Pewter Paperweights

In 2001 there was a series of five PEZ Pewter Paperweights released.  The five PEZ characters in the series are: Pilot, Fireman, Peter PEZ, Bride, and Groom, which you can see in the photos below.  These sure would look nice sitting on your desk, eh?!  
  
I was unaware of the these until recently when I saw them on eBay.  Right now, all five are available on eBay for between $40 and $50 each with the auctions ending tomorrow (Nov. 8) at 5:07 PM PST.  The shipping is free for each of these auctions, which is a good deal, since they are no doubt pretty heavy.  

According to the auction descriptions, all of these were created by ODM Inc.  After some searching on the web, I think this is the website for ODM Inc., since their focus is "precision metal stamping".

Interestingly, a different seller on eBay sold this series of PEZ Pewter Paperweights a few weeks ago with winning auction prices ranging from $32 to $46 each.

A.R.C.H.I.E. Fantasy Robot PEZ

In 2003, Gary Doss from the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia created some amazing and intricate fantasy PEZ robots known as A.R.C.H.I.E. - Advanced Robotic Candy Handling Issueing Equipment.  The yellow robot is known as A.R.C.H.I.E. 3.0 and the blue robot is known as A.R.C.H.I.E. 5.0.

The "heads" are customized PEZ truck cabs.  All the parts that were used to create A.R.C.H.I.E. were from a Silicon Valley store that specialized in stocking old, useless electronic parts.  The "blinking" light on A.R.C.H.I.E. 5.0 is a self-contained blinking magnetic earring.  Pressing the light turns the blinking on or off.

There were about 100 total of the A.R.C.H.I.E. dispensers made.  Unfortunately, they are no longer available for sale.  However, there are a few on display at the museum.

Gary said they took quite a long time to make and there are no plans to create future versions, such as A.R.C.H.I.E. 3.1 or A.R.C.H.I.E. 5.1.  Further, he said they were too delicate an item to ship and after a few arrived broken, he decided to stop making them.

Happily, I found an A.R.C.H.I.E. 3.0 on eBay recently.  One day I hope to locate his more advanced blinking buddy, A.R.C.H.I.E. 5.0.

Freemason Pucks

Some new limited edition custom PEZ pucks became available today.  Freemason pucks!  They look amazing and have an embossed pin attached, similar to the Pez-a-mania pucks from the past couple years.

PEZhead Joe "Got Dank?" Paravati is selling these, so if you'd like one then please e-mail him.  Below are all the details on the pucks from Joe himself.  My guess is these will sell quickly, so don't wait too long.

From Joe Paravati:

"As some of you know (most don't) I am a Free & Accepted Master Mason and have been one now for over 6 years.  Freemasonry is a global fraternity that performs charitable acts for society and those in need.  I've come to learn over the past few years that a number of other PEZheads are also Freemasons."

"To get to the exciting point, my Lodge is Solomon's Lodge #3 based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the oldest, continuously meeting Freemason Lodge in the US, and we celebrated our 250th Anniversary at the end of 2014.  We had a big ceremony and dinner which was held in Congress Hall in Philadelphia.  Congress Hall is one of the halls within the Independence Hall complex."

"In order to cover the costs for this and raise additional money for charity I decided to make a PEZ dispenser to commemorate this anniversary / event.  The Brothers at the Lodge thought it was a good idea, as I actually had given a presentation on PEZ collecting in general to the Lodge months ago.  I got the PEZHead support for getting these made from a few people and will be sending them one of the dispensers.  Thank you to the Glihas, Maheba, Debbie Hanna, and Shawn Peterson."

"There are 3 different dispensers that were made and they are at limited numbers.  Final numbers still to be confirmed based on demand, mostly because I have orders already for most of the gold ones, but once final number are determined no more of these will ever be made again:

• There is a blue topped dispenser and comes with gold candy packs and 3 blue bands - currently 100 made (may bump this to 150) - These are being sold at $25 each (+ shipping)
• There is a purple topped dispenser and comes with purple candy packs and 3 purple bands - currently 50 made (may bump to 75) - These are being sold at $50 each (+ shipping)
• There is a gold topped dispenser and comes with blue candy packs and 3 gold bands - currently 25 made (may bump to 50) - These are being sold at $150 each (+ shipping)

"As with Freemasonry in general, the dispensers were crafted in a symbolic way.  Blue represents our Lodge as we are a Blue Lodge. Purple represents the collars we wear in our meetings and ceremonies.  Gold represents our tools being the square and compass.  And "3" represents the Lodge number."

"Lastly, there is a secret item within the dispenser which I will not divulge at this time and will wait for someone to find it!" 

Pictures of the dispensers / candy packs can be found at: http://gotdankpez.imgur.com/

"If you are interested in any one dispenser, a full set or would like to even make a charitable donation above and beyond the cost of the dispensers, please do contact me directly."

Thanks All,
Joe

"To be a Mason, Ask a Mason"

More 1970s PEZ on Cards

This is a follow-up to my post from last month.  Below are four more 1970's PEZ dispensers on cards that surfaced on eBay from the same seller as before.  It's fun to see the candy packs and simple packaging from four decades ago.

PEZ collectors are willing to pay good money for these.  The Snowman sold for the most at $58.75.  Tweety Bird was next and sold for $48.77.  Santa sold for $36.00 and Daffy Duck sold for $26.00.

 

Easter PEZ Piano 2015

For the holidays I like to display my PEZ dispensers on the piano for everyone to enjoy.  Below is my collection of Easter PEZ.  New to the collection this year is Bugs Bunny with painter's body parts, white rooster, and fantasy black lamb.

I'd been thinking about creating the black lamb for awhile after seeing Ivan's black lamb MOC for sale on eBay.  Btw, while seeing the movie CHAPPiE recently it made me happy they included the story of the black sheep.

One of these days I hope to add the yellow and green roosters to my Easter PEZ collection.

Happy Easter!

1970s PEZ on Cards

It's not very often you get to see 1970's PEZ dispensers on cards for auction on eBay.  However, a couple days ago there was a seller who had three available: Road Runner, Popeye, and Donald Duck.  Below are photos of them.  Popeye went for the most at $189.50 with 14 bids.  Donald Duck sold for $96.01 with 10 bids.  Road Runner went for $64.99 with 11 bids.

I appreciate the simple packaging back then and really like the dark green card for Popeye.  The back of the card is interesting in that PEZ dispensers are referred to as "puppets".  This must've been a marketing idea to try to appeal more to kids.  Does anyone know during what years the PEZ company was using this "puppet" term on packaging instead of "dispenser"?  Just curious.

Pezamania 2015 Dispensers

Here's a sneak peek of some Pezamania 2015 dispensers, which are in the latest newsletter.

The convention is in Cleveland, Ohio from Thu July 23 - Sat July 25 and this marks the 25th year, so it's gonna be big.  From what I understand, the hotels in the area are booking fast, so get on it and make your reservations if you are planning to go.

First off are the pucks...  Per the newsletter, "they will be available to purchase as a set for $80. Or you may be lucky and win one during the convention as a prize. There are 4 ‘cow’ pucks, A)ttendee, C)harity, D)ealer, P)rize and one Pezamania Kids Puck."  From the photo it looks like the pucks will have an embossed pin attached as done in the past couple years.  I'm a big fan of the puck PEZ dispensers, so I'll be on the lookout to buy one of these cow pucks.

Next up are the metallic witches...  Again per the newsletter: "When you send in your paid registration before June 1st, YOUR name will go into the raffle bowl for a chance to win a nice set of Witches !"  These are very cool looking and someone did a great paint job on them.

PEZcific Convention 2015

Well, another excellent PEZcific Coast Convention came to an end this weekend.  This was the 14th annual PEZcific and my 7th time attending.  In previous years I didn't take part in bingo, but this time I made sure to play.  Unfortunately, I didn't win any prizes, but it was still a lot of fun.  It was great talking to PEZheads Joe, Ivan, Bobby, Chris, Ron, Frank, Tina, Paul, and many others.

Below are some photos from this year's PEZcific adventure in case you couldn't make it.  Enjoy!

Outside the registration room

PEZcific 2015 Commemorative Convention Dispenser

Puck has 1/16 inch thick emblem attached (not a sticker)

List of dealers -- let the room hopping begin!

Gotta love the Pez4Fun dealer sign

Awesome vintage PEZ vending machine

PEZ sugar packets -- Prozac PEZ: Ready to be Happy

Prototype version of Power PEZ

Joe's rack of PEZ

Joe's bed of PEZ

Rare PEZ Gama Bank

Finger puppet, pocket knife, vintage in cello, clickers, and pen

Love those test crystal pumpkins

Amazing Wolverine tests and cool purple crystal Hello Kitty test

Minute to Win It -- go!

Set up as many Valentine's hearts as you can with text facing forward and include one mini per row

Minute is over -- count 'em up

Minute to Win It (part 2) -- Look at these for 20 seconds

In one minute write down as many as you can remember!

Bingo night begins

Massive bingo crowd

Aaron Lamay receives the PEZhead of the Year award

My mega bingo card -- only three away from blackout!

KISS PEZ art for auction -- very well done!