Spring Loaded: A Message from the Editor top of page | cover page

How appropriate that this column is titled "Spring Loaded." After all, it is Spring, and I am loaded… with excitement.

This is partially due to a great discovery while on a recent vacation in Happy Valley, Kentucky. Not usually being blessed with the luck, or whatever it is, that other Pezheads have, I wasn't expecting much when I walked into that antique and collectible store. But lo and behold, I came across some great Pez finds. There were several older dispensers there, including a pumpkin, that are now the most recent additions to my collection. In other great Pez find news, I recently won an eBay auction for the new E.T. European dispensers. They are en route to me as I write this. So it's been a pretty good month on the collecting front.

And I'd say it's a good month on the Pezhead Monthly front as well. This month I am proud to announce a new addition to the newsletter: a comic strip titled "The Further Adventures of Petey O'Jay." Check out the strip's brief introduction for an explanation of Petey's name. While I don't expect to make Petey a permanent fixture at this point, I nonetheless welcome him into the world of Pezhead Monthly. I hope that he illustrates the point that Pez is fun (Get it? "Illustrates the point"? Ha ha?) Additionally, this month's feature ("Spring Into Pez"), explains some ways in which Spring and Pez are meant for each other. Rounding out the issue is an emotionally gripping Five Questions for the Lucky Charms Leprechaun Pez Dispenser, along with a Gump-a-riffic Pez Almost-Quote and some Springtime Pez Poetry.

Speaking of poetry, next month's Pezhead Monthly will be the first annual Pez Poetry Slam issue. Any and all submissions are welcome. You can send these submissions to my new e-mail address, joe@pezheadmonthly.com.

Who knows? You may be a poet and not even know it. See you next month…

Joe Durrant
Editor, Pezhead Monthly
joe@pezheadmonthly.com

Spring Into Pez top of page | cover page

The season of Spring once again arrives this month, and it gives us pause to consider how this is the ideal season for Pez. Why, you ask? Well, here are but a few reasons:

Rebirth

Are you a Pez collector, but have perhaps fallen out of practice or have stop collecting over these past few years? Here's your chance to reaffirm your love of Pez. Go to the store and pick up a dispenser. Check out your local flea market or eBay for a good sale. Remember that thrill you had when you first realized, "Yep, I'm a collector." What happened to that thrill? It's still with you; rediscover it. As the buds sprout on the trees, so does your love of Pez sprout from your mouth (notice how smoothly "Pez" rolls off your tongue), from your eyes (so many colors!), and from your hands (flip back that dispenser head. Feel the power!). I'd say you're long overdue for a Pez Renaissance. Spring cleaning Look in that closet when you're cleaning the house this season. Do you see any vintage Pez dispensers that you had as a child? Good! Now, send them to me here at the Pezhead Monthly offices.

Much like the chick emerging from its shell, let the Pezhead in you come out this Spring.

Just kidding. But by all means, put them on display in your own home! That's right, put away those beanie babies and coca cola bears. Put up that picture of Uncle Bart at the Grand Canyon. And really, hasn't that ceramic bust of John Travolta adorned your mantle for long enough? Let your Pez display be the centerpiece this season.

Now that's what I call cleaning house.

Warm weather

Now that the snow is melting away, you really have no excuse to not hit the pavement this season. So get in your car and do some exploring. Hit those highways and byways, check out what's on those back roads. Look for some garage or yard sales. Learn where at least one or two flea markets are in your area that you did not know existed.

Breathe in some fresh air, hit the open road, and Spring into the spring-loaded world of Pez.

Introducing Petey O'Jay top of page | cover page

Everyone needs a hero, someone who speaks to them and for them, someone who puts into words and actions their hopes, dreams, and fears. Well, he may not wear a mask and cape, he may not leap tall buildings in a single bound, and he may not have a secret identity, but Petey O'Jay is a Pezhead's hero. Pezhead Monthly is the exclusive source for catching up on his tireless efforts to bring Pez to this world, and to find it wherever possible.

(Petey O'Jay's name is derived from "PDOJ," which is an acronym for "Pez Dance of Joy," the dance that someone does when they've come across a new addition to their Pez collection.)

And now, without further ado, the debut of "The Further Adventures of Petey O'Jay":