Spring Loaded: A Message from the Editor
"Scores!" Says He: July 2023 (Non-Pezamania Edition)
Thank You (Again) For Flipping a Pez
Pez Almost-Quotes of the Month

Spring Loaded: A Message from the Editor | top

Hello and happy August from Pezhead Monthly!

The monumental Pez event that happened in July was none other than Pezamania 32! New hosts Morgan Rhinehart, Landon Proctor, along with their spouses and their whole team, really knocked it out of the park. I had a really great time. It was so nice to see my Pez pals again and I picked up more Pez at this convention than perhaps any other that I've attended over the past 20+ years. I'll have a lot more to say about it in next month's issue.

Meanwhile, the Pez convention train keeps on rolling. The 1st Northwest Pez Convention, hosted by Bob and Faye Tipton, will take place in Spokane Valley, Washington on August 17-19. Registration is closed for this convention, but there will be a public show on Saturday; see the website for details. Then the 10th Pez on the River convention, hosted by Cheryl and Sandy Gardner-Ghionzoli, takes place in Winona, Minnesota on September 7-9. Registration looks to still be open for POTR, but if that changes, the convention will also have a Saturday public show. So if you were unable to attend Pezamania in July, or even if you did attend, hopefully you can make it to one or both of these conventions!

This month's issue of Pezhead Monthly kicks off with a cover image that combines three of the biggest things this summer- the movies "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" (collectively known as #Barbenheimer because they opened on the same day) and, of course, the wonder of Pez. A huge credit is due to the UnAnything wiki page for their very well done Barbenheimer parody poster (caution- there is some coarse language on this wiki page), which provided about 98% of the content for this image. I just added a new title and a few other odes to Pez. There is also a rundown of my July scores, minus the avalanche of stuff I picked up at Pezamania, which I'll cover in next month's issue. Also, the video of my performance at the April 2023 Virtual Pez Convention is finally online and I have it for your viewing pleasure in this month's issue. And lastly, for the first time ever, this month's issue features not one but TWO Pez Almost-Quotes! I'm telling you, this changes everything. Or, maybe not.

Be sure to check out my Pezamania recap in next month's issue.

Thanks as always for reading Pezhead Monthly. Take care and see you soon!

Joe Durrant
Editor, Pezhead Monthly
joe@pezheadmonthly.com

P.S. Did you miss last month's issue? You can still read it here. To search the full Pezhead Monthly archives, hop on over to the archive page, where you can browse by feature, Pez Poetry Slam, or issue. There's also a Google search bar to help you search the content across the site. And hey, maybe you would like to submit some words, photos, artwork, or videos to Pezhead Monthly to be featured in an upcoming issue? That would be great! Check out the submission details here.

"Scores!" Says He: July 2023 (Non-Pezamania Edition) | top

Even without factoring in my cornucopia of Pezamania 32 scores, I added quite a few items to my Pez collection in July.

Let's start with one of the more interesting Pez licensed products I've ever seen, or at least one of the most unexpected ones. To many Pezheads' surprise, Pez teamed up with the company Glaxon, which offers a line of sports-nutrition dietary supplements. Yes, you read that right! The Pez line of products includes a shaker cup and 6 different varieties of pre-workout supplements, including 3 with the Pez lemon flavor and 3 with the Pez grape flavor. Each of the supplements comes with a package of Pez candy, and they range in price from $30-$55. That's a little pricey given that I am just interested in the bottles, but I did go ahead and pick up the much more reasonably priced shaker cup. It's currently sold out on the Glaxon website, but I picked mine up at GNC, so you might try your luck there.

I also added a new POP+Pez to my collection, which is a rare occurrence these days so I am quite excited when it happens. This one is a metallic Freddy Funko that was an exclusive at San Diego Comic-Con and also on the Funko website. It actually hit the website during Pezamania, so I and I am sure countless others at the hotel were logged into our laptops, phones, tablets, etc. I was excited to see the countdown… 8 minutes! 5 minutes! 3 minutes! And then, alas, my cart was empty, as it had sold out. Regardless, I ended up picking it up at another online store. The price was a little higher than I wanted to pay, but not at all what I'd consider outrageous. I've spent more for a POP+Pez before, but not too much more. I am glad to add this to my collection.

Next up is a fun item from my Pez Pal Topher, a cool and talented dude who has supplied me with so many awesome custom Pez in the past, including many of the Batmen in my Batcave. My newest Topher score is a Pez mascot customized to look like an alligator. I was chomping at the bit to get this one!

Another great custom piece I picked up in July was from Alex over at Random Skull. This is a red marbled skull dispenser. I love the unique design on this one! It will look great in my custom Pez collection for sure. Alex does great work and, although his store is sold out of these skull Pez at the moment, I may be tempted to add a different color if he ever adds more.

I also added a plethora of new custom swirly Batmen to my collection, again from Robert Samolewski. In last month's issue, I shared the 4 new swirly Batmen I picked up from Robert in June. Well, hold onto your butts because I added 11 more of these in July, bringing my total to an astounding 18! Every one of these are masterpieces and I am so thrilled to have them in my collection. Here is a picture of these wonderful works of art.

My final (non-Pezamania) July score was another surprise and quite a meaningful one. It came from artist Michael Herz, who as I explained in last month's issue, recently suffered along with his wife a devastating loss from a house fire, including 5 pets. (The GoFundMe page is still active, so consider donating if you can.) While I have not been in contact with Michael, he was apparently able to get some things in place and is in the process of rebuilding. Imagine my shock when I got the email, and then the package in the mailbox, which contained the latest in his series of custom Universal Monster pieces, The Wolfman. I had paid for this before the tragic house fire took place. I would have understood completely if he was not able to get this sent out, especially not so soon afterwards. But holding that Wolfman in my hands put a big smile on my face. To me it was a sign of hope and it made me happy because it showed that Michael was starting to get back on his feet again. I wish him and his wife the best for their continued recovery. And suffice it to say, should he choose to continue with the Universal Monsters line, I look forward to whatever comes next. I'm sure it will be outstanding!

Here is a picture of all of my non-Pezamania July scores. You can click on it for a larger view.

Thank You (Again) For Flipping A Pez | top

In the May issue of Pezhead Monthly, I recapped my experience at the April 2023 Virtual Pez Convention (VPC). There were room tours, giveaways, Bingo, and a chat with the Pez Outlaw himself, Steve Glew. There was also the only recurring VPC segment, which I am humbled to say is yours truly reading some of my Pez poetry. I am greatly honored that VPC hosts Landon Proctor and Morgan Rhinehart ask me to come back for each VPC.

I always try to keep these segments fun and memorable, because after all, that is what Pez is. For April, fresh off of attending a Golden Girls convention called GoldenCon with my lovely wife, the choice was clear.

And now, at long last, the video of my "Golden" April VPC performance is online, along with all of the other VPC segments. The delay is completely understandable, given that Morgan and Landon have also been very busy preparing to host this little thing called PEZAMANIA!

Without further ado, here is the video of my April 2023 VPC Pez Poetry Corner! I hope you enjoy it.

Direct link here

I've also made a YouTube playlist of all of my VPC Pez Poetry Corners to date, which you can check out here.

Pez Almost-Quotes of the Month | top

This month, for the first time ever, TWO Pez Almost-Quotes are featured in the same issue. And possibly also the last time ever? Ooh, the plot thickens. Also, be sure to check out the Random Pez Almost-Quote again and again and again.

Pez Almost-Quote #1

"Now I am become Pez, the dispenser of candies."

Pez Almost-Quote #2

"I'm a Pezhead, Dottie. A rebel."

RIP Paul Reubens. Thanks for Pee-wee and for everything.