Spring has finally arrived, the grass is green and growing and the colorful flowers of spring are popping up. Pez are keeping it just as colorful with all the new releases and the different bees are making all things buzz here in the Pez Collectors Store!
Pez delivered a surprise to us all for St. Patrick’s Day! The St. Patrick’s Day Limited Edition Pez Boy dispenser was limited edition of 3500 (2000 in the USA and 1500 in Europe). These were exclusives, available only through the pez online stores in the USA and in Europe. They sold out within a few hours at most. Unfortunately, the words “limited edition” don’t really have a lot of meaning unless a specific number of pez produced is also mentioned. For example, the 80th Anniversary Mickey Pez tins were a numbered limited edition of 400,000. Sometimes, in the case of the St. Patrick’s Day Pez (3500 pieces made) or the New Year’s Day Pez (2021 pieces made), a limited edition is truly limited and even though they are not numbered, few enough are made that demand greatly exceeds supply.
The USA Bees pez are a set of 3 ‘limited edition’ pez. They are available for a short time, but distribution is broad as they are available from various retailers. The set includes Bee Happy on a yellow stem, Bee Amazing on a black stem and Bee Original on a green stem. The cards say Collect All Three Limited Edition. Our first shipment sold out within a day, but more are on the way now and will be available in the Pez Collectors Store in a day or two. In this case, the limited edition isn’t particularly limited. The availability will be similar to the Pandas, the Cactus or the Flamingos.
The European Bees pez set includes two limited edition exclusive pez and an even more limited edition exclusive Crystal Head Bee. The opaque bees include an orange stem that says Bee Yourself and a blue stem that says Bee Kind. The Crystal Bee comes in a yellow stem that says Bee Different! The European dispensers were not available for broad distribution – they were available only from the international pez webstore and they sold out within a few hours. This suggests that they were actually somewhat limited! The Crystal head is also supposed to be released in the USA, only through the USA pez webstore, but we have no idea how many will be available or if they will be limited in the number that can be ordered. We have the set of 3 European Bees including the two opaque and the limited exclusive Crystal Bee available now in the Pez Collectors Store. Supplies are actually quite limited and there is no opportunity for us to reorder these.
Bees are really trending right now and Hello Kitty knows it! The European Hello Kitty pez set includes three Hello Kitty pez. Two are wearing ‘bee bonnets’ with antennae and a cute flower with printed stems that say Hello Kitty and BEE Happy, and the third is a crystal head Hello Kitty that says Just BEE you with a picture of a bee printed on the stem. Only one of the set will be released in the USA. The full set of 3 European Hello Kitty Bee Bonnet Pez is available now in the Pez Collectors Store.
Europe also released a new Dumbo and Bambi for the Animal Friends assortment. These are completely new molds that are really cute, and we have them in stock now!
Easter is on its way and of course there are new Easter Pez! The Pink Floppy Ear Bunny and the full body White Rabbit are the two new additions to the Easter Pez Assortment.
The set of Peeps Pez includes yellow, blue and pink Peeps with Peeps printed on the stems. The fourth exclusive Peeps pez is lavender. We have all 4 different peeps ready to ship to you now!
The PAMP Suisse Easter edition is a full body Chick Pez with 30 grams of Silver Pez Candies. The candy bricks have the PEZ logo on one side and the silver content and an image of a chick on the back. The box says 2021 and Happy Spring on the front. Each box is bagged with an additional protective film over the front window and inside is a plastic form which prevents the candies and dispenser from coming out. These collector’s sets were limited to only 3500 units. We have these available now in the Pez Collectors Store.
A special Easter Egg in Tube was produced as an exclusive for the USA Pez website and Visitors Center. They have now sold out online. This cute Easter Egg features a Frog on a lilypad with cattails in the background. The tube says Happy Easter and while frogs generally don’t have a lot to do with Easter, they are considered harbingers of spring! We welcome Spring and all new pez and we have a few of these in stock in the Pez Collectors Store!
A surprise is on the way to the European Pez Webshop according to their early morning Instagram post today. We don't know for sure what it is or when it will actually be released. With hearts and lots of love showing on the card, so the best guess is something special for Mother's Day. We are staying tuned, just as instructed!
April 1 is the first scheduled release date for Voldemort in the Harry Potter Pez Assortment. The charm style Voldemort is not a particularly detailed or cool looking dispenser, though the Death Eater symbol on the stem does add a bit of edge. The Voldemort will be 'flowed in' to the Harry Potter Assortment, so it may be a while before the old inventory is depleted and the new assortments with Voldemort become available. We look forward to adding these to the Pez Collectors Store as soon as possible!
European Tom and Jerry pez should be coming to us soon. These are not scheduled for release in the USA at this time. Tom and Jerry look great with their new molds!
European Disney Cars are also expected to be released soon. Hopefully shipping from Europe will be fast and we will have Rust-eze Lightning McQueen, Rust-eze Fabulous Lightning McQueen, and Jackson Storm Disney Cars pez in stock soon!
The pandemic affected many things, including the filming of Jurassic World Domination, originally scheduled for release June 11, 2021 and rescheduled for June 10, 2022. Pez planned a rerelease of the Jurassic World dispensers with ‘new dispenser variants and updated packaging’. We were to expect a new dispenser mix including ‘color deco variants’, scheduled to begin shipping May 1, 2021. These were removed from the product offerings, so perhaps we can look forward to them next year! We will just keep enjoying the current variations in stock.
Likewise, a new Joker pez was planned for release in the DC Super Heroes assortment May 1, 2021, in honor of The Batman movie release originally scheduled for June 2021, then rescheduled for October 2021 and now scheduled for March 4, 2022. Again, production of the movie was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this in turn changed the pez release scheduled by Pez Candy. We hope that Joker will be part of the 2022 pez lineup, though it could be canceled entirely.
Thankfully, the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy is still on track to hit theaters and HBO Max July 16, so we will have all the details for the Space Jam: A New Legacy Pez assortment for you next month, in the May, 2021 Pez Collectors Store newsletter.
Sadly, there is nothing new to report on the Funko POP!+PEZ front. Items available for retailers to order through July, plus Funkoween Product offerings have no new POP!+PEZ available. We still have plenty of POP! PEZ releases available in the Pez Collectors Store for those who have holes in their collections they want to fill!
The Michigan Pez Convention has been postponed until 2022 due to restrictions and limitations on public gatherings in place in the state of Michigan. Hosts Jim and Jody Blaine are heartbroken but will continue planning for an incredible 5th year anniversary event next year when everyone can safely and legally gather! Watch the www.MIPEZCon.com website for all the updates and latest information - it will be updated soon with details for 2022.
Pezamania 30ish is confirmed as happening, provided things continue on track and improving with the COVID-19 Pandemic. The convention is scheduled for July 22 – 24, 2021. Hosts Rick and Sue Marlowe will provide details through the website www.pezamania.com and on Facebook. We have confirmed our reservation with the hotel and hope to see many of you there!
Pez On the River is also currently all systems go, or perhaps more appropriately - Anchors aweigh! The 8th annual POTR convention is scheduled for September 9 – 11, 2021. Hosts Sandy and Cheryl Gardner-Ghionzoli have all the details for the Kingdom of Pez costume contest, River Games and other events at www.pezontheriver.com and on Facebook. Our hotel room is booked and we can’t wait to see our friends again!
That is all the news for this month. Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com