| April 2023 |
Thinking
Outside The Dispenser Since 2001
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Spring Loaded: A Message from the Editor | top Hello and Happy April from Pezhead Monthly! I'm still coming down form the high of last month's issue, which featured the song and video for "Pez is Love!" I'm also looking forward to checking out this "Spring" thing that all the kids keep talking about. It sounds like it has something to do with spring-loaded Pez dispensers, so you know I am all about that. Although I was unable to attend the Pez Informational Gathering (PIG)'s PIG4All convention in person at the start of this month (for reasons I'll explain in next month's Very Special issue), I did register as absentee. Knowing the convention host, Josh Bales, I am sure it was a fun time for all, filled with laughter, knowledge, and lots of Pez. I attended the last 2 PIG conventions, PIG Too and PIGPIGPIG, and really enjoyed both of these events. However, I will be attending the Virtual Pez Convention (VPC) on April 15, and I'll also be performing a brand-new Pez poem there. I have to say, it may very well be my wildest live Pez poem yet. I highly recommend that you attend this free online Pez gathering while registration is still open. It's a great chance to peek inside the Pez rooms of collectors from all over this land. Plus, there will be giveaways and a hearty round or two of Pez Bingo. Don't miss it! This month's issue kicks off with a cover image that celebrates the new "Super Mario Bros." movie by putting a Pezzified twist on its movie poster. And if that's not enough, check out this groovy animated version!
Also featured this month is a song I wrote and recorded for the PIG4All convention. While I could not be there in person, I hope that the song is able to capture some of the fun and excitement of being there. Rounding out this issue is a rundown of my many March scores, some Pez poetry, and lastly, a lone voice cries out from the Twitterverse. On top of all this, I'm already planning a fun issue for next month. You won't want to miss it! Thanks as always for reading Pezhead Monthly. Take care and see you soon! Joe Durrant 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.
Out in the wild, I found the "new" mini bunny with purple stem at Walmart. This mini dispenser has not appeared in stores before. Interestingly, the bunny head mold is a couple of generations old, and that's not counting the full bunny head molds that have since been added to the collection. It's a welcome addition for sure! I also picked up the March 2023 Costco Connection magazine, which has Pez dispensers on the cover, as well as a photo and details on a couple of pages inside, shown as part of the collection of Joel and Susan Bearce. From my Pez pal Topher comes 5 more custom painted Batmen for the Batcave. I bought these on commission, so I got to select the colors. I am very happy with how they turned out. Outstanding work as always from Topher! These are included in the group photo at the end of this month's score rundown, but here is a closer look.
From the Pez Outlaw himself, Steve Glew, I picked up 2 more Outlaw Pez: Jester Outlaw and Towel in Hand Outlaw. Those of you who may have seen the documentary "The Pez Outlaw" (currently on Netflix and other streaming services) may recall that Steve often has a paper towel in his hand to help with his anxiety. It's a very well-made piece, and props as always to Larry Mason for his craftsmanship! From folk artist Steve White comes a custom-made purple camera called the "Olympez". Steve built it using 15 pieces. And on top of that, it is an actual, functioning Pez dispenser! I love this thing, and it's one of the more unique pieces in my collection for sure. I am a big fan of Steve's unique style for custom Pez. From Pez.com, I picked up the Crystal Good Luck Care Bear. Despite being a Pez.com exclusive, it was available for a few days. (It has since been retired.) This seems to be the norm lately for Pez.com exclusives, as both the recent crystal Cheer Bear and 2023 Easter egg dispensers were available for a while (as opposed to the Mascots, which tend to sell out pretty quickly.) Just to be safe, I do try to grab the Pez.com exclusives as quickly as possible because hey, you never know. I also picked up another exclusive from Pez.com: the 2023 easter egg. I think I've only scored multiple Pez.com exclusives in the same month once before, for a few of the Mascots. Along with the egg came the 2023 version of Disney's Belle and the 2 new Gabby's Dollhouse 2-packs (Pandy Paws & Cakey Cat and Pandy Paws & Mercat). I am still leaning towards purging many of the 2-packs from my collection to save on space, and also since the individual dispensers are usually available separately. But at least for the time being, the 2-pack train keeps rolling along. From Walmart.com, I picked up a dispenser that came as quite a surprise to most of us in the Pez community: an official Bitcoin Pez dispenser! And it came fast: I learned about it on Wednesday and it was on my doorstep by noon on Thursday. Unfortunately, the shipping container was not a good one at all: a bubble envelope, which is definitely something to be avoided when sending Pez. It's a good thing I bought 2 of them: One card was damaged, but I will open that one. The other card is in decent enough condition to display still on card. Many others in the Pez community have been posting pictures of the terrible condition that their Bitcoin dispenser cards arrived in. You'd think for $30 each, these would have been sent with a little more care. Still, I am glad to add this to my collection. From Etsy.com, I scored a couple of neat 3D-printed Pez art pieces. The first is a Pez dispenser replica customized with "JOE PEZ" on the stem. This piece does not open or dispense and is a solid piece of plastic (well, 2 solid pieces counting the head). From another seller, I picked up an item in the shape of an orange candy brick with "PEZ" written on it. This will be a fun addition to my Pez room or perhaps my home office. From Funko.com came a welcome treat: a new POP+Pez dispenser! This is the Masked Freddy, which was released as part of WonderCon. This is cool for a couple of reasons. First, POP+Pez are very rarely released these days, as opposed to when they first came out. The last POP+Pez released was the Five Nights at Freddy's set, back in August 2022. Second, this is the first Freddy Funko POP+Pez that was actually in my price range! The previously released Freddy POP+Pez were very rare and thus went for much higher prices (and still do to this day). From a Facebook
Pez sale group that I am a member of, I picked up the 3 new European
brides with blonde, brunette, and brown hair (they were sold along with
the updated redhead bride and groom, which I already picked up a few
years ago) I also picked up another wooden replica Pez dispenser, known as the "Hoppy Easter" dispenser with a head in the shape of a mascot with bunny ears. This was from the same talented artist who made the Valentine's Day Mascot wooden replica dispenser that I picked up a couple of months ago. You can pick one up here if it is still available. And lastly, from a website called Sweet Vintage Tees, I picked up 3 new Pez t-shirts that I look forward to wearing to conventions, gatherings, and perhaps now and then to Kroger and Five Guys. From another website called Fine Art America, I uploaded my own Pez design for a couple of different colored t-shirts. What is the design, you may ask? All will be explained in next month's issue! Here is a picture of most of my March scores, except for the shirts. You can click on the picture for a larger view.
The 2023 convention season kicked off with the the fourth installment of the Pez Informational Gathering, also known as the PIG4All, in West Chester, Ohio. This convention took place from March 30-April 1. While I was unable to attend this most unconventional of conventions in person, I nonetheless wrote and recorded a song for it. For the song, I drew from my great experiences at the previous 2 PIG conventions, as well as some info that the convention host, my Pez pal Josh Bales, shared in the lead-up to the show. PIG4All attendees got to see this song first (and thanks again to Josh and anyone else who helped to coordinate making that happen). And now I am pleased to share it with you all here on the pages of Pezhead Monthly. The song is called "Gotta Love the PIG4All' and is to the tune of the Beatles song "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." Here is a video of me singing the song, followed by the lyrics. Enjoy!
Gotta Love
the Pig4All Been a Pez collector
for 3 years or so Pez for me, Pez
for you, Pez for all Packed up all the
Pez shirts that my bag would fit Pez for me, Pez
for you, Pez for all Met a new pal and
I traded Pez with him Hopping down the
hall to check another room PEZ FOR ME! PEZ
FOR YOU! PEZ FOR ALL! Hey they're giving
away a special soft head Donald Duck Thinking of the
mem'ries and the things I learned PEZ FOR ME! PEZ
FOR YOU! PEZ FOR ALL! And if you want
some fun…
Toad There once was a
Pezhead named Toad
A ram or a bull:
And finally, for some reason, the social media platform Twitter recently decided to set up an auto reply so that any inquiries to press@twitter.com receive an autoreply with a particular emoji that you may all be aware of. Fans of Dairy Queen may recognize it as the chocolate ice cream emoji. Anyway, in the process of somehow managing to avoid getting murdered by one of those self-driving, exploding Teslas, I recently sent an email to Twitter to ask a question that I think is on everyone's mind in these trying times. The response, while predictable, was also enlightening. Here, see for yourself!
Thanks a lot, Elon!
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