Spring is finally in the air and new Pez are popping up like the flowers! You just have to love the bright colors and fun new releases! We have new pez that arrived in April, more pez coming in May, previews of pez coming in June and a surprise announcement about a new addition to the lineup coming in September. Pez Convention season kicks off with the 20th Northeast Pez Convention and the Sweets and Snacks Expo is happening in May so this will be another busy and exciting month for pez collectors everywhere!
We will start off with the new April additions to the Pez Collectors Store. The Jurassic World Pez set and Jurassic World Pez Twin packs are in stock. The set of 3 includes T-Rex, Blue the Raptor and Dilophosaurus. The Twin Pack includes T-Rex and Blue the Raptor. The detail on the heads of the dinosaurs is pretty good, but the relative sizes of the dinosaurs and their heads is completely missing in these dispensers. The Velociraptor (Blue the Raptor) was about 1/3 the size of a Dilophosaurus, which in turn, was about ¼ the size of a T-Rex. Fossils and excavation have shown that the Velociraptors were about the size of a large turkey, so Jurassic World depictions may have taken some liberties regarding relative size as well! Still it is awesome to have some dinosaur pez!
Peppa Pig and brother George pez dispensers have arrived from Europe. Peppa is just a little larger than younger brother George and of course, Peppa has a bow. These are not expected to be released in the USA, but they are in stock now in the Pez Collectors Store!
The B’z is a Japanese rock/pop duo celebrating 30 years with the B’z 30th Year Exhibition “Scenes” 1988 – 2018 and they have two different pez designs to commemorate the occasion. The B’z duo is extremely popular in Japan and among the best-selling music artists worldwide. The pez dispensers will be available only at the exhibition in Tokyo while the exhibition is going on, beginning April 1 – May 6 for the early years (1988 – 2002) and from May 11 – June 15 for the later years (2003 – 2018). The 30th year set of red and black stem B'z pez comes mint on the special B'z 30th Year cards with European pez candies or loose to save on shipping costs.
European Barbie pez have just arrived today! The European Barbie pez shown on the left below look completely different than the Barbie pez released in the USA in the Barbie Purse Gift Tin (shown on the right below). The molds are mostly the same with some slight variations and the clothing is completely different. Barbie always did have an extensive wardrobe! The new European set is listed in the Pez Collectors Store now, along with the original USA set, loose and in the purse shaped gift tin!
The 29th edition of The Original Collector’s Price Guide to Pez by John LaSpina is in stock now in the Pez Collectors Store. This up to date price guide includes descriptions of the different variations and versions of known pez dispensers from the earliest known to the most recently released, handy checkboxes to track your collection and up to date price ranges. There are no pictures, but there are over 200 pages of pez variations listed and the index alone is over 30 pages with around 50 dispensers per page!
The Original 6 NHL Team Hockey Masks are beginning to ship now. These Hockey masks feature the team logos on the top of the mask and the team colors in stripes on the front of the mask. We should have these in stock within a week or so.
There is talk of a new version of the San Francisco Giants pez with a slightly different SF logo. The S is a little taller and the S and F are a little thinner and crisper, making the logo a bit more distinct. Previous 2010 versions had closer but wider lines in the lettering which made them sort of bleed together, making the logo harder to read. We currently have the 2010 SF Giants baseball on a 7.5 stem, but it seems to be the older version, so we have ordered more to see if the logo has changed. These should be in stock within about 3 weeks so keep watching! The first image below is the ‘older’ 2010 SF Logo on ball and cap, the second image is a side by side comparison of the old 2010 logo and the new logo and the third photo is the new Cap and ball on card. The new images were shared by collector Anna Santos Salinas since our order is on the way and we don’t know what we will get yet!
The Incredibles 2 pez set with Dash, Violet and Jack Jack are scheduled to begin shipping from Pez Co. on May 1 so we anticipate having them in stock very soon. The USA set will be the same as the European set with Violet and Dash having a torso, thin neck, and head, and Jack Jack with just a head. It looks like the plans to have Jack Jack with the head, neck and torso style changed. The mold for the Incredibles 2 Jack Jack is a different size and shape than the original Incredibles Jack Jack head. These will be in stock soon!
The Incredibles 2 tripack will also have Dash and Violet with head, neck and torso, on full size stems, but Jack Jack's new head will be on a mini stem. We expect our order to arrive soon!
The Han Solo Star Wars Gift tin is scheduled to begin shipping from Pez Co. on May 1, and we are really anxious to see what the new dispensers look like. Embargos have prevented release of the photos, so we don’t know what the tin will look like or what the pez will look like. We do know that the graphics will follow the Star Wars Han Solo style guide, and that the set will include a different, younger Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, a new Droid (we hope L3-37) and Chewbacca.
June 1 is the first scheduled shipping date for the Flamingo pez. Pez International hosted a contest to name the pez and they will be known as Mabel and Floyd. Pez USA didn’t host a contest, so it is assumed that the European names will stick. Or, USA may just call them pink stem Flamingo and blue stem Flamingo, but we like Mabel and Floyd better! The European Flamingos will be packaged with Coconut flavored candy, while the USA versions will have standard lemon, orange and strawberry flavor pez candies, but hopefully they will be the new candy wrapper packs which are just now beginning to appear.
Ant Man will join the Marvel Pez assortment being flowed in beginning June 1. This means that as the existing cases in inventory are shipped out, newer cases with the Ant Man included will be added to the inventory and when all the old cases have shipped out, newer cases with Ant Man will begin shipping. We will get them in stock just as soon as possible!
The Jurassic World Gift Tin with click and play dinosaurs will begin shipping from Pez Co. June 1. The click and play versions have removable tops that can be used as pawns for the Jurassic World board game which is included in the gift set. The click and play tops have full body T-Rex, Blue the Raptor, Triceratops and Mosasaurus dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are not proportional to actual size, but represent what the dinosaurs looked like. We expect these will be in stock by mid June.
Crayola Gift Sets are also scheduled to begin shipping June 1. The boxed set will include Red, Yellow, Blue and Green Crayola Crayon Pez, matching Strawberry, Lemon, Sourz Blue Raspberry and Sourz Green Apple Pez Candya package of actual crayons, and 4 coloring sheets in a box that features Crayola Crayon graphics. We expect to have these in stock by mid June.
European PJ Masks pez are expected to be released in Europe in June. Catboy, Gekko and Owlette are the superhero characters from this Disney Junior animated tv series. At this time, there is no talk of these being released in the USA, so we have placed our order for the European release and we will have them in stock just as soon as possible!
Paw Patrol Rocky and Rubble are also scheduled for release in Europe in June. These two additions to the Paw Patrol Adventure Bay Rescue Pez assortment are super cute. Rocky is a mixed breed Eco pup who reuses recycled items to repair broken things. Rubble is an English Bulldog construction worker pup. We have ordered these from Europe and look forward to having them in stock as soon as they can make their way across the ocean!
In mid June Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir will be released in Europe. This pair of Parisian teenage superheros works to protect Paris from the evil Hawk Moth.
Ward Shipping Company will have a promotional pez truck coming in a few months. We will have these in stock soon after they are released sometime this summer!
Not to get too far ahead, but there is a September surprise! Coming September 1 is a new addition to the USA pez lineup - Stranger Things twin packs with Eleven and Mike, and with Lucas and Dustin. What could be more awesome? Well, maybe a set with Will paired with a Demogorgon (packaged upside down) would be pretty cool, but for now we will look forward to the two new Stranger things twin packs! We don’t have permission to share the photos yet, but the characters look a lot like the characters in the Netflix show, down to very short haired Eleven, Baseball cap Dustin, Camo Lucas and serious Mike!
The 2018 Convention season in the USA is finally being kicked off with the 20th Northeast Pez Convention in Stamford CT, May 3 – 5. As always, Richie and Mary have planned lots of fun beginning with a bus tour to the Pez Visitors Center, swap party and happy hour on Thursday, room hopping, Red Carpet Costumes and games on Friday, the show and Cinco De Mayo party on Saturday. Please note, orders placed in the Pez Collectors Store from May 3 – 5 will be shipped on Monday, May 7. We look forward to seeing you there!
Next up will be the Peace, Love and Pez 28th Pezamania Convention, July 26 – 28 in Cleveland, OH. Rick and Sue have been hard at work planning this convention and it is always a blast! It is also the largest convention and the hotel is likely to fill up, so get your reservations made now and submit your registration to attend! Details can be found at www.pezamania.com
As a reminder, the 3rd Michigan Pez convention will be held August 16 – 18 in Livonia, MI, the 4th Sin City Pez convention will be September 13 – 15 in Las Vegas, NV, the 5th Pez on the River Gathering will be October 11 – 13 in Winona, MN and Pezylvania IX will be October 13 in Kutztown, PA. More information will be coming later about these, or you can click the links to get more information and get registered for them now!
The 2018 Sweets and Snacks Expo will be held in Chicago, IL May 22 – 24 and I will be attending to get the scoop and early previews of the lineup for the remainder of 2018 and planned releases for 2019. We will then share as much information as possible, along with sneak peeks of the new items in our June 2018 Pez Collectors Store Newsletter. If you enjoy reading this free monthly newsletter, please encourage your fellow pez collector friends to subscribe as well. The link to our past newsletters and the subscription signup page is /pages/pcs-monthly-newsletters-196-2018.html
That is all the news for now. Look forward to lots more news next month! Happy Pezzing!
All the best,
Chris Jordan
www.pezcollectors.com