August
was a pretty slow month on the Pez front for me, although my girlfriend's
father did surprise me by sending a Shop-Rite hauler (he didn't
even know that I was misisng that one, but he suspected it because
Shop-Rite is only out on the east coast). And, on the very last
day of the month, I visited my friendly neighborhood Walgreen's
and picked up the new Witch. I'm starting to see her everywhere
now, so chances are you'll see her too. Including, perhaps, on
the pages of next month's issue...
I
also added two new autographed Pez to my collection, which ties
in to this month's feature: a recap of my time at the 2011 Chicago
Comic Con, where I got to meet several great celebrities, of the
human and automotive variety. (Seriously, you haven't lived until
you've sat inside the Mystery Machine.). Also this month, I share
a recent picture of my current Pez display, which for some odd
reason keeps getting bigger and bigger. And, there's some Pez
Poetry and a groovy Pez Almost-Quote inspired by Ash from "Army
of Darkness." lastly, just in time for the new fall TV season,
this month;s cover image is a Pezzified picture of the cast from
"Community," one of my favorite shows.
Thanks
as always for reading, and see you next month.
This year,
although I have found Pez in new places, I have also returned
to many previous places and events that have brought me Pez scores
in the past, including St. Louis, Jungle Jims, and of course Pezamania.
The most recent
example of this happened this past month, when I returned to Chicago,
a great city that has brought me much Pez success in a variety
of places. In Chicago, I have gotten Pez on Kosher cards, I found
some Pez (and saw some Pezheads) at the Chicago Toy Show, and
just
last year I attended the 2010 Wizard World Chicago Comic Con,
where four celebrities were kind enough to autograph Pez dispensers
for me. The highlight of that show was meeting Adam West, who
graciously agreed to sign a Batman Pez dispenser that now lives
happily on my Batman shelf.
This year,
I returned again to Chicago Comic Con. Much like Pezamania, things
were less crazy this year than the first time around. However,
the event was still quite crazy, due mainly to the crowds, the
costumes, and the sheer concentration of pop culture. Just imagine
a place where various actors from Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, Willy Wonka, Star Wars, and many others were all present.
Not to mention a wide variety of professional wrestlers, famous
cars (The DeLorean! The Mystery Machine! Ecto 1! The Batmobile!),
comic book writers and artists, and stores selling comic books,
movies, action figures, t-shirts... wow, I am getting overwhelmed
all over again.
At least Pez
conventions have a bit more of a focus. That being, Pez.
But anyway,
back to Chicago. After waiting in a long line that, among other
things, got us a firsthand view of an Indian wedding (complete
with the groom riding a horse), my girlfriend and I finally made
it in to the convention hall. And, wouldn't you know it, one of
the first people we met was Mr. Lou Ferrigno. Although not a man
of many words, he was as cool and friendly as you would think.
And I was quite pleased when he agreed to sign a Hulk Pez dispenser
for me.
Here is a
picture of me and Lou Ferrigno. To be clear, I am the one on the
right. As you may notice, I was about to get attacked by Godzilla.
Good thing I had Lou there to protect me!
After meeting
with Lou, we met a whole variety of other people, all of whom
seemed glad to be there and to meet with their fans. I met Vivica
A. Fox, 80s pro wrestler Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake,
and the twins from the movies “Planet Terror” and “Machete.”
My girlfriend, a huge Monkees fan, met Peter Tork and even got
a two-armed hug out of him. She also met all of the actors who
played the kids in the original Willy Wonka movie. And we met
the great Christopher Lloyd, of “Back to the Future,”
“Taxi,” and many other films and TV shows (another convention
attendee had Christopher sign a hoverboard!).
One of my
favorites, though, was Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in 4
of the 6 Star Wars movies. Peter, like his character, is an incredibly
tall man, with huge hands. I knew this even though he was unable
to stand up due to a recent surgery. He was also quiet, but very
friendly. He was there with who I assume was his wife- she had
the same last name as him, so maybe she was his sister, or just
an assistant who coincidentally had the same last name. I told
them I was a Pez collector, which they may have gathered from
the fact that I was wearing one of my Pez shirts. I asked Peter
to sign my Chewbacca Pez dispenser, and he graciously obliged.
Here is a
picture of Peter and me.
On
a related note, here is a quick video tribute to a Chewbacca Pez
dispenser that I found on YouTube. It's not affiliated with Pezhead
Monthly, but I think it's pretty fun.
There were
a few people who I was hoping to meet, but it did not work out.
The first one was Bruce Campbell, one of my favorite actors (from
the “Evil Dead” movies and the current TV show “Burn
Notice”) and by all accounts a really cool guy. I was hoping
that he would be able to sign a Spider-Man Pez dispenser, as he
had memorable cameos in all 3 of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies
from the 2000s. However, the line to meet him was much, much longer
than I had anticipated, and you needed to have a special pass
just to be in that line. Hopefully I will meet him at another
event somewhere down the line (If you are on Twitter, you can
follow him at @groovybruce!)
Another person
I was looking forqard to meeting was Jeremy Bulloch, who played
Boba Fett in 2 of the original Star Wars movies. I was hoping
to either have him sign the other side of the Boba Fett dispenser
that Daniel Logan (Boba Fett in the new Star Wars movies) signed
at last year's Comic Con, or else maybe a different Boba dispenser.
As it turned out, though, Jeremy had to bow out of this year's
convention. Maybe next year!
All in all,
it was another great year at Chicago Comic Con. Although I did
not get to meet everyone I was hoping to, and it was still fairly
overwhelming, I was glad to meet the people that I did. Will I
return again next year? That will depend on who the guests may
be, but I would hope that I'd be able to make some time for it.
After all, it is just a few hours away from home.
Another nice
thing about returning to Chicago Comic Con this year was that
it allowed me to add to my collection of autographed Pez. Here
is a picture of all of my autographed Pez to date. Hopefully there
will be more to come!
(l
to r) Joe Cool Pez, signed by Henry Winkler; Black Cat Pez, signed
by Julie Newmar; Boba Fett Pez, signed by Daniel Logan; Hulk Pez,
signed by Lou Ferrigno; Darth Vader Pez, signed by Jake Lloyd;
Chewbacca Pez, signed by Peter Mayhew; Elvis Pez, signed by Donny
Edwards (Elvis Tribute Artist); Batman Pez, signed by Adam West.
Click the photo for a (much) larger version!
I've added
a lot of Pez to my collection this year, mainly from the three
conventions I've attended since April. But until recently, I haven't
had a chance to add many of them to my Pez display. When I finally
did, I was somewhat surprised to find that I am very quickly approaching
capacity. I thought I'd take a picture and share it, to show just
how deep the rabbit hole truly has gone.
(click for a larger view)
This is most
of my Pez collection; lots of other stuff is out in the front
room in my Pez curio.
When you take a closer look at the picture, You might notice that
while the first two bookcases are relatively organized by series,
that starts to fall apart over in the third case. This is because
I have found lots of additions to series I already had, but there's
no room to add them where those series are. Something tells me
that another round of reorganizing
may be in order soon.
You'll also
see that in this display, there's not a lot of room left for more
dispensers. What I think I will end up doing is moving my Pez
books and convention stuff, currently on the lower right shelf,
up to where that red box lid is. That box lid is filled with candy
from Pez that I free from their cards and bags. It's candy, quite
frankly, that I will never eat. So if I can move the books and
convention stuff up there, I can add one more dispenser stand
on that bottom shelf.
And when that
shelf gets filled up, as it inevitably will? I guess I'll cross
that bridge when I come to it!
Cooler temps
and changing leaves,
Time to wear the longer sleeves,
Go to orchards with your friends,
Autumn days are here again.
Find a pumpkin,
pet a spider,
No such thing as too much cider!
These days are yours, how long you've sought 'em,
Bring it on, another Autumn.
And best of
all, this harvest feast
Applies to Pez to be released.
Lord of the Rings? And Presidents?
Autumn days are here again.
The season
calls, yes, you are summoned,
Get ready for the Pez that's comin'.
Before you know it, you'll have bought 'em.
Bring it on, this spring-filled Autumn.
Pez
Haiku #123
Star Wars
on Blu Ray?
It's tempting, but I will pass.
Star Wars Pez? Sure thing.
The
Limit
When I put
my latest score
There upon the shelf,
“My goodness, that's a lot of Pez,”
I whispered to myself.
But then another
thought occurred
That caused a bit of stress:
So very little space remains
For me to show my Pez.
Another score,
or maybe five,
I think will fit just fine.
But too much more would overload
This Pez display of mine.
How did it
come to be this way?
How did I drop my guard?
Perhaps the three Pez Cons this year
May have played a part.
I don't regret
the Pez I have,
Oh no, not for a minute,
But I will need to rearrange
For I am near the limit.
