August 2009 Newsletter

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August 2009 Pez Collectors Store Newsletter

This month's newsletter is filled with lots of new Pez and lots of interesting news for collectors. There are exciting new Pez releases for August and September that are sure to help fill the need for something novel to add to your Pez collection. Pez Collectors everywhere have been making headlines this past month – the Pez Collectors Store was a featured guest on WebTalk Radio; Burlingame Pez Museum has retained pro bono counsel to defend against the trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Pez Candy, Inc.; and Pez collector Paul Telford was recently featured on a local TV newscast as a “Kooky Collector”. Lastly, summer Pez convention season in the US will wind down with the MNPezCon and we are really looking forward to seeing you there!

We were sad to have to miss the Cleveland Pez-a-Mania convention, but getting new Pez in really made us feel better. The Winx Club Pez set from Europe was added to the Pez Collectors Store and the set is currently on sale. This is a great European Pez release that is somewhat reminiscent of the Bratz dispenser series. The dispensers feature three different Winx fairies – Bloom, Stella and Flora as heads on full torsos, atop the Pez dispenser stem.

Winx Club Pez Set

The three new NCAA footballs arrived – University of Missouri (Mizzou) features the Tiger, Louisiana State University (LSU) features their tiger and the LSU logo, and University of Arkansas features the Razorback! The three new footballs all come on black stems. These are available now in the Pez Collectors Store, mint on card or loose with the SOS (save on shipping) option!

Razorbacks, Mizzou Tigers and LSU Tigers Mint on Card    LSU Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks and Mizzou Tigers Footballs

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!

Boston Red Sox MLB Baseball Pez

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?

Unprinted FX Earth in Hand Pez Mint in Bag    Planet Series Earth Pez with Stand

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.

      Thomas the Train Pez MOC  

 Disney Animal Friends Pez Set Mint on Card

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).

7 inch Basketball with Pez Logo and Candies             Plush Pez Stuffed Animals

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. 

 Marvel Universe SuperHero Pez    

Old Spiderman Pez left, New Spiderman right    Old and New Spiderman Pez Profiles

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.  

 NASCAR Darlington Pez   Daytona NASCAR Pez   Talladega NASCAR Pez 

Disney Fairies Rosetta, Fawn and Terence Pez

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!

The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Pez gift set

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.

Toy Story Pez

Winnie the Pooh is back in the lineup with the My Friends Tigger and Pooh gift set which is supposed to include Buster, Darby, Tigger and Pooh Sleuths. We don’t know yet if the Pooh and Tigger Sleuth will look the same as those we have seen from Europe and we don’t know if the Buster and Darby in the gift set will be the same as those previously released with the My Friends Tigger and Pooh series. We should have an answer soon as they are ordered, so we just have to wait for our shipments!

The Halloween Pez should also begin shipping in September and the new Black Bat is going to be added to the lineup. The revised glow in the dark witch, black cat, and Polly pumpkin on a GID stem should also be included in the Halloween Pez this year.

2009 Halloween Pez

Back to the present – just a few more days until we pack up and head north to Minnesota for the MNPezCon. We will be arriving at the Ramada Mall of America hotel on Wednesday August 5 and will be set up in the Apache Suite for room hopping then at the ballroom show on Saturday. In addition to the Pez available through the website, we will have many other Pez not listed on the website plus will have vintage Pez from Silvia Biermayr for sale in our suite. We are really looking forward to the seminar by Maryann Kennedy and all of the fun activities the hosts, Dana and Juli Kraft, have in store for us. We know that this convention is going to be a lot of fun and we can’t wait to see you there! If you can't make it to the convention, it's ok - you can still buy some new Pez by ordering at the Pez Collectors Store! Heck, you saved the expense of the hotel and travel, so that means you can order all the newest Pez releases! Please know that orders placed through the Pez Collectors Store from August 5 – 9 will be shipped first thing on Monday, August 10 when we return.

That is all the Pezzy news for this month, but we will have more exciting things to tell you about in next month’s edition of the Pez Collectors Store Newsletter so be sure to register with us as a subscriber to not miss any of the newest news!

All the best,
Chris

www.pezcollectors.com