| September 2023 |
Thinking
Outside The Dispenser Since 2001
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Spring Loaded: A Message from the Editor | top Hello and welcome to Pezhead Monthly! September brings us the start of Autumn, my favorite season. I am looking forward to cooler temperatures, changing leaf colors, and all the other good stuff that comes with the season. I covered some of this in the video for my Pez song parody "Wake Me Up For September Pez" from a few years ago. You can check it out here, if so inclined. And can I just say, what a wild time it is to be a Pezhead. Just over a month ago was the epic Pezamania convention, which I cover in considerable detail in this issue. Since Pezamania, and as of the time of this writing, there has already been three other Pez conventions and gatherings- the first Northwest Pez Convention in Washington state, the Slovenia Pez gathering, and the Vienna Pez gathering, all of which I hear were great times. And less than a month from now is ANOTHER Pez convention, Pez on the River in Minnesota, which will be marking its 10-year anniversary this year. Congrats Sandy and Cheryl! I'm sure it will be a blast. And rounding out September is the Swedish Pez Gathering. Wow! This all adds up to a lot of chances for Pezheads to get together. It's also a wild time to be a Pezhead because we were sent on an unexpected rush to a couple of stores to hunt for some new Pez stuff. This happens now and then and, to be fair, it comes with the territory of being a Pezhead, at least for those of us who still collect new stuff. This time, the hunt was on for 2 variations of Pez phone clips at Five Below and some orange Pez socks from Dollar Tree. I checked numerous stores in the area and came up empty at each and every one of them. I may try again down the road, we'll see. And hey, a big shout out is due to my Pez pal Brian Trauman, who now holds the Guiness world record for the world's largest Pez collection. Brian's collection count is 5,548 and I am sure it has grown since the record was set. He's a great guy who also won Pezhead of the Year a few years ago, and he's always willing to share information about Pez on his YouTube channel. Brian also alerted me to the Batman DC Comica error, which I discovered I actually had in my collection after taking a closer look. Congratulations on your huge achievement, Brian! I will say that August wasn't all peaches and cream on the Pez front. On the evening on August 11, 2023, I entered my Pez room to find one of my carded Batman Pez had fallen off of its display and was on the floor and open. The horror, the horror! At least this was a fairly common card, so I'll pick it up again down the road. Oh, and one thing that happened in July, but I forgot to mention in last month's issue: The documentary "The Pez Outlaw", starring the Pez Outlaw himself, Steve Glew, and available to watch on Netflix, is now EMMY-NOMINATED! It is nominated in the category of "Scenic Direction and Lighting Design" and its fellow nominees are "Wild Crime: Murder in Yosemite", "The Murdochs: Empire of Influence", "Homicide Hunter: Never Give Up", and "Inside the Mind of a Con Artist". Just between you and me, those other jokers don't stand a chance against "The Pez Outlaw"! This issue of Pezhead Monthly starts out with a cover image that Pezzifies the movie poster from "Back to the Future Part III" to celebrate Pezamania 32. I chose this movie because, much like Pezamania 32, it has a Western theme. The big feature in this month's issue is my epic Pezamania 32 recap, including my preparations, in-person adventures, and scores. There is also some Pez Poetry related to Pezamania 32, as well as a rundown of my August scores. 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.
From Pez.com, I picked up the new set of crystal Pezimals- specifically the giraffe, monkey, and elephant. These were new versions of the Pezimals that came out last year and are simply delightful. Unfortunately, they sold out pretty quickly. It's hard to tell which limited editions and/or online exclusives will sell out faster than others on Pez.com. The most recent Sourz Mascot was available for a couple of days and the Grill And Chill Burger is still available. But as I recall the crystal Pezimals lasted maybe a day. I was lucky enough to get them, and as a bonus I also picked up the newest Pokemon dispenser, the Poke Ball, which I was unable to find at Pezamania. From Glaxon.com, and with the assistance of a 20% off coupon, I picked up the Glaxon Electro Creatine Pez supplement (grape flavor). I will not be actually consuming this product, but rather emptying it and saving the jar. It will display nicely with the Pez shaker bottle I got in July (Link). I am not going to get all of the Glaxon Pez supplements, or any more of them for that matter. Some of them cost more than I care to spend, so this one should do fine. From Michael Herz, I picked up the latest in his series of Universal Monsters, Invisible Man. The details on this piece are incredible, right down to the sunglasses and the separate fedora. Michael has a real talent for crafting amazing Pez custom pieces. And lastly, I picked up a large group of dispensers off of Facebook in a single purchase, in what is commonly referred to as a "lot" (I wrote a poem about Pez lots a couple of years ago). There were over 200 dispensers plus other Pez stuff, some of which were a surprise to me. This included 100+ Batman Pez dispensers for potential craft/custom work. It also included some other cool stuff, such as a clown display header (which I did know about ahead of time and which was the primary draw for me), a Fireman porcelain hinged box (marking my first ever PHB score!), a Santa ornament (one of the few Hallmark ornaments that I did not already have), variations of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble that I did not have (check out the blue inner sleeve on Fred, which is in a Czechoslovakia stem!), some Pez keychains and truck variations that I did not already have, and the fashion accessories all the kids are talking about, the Pez necklace and bracelet. And yes, there were a whole lot of other common Pez and other Pez items in the lot that I already had. I sorted them into sets and put them aside for now. Down the road, I'll either use them for swag or custom projects (along with the many rolls of candy that they came with), or try to offload them online or at a Pez convention for fire sale prices (or lower). All in all, given the new stuff that I got plus the Batmans, I am satisfied with the price I paid for the lot. But I don't think I'll be going for another lot again anytime soon. Here is a picture of all of my August Pez scores. You can click on it for a larger view.
What follows is a rundown of my preparation for Pezamania, some thoughts (okay, lots of thoughts) on my adventures at the convention itself, and some words and pictures of the scores I brought home with me. While this is a very comprehensive recap, it's really only part of the story. Each Pezhead's experience is different, awesome, and unforgettable in its own way. I hope everyone who attended Pezamania had as much fun as I did, or even more if that's possible. So saddle up, partners,
it's time to ride out! Before any Pez convention, there is some level of preparation needed by attendees. For Pezamania, the grand-daddy of Pez conventions, there is a lot of preparation. The below will give you an idea of mine. The Pez photo project I undertook earlier this year showed gaps in my collection, including new releases I did not have yet, missing pieces to round out a set here and there, pieces in collector sets that I wanted extras of to display with my other loose Pez (such as the first Scooby Doo set), and pieces that were damaged. So this year I tried something different ahead of the convention: I put together a wish list and shared it to the Pezamania Facebook page. This allowed me to connect with people who had these pieces and could bring them for me. It also allowed me to set aside money for these scores ahead of time and helped with budgeting for the convention. Then it was just a matter of finding the sellers at the convention and paying for my newly acquired Pez items. This worked out really well for Pezamania and I will definitely consider doing this again for other Pez conventions moving forward. I might also share a sell list in the future to cut down on stuff I bring to sell out of my room, and to make sure that what I bring will be what people are looking for. As I think many who sell out of their rooms at Pez conventions can relate, a good portion of stuff we bring consistently comes back home with us year after year. And especially after this year, I am quite tempted to put a lot of my stuff on a fire sale (including perhaps many of those 2-packs once I finally decide whether I want to keep them). The biggest preparation that I did for Pezamania was, once again, creating swag. As with the past 2 years, I started out with a new version of a customized coin with a picture and year on one side, and a Pez haiku on the other side. Two years ago, the picture was the Pez clown that has made an appearance on the occasional Pezhead Monthly cover image. (For those who don't know, that is actually a photo of me wearing a Pez clown mask.) Last year, in keeping with the superhero theme, I put the Pez clown behind Batman's cowl. This year, I replaced the clown's standard blue top hat with a cowboy hat. Who knows what next year's coin will bring? For my Pezamania swag, I've also been adding an extra something besides just the coin. This year marked a first for me: making a customized Pez dispenser for my swag! The concept I had in my mind was fairly straightforward: add "pezheadmonthly.com" to the stem and a cowboy hat to the head. And, with my plethora of extra Pez lying around, I was already halfway there! Sounds like smooth sailing, right? Unfortunately, there were multiple speed bumps along the way. To start out, I bought a customized stamp for the stem printing. While I was able to apply the stamp successfully, I soon realized that the ink would easily smudge 2 minutes, 2 hours, overnight… even days later, as shown in this photo. Clearly, I needed a new approach. So instead, I chose to make labels to print and affix to the stems. This involved a lot of trial and error to find the right size, lettering, and so on. And once I printed the labels, it involved a fair amount of scissor cutting (inevitably, every time I make swag it ends up involving lots of scissor cutting). My wrists felt that familiar pain after all that cutting, and that's a darn shame because they need to be in decent shape so that they can be flipping Pez! But in the end, I must say that it worked out pretty well. There were only a few accidents with the labels (either with my cutting or with applying to the dispenser), and I was able to put the labels on any color of dispenser (as opposed to the stamp, which only worked on lighter colored dispensers). And I have extra stem labels for future projects too! As for the cowboy
hat for the head… that proved to be a considerably greater challenge.
The good news is that Amazon happens to have a nice variety of small
cowboy hats that fit perfectly on Pez dispensers! I bought a single
bag to test it, and once I confirmed they were a good size, I bought
more bags. Interestingly, when it came time to swap swag with other
convention attendees, a few others also used these same hats, including
one fellow who also added the hat on a dispenser. He
did a great job and even added hats and boots, which was a really
nice touch. What I quickly learned, however, was that these cowboy hats only fit on certain Pez dispenser heads. Emojis, Funky Faces, or anything with the ball mold proved to be a great fit, as did a few others, such as Blues Clues dispensers or Tikki from the Miraculous set. On others, the fit was okay but not great, or else a complete mismatch. The problem is that the extras from my collection that I was using for the swag were a mix of pretty much everything, and I saw pretty quickly that my target number of 60 dispensers would not be met with the dispensers I had on hand. So there I was at Market District, desperately rifling through the racks trying to find good candidates. Let me tell you, they were few and far between and I am sure I was getting lots of odd stares because I was there for quite a while. After finally finding 30 or so dispensers, I made my way to the self checkout and heading straight back home Back at home, the next step was to glue the hats to the heads. I used Gorilla Super Glue, which seemed to be pretty effective, until I banged my leg on the table a few times, each instance causing the dispensers to fall over and in some cases for the hats to fall off. So I would need to apply glue again and again, and in some cases it just would not stick. In particular, the glue on the Iron Man and Black Panther dispensers seemed to be okay, but would end up just not holding up that well. Another problem was that in some cases the glue had spilled down a bit below the hat and was quite noticeable. In a few cases I was able to clean the dispensers up but in most cases not. Although there ended up being multiple casualties, eventually I had a solid 60 or so. Here is a picture of most of them lined up.
The final step was the "assembly line" one, where I put a coin, a dispenser, and a small card explaining the swag together into a sandwich bag. I then packed them into 3 root beer bottle boxes, which had the advantage of having dividers in them to keep the dispensers from knocking into each other and risk the hats falling off. To be extra careful, I also wrapped each bag loosely in bubble wrap. Despite all of this, a few more dispensers were sacrificed (de-hatted) along the way. All in all, the modified dispensers made for a fun swag experiment, but I doubt I will be doing it again anytime soon. Creating and applying the stem labels was not so bad, but the amount of time and money spent for the new dispensers and attaching the hats was considerably more than I had anticipated. I tip my hat (figuratively and literally) to the others who make many custom dispensers for swag swap, and do it so well. So, with my wish
list put together, I loaded up my car with my swag, stuff to sell out
of my room, and other stuff such as clothing, tech, etc. thrown into
Wegmans bags (since a suitcase would not have fit in my car this year),
and hit the road for Pezamania. FIXIN' TO GO! | HOWDY PEZAMANIA! | THE LOOT! YEE-HAW! | HAPPY TRAILS! I've been recapping my adventures at Pezamania (and other Pez conventions) since 2001, and I'll probably continue to do so as long as I attend these conventions. I pretty much always give a day-by-day, event-by-event rundown. This year, I'm going to break down the big show in a bit more of a non-linear way, because hey, why not. So here are some notes on various parts of Pezamania 32 that will stick with me the most. Some of these are mainstays of this beloved convention and some are new or re-imagined pieces that may perhaps carry over into next year. Room Sweet Room It's always a good feeling when you open that hotel room door for the first time after hours on the road. At Pezamania and other conventions, for those of us who sell out of our rooms, there is a second big moment of relief: when we're all unpacked and set up, and ready to welcome people into our rooms for room hopping (or to venture into the hotel for some room hopping of our own). This year's setup went a bit smoother than it usually does, thanks to the prep work I put in for packing everything up and to the time I spent putting together a price list based on John LaSpina's price guide. Ultimately, even though I did not bring that much with me, it still took a while to unpack, but that's okay. I am constantly amazed when I walk into some of the bigger dealers' rooms. How long does it take them to set up? How do they make such good use of their space? And for the love of God, where do they sleep? This year, I made use of my Moto Z4 Moto Mod projector to project the Pezhead Monthly logo on the wall. I also set up boxes with free Pezhead Monthly coins that previously appeared as part of my 2021 and 2022 swag. Next year, the 2023 coins will join the party. I also made, printed out, and added to the wall this Pezzified version of Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday from "Tombstone." It's a subtle nod to arguably his most famous line from the movie. Can you spot it?
And for a final touch, I added a Bon Jovi picture to one of my photo frame dispensers in front of a magic button which, when pressed, said "I am a cowboy! On a plastic stem I ride! A Pezhead for life!" (which also happened to be the Pez haiku on the back of my 2023 Pezhead Monthly coin that was part of my swag, and is in the Pez Poetry feature later in this issue). Hopefully those folks who noticed the button and pushed it got a kick out of it. I also posted a
new Pez song parody outside my door. In keeping with Pezamania 32's
western theme, I wrote a Pez song parody called "Friends on Bookcases,"
which is a send-up of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks.
I had a rough outline for this song dating back a couple of years, but
I finally put it together at Pezamania, printed it out in the hotel
business center, and taped it next to my hotel door. Here is that song,
which is also available in the Pez Song
Archive.
The Pezamania 32 Registration Box It's a fact: Pez
convention attendees are spoiled by their hosts. At the convention,
this begins with the moment they arrive to pick up their registration
packs. There is pretty much always a cool new dispenser, a t-shirt,
a convention agenda, and some other goodies like pins, stickers, or
other stuff. I am always grateful for these packs. I've seen the pictures
of convention teams assembling the packs, and I can only imagine how
much time and effort it takes to put them together, especially for Pezamania,
the largest Pez convention in the world. So when I receive my convention
pack, I know I hold in my hands a labor of love. But it was the extra touches that put this year's convention box over the top. Let's start with the incredible DOOR STOP! On it surface, this was just a basic door stop. It did not have a fancy Pezamania logo or unique design, and it may seem odd for me to be singing its praises here. But for those of us who sell out of our rooms, this was such an awesome and thoughtful thing to see when we opened that box. Hotel room doors will close on their own, and loudly. Over the years, we've come up with makeshift solutions, such as attaching multiple hangers in a chain from the clothes rack to the door handle. But the door stop is so simple and so perfect. Yes, I could have bought one on my own before the convention, but it's one of those small things that's easy to forget to do. Now that I have one thanks to Pezamania, I will make a point to bring it to every convention from now on! And yes, that was an entire paragraph about a door stop. One hundred and seventy-four words and zero regrets! The Pezamania box also came with a nice program that included a welcome note from the hosts, an agenda and breakdown of events, and some info about the convention charity, Gliding Stars of Toledo, OH. There was also a "Pez Fun" page that included a crossword puzzle as well as a Pez poem by Yours Truly titled "Wild Wild Pez." You can also read this poem in this month's Pez Poetry feature. And last but certainly not least, Pezamania attendees who registered as premium got an extra treat in their convention box: a sugar cookie decorated with icing, in the shape and design of a vintage Pez cow! This cookie was made by Morgan's college roommate and it was delicious! Thanks again to the Pezamania team for putting together such a wonderful registration box. The Side Quests There are certain establishments that over the years have become part of my Pezamania experience, even if they may not have that much to do with Pez in particular. I am sure that other Pezheads have their own local places that are must-stops every year. For example, across the street from the hotel and up on the hill, with a light shining down on it from up above, is my favorite restaurant in the area, The Winking Lizard Tavern. Their food and service are always top notch, year after year. They've got free popcorn and Freestyle Coke, and they've also got bendy straws. This year may have been the first one without the famous iguana in the front waiting area, but it was still great. After a mishap at Outback Steakhouse that I'd rather not get into, Winking Lizard came in clutch with a pizza and some garlic bread. That dinner, along with the same 7 or 8 Tony Bennett videos that played again and again, provided the perfect ambiance for me to pack up my room and scores on Saturday night. But the side quests are not all about the food. There's also BA Sweetie, a large candy warehouse about 15 minutes away from the hotel. I sing this place's praises every year, and this year was no different. Actually, it was even better than usual because I was able to find some Pez among its vast selection that I did not have yet, or at least did not look hard enough for while room hopping at the hotel. These included the LOL Surprise dispensers, series 3. I was pleased to discover that, unlike the first 2 series, series 3 dispenser heads are not hidden inside mystery boxes (admittedly, defeating the "Surprise" purpose, but also saving Pezheads time and money when looking for them). I was even more pleased to discover six of the nine series 3 dispensers at BA Sweetie and to then add them to my cart, along with some other treats. Granted, the three series 3 dispensers that were not there are the hardest to find, in the "Super" category (Snow Leopard, Snow Jamz, and Luxe), but that is a Pez hunt for another day. I am also pleased to report that one of my favorite lunch spots, just a short drive from BA Sweetie, The Hot Dog Diner, now has dine-in service again. For the past couple of years, due to something that rhymes with "Shmoronavirus," this hot dog joint only had the option for drive-thru, and then dining outside on picnic tables. Not bad, except for the nearby road traffic and the sometimes icky weather. But now that they've opened their doors again, it's great to be back. Wiener, wiener, hot dog diener! (Or in this case, lunch.) And the biggest side quest of them all, about an hour and a half away from the Pezamania hotel in lovely Erie, PA, is the grocery store Wegmans. Having grown up in western New York, and having worked at Wegmans in my teens, this fantastic store holds a special place in my heart. I do not have the chance to return to my hometown of Rochester as often as I would like, but a Saturday road trip to Erie after the Saturday ballroom show at least scratches the Wegmans itch for a while. I stock up on Zweigle's hot dogs, Wegmans chocolate cookies, cheeses, pastas, and more. And when I get back to my Pezamania hotel room, the refrigerator has ample room to store everything until I toss it in my cooler the next day for the drive home. This is the third year that I've made the trip and I am already looking forward to it next year! The Food Truck! Yes, there are plenty of side quests to be had at Pezamania, but let's not forget the home base: the Pezamania hotel, Holiday Inn Independence. This is where all of the Pez fun happens, where we take in all of the Pez we won't see anywhere else, and hang out with our Pez pals. The Pezamania team came up with a great way to keep us close to the action: a food truck! Specifically, they arranged for the CLE Chicken food truck to stop by near the hotel ballroom around lunch time, Thursday thru Saturday. The food truck's menu included chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, hummus, corn dogs, and more. I had the chicken tenders and fries on Friday and they were delicious! Thanks to the Pezamania team for coming up with this great idea. It kept us close to everything, and as a bonus it kept us from going back into the volcano-temperature interior of our cars and possibly losing a choice parking spot! I hope the CLE Chicken food truck can return next year and/or bring along some fellow trucks to join the party. Friday Night Game Night The centerpiece of Pezamania, at least as long as I've been attending since 2001, is the Friday night game night. Other events like Pezamania Wars or seminars may have very good turnouts, but Friday night the ball room is THE place to be for everyone. Attendees file in and sit in circular tables that sprawl across the ballroom as the convention hosts take to the microphone to give a countdown to the start of the big event. I walked in with a Pezzified light-up cowboy hat to keep with the convention theme of the Wild Wild West. I also started out with some cactus sunglasses, which turned out to be not so great as I could not see where I was going. I quickly got rid of those. On top of the fun games, there are giveaways, auctions (silent and otherwise), and surprises along the way. Some folks have a set group of friends they sit with year after year, and others wander in for the first time. There's always an open seat for everyone, and I got to sit with some people I knew and some I didn't, including one woman who was attending her first Pezamania! I am grateful for my Pez pal Karen, who once again saved a seat for me on Friday night. And an even bigger thanks is due to Karen for her kindness and generosity in getting delicious pizza for the table a bit later in the night. Thanks so much, Karen! This year's game night was a mix of things both old and new. It moved along at a nice, steady pace, neither dragging late into the night or ever really feeling rushed or half-baked. It was clear that a lot of thought and prep work had gone into the event, and that the hosting team was willing to try new things to see what worked and what did not. One of the new things this year that I really liked was a couple of large screens set up on either side of the ballroom. This allowed for a more audio/visual dimension to the evening, and kept us more engaged as it played a part in various pieces of the night's event. New hosts Morgan Rhinehart and Landon Proctor, flanked by their spouses and other members of the Pezamania team, kicked the Pezamania 32 game night off by thanking previous hosts Rick and Sue Marlowe and team for their guidance and support. They also thanked the new team for this year's convention for all of their hard work. Then, after a solemn moment of remembrance for Pezheads we lost since the last Pezamania, we were off to the races. We kicked things
off with a feature that would end up recurring through the night: a
"Family Feud" style game, where tables would compete against
each other to guess what the most popular answer was to a given question
about Pez. This was the payoff to a survey that Morgan sent out earlier
in the year that asked these questions. At the time, we didn't know
what it was about. So it was quite nice to see how it played out on
Friday. And, much like the convention registration box, it's also a
good example of how much thought and planning went into the convention.
And for those wondering, our table came close but did not win any of
these rounds. We came close and were in a runoff in one round, but in
a classic case of flying too close to the sun, I vastly overestimated
the amount of responders for the question and sunk the boat. Apologies
again to my table! Also recurring throughout the night was the Matchamania game, which is similar to bingo except that cards are drawn from a deck instead of numbers from a bowl. (I wrote a poem about it in a previous issue.) And yes, my multiple-year losing streak keeps rolling along, but my Pez pal Karen, who sat right next to me, actually won the first game! The prizes this year were set up differently. Each one was in a bag and was not visible to the winner. In some cases the prize was a special prize dispenser, in some cases it was cold hard cash, and in some cases it was something completely different. Keeping with the western theme, some people got actual gold and silver! For the final prize, the bag was hidden under the host table and was huge. It contained all kinds of goodies that went to the lucky winner. There was also some time spent talking about the Pezamania charity, Gliding Stars of Toledo, OH. This is a great charity that allows kids with physical or mental disabilities to get out on an ice rink and skate. It pays for their skate time, equipment, and other related expenses. The leaders of the charity came up and provided an update. One nice new addition this year was that each of the game night tables had a few copies of a program from the show that was held by the group back in March. It was a great way to keep the charity front and center throughout the night. Once again this year, Pezamania's Friday Game Night was the time and place where the new Pezhead of the Year (POTY) was announced. The POTY is an award given to a member of the community who takes their love of the hobby to a new level and who gives back to the community and makes it a closer, more inclusive, and happier place to be. The award is nominated and given out by previous year winners, including last year's POTY, outgoing Pezamania convention host Rick Marlowe. This year's winners were none other than current Pezamania hosts Morgan Rhinehart and Landon Proctor! As noted by the POTY group, Morgan and Landon brought us some much-needed relief in the form of the Virtual Pez Convention (VPC), which started during COVID as a way for Pezheads to get together, even if we could not do so in person. It kept the community's spirit high at a time when no other conventions were able to do so. In doing so, it also added a new dimension to what a Pez convention can be, by bringing us into the Pez rooms of collectors all over the country and the world. And all of this is in addition to the outstanding job that Morgan and Landon did for Pezamania 32. What a well-deserved honor this was! Congratulations to our newest POTYs, Morgan and Landon! Right before the last Matchamania game, we were all finally allowed to open up the mystery envelopes that were on our tables. Inside each of these envelopes were an assortment of flags from around the world. As we all started waving them. Landon and Morgan announced the theme for next year's Pezamania: THE OLYMPICS! This was quite a surprise. This year's Wild West theme was announced shortly after last year's convention, but I can't remember ever learning of the next convention's theme when the current convention wasn't even over! This was another clear example of how much thought and planning went into everything. It was just incredible. After the last Matchamania game took place, it was all over… that is, except for the silent auctions, which closed 10-15 minutes afterwards. I had bid on a few things earlier in the night and was outbid a few times on each of these auctions, but in the final seconds before the auction closing (literally as Landon was counting down from 10), I snuck past my Pez pal Rusty, who had outbid me on a Sweets and Snacks cupcake, to put in the winning bid! It all evened out because Rusty also outbid me on the Mystery Mascot with NCA 2020 logo. Here is a picture of the two of us just moments after the auction closed.
Oh, and one last note about Friday Game Night. Thanks mainly to this night but also to the whole convention, an enormous amount of money was raised for Gliding Stars of Toledo, OH. How much money, you ask? According to Morgan, this year Pezamania raised a record-breaking $37,509! Amazing! Some Other Random Thoughts
FIXIN' TO GO! | HOWDY PEZAMANIA! | THE LOOT! YEE-HAW! | HAPPY TRAILS! Between the brand new pieces I added to my collection and the extras of my existing pieces that were either in collector boxes/cards or damaged, it's safe to say that my Pezamania 32 haul was without a doubt the biggest one I've ever had in my 22 years of attending Pez conventions. The big highlights included 2 new vintage pieces that had been on my radar. These were the Duck with Flower and the Panther. I love these guys and they are already welcome additions to the vintage display in my Pez room. I am pretty sure that this does complete my vintage animals (with the goal of having at least one of each), but there are so many fun variations that I could easily add another 2-3 of them every year without breaking the bank too badly on them, if so inclined. I also picked up 3 highly collectible recent carded Pez: the Mystery Mascot, the Mystery Mascot with NCA 2020 on its stem (which was given out exclusively at the 2020 Sweets and Snacks Expo), and the Cupcake (which was given out exclusively at the 2022 Sweets and Snacks Expo). The two Sweets and Snacks Expo dispensers were sold to the Northeast Pez Convention attendees at a special low price when they attended the Pez Visitor Center as part of that convention. While this may have caused the value of these dispensers to drop, I was glad to finally have a chance to pick them up at a decent price. And yes, this is the same Mystery Mascot with NCA 2020 on its stem that my Pez pal Rusty outbid me on at the Friday night silent auction. I was very happy to find it for a great price at the Saturday floor show. On the Batman front (and yes, there is pretty much always a Batman front), I picked up a black Batman A on a 3.9 yellow stem. I previously thought that I had this one, but I learned that the stem country and IMC number of 6 revealed it to be a stem swap. This one has the correct IMC number or 5, and no country- just like my 3.9 all black Batman A. I also picked up a Dark Knight Rises Batman POP+Pez with customized lighted eyes from my Pez pal Jeff. This is the second version of Batman with light-up eyes that I've received from Jeff. Here is a picture of both of them! I also got a second Batman POP+Pez, also customized, in this case bedazzled by the talented artist and fun person, Laura Teasley, with whom it was a pleasure to chat. And lastly, I got a photo of Batman along with other superheroes from the talented photographer Cam Art. Not a bad Batman Pez haul this year at all! From the Pez Outlaw himself, Steve Glew (and his collaborators Larry Mason and Tina Gunsauls), I picked up the UFO (Unidentified Flying Outlaw) and a custom film projector Pez with "The Pez Outlaw" on it. From my Pez pal Joe WHAT!, I picked up the brilliant invention known as the "Pez Wedge," which is designed to prop open Pez dispensers. This comes in handy when displaying autographed Pez, for example, which are typically signed in the inner sleeve. The ones that I picked up will be placed inside the 2 signed Batman dispensers in my Batcave (Adam West and Kevin Conroy, RIP to both), replacing the rolls of chocolate Pez candy that are currently being used to prop them open. As far as newer stuff, I picked up some pieces from Europe, including the Playmobil set, the 2022 Emoji set, and new additions from My Little Pony and Peppa Pig. I also picked up a few other older dispensers from the 1990s, including variations of Tom and Jerry and the Shell Boy that I did not already have. And I added to (and in a few cases rounded out) out some of my other sets, with additions of NASCAR and promotional haulers, crystal Bugz, the silver Mystical Crystal Ball, and the Sasha Bratz dispenser with yellow eyes. Oh, and I finally picked up those elusive Easter plushes that I was never able to find at Walmart this year. And for good measure, I got a custom stand to hold non-footed dispensers. I am not sure what I'll do with that yet. but I suspect I will find a use for it somehow! And last but not least, I picked up the very well done 2 Pezamania 32 dispensers (attendee and premium) in my registration box. Here is a picture of just the new stuff I added. It includes the Series 3 LOL Surprise dispensers I found at BA Sweetie, but it does not include loose versions of pieces that I previously only had in collector boxes or on card, and replacements for broken or damaged pieces. Factoring in all of these, this brings my overall Pezamania dispenser score count to about 60!
In addition to these scores, I also got lots of swag that was traded for my swag set as described earlier in this article. The below picture shows my swag haul. While I am grateful for and impressed by all of the stuff I got from people who I know put lots of time and effort into their creations, this year's standouts include a westernized R2D2 from Rory, a really cool customized topper of a bull skull from Tom and Ilona that will fit on a dispenser, and a smiley face topped with a cowboy hat from Bill, who had pretty much the same idea I did, although I have to say his execution was better!
FIXIN' TO GO! | HOWDY PEZAMANIA! | THE LOOT! YEE-HAW! | HAPPY TRAILS! And that's a wrap on yet another epic year of Pezamania. As many times as I've been to this convention, it never fails to fill me with excitement and happiness. Not only is this the best place to pick up new and vintage Pez, but it's also a time to reconnect with old Pez pals and make new ones and to see and learn new things about Pez. There's just so much to see and do and at times it can be overwhelming, even for seasoned Pezamania attendees like me. But it's always worth it and A big THANK YOU again goes out to Landon, Morgan, and the entire Pezamania 32 team for putting on a spectacular convention for everyone. The time, effort, and love that you put into this convention was very evident. The attention to details and the blending of Pezamania traditions with new and creative ideas made it easy to forget that this was your first year as hosts. I wish you the best for continued success in the years to come and I'm already counting down to Pezamania 33! Happy Trails!
Wild Wild Pez The wagon's packed
with quite a load, For some of us,
this splendid show's In dead of night
or at high noon, From room to room
we'll hop around, And when that train
will hit the tracks,
I am a cowboy,
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