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.
