2017 has been a tremendous year for new Pez releases in the USA and abroad, and 2018 looks like it will be just as great! Several new pez have been added to the Pez Collectors Store offerings this past month and more are on their way. The European Launch Plan for 2018 was released and Europe will be getting several sets that are not currently scheduled for release in the USA, but we will have them available in the Pez Collectors Store!
The 2017 Wawa promotional truck pez is available now. This new edition features a winter wonderland Snowman scene on the side of the truck. The snowmen appear to be preparing for a fun snowball fight and the image has the Wawa logo and 2017 Edition on the label. Wawa is a convenience store/gas station chain that operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. We have these promotional pez in stock now in the Pez Collectors Store.
World's Smallest has released a new set of World's Smallest Pez Emojis. The set includes LOLing, Love and Kissing, all on mini stems and encased in the hard plastic display. We have these in stock now in the Pez Collectors Store!
M2 Machines have taken the Pez license another step and have released three new Truck and trailers with delivery vehicles inside, plus 3 ‘chase’ versions with colored tires. The versions with colored tires are limited to 500 pieces worldwide or only 168 pieces for the Sweet Treat version with orange tires. We have a couple of sets of the second series of M2 Machine Trucks in stock now and hope to be getting more soon!
The Valentine Emoji twin pack pairs feature Love and Kissing Emojis and Angel and Devilish crystal Emoji pez. These are now supposed to begin shipping December 1, so we should have them in stock soon!
Collector Jeff Rosenberg has just completed a new book titled The Ultimate Pez Pal Handbook - Prices, Pictures and Variations in which he includes over 1000 Pez Pal Variations and pricing information. The book is loaded with color pictures and helpful information and includes tables for identification and pricing. This is a valuable resource for collectors! We will have this book in stock in the Pez Collectors Store soon!
2018 will see two new crystal emoji symbol pez added to the assortment. The Sparkling Heart and Thumbs Up ideograms are on colorless crystal balls and are scheduled to be added to the Emoji assortment in the USA January 15, 2018. We will get these in stock just as soon as possible.
The Trolls ‘Emoji’ pez twin packs will be released January 15. The set comes with a picture of the head of Branch on a blue crystal ball and a picture of the head of Poppy on a pink crystal ball. These Trolls emojis twin packs are a completely different look than the Trolls assortment with the actual heads of the Trolls characters. We have our order placed and they will be available in the Pez Collectors Store sometime in January.
January 15, the new Easter Pez are scheduled for release. The Tan floppy ear bunny previously seen in on a mini stem in the egg will be a full size dispenser and Mr Bunny will come on a purple stem in the carded and polybag assortments. There will be a new Easter Egg in the tubes and it will feature an Easter Basket on the egg. The Easter Egg will be available in tubes only. The Mini Eggs will have a white floppy ear bunny on a green stem included in this year’s assortment. All of the Easter pez will come with a roll or two of the new Vanilla Cupcake flavored Pez Candies! This special flavor will be limited and only available (at least for now) in the Easter Pez assortments, tubes and eggs.
In Europe, the Shimmer and Shine pez set is scheduled for release in January, and in addition to Shimmer and Shine, the European assortment will include Nahal the cat. In the USA, only Shimmer and Shine dispensers are going to be released, beginning March 1, 2018. The Pez Collectors Store will be getting the early European Shimmer and Shine dispenser set with Nahal. We will be anxious to see if Shimmer and Shine are the same as those that will be available later in the USA, both as single dispensers in the polybag and carded assortments and as a Twin Pack with both dispensers in a boxed set.
DJ Suki is scheduled for addition to the Trolls assortment in Europe in January and release in the USA February 1. We have ordered some of these early European releases and will look forward to comparing them to the pez released in the USA, but we rather expect that they will be same. We will have plenty of stock on these from the USA in February in the Pez Collectors Store!
Nick Jr. characters Blaze, Crusher and Stripes will be released in Europe in mid January and we have our order placed already. This European assortment is not currently scheduled for release in the USA. This Nickelodeon Jr. set is from the popular cartoon Blaze and the Monster Trucks. Look for them in the Pez Collectors Store by late January.
February will bring lots of new pez in the USA! The Crayola Crayon pez assortment will come with Vivid Violet (for Grape Pez Candy), Jazzberry Jam (for Raspberry Pez Candy), and Outrageous Orange (for Orange Pez Candy). These are a separate assortment than the boxed gift set coming in June and the colors look great!
Shopkins Pez will be released in the USA and in Europe February 1. In the USA we are expecting Apple Blossom, Kooky Cookie, and Strawberry Kiss characters. As far as we know at this time, Europe will likely get the same assortment.
The Black Panther will be added to the Marvel pez assortment beginning February 1, ahead of the Feb. 16, 2018 Marvel Black Panther movie release.
In March, Shimmer and Shine will be released in twin packs (in addition to being sold separately in the assortment) and the Paw Patrol Tripack will be released. The tripack will feature Chase, Skye and Marshall – the same dispensers that have been available for a while now, but packaged together in a tripack boxed set.
In Europe, there will be a new Hello Kitty assortment to include Hello Kitty Unicorn scheduled for release in March. This set is not scheduled for release in the USA at this time. This set looks great with the Unicorn with a printed stem saying Hello Kitty, Winking Hello Kitty on a plum purple stem and a rainbow on the ear, Hello Kitty with a heart on the ear on a purple stem saying Unicorns, and a closed eye Hello Kitty with stars on the pink stem and on the ear. A sneak preview of these new pez was provided by PezPalz.blogspot.com!
Incredibles 2 pez with Violet, Dash and Jack Jack are scheduled for release in late March in Europe and May 1 in the USA. Again, we expect these to be the same, but Europe will be about a month ahead of the USA in getting these.
April 1 a Jurassic World assortment will be released in the USA and in Europe. Included in this assortment are 3 dinosaur heads – T-Rex, Blue the Raptor, and Dilophosaurus. These head only Jurassic World pez look great! There will also be a Jurassic World Twin pack with Blue the Raptor and T-Rex.
Peppa Pig is scheduled for release in Europe by April 1. Peppa Pig is a British animated series. At this time, it is unknown which characters will be included in the assortment, but there are plenty to choose from! Peppa Pig is not scheduled for release in the USA at this time, but we will certainly have the assortment available in the Pez Collectors Store!
May 1, the Incredibles 2 assortment will be released in the USA and there will also be an Incredibles 2 Tripack set with Dash, Violet and a mini Jack Jack. These characters will all come with a bust so the Incredibles II logo is shown, then a skinny neck and the individual heads in the singles assortment. It is uncertain if the Jack Jack on a mini stem in the Tripack will have the bust up version or just the head, similar to the original Incredibles release.
The Han Solo Gift tin will be released in the USA May 1. It will include a new (younger) Han Solo pez, Lando Calrissian, a new droid and Chewbacca.
June 1 in the USA, Ant-Man will be added to the Marvel pez assortment ahead of the Ant-Man and the Wasp movie release.
June 1 is also the scheduled release date for the Jurassic World Click and Play Gift tin in the USA. This tin will feature 4 full body dinosaurs on a twist off platform that can be used as playing pieces for the game that is included in the gift tin set. The 4 dinosaurs will be full body versions of T-Rex, Blue the Raptor, Triceratops and Mosasaurus.
The Crayola Gift set will be released June 1. This set will include the bright colors of red (strawberry pez candy), yellow (lemon pez candy), blue (sourz blue raspberry pez candy) and green (sourz green apple candy). The Crayola shaped boxed set will come with a pack of 4 crayons and 4 coloring sheets in addition to the 4 dispensers and pez candies!
June 1 in Europe, PJ Masks pez will be released in Europe. This Disney Junior animated series pez set is not scheduled for release in the USA at this time. We expect the set will likely include Greg the Gecko, Connor the Catboy, and Amaya the Owlette. We will have more information about the characters included in the assortment at a later date and you can be sure we will have them in stock in the Pez Collectors Store!
In mid June or perhaps July, Miraculous will be released in Europe. Miraculous is a French animated series featuring Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir, two teenagers in Paris who transform into superheroes to protect their city from supervillains. There are currently no plans for this assortment to be released in the USA, but we will have them in stock for you!
July 1 the new Halloween Pez will begin shipping in the USA. Included in the assortment will be the Cute Witch and the Happy Pumpkin. These two new characters are adorable! The new assortments of Halloween pez will come with a roll of Candy Corn flavored pez candy, available only with Halloween assortment pez.
In August, the Grinch will be released in Europe. It is unclear at this time if the set will be an assortment on cards or if they will have a boxed set such as the one scheduled for release in the USA in October.
Dreamworks Dragons will be released in Europe in mid August. This computer animated series is based on How to Train Your Dragon – a pez set that was once planned about 6 years ago, but was then dropped for release in the USA. There are currently no plans for this set to be released in the USA, but we will definitely get them in stock for the Pez Collectors Store!
September 1, a Han Solo twin pack will be released in the USA. It is expected to have the young Han Solo and Chewbacca – likely the same dispensers released in the Gift tin in May, but it will be packaged in the twin pack boxed set.
The Marvel Mystery Gift Set is scheduled for release in the USA in September. This mystery set will include Spiderman, Ironman and an exclusive Thanos, plus a mystery character. The mystery character will not be visible from the outside of the unopened box but it may be a crystal Groot, a crystal Hulk or a crystal black panther. We are told that the assortment of characters will not have equal distribution and a case may or may not include a boxed set with each of the characters. This will certainly become a challenge for those who like to collect the boxed sets in package as well as display the individual variations loose! You will never know what you are getting until you open the package!
The Shopkins Mystery Gift set is also scheduled for release in the USA in September. Again, the mystery box will contain the same characters as previously released in February in the individual assortment, but they may be crystal variations of the Apple Blossom, Kooky Cookie, and Strawberry Kiss characters. The 4th dispenser will be a mystery version of the Cupcake Queen in a Rare, Ultra Rare, or Limited Edition version.
Christmas Pez will begin shipping September 1 in the USA. The assortment will include a new cute Reindeer and the full size Angel pez which is so scarce this year will be included in the standard assortment in polybags and on cards. The Christmas tubes will include an exclusive Christmas Tree pez, available only in tubes. The Christmas ornaments will include the new reindeer head on a mini stem in addition to the brunette mini angel, Santa and red Elf. All of the Christmas pez will come with a roll of Sugar Cookie flavored pez.
October 1, the Grinch gift tin will be released in the USA. The set will include 4 dispensers - the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, Max the Dog and a Reindeer. The gift tin will feature an iconic shape from the story (we are guessing it will be the Grinch’s head). It is unknown if the Reindeer will be Max with antlers or something different, but current information is that there will be 4 different dispensers, as listed.
November 1, 2018, the Valentine pez for Valentine’s Day 2018 will begin shipping. There will be two new crystal valentine hearts with silly faces – Happy Heart crystal shown below and Silly Heart crystal, but these will be on standard stems with feet and will face forward! The White Love Bear will come on a red stem and there will also be a Lady Bug pez. All the Valentine pez will come with a roll of Cotton Candy flavored pez.
Whew! That is a lot of new pez to look forward to in the coming year! And, those are just the ones that have been planned so far!
And, there are more PEZ licensed items coming next year. Lisa Marks Associates reports that they have “tapped Wilton Industries for themed gingerbread houses, cookie-making kits, gingerbread decorating kits and candy. The program is set to launch for the 2018 holiday season at multiple retailers across North America.” We will be watching for these about this time next year. We are still watching for the loungewear and underwear announced by Lisa Marks Associates in May, 2017, which “teamed up with the French lingerie brand Undiz for a range of licensed PEZ loungewear and underwear, which will be available in Undiz stores worldwide.” Who knows if and when these will actually be available!
As a followup to last month’s newsletter item regarding the National Toy Hall of Fame, pez collectors are to be commended for their active and enthusiastic participation in the polls. Our beloved Pez Candy Dispenser came in 2nd in the polling with 87,584 votes (46.38%), just behind Matchbox Cars with 90,542 votes (47.94%), but sadly, the polling had nothing to do with the actual selections made for induction into the Toy Hall of Fame. Had we realized this, we would not have promoted the poll through the newsletter, but it certainly showed how much pez collectors love the product. Congratulations to the 2017 inductees – the Paper Airplane, Wiffle Ball and the board game Clue!
The 5th Annual 2017 Christmas Pez Gathering will begin with dinner tomorrow and will continue through Saturday night. We are excited to join hosts Jessica and Juan Orozco for this pez gathering event! Please note, orders placed in the Pez Collectors Store at this time will be shipped on Monday, December 4 while we attend this fabulous gathering! Hoping to see you there!
Be sure to visit the Pez Collectors Store to setup or update your wish list! This feature of our website allows you to log in to your account, then create or update your Wish List based on items you would like to have from the Pez Collectors Store. You can also add notes to indicate which items you want the most! You can then email your wish list to friends and family to make their gift giving simple and to assure that you will get things you really want.
That's all the news for this month and all the announced pez scheduled for the next year, though there will be more and more updates as time goes by. May your days be merry and bright! Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com