With a month gone in the new year, we are looking forward to great things to come from Pez! Nothing warms the heart like the bright colors and happy faces of new Pez. Just after the January Pez Collectors Store Newsletter went out, we received an updated schedule from our Pez sales rep, so we have some revisions to make to the schedule of releases! We are hoping that supply chain logistics will have ironed out and that the new schedule will be more accurate than we have seen this past year! Meanwhile, new releases have arrived from Europe and we have been busy adding to our Valentine heart inventory for those who are missing a few of the retired Valentine Hearts. They are selling quickly! Check them out in the Retired US Pez Category, Holiday Pez subcategory, Retired Valentines Day Pez, then you can choose the years you want to look at.
We wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day! While listing Valentine Heart pez from the early 2000s, I found a new difference in the 2009 Short Valentines - the mold that the tip of the heart overhangs the stem. There is a distinct difference in the font size and boldness of the printing on the Made In China vs. the Made in Hungary stems, and there is a difference in the shade of the crystal in the pink and cloudy pink hearts based on the country they are made in. This means 9 additional Valentine Hearts to complete the series! China is on the left and Hungary is on the right in each pair.
The European Hello Kitty Puppy Pez assortment is now in stock in the Pez Collectors Store. The set includes Hello Kitty with LOVE printed on the stem, Hello Kitty with paw prints on the stem and the new full body Hello Kitty Puppy. These are adorable!
The 2022 Happy New Year Candy Mascot Pez arrived from Europe. This limited edition exclusive sold out quickly as it was limited to only 2022 pieces, distributed approximately equally between PEZ USA and PEZ International. We have sold out of these already!
The Office Pez Twin Packs finally arrived in the Pez Collectors Store, joining the Briefcase Tins with The Office graphics. We also offer the set of 4 dispensers loose for those who prefer to display loose and save on shipping!
The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda Pez Twin Pack has been updated to include the name of The Child. The twin pack graphics are updated with a different scene and it is titled The Mandalorian and Grogu. While he will always be Baby Yoda to me, at least he is not known only as The Child any longer. Grogu comes on a mini stem and Mandalorian on a full size stem – only the graphics have changed.
Pez Candy USA released another limited edition exclusive Candy Brick Mascot which sold out quickly. Raspberry is the newest mascot, but apparently it is not quite as advertised. The image provided on the website showed the mascot on a lavender stem, but those who have received theirs already have shared pictures and it actually comes on a light blue stem! The Pez website updated with a corrected mockup image after the fact. We will have a few of these available (on a blue stem!) in a day or two for those who may have missed out.
Pez International announced a giveaway for 3 surprise packages to include a special limited Valentine’s Day dispenser, but no word yet on what it will be. I am hoping that it will be a Cotton Candy Mascot since that is the holiday flavor Pez USA associates with Valentine’s Day. Of course, it could be a Chocolate Mascot since chocolate is a favorite Valentine’s Day candy, but maybe not, since Chocolate flavor pez have been discontinued. Of course, it may not be a mascot at all – we will just have to wait and see!
The European Mickey and Minnie Mouse are on their way to us now and we hope to have them within a few weeks. The set of 4 includes Mickey with a blue ballcap with an M printed on the cap and blue stem printed with Mickey, a Mickey with red ball cap with a Mickey silhouette on the cap and on the red stem, Minnie with a white bow with white stars printed on her yellow stem, and Minnie with a dusty rose bow on a magenta stem that is printed with YOU GO GIRL. The Mickey on red stem and Minnie on yellow stem have an open mouth showing red tongues, while the magenta stem Minnie and blue stem Mickey are the closed mouth newer molds.
New USA Mickey and Minnie dispensers are also scheduled to begin flowing into assortments as of January 15. The Mickey is similar to the European release, but the stem is not printed with silhouettes. Minnie has a blue bow with white polka-dots and is on a blue stem. Both of them are depicted as using the older mold with the tongue showing. This is interesting since the 2021 blue baseball cap Mickey released in the USA was the newer mold with closed mouth.
The new Cupcake is scheduled to be flowed into the Pez Treats Assortment beginning January 15 and we are hoping it will be available soon.
The Care Bears assortment was pushed back to be released February 1. The assortment includes Cheer Bear, Funshine Bear, Grumpy Bear and Share Bear, all full body bears with their special symbols on their bellies. We are hoping that it will be arriving soon! These will be available in polybag and will also be released in twin pack pairs featuring Cheer Bear with Funshine Bear and Grumpy Bear with Share Bear.
Sonic the Hedgehog is also scheduled to begin shipping February 1. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails are included and there will also be twin pack pairs that include Sonic with Knuckles and Sonic with Tails.
Batman Twin Packs are due to begin shipping February 1 as well. The twin pack features the old and the new! Batman has a new mold and the twin pack will feature the modern black hood and cape Batman and the retro Blue hood and cape Batman with the bat emblem in the yellow oval.
Easter Pez are expected to be coming out soon. We expect the new full body rabbit sitting like a rabbit normally sits on his haunches. There will also be a new Easter Egg with a flower and a butterfly printed on the yellow egg and these will be available only in tubes.
According to information from our friends at PezPalz Blogspot, a 2022 limited edition exclusive Easter Egg will be released for online sales. No word yet on when they might pop up on the pez website or what they might look like, so we will all have to wait patiently to see what Easter Egg Surprise Pez USA has in store for us!
Doctor Strange will be added to the Marvel pez assortment beginning March 1.
A fresh new Hello Kitty will be released in the USA beginning March 1. She has a pink stem and a pink bow with light yellow polka-dots, and she has eyelashes or extended eyeliner!
The lineup for the USA for 2022 with the available information now includes:
January 15 - Treats Cupcake
January 15 - Mickey red ballcap and Minnie blue
February 1 - Sonic Knuckles and Tails polybags
February 1 - Care Bears polybags and twin packs
February 1 - Batman twin pack
March 1 – Sonic twin packs
March 1 - Doctor Strange in the Marvel Assortment
March 1 - Hello Kitty Pink bow yellow dots on pink stem with eyelashes, HK Puppy
April 15 - Mandalorian, Grogu and a new Boba Fett assortment
April 22 - Buzz Lightyear assortment to include Buzz Space Ranger, Buzz XL – 14 Suit and Sox
May 1 - Lightyear twin packs pair
May 1 - Jurassic World click & play package update
June 1 - Pezimals Giraffe, Monkey, Elephant on blister cards only
June 1 - 40th anniversary E.T. Mini Pez Twin Pack with brown and red hood versions
June 1 - Mini Mickey and Mini Mickey with Blue Ballcap Backpack Clips twin cards
July 1 - Animal Crossing assortment with Isabelle, Tom Nook and K. K. Slider
July 1 - LOL Surprise Series 3 with 9 new characters (3 dolls in popular, fancy and rare versions)
July 1 - Halloween Jack-o-lantern with yellow eyes, mouth and nose
August 1 - Game of Thrones twin pack pairs with Jon Snow and Dragon and Daenerys with Dragon
September 1 - Black Panther Gift Tin with the Black Panther (T’Challa), Shuri, Okoye and the new Black Panther
September 1 - Black Panther twin pack with Black Panther and Shuri
September 1 - Mandalorian Pez Gift Tin with Fennec Shand exclusive dispenser and Grogu in pram
We will share photos of these as soon as we are allowed!
The 2022 Pez International line up will include several releases that are not scheduled for release in the USA. New European Emoji pez called Laughing, Glitter Poop, Star and Tongue, are now expected to be released at the end of February or beginning of March, so we expect to have them by mid to end of March.
Last month, we shared information about the new Pezimals line from Europe and we then found out they had been added to the lineup for the USA as well.
European Cinderella and Snow White are being updated with all new molds, adding to the Disney Princess lineup! The image is presented by PEZ International, though it may not be the final look. These are scheduled for release in May.
Three new Peppa Pig dispensers will be added to the European assortment. Peppa Heart has three hearts printed on a lavender stem, George Dinosaur has a dinosaur and George printed on his blue stem and Peppa Teddy has a teddy bear and Peppa printed on her red stem.
Pikachu will have two additional new versions – currently the new heads are not shown, but it looks like they will come on a red stem and a green stem!
The European My Little Pony assortment will include Sunny and Izzy, and Pipp won the popular vote in the contest, so it will be included in the new assortment as well.
There will undoubtedly be some additional surprises along the way with limited edition exclusive releases from Pez, exclusive promotional pez and maybe some other additions as well!
Good news for Funko POP PEZ collectors! With no new POP PEZ since 2020 available through regular retail, a new release has finally been announced. Five Nights at Freddy's Tie dye Bonnie,Tie dye Chica, Tie dye Foxy, and Tie dye Freddy are expected! No images are available yet of the POP PEZ, but we will show them when we are allowed!
The Michigan Pez Convention Hosts have opened registration for the 2022 MIPEZ Gathering, June 23 - 25 in Ann Arbor, MI! For those who paid for registration for the 2020 gathering that was canceled due to COVID, your registration has been carried forward to this year. If you don't remember if you were registered, hosts Jim and Jody Blaine have a convenient list shown on their webpage at www.mipezcon.com and if your name appears, all you have to do now is get a reservation at the hotel. If you're not registered, submit your registration and get your hotel reservation quickly - this will be a big convention!
Registration for the Super Heroes theme Pezamania 31Convention, July 21 - 23, is limited to 450 attendees and it is already more than half full with 30% of the registrations being from new attendees! Reports are that the rooms at the hotel are also filling up, so you need to hurry to get registered and get your hotel booked! Get all the details at www.pezamania.com!
Pez on the River registration is also open, so mark your calendar for September 8 - 10 and get your registration in and your room reserved! The theme for this year is "Pucker Up" and as always, there will be a pez costume contest following that theme. Dress up a Pez Dispenser following the theme - it can be a single dispenser in costume or it can be an entire diorama to represent the theme and how you interpret it is up to you! Visit www.pezontheriver.com for registration and hotel information!
That is all the news we have for you this month! It looks like it will be another great year for new pez!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com