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

Welcome to the debut issue of Pezhead Monthly, a newsletter dedicated to the noble hobby of Pez collecting. Starting up a newsletter is something I've always wanted to do, and as a big fan of Pez I am assured to bring not only my interest in the craft but also my enthusiasm for the topic itself.

First, a few words on what this newsletter is not. I don't intend for this newsletter to be a go-to source for the latest breaking news in the Pez world, such as release dates of new dispensers, convention dates, and things like that. If you're looking for that type of information, I recommend the fine newsletter Pez Collector's News (www.pezcollectorsnews.com) or the PEZheads Online e-mail list (www.pezlist.com). Also, Pezhead Monthly is not in any way affiliated with or endorsed by Pez Candy, Inc.

Instead, what I'd like for Pezhead Monthly to be is a monthly periodical featuring news, opinions, and literary pieces about Pez collecting. In the debut issue, for instance, I share some thoughts and pictures of my first Pez convention, Pezamania 11 in Cleveland, Ohio. Also included is an exclusive interview with the Homer Simpson Pez Dispenser, in a "Five Questions" format that I'd like to make a regular Pezhead Monthly feature. Finally, other pieces like Pez Poetry, The Pez Almost-Quote of the Month, and The Month in Pez provide different perspectives on Pez than you'd find elsewhere.

As this is the first edition of Pezhead Monthly, I am sure that the format may undergo some changes as time goes on. But I am confident that Pez collectors, fans, and others will eventually look to this newsletter as an information and entertainment resource about the world of Pez.

I enjoy Pez because it is a symbol of youth and fun, and it is also an essential part of American and world pop culture. I look forward to bringing "the treat to eat in a toy that's neat" closer to you every month. Welcome to Pezhead Monthly.

Joe Durrant
Editor, Pezhead Monthly
joe@pezheadmonthly.com

The 11th Annual Pezamania Convention: A World of Pez top of page | cover page

Having just returned from Pezamania 11 in Cleveland, Ohio, it's safe to say that I was completely overwhelmed by the experience. Never in my life have I seen, heard, and breathed so much Pez. I was quite literally like a kid in a candy store.

The first thing that I noticed at Pezamania 11 was that there is a whole world of Pez collectors out there. Sure, I had built up my personal collection to approximately 300 dispensers, and I had some idea of the history and depth of the Pez collecting hobby, but until this weekend I was largely a Pez island unto myself. The convention was really the first time I witnessed, shared with, and ultimately became a part of a worldwide Pez community. I met people from states as far as California and from countries as far as Holland and Germany. I noticed hundreds of people wearing the very same Pez t-shirts I was wearing. I saw license plates that read "ILUVPEZ." The one common bond we all shared was that of Pez.

Cleveland rocks, as Pezheads from all over the world experience Pezamania 11.

Along these lines, I also realized how the online world has made this community smaller and closer. As a Web designer and surfer myself, I know that the Web is a valuable source of information and that there are many Pez sites out there (including my own). But at the convention I was told of the PEZheads e-mail list (www.pezlist.com), through which global Pez collectors buy, sell, and trade Pez on a daily basis. This e-mail list is also used as an information source for new online and offline Pez sightings, from exclusive Web offers to flea market findings. A world of Pez, at your fingertips. Suffice it to say that one of the first things I did upon returning home was subscribe to this list. I am looking forward to using it as a valuable resource in my Pez collecting.

Then, of course, there was the Pez itself. I saw more Pez dispensers than I had ever seen in my life, and for the first time had the chance to see and even hold vintage dispensers like Snow White, Bullwinkle, Astronaut, Uncle Sam, Popeye, and the Psychedelic Eye. I had a look at some "fantasy dispensers," those created by individuals and not by Pez Candy, Inc. (including the famed Elvis Pezley dispenser featured in "The Client"). I also saw countless other Pez related items, such as t-shirts, advertisements, trading cards, and even a vintage Pez vending machine.

I realized very quickly that even though I had a lot of Pez dispensers and related items in my collection, it didn't hold a candle to what some others had in terms of both quantity and value of dispensers (besides an old lion Pez, the majority of my pre-convention collection consisted of more modern items). But there weren't any lasting feeling of envy or inferiority, rather a wonder and gladness that I was amongst fellow Pezheads. As one Pez collector told me, with so many Pez already in my collection, "there's no turning back now."

A 1970s Pez gun. Nice shootin', Tex!

I did get a chance to add to my collection as well. I rounded out several of my dispenser sets like those of Star Wars, Simpsons, and Pink Panther. I also bought a few older dispensers, including a Road Runner, a rare Smurf, and what is now the crown jewel of my collection- an orange Pez gun, otherwise known as a candy shooter. I spent an incredible amount of money on an incredible amount of Pez, and my only regret is that I didn't know of the convention any sooner, as I could have saved more money beforehand.

Pezamania 11 was a tremendously rewarding experience for me. In the course of one weekend I beheld more Pez and met more Pezheads than I ever knew possible. I anxiously await Pezamania 12, and although I'm not a convention "rookie" anymore, I will always possess the wonder and gratitude that, as long as the sun is still shining, the Pez is still dispensing.

Pez Almost-Quote of the Month top of page | cover page

"Ask not what your Pez can do for you, ask what you can do for your Pez"