2011 Halloween witch; U.S. Presidents series 1: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe; Lord of the Rings gift set: Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gollum; Cars 2 pull and go: Lightning McQueen, Mater, Finn McMissile; custom haulers: Walmart, Craftsman, Price Chopper; Phineas; Ferb; Agent P; Visitor Center boy; Visitor Center blanks: truck, puck, ball; Handy Manny gift set: Dusty, Pat, Handy Manny, Flicker; Cars 2: Lightning McQueen, Mater, Finn McMissile; Batman; Green Lantern; Superman; NCAA College Football: Texas Tech, Boise State, Texas A&M, Hawaii; Valentine bear; Toby (Thomas & Friends); Valentine plush bears; Major League Baseball: Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Red Sox Wally, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, LA Dodgers; Mickey and Minnie twin pack; Lightning McQueen and Sally twin pack; Rapunzel; Kerropi plush; Thor; Captain America; NHL fire and ice goalie masks; Mr. Men and Little Miss: Mr. Rude, Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Bump, Mr. Happy, Mr. Strong; PEZ Smart; PEZ Soft; Littlest Pet Shop: dog, monkey, cat; BOLO Bear
2012 NCAA College Football: Ohio State, Ohio State Brutus; Halloween pumpkin; Easter egg; Christmas Crystal: Santa, snowman; Wegmans custom hauler; Mickey and Minnie twin pack; Donald and Daisy twin pack; Muppets: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal; Star Wars: Darth Maul, Yoda, Valentine hugs and kisses bears; Crystal Valentine hearts; Spiderman; Lizardman; Catwoman; Ironman; Christmas: Santa, snowman, reindeer; Strawberry Shortcake: Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Meringue, Orange Blossom; KISS gift set: Starchild, Demon, Catman, Spaceman; Barbie gift set; Hot Wheels pull and go: Twinduction, Fastfish; U.S. Presidents Series 2: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler; U.S. Presidents Series 3: James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan; Star Trek Next Generation gift set: Beverly Crusher, Data, Geordi LaForge, Jean-Luc Picard, USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, William T. Riker, Worf, Deanna Troi; custom haulers: Hy-Vee, Safeway, Toys R Us, Shop Rite; Mickey and Minnie remakes; NICI Sheep: Lucy, Bob, Rosa; UK Football (soccer): Rangers Football Club, Tottenham Hotspurs, Arsenal Football Club, Celtic Football Club, Newcastle United, Chelsea Football Club; Paul Frank: Julius the Monkey; Moshi Monsters: Furi, Katsuma, Poppet; skull and crossbones puck; Disney Cuties (click and play): Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck; Disney Dwarfs: Dopey, Grumpy, Happy; NHL Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Redwings, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins; Hello Kitty mini plush; Hello Kitty gift tin; Indy pull and go cars; Race Car pull and go cars
2013 Major League Baseball caps: Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Huston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees; U.S. Presidents Series 4: Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant; U.S. Presidents Series 5: Chester Arthur, William McKinley, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Benjamin Harrison; Cinderella; Boba Fett; Candace (Phineas & Ferb); snowman; ghost; penguin; Giants: Darth Vader, Hello Kitty, Santa; Hello Kitty Easter plush; Hello Kitty plush, Monster University: Mike, Sulley, Squishy, Randall; Hobbit gift set: Bofur, Bilbo Baggins, Dwalin, Gandalf, Fimbul, Radagast, Kili, Thorin Oakenshield; Winnie the Pooh; Halloween vampire; Nintendo Super Mario: Mario, Kinopio, Yoshi; Target Dog promo; Christmas twin pack; Dory (Finding Nemo); floppy ear bunny; duck Easter egg; Merida; custom haulers: Market Basket, Vons, Duane Reade, Dominick’s, Carrs, Tom Thumb, Randall’s, Pavillion, Safeway, Havoline, Nice!, Walgreens, Up Market, WaWa, Wegmans; Red Nose Day: T-Spex, Triceytops, Dinomite; Red Nose Charity Dispensers (one-of-a-kind): Jesse J, Ricky Gervais, Keith Lemon, One Direction; Ferdinand the Policeman
2014 Giant Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); Angry Birds gift set: Red Bird, Stella, Green Pig, Black Bird; U.S. Presidents Series 6: William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Hoover, Warren G Harding; U.S. Presidents Series 7: Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Harry S Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Dwight D. Eisenhower; Scooby Doo gift set: Thelma, Fred, Scooby, Daphne, Shaggy; Fozzie Bear (Muppets); Captain America; Flash; Dr. Doofenschmirtz (Phineas & Ferb); Easter twin pack; Frozen: Anna, Elsa, Olaf; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo; Valentine monkey; NCAA College Basketball: UConn National Championship, Fairfield; Disney World of Cars: Dusty, El Chupacabra, Mater; Sponge Bob: Sponge Bob, Squidward, Patrick; Disney Junior; Jake, Skully, Sophia the First; Minnie Mouse; Rio 2: Jewel, Blu, Raphael; Green Alien (Toy Story); Hello Kitty 40th anniversary tin: Hello Kitty, Mama, Papa, Mimmy; Nintendo: Yoshi, Mario, Kinopio; Keroppi (Hello Kitty); Office Depot custom hauler; PEZ Heroes: policeman, nurse, fireman, army man
Christian Jegen, president/CEO of PEZ USA, circa 2015.
2015 Gary the Snail (Sponge Bob); Crystal Valentine hearts; PEZ Sports: soccer ball, baseball, football, basketball, hockey puck; Despicable Me: Stuart, Dave, Agnes; Wildlife Plush: giraffe, white tiger, gorilla, elephant; Mickey and Minnie twin pack; Skipper (Madagascar); Marvel Avengers: Ironman, Thor, Captain America, Hulk; My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash; Minnie Mouse stylish; Hello Kitty; Penguins of Madagascar: Skipper, Private, Rico, Kowalski; Transformers: Bumblebee, Megatron, Optimus Prime; Peanuts gift set: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock; Giant Snoopy; Star Wars gift tin: Darth Vader, R2-D2, C3-PO, Yoda; Harry Potter gift set: Ron, Hermione, Harry, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Voldemort; U.S. Presidents Series 8: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Seal; U.S. Presidents Series 9: George H.W. Bush, William Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Presidential Seal; Winter Plush: Santa, snowman, reindeer: PEZ Emojis: love, happy, winking, silly, kissing, LOLing
Chapter 8
Collecting and Collectors
Throughout the 1990s, the collecting aspect of PEZ was peaking at a feverish rate. Never before had so many people been interested in collecting these cute character pieces. The media was taking notice, and more and more mentions of PEZ could be seen in television, movies and print. PEZ landed front and center on the December 1993 cover of Forbes magazine. The three dispensers featured were Daffy Duck, a rare soft head Donald Duck dispenser and Spiderman. The article, titled “Revenge of the Philistines” by Christine Brown, wasn’t focused on PEZ but rather what collectibles were hot and the money that could be made by investing in the right thing at the right time. It stated, “Miscellany—which ranges from expensive and truly beautiful jewelry down to everyday objects like Pez dispensers—has been, until very lately, the biggest category at Sotheby’s replacing fine art. As recently as 1990, paintings, mostly done by big-name artists, accounted for 62% of revenues but last year made up just 43%; collectible miscellany brought in 57% of revenues.”
The article provided a synopsis and rating of various collectibles such as movie posters, Hawaiian shirts, baseball cards, comic books and, of course, PEZ, to name a few. So what did it have to say about PEZ? “At a recent sale, all lots exceeded estimates. Record paid was $1,150 for lot of 19 Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Prices the same with or without stale candy. Christie’s to hold another sale in December, but don’t expect much action on PEZ dispensers after that.”
The December auction to which the Forbes article refers was widely publicized by Christie’s auction house in New York City. One of the ads prominently featured the rare bride and groom dispensers spotlighted against a dark background and the words “A special event …” to introduce the auction. Kosher PEZ, the Green Hornet and a full-body Santa dispenser were the other featured PEZ items. In all, eight lots of vintage dispensers would go across the block. The auction took place on December 18, 1993, and took the awareness of PEZ to a whole new level.
The advertisement placed in Toy Shop magazine promoting the Christie’s PEZ auction, circa 1993.
As the auctions closed, a couple lots sold within estimates:
Kosher lot: pre-auction estimate, $100–$200; realized, $161
Thor: pre-auction estimate, $125–$200, realized, $173
A few lots exceeded estimates:
Batman with cape: pre-auction estimate, $125–$175, realized, $196
Pilot and stewardess: pre-auction estimate, $145–$180, realized, $207
Green Hornet: pre-auction estimate, $275–$350, realized, $518
A couple missed their mark:
Trio of Popeye dispensers: pre-auction estimate, $275–$300, realized, $253
Christmas lot: pre-auction estimates, $180–$225, realized, $127
The featured couple came in right on target:
Bride and groom: pre-auction estimate, $850–$1000, realized, $978
Collectors were becoming more and more interested not only in PEZ but also in meeting one another and finding others who shared in this passion. The first ever PEZ collector convention was held in Mentor, Ohio, on Saturday, June 15, 1991. Several other conventions around the country soon followed, and the hobby was becoming more organized than ever. Collectors finally had a chance to meet one another, buy and sell PEZ and view rare and unusual dispensers on display. Conventions have quickly become must-attend events for addicted collectors, drawing people from all over the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan and making PEZ a truly international phenomenon.
These conventions have always been hosted by collectors, for collectors. PEZ, the company, has never sponsored or had an official presence at these events. PEZ has opted to leave the shows as they are—fan-based events—citing the concern that company involvement would create the feeling of a commercialized corporate event.
The locations of the events are generally determined by where the host happens to live. The first convention was hosted by three collector friends who lived in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area in 1991. Jill Cohen, Pat Barnes and Richard Geary shared an interest in collecting and decided to see how many other people they could get together to celebrate their love of PEZ. Richard worked in radio, so he had the means to help publicize the event; Jill and Pat organized and promoted. The first convention was called Dispenser-O-Rama and had fourteen dealers and nearly one hundred people in attendance—a modest start to what would eventually become the largest PEZ convention in the world. The event has continued every year since, usually in July in or around the Cleveland area.
A Tweety Bird PEZ dispenser was featured on an episode of the popular television show Seinfeld.
The original founders moved on. The name was changed to PEZ-A-Mania, and the reins were handed to others who have successfully grown the convention into arguably the must-attend event of the year. In 2015, the convention celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in Independence, Ohio. The event drew such a crowd that the hotel was booked to capacity and additional guests had to stay at other hotels near the event.
That event twenty-five years ago was the seed that started all other PEZ conventions. Two years later, in 1992, a second convention would start in St. Louis, Missouri, hosted by John “CoolPEZman” Devlin. This summertime tradition would continue every June for another twenty-three years. It remains the longest-running convention hosted by the same person to date. Other conventions were established in California, Minnesota and Connecticut, along with numerous less formal gatherings. At this time, conventions such as these were the place to buy and sell PEZ dispensers. It would be another two years before eBay was even founded and a few years after that before the auction site would become mainstream.
It seems like a lifetime ago as it’s now so commonplace, but it wasn’t until 2001 that approximately 50 percent of U.S. households had Internet access. Prior to this, you had to find PEZ by happenstance at flea markets, tag sales or antique stores. Someone who might be interested in an old PEZ dispenser (or any other item for that matter) could only hope that the person selling it knew information about it and was honest. Detailed information required labor-intensive investigation that required car trips, personal visits, written communication or multiple phone calls. There was no e-mail. There was no texting, and there was no eBay App.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
It was during this time that I made connections with people who are to this day still considered friends and mentors for me in this hobby. Luckily, being a collector sometimes comes with a packrat sort of mentality of never wanting to throw anything away. I saved much of the early correspondence and letters I received from notable people in the hobby such as Maryann Kennedy, John LaSpina and David Welch.
SPOTLIGHT ON COLLECTORS
Maryann Kennedy was nicknamed “PEZhead Zero,” meaning she was quietly collecting PEZ by herself for years, waiting for the rest of us to show up and join in the fun. She and her late husband, Paul, were devoted collectors, not only of PEZ but of other nostalgic items as well. Each room of their house is filled with one wonderful collection after another. Each had their favorite collections, but both enjoyed vintage glass candy containers. Their collection of glass containers is one of the finest anyone has ever assembled. In the 1970s, their children, eager to help add to the collection, would try to find something new. To their dismay, there weren’t any glass candy containers they could find that weren’t already in the collection. One day her son brought home a plastic candy dispenser to offer his mother. This single dispenser would become the start of the PEZ collection and the beginning of a whole new interest.
Maryann’s early research contributed immensely to the hobby’s growth. As more people became interested and eager to learn more, she was the go-to person. Her early interest and pursuit of information led her to write many letters requesting information. She was featured in the National Enquirer for a story about treasures in your attic. Maryann was shown with a handful of her collection and the high value of what just a few old PEZ dispensers could be worth. The article was sensationalized, but it brought positive attention to the hobby.
David Welch was an early pioneer of the hobby and the first person to ever write a book about PEZ. His business of buying and selling childhood memorabilia led him to PEZ and the opportunity early on to buy a collection of vintage dispensers for $1,000. At the time, this was a crazy amount of money to spend on something that had no solid history of sales or, for that matter, established interest. The gamble paid off. Individual dispensers were auctioned, and his investment was returned five times over. At this point, he knew he was on to something, and the pursuit to find more was on. The search for PEZ led him to write a basic pictorial guide to plastic candy dispensers that featured PEZ. The book, published in 1991, was fascinating to me and was the hook that pulled me into the hobby.
Several years later, David released his second book, Collecting PEZ. It set the benchmark for information. Nothing like this book had been done before. The painstaking hours of research were done before the ease of Internet access, which makes his work even more remarkable. He has owned and sold many of the rarest dispensers and PEZ memorabilia known. His experience in brokering these many transactions has helped establish what is now regarded as common knowledge throughout the hobby.
John LaSpina was the human eBay of PEZ collecting, before there was an eBay. Throughout the early to mid-’90s, he hosted several phone auctions. These were the premier events of the time; if someone wanted to add a rare or unusual example to his collection, this was the opportunity. John gathered these PEZ items, described them, photographed them and created an auction catalogue. The auction started on a specified date, always a Friday or Saturday. People had to call John to place a bid. He would confirm the current bid price, and you then had the opportunity to raise the bid. This process would continue until ten uninterrupted minutes would pass without a phone call. At that time, the auction would be considered closed. These auctions would last well into the early hours of the next day (hence the reason they were held on Fridays or Saturdays). I would venture to say there were probably a few items that sold to the person who could just stay awake the longest! Some rare items w
ere sold, establishing new benchmarks for prices never realized before.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I credit Maryann as the person who gave me the opportunity to write my first book. She allowed me, along with a professional photographer, to visit her home and disrupt their quiet routine for a weekend back in 1999. She allowed me to photograph key parts of her collection for use in my book. Without her help and generosity, I may not have ever written a book. That was a pivotal project for me that created the foundation for two more books and helped build a relationship with the PEZ Company that was a lead-in to the position I have now. Funny how one kind gesture can have such a life-changing effect. Thank you, Maryann.
Maryann Kennedy, David Welch and John LaSpina, circa 2015.
As these auctions gave way to more modern methods, John established himself as a reliable dealer who often had one of the best selections of vintage PEZ to choose from. It was through these many transactions that John helped establish values for vintage dispensers and the creation of his price guide, now in its twenty-seventh edition. It’s widely regarded throughout the hobby as the go-to book for pricing. John has amassed one of the finest collections of PEZ memorabilia ever assembled. He remains very active in collector circles and is the only person to have attended all twenty-five PEZ-A-Mania conventions.
Over the years, especially before the Internet, one of the best resources for information has been the newsletters. They are similar to conventions in that the newsletters were written by collectors for collectors. Over the years, they have provided some of the best product information and “what’s happening” information in the hobby.
The first newsletter to appear was called The Toy Candy Container and Food Premium Collector in 1987. For the third issue, the name was changed to The Old Variety Store. It lasted until late 1989 and had a run of about fifteen issues.
PEZ Page 11