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

Welcome once again to another action-packed issue of Pezhead Monthly!

This issue comes at the heels of very Pez-filled summer, and a Pez-filled August in particular. In August alone, here are the Pez feathers I have added to my cap: I attended my third Pez convention- and my first ever MNPezCon- to put my total vintage Pez scores for the year at or well beyond overload. I scored a big win off of eBay- a Batman with a 3.4 patent number. And I received my first ever issue of Pez Collector's News. A word about PCN- as I have mentioned previously, this is the newsletter to go to for breaking news about Pez. It also boasts a lot of ads and classifieds from dealers and collectors looking to buy, sell, and trade all kinds of Pez. (In fact, I have even dedicated a poem to PCN in this month's issue.) If you have even a passing interest in Pez collecting, you owe it to yourself to subscribe to this bi-monthly paper publication. I am ashamed to admit that it took me more than ten years as a Pez collector to subscribe to PCN. I don't know why it took that long, it's just one of those things that I haven't gotten around to doing. You know, like throwing expired milk away, or voting, or shaving.

This publication, in contrast to PCN, is not one of breaking news, but rather literary tributes to the world of Pez. In fact, why the heck do I even call Pezhead Monthly a newsletter? I mean, seriously? I should really change it to "literary magazine" or something like that. But let's face it, given my previous track record, this will probably be yet another thing that I won't get around to doing for a couple of years. So, for now, "newsletter" it shall remain!

Now that I got that out of my system, on to the contents of this month's issue. First off, I offer some reflections on MNPezCon 11, complete with several pictures linked throughout the text. Then, find out what the future holds when I sit down for an exclusive interview with the Mystical Crystal Ball Pez dispenser. Also in this issue are the staple features of Pez Poetry and the Pez Almost-Quote. And rounding out the issue are a few Pez-related photos of the splendor that was August 2006.

Finally, I'd like to offer another reminder that the 2006 Pez Poetry Slam will be held exclusively in the November 2006 issue of Pezhead Monthly. Click here for details. So what are you waiting for? Let's get those submissions rolling in!

Thanks for reading and see you next month!

Joe Durrant
Editor, Pezhead Monthly
joe@pezheadmonthly.com

Reflections on MNPezCon 11 top of page | cover page

After my adventures at Pezamania 16 in July, I thought I was pretty much done with the Pez convention scene for the year. As it was, I had already taken my annual Pez pilgrimage to the next level by catching the St. Louis convention in June. And, let's face it, I invested a lot for some great Pez at those two conventions. But it turns out that, due to some last-minute planning, I was able to find the time and money needed to make the flight to Minnesota for MNPezCon 11. In the process, I made it to my third Pez convention in one year. It's a feat that I don't know I'll be able to repeat for a number of years, but it sure made for an adventure-filled summer.

As it happened, my flight out to Minnesota happened to be on the same day that the new flight restrictions took place which banned most liquids form being carried on board. While this resulted in some frantic last-minute repacking, I got through the flight with minimal hassle. True, I had to leave all my containers of Pez Juice behind, but these are the sacrifices one must make for a secure airplane flight. I don't know what I would do if some terrorist would get their hands on a carton of Pez Juice, but the idealist in me thinks that maybe it would fill them with such wonder and happiness that they would instantly abandon their deadly missions. Or maybe not.

So This Is Minnesota…

When I finally landed in Minnesota (for the first time, may I add), it occurred to me that this was the first time I ever hopped a flight to a Pez convention. Both Cleveland and St. Louis were close enough to make a road trip, but not Minnesota. I had to wonder, did taking this flight bump me up to the next category of Pez collector? Would it reveal me as an even more fanatical Pezhead? And was that even possible?

I decided not to stay at the convention's hotel, and instead took a good rate on the hotel right next door. This strategy proved wise, as I had more money for some really great Pez.

Not even an hour after arriving in Minnesota, I was already on my way to the Ramada where the convention was located. Looking back on it now, I can't say for sure that my feet were even on the ground. The sheer force of Pez very well may have carried me there. I'm just saying, it's possible

Thanks to the handy welcome sign picture, my first stop was the hospitality room, where I met the convention hosts and picked up my registration packet. It was the first time I met Dana and Juli Kraft, and I could tell right away that they put a lot of time and effort into the convention. Juli mentioned that they had taken over the convention several years back, and they really made the attendees feel welcome this year and I am sure in years past.

Admittedly, I didn't dive too much into the registration packet at first, although I did notice it was full of goodies, including a very nicely colored and designed convention t-shirt. But I knew why I was there, why I made that flight, why I abandoned my Pez Juice. It was the key aspect of any Pez convention: Hopping from room to room, seeing familiar faces and new ones alike, catching up on how things were going. Oh, and the Pez. Let's not forget the Pez.

Room hopping in Minnesota was not nearly as insane as I've seen it at Pezamania; there was really only one main hall of rooms open, on one floor. In a sense this was nice, because although the number and variety of dealers was smaller, the pace was a lot less frenzied. This gave me the chance to meet up with a lot of Pez collectors I had never met before, some who only go to the Minnesota convention and a few families who were experiencing their very first Pez convention. I also got to meet a great dealer/collector named Michael, who showed me his impressive collection of Mr. Uglys.

Beyond The Hopping

There were other highlights than room hopping, of course. The Thursday night trade party was fun, and actually marked the first time that I sold everything I came with. Granted, that still was less than 10 bucks. Note to self: next year, price things higher. Ah, but I jest. I only came to the convention with a few of the recent releases, including the two new Disney Princesses and a few of the very sweet Black Cats, the newest dispenser in the Halloween set.

The theme of this year's MNPezCon was "At The Movies" (and thanks again to the Krafts for supplying such unique items with the registration packet) and they showed a few movies on Friday. However, I chose to continue room hopping, as time was already getting short.

Friday night was another highlight, as always, with Pez Bingo. But before the big event started, an MNPezCon tradition took place: the costume contest. This year there were three contestants: one dressed up as a Mary Poppins Pez, another as Captain Hook, and another as one of the new Orange County Chopper dispensers- well, the head, at least. It really made the costume, because the guy looks just the OCC dude in question. Judging form the applause he got, the audience also thought so and he won the contest.

Pez Bingo then commenced, and I had the fortune to sit at the liveliest table in the whole room. I sat with some of the craziest and greatest collectors and dealers I've come across in the several Pez conventions I've attended. We laughed a lot, at times made idiots of ourselves, and at one point one of us was even scolded by the Bingo caller, but I had a very fun time to be sure. As an added benefit, it made my crushingly devasting Pez Bingo losing streak that much less crushingly devasting. Thanks Rick and Company, and thanks also for the inspiration for this month's Pez Haiku! Your check is in the mail, at least theoretically.

The post-Bingo party was also fun. I met up with some friends from previous conventions, and had my first Labatt's Maximum Ice beer since college (thanks to Red!). We also all chipped in for a raffle. I won a 12th edition Laspina Pez Price Guide, which further helped to ease the sting of my embarrassing performance Pez Bingo. And unbeknownst to one of the attendees, a collector/dealer named Kyle who's a well-loved member of the Pezhead community, all the money for the raffle was to go towards his first car. He and his mom were completely surprised and touched at the generosity of their fellow Pezheads. When I later asked Kyle what kind of car he was thinking about getting, he replied "anything that runs." I can dig it.

So long, 'Sota

As with all Pez conventions, Saturday came much too soon. I made the final trek to the convention hotel and picked up a few more things, including a pretty cool Crystal Elmo. I beheld a custom-made giant Snow White dispenser. I said goodbye to the friends I had seen and looked forward to seeing them again next time around. And I made sure to thank Dana and Juli Kraft for being such excellent hosts. And after just a couple of hours, I bid MNPezCon 11 adieu.

My Minnesota adventure wasn't quite over, however, and nor were my encounters with Pez. In fact I had about 7 hours to kill until my flight, so I decided to spend them at the Mall of America, conveniently located right across the street from the Pez convention. To describe this place as a mall does not do it justice. It is gigantic, with an entire amusement park located right in the middle of it, along with several cool stores and restaurants among the 500+ total stores (the Lego store, complete with a lifesize Lego Jango Fett, was awesome), as well as a movie theater (where I wasted more than 2 hours of my life watching "Miami Vice") and even a wedding chapel. Still, it had that familiar mall feeling to it… until I found two stores that sold, believe it or not, European and even vintage Pez!

I hadn't seen European and vintage Pez in a retail store since college, at the fantastic Candy Safari store in Niagara-on-the-Lake (the store, by the way, that was responsible for nearly doubling my Pez collection in the early years and got me that much more into the hobby). So to suddenly find them at a store, a mall store no less, was thrilling to say the least.

While the first store, Candy Candy, surprised me, its sister store, B Sweet, truly knocked my socks off. Its entrance was marked by two custom-made giant Pez dispensers, 12-15 feet each, Taz and Tweety (see a picture of Tweety here). Truly awesome. When I got into the store, I saw a curio filled with vintage dispensers, along with a couple of rows of carded European dispensers. I was shocked, however, at the prices. Their markup was typically at least 50% above John Laspina's price guide, and sometimes much more than that (as an example, the softhead Batman that I got at the convention was priced hundred more at this store). And ironically, the store also had last year's Laspina guide for sale! It just blew my mind. Still, I bet they get the occasional big spender there who will fork out the dough just to get a cool dispenser. If they have the money and the interest, then more power to them.

But I don't want to give the impression that I resented the store for doing that, it was just strange to see such high prices on dispensers I've seen for years for much less. Still, any Pez is a good Pez, and to come across those two stores really made the mall experience unforgettable. And I did get a few things from the stores, including 2 Pez shirts at $5 apiece (a deal you cannot pass up), and a blue 4.9 Batman on European card. All in all, it put a nice cap on a fantastic convention experience.

A couple of hours later, I was in the air, headed for home.

MY MNPezHaul and Some Parting Thoughts

It turns out that St. Louis and Cleveland did not completely deplete my Pez budget as I had feared, and I was able to get some really good additions to my collection at MNPezCon 11. The big piece was a Batman softhead, which I got a really good deal on. I also found a 3.9 Batman on a red stem, and counting my recent eBay win of a 3.4 Batman, that brings the number of Caped Crusaders in my collection to 17.

Other than the Batmans, I got a few other vintage pieces, including an Indian Chief and a Cockatoo. And it didn't stop there: some of the other cool dispensers I got were a crystal Tweety from the Back In Action set, an Unmasked Mr. Incredible (I am only missing the unmasked Dash from this set now), and a Hulk on a pink stem. I also got a set of the new Open Season dispensers and a neat DVD called Pez Universe, which features Pez history, trivia, and interviews with collectors. And plenty more. In short, MNPezCon was very good to me.

I really enjoyed my first MNPezCon and can definitely see myself going back there again. It gave me the chance to meet and talk to several Pezheads I had never met before, and it was not as busy or hectic as Pezamania could be. So will I return to Minnesota next year? I'd like to, but I'll have to see. For me, Pezamania has always been the one can't-miss Pez convention of the year, and anything else is just an added bonus. And I'd like to travel to a few other places next year, so only time will tell if I'll be able to attend MNPezCon12 next year.

For now, though, I can only look back with a smile at another fantastic Pez convention. Thank you, Minnesota, for carrying on the Pez dream.

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