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!

Wacky Packages

As a kid I used to really enjoy Wacky Packages with their stickers parodying various consumer products.  As far as I know there are only three devoted to PEZ, which are pictured below: PEST, PREZ, and GPK (Garbage Pail Kids).  

My favorite is PEST with a cocoon instead of candy on the blister card.  Very funny (and gross).  It's also great the blonde haired boy is included because he is featured on the older PEZ cards.

If you happen to know of any other PEZ related Wacky Pakages, please let me know and I'll add them here.

2016 Pezhead for Life Fund Raising Calendar

Looking for a cool PEZ wall calendar with some great photos and artwork?  Well, now's your chance to get an amazing 2016 calendar.  Below are the images you'll see for each month.  

I bought the 2015 calendar at last year's PEZcific convention and have it proudly displayed in my office at work.  It's very professional looking and I highly recommend it.  I'm looking forward to buying next year's calendar in a couple weeks at PEZcific!

Below are the details posted to the PEZheads group by Steve and Sue Heraly.  Proceeds go to help fight cancer.  It seems these days we all know someone who has passed away from cancer.  So it's nice to be able to contribute in a small way to help find a cure.

"We are announcing, once again that we want to help raise money for the American Cancer Society in memory of Jerry Battenfield's brother Gary.  To do this, we have created another Pez Calendar for 2016. We will start selling this 12-month calendar at the Pezcific Coast Convention held in Los Angeles starting on February 19th.  We know this is quite early, but we wanted to give our Pezcific friends the chance to see the calendar in person and the opportunity to participate in this great cause."

"We want to help you recall how Jerry's Family and friends participate each year in the Relay for Life Event and are known as Rambo's Relayers. The event is held in Whitehall, PA. This team alone has raised over $60,000 since their first event was held in 2008. The Rambo's Relayers Team consists of about 15 team members who are family and friends of Gary Battenfield."

"The 2016 Pez Calendar will cost $15.00.  You can buy this Pez Calendar at any of the Pez Conventions (Los Angeles, Connecticut, Cleveland or ???). Or if you want one mailed to you, please e-mail Sue and Steve Heraly at suesteve@charter.net for specific details."

"We want to thank you again for buying this calendar to support the American Cancer Society. We have sold out of these calendars for the past three years.  You can always count on PEZHEADS for their fine support of worthy causes."

Bobby Acker's Crazy PEZ Variations and Tests

PEZhead Bobby Acker has an impressive collection of PEZ variations and tests.  Below are some of my favorites from his collection: Spongebob, Squidward, and Easter Bunny.  You can see these and more at his Crazy Candy & Collectibles Flickr page.

PEZcific Feb 19-21, 2015: Mark Your Calendar

Mark your calendar for the 14th Annual PEZcific Coast Convention in Southern California.  It's set to take place Feb. 19-21 (Thu-Sat), 2015 at its usual spot, the Manhattan Beach Marriott hotel.  Maheba Mehri is once again the PEZcific Hostess.  She does a great job with the convention each year and I'm sure 2015 will be no exception.

As you can see from the logo below, the 2015 theme is Wizard of Oz.  A quote on the PEZcific registration form reads "Follow the PEZzy Brick Road to PEZcific". 

I'm already looking forward to going.  This will make my 7th PEZcific convention.  Last year I registered and had a great time room hopping to visit dealers and attending seminars.  I missed bingo, though, so this year I plan on enjoying that too.  Hopefully I'll see you PEZheads Friday or Saturday at PEZcific!

Here's a video from PEZcific 2014 for you to enjoy.  It was filmed by Tara Telford, wife of PEZhead Paul Telford:

Die Cut Stems

In the early 1960's, the PEZ company created dispensers with designs cut out of the stem.  These designs revealed the color of the inner sleeve and are known as die cut stem dispensers.  I would love to see this technique used again in today's PEZ dispensers.  Imagine all the amazing and intricate detail possible with computerized die cutting machines now.  It'll probably never happen due to the extra manufacturing cost, but I can still dream!

The most rare of all the die cut stems is the Comet Regular.  The design has one large (shooting) star and three surrounding small stars.  Good luck finding one of these!  From what I understand, there is only one collector (Craig Robbins) known to own a Comet Ragular.  Check out this video of his collection from 1993 featured on Entertainment Tonight.

Not always included in the discussion of die cut stems is the Arithmetic Regular.  It is actually considered by some to be the first die cut stem dispenser.  Apparently, the Arithmetic Regulars did not sell well and were eventually given away as a mail-in premium.  It turned out kids preferred PEZ dispensers with character heads, not math tools! :-)  Note that the Arithmetic Regulars have two slots cut out in the stem, each having a sticker below it with numbers 1-9.  It is common to find Arithmetic Regulars missing one or both of these number stickers, as shown in the tan dispenser below.  The Arithmetic Regular is available in stem colors Blue, Red, Tan, Green, Yellow, and Orange (very rare).  Arithmetic Regulars can also be found with a key chain attached, as shown below.

Most commonly thought of as die cut stem dispensers are Bozo, Casper, Easter Bunny, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse.  Of these five, the Easter Bunny is the rarest and most valuable.  Casper is available with black or red inner sleeves.  Bozo and Mickey are available only with a red inner sleeve.  Easter Bunny and Donald Duck are available only with a yellow inner sleeve.

Currently, I don't own any PEZ dispensers with die cut stems, but I hope to one day!

PEZ Yearbook 2014

Interested in reading about fellow PEZ collectors and seeing cool photos of their collection?  Well then you definitely should check out the PEZ 2014 Yearbook.  You can preview the entire book or buy your own copy (6 inches by 9 inches).  The book is 148 total pages with 125 pages devoted to PEZ collectors (one per page) and 17 pages for PEZ conventions and gatherings.

One of the things I love about collecting PEZ is that it's international.  PEZ collectors from all over the world are represented in this yearbook.  Here's a breakdown of the collectors by country (16 countries):

USA: 95
Israel: 6
Canada: 4
Spain: 4
England: 3
Sweden: 3
Australia: 1
Austria: 1
Bahrain: 1
Belgium: 1
Croatia: 1
Estonia: 1
Finland: 1
France: 1
Indonesia: 1
Norway: 1

Each PEZ collector had the opportunity to include half a dozen photos of their collection and answer these 11 questions:

Name
Pez name
City, state, & country you live in
First Pez you owned
Your favorite Pez that you own
Favorite Pez you wish you owned
About how many Pez dispensers/Pez items are in your collection
How long have you been collecting for
How and why did you start collecting Pez
Any Pez awards or certificates or you have won or earned
Any other info you would like to include in your yearbook bio

Kudos to Aaron Lamay for organizing this project and releasing this fantastic PEZ yearbook!