pez USA accounts for approximately 48% of their 75 million euros revenue from sales in 2012. I would have to say that Pez Co must be doing pretty well for their reported 200 employees! The article can be found in its entirety at http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/wirtschaft/wirtschaftsraumooe/Pez-will-Bilanz-mit-Fruchtgummis-und-Wachstum-in-Osteuropa-versuessen;art467,1185009
That is all the news for this month!
Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com