August is upon us already and the Pez are as hot as the weather! Lots of new pez and pez related items have arrived in the Pez Collectors Store this past month and more will be coming! A new PezHead of the Year (PHOTY) was crowned and the torch is passed to new hosts for Pezamania, the largest and longest lasting pez convention. The convention will be in excellent hands and the future for pez collecting is bright!
Animal Crossing pez are in stock and they look really cute. Tom Nook, K.K. Slider and Isabelle from the popular Nintendo video game are included in this new Animal Crossing assortment.
LOL Surprise series 3 in opaque polybags have arrived in the Pez Collectors Store. We can guarantee you a set of 3 different dolls, but which variation of the doll you will receive is a surprise! There are 3 different dolls, each with 3 different variations for a total of 9 different dolls in the assortment. Which ones will you get!
Gachapon machines are quite popular in Japan and they dispense many different eggs or capsules with various toys or items. One Gachapon machine dispenses capsules with 6 different PEZ Tissue box covers! These silky tissue box covers features various PEZ graphics. The covers fit the 70 or 72 count tissue boxes that measure approximately 9" x 5"x 2.5" and the opening in the middle of the cover allows the tissue to be pulled from the covered box. The cover slips over the top and sides and is held with an elastic band around the bottom of the tissue box. Each cover will come with the paper insert showing all 6 different styles!
The 2021 Pez Crazy Socks are Men's Crew Socks for shoe size 6 -12. The background is orange with the PEZ Logo and pez candy bricks and a PEZ 2021 copyright. Express yourself wearing Crazy PEZ Socks! In stock now in the Pez Collectors Store!
Pez has released a couple of new limited edition candy brick mascot pez dispensers, both of which are sold out and retired now. The first released was the Sours Watermelon which has crooked misaligned pupils for a different face and a printed stem that says Sours with a picture of a watermelon slice. A few of these are available now in the Pez Collectors Store.
The second is on its way to the Pez Collectors Store. It is the Sours Blue Raspberry with a light blue candy brick with crazy eyes and Sours and a blue raspberry printed on the stem. These will be available soon!
The Pez Outlaw 3D Printed silhouette of the outlaw running with his duffle bag, wearing a trench coat and bucket hat is a great dispenser on a black pez stem. These were produced for sales to support the Gliding Stars charity at Pezamania and each inner sleeve is signed by Steve Glew, the Pez Outlaw. The design work on these is wonderful and it works as a fully functional pez dispenser! We have just a few available now in the Pez Collectors Store!
Halloween Pez will begin shipping in late August or early September and there will be a new party bag mini pez assortment with black heads on mini orange stems (Trick or Treat and Pumpkin) and yellow heads on mini black stems (Black Cat and Bat). These new mini pez are individually wrapped with pez candys in the 12 count party bag and hopefully will be evenly distributed with 3 sets of 4 in each bag.
The new Jack O Lantern Pez had bright yellow eyes, nose and mouth on the orange pumpkin used previously for Happy Pumpkin and Scary Pumpkin. These will also begin shipping in late August or early September.
The Game of Thrones Pez Twin Packs with include Jon Snow with Drogon and Daenerys Targaryen with Drogon. These twin pack pairs are scheduled to begin shipping September 1 and we will have them in stock as soon as possible!
The Black Panther Pez Gift Tins will be coming soon! This new gift tin features Black Panther, Shuri, Purple Black Panther and Okoye dispensers in a Black Panther shaped gift tin with a Black Panther face featured on the back. It is scheduled to begin shipping September 1, ahead of the November 11 release of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie.
Shuri and the Black Panther will also be available in a Black Panther Twin Pack, also scheduled for release September 1.
The Mandalorian Pez Gift Tin is also coming soon! It is shaped like Baby Yoda in the Pram and that is what it features on the back. Mandalorian and the 2022 Boba Fett are included along with Baby Yoda (Grogu) in a Pram and Fennec Shand. You have to look closely at Fennec to see her eyes peeping out of the visor between the top and bottom of her helmet! Baby Yoda is exceptionally well detailed and cute as can be! This gift tin is sure to be a sell out! The first scheduled shipping date for the tin is September 1. These new dispensers will be available only in the gift tins.
On display at the Pez Visitors Center in the Coming Soon cabinet are new versions of the Pez Treats assortment with a cupcake with sprinkles on a printed red stem saying Happy Birthday, a Cheeseburger that says Always snackish on the green stem, a Taco on a yellow stem that says wanna (taco) ‘bout it?, and a Pizza on a red stem that says Have a slice day! These fun sayings truly refresh this assortment!
The 2022 Christmas Gingerbread Man that many felt looked like a Hitler version of a gingerbread man is also on display in the coming soon section at the Visitors Center. It looks a little less like Hitler up close – what looked like dark hair on the side is actually a bite is taken out of the top left of the head. The dark color that looks like a mustache from afar is the inside of an open mouth screaming in shock or surprise. The colors of the buttons, bow tie and belt are reversed from the previous version of the Gingerbread man. The bow tie and belt are red and the buttons are green on this surprised Gingerbread man.
We expect the Pez Gingerbread House Kits and Mini kits to arrive in September as well! These fun new kits will feature pez candy bricks for decorating the houses and the large kit will come with a Pez dispenser.
The European Pez Advent Calendar will include a limited edition pez dispenser. Last year, the advent calendar included the limited edition crystal Christmas Tree. It is thought that this year, the limited edition may be a crystal Christmas polar bear. This is the 2020 polar bear with two ears showing, and a red stocking cap with green trim. The limited edition pez will be available only in the advent calendar available in European countries only.
Pezamania 31 was a huge success and Rick and Sue Marlowe went out with a bang! The convention sold out of registration packets and the ballroom was filled with tables! There were multiple surprises for our hosts on Friday night – a standing ovation at the beginning of matchmania, the presentation of a Thank You board signed by many of the registered pezheads, the presentation of a championship wrestling belt inscribed with Rick Marlow’s name and the PEZ logo and Rick Marlowe was named as PezHead of the Year, receiving the Golden Gonzo trophy and the traveling plaque! Rick is now the 25th PHOTY!
This was the last year that Rick and Sue Marlowe will host Pezamania and they have worked hard to choose their successors who are sure to do a fantastic job in continuing the convention and its deeply embedded traditions. We thank Rick and Sue for the glorious years they have given us and we welcome the new hosts Landon Proctor along with his wife Christene, and Morgan Rhinehart and her husband Jeffrey Baker. This fantastic four team is guaranteed to do amazing things, just as they have been doing with the Virtual Pez Convention (VPC). In fact, the VPC will continue as well, with two events each year and the scholarship will continue as long as pezheads choose to support it!
The next VPC event will be October 8 and it will include an art auction to support the VPC Scholarship fund. Artwork is donated by many pez collectors. Pez artwork takes many different forms from 3D sculpts to drawings and paintings, quilling, diamond painting, quilts, leatherwork and so much more. Pez Artists, consider a donation to the Virtual Pez Convention art auction to get your work noticed, get your name out there as a pez artist, and help raise money for a wonderful cause – the VPC Scholarship fund! Of course, there will also be mini tours of pez collections, games, give aways and a chance to see the faces and chat with fellow pez collectors online through the magic of zoom!
The next pez convention in the USA is Pez on the River! They have a great theme for the convention – Pucker Up! It is left up to your interpretation to decide what that might mean, but there will be a Pez Costume contest, so think about how you want to dress your pez up to fit the theme Pucker Up – you can do a single pez, an entire diorama or whatever you choose! Pez on the River also will have a Thursday night grill out, seminars, a scavenger hunt, Captain’s Log games on Friday night and the insane challenge games on Saturday night right after the River Party! This convention is laid back and chill with lots of time to visit and get to know your fellow pez collectors. Our hosts Sandy and Cheryl go out of their way, in fact, they go way over and above as generous and accommodating hosts! Be sure to get your registration in and book your hotel room in Winona, MN for September 8 – 10! Get all the details at www.pezontheriver.com
That's all the news for this month! Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com