Katy’s Pez Collection

So, I am thinking about selling my Pez collection in preparation for moving to Norway. In all honesty, I haven’t even looked at the stuff in over a year and it has been following me from move to move for the last 3 or so years without even being unpacked. Why should I keep it? More importantly, why should I pay the shipping company $1.50 per pound to send it to Norway!? Well, while I was unpacking it, I found that I still had a pretty deep emotional attachement to a lot of this stuff and a lot of memories wrapped up in it. Some very dear friends have helped me build up this collection over the years by buying me Pez paraphenalia while travelling. And I have bought a fair amount myself here in the US and while I was living/travelling in Europe. There are some really cool pieces in this collection. I would part with it, if I could find a good home for it with someone who could appreciate it as much as I do. We will see.

Here it is… almost 150 pieces. Dispensers in and out of the original packaging, Pez costumes, motorized Pez dispensers, Pez pets, Pez magnets… I kept out a few extremely sentimental pieces that I couldn’t possibly part with so as not to misrepresent the collection if someone does decide to buy it. A pink panther dispenser, a couple of old dispensers that I bought at the fleamarket in Munich, and my childhood favorite dispenser, Papa Smurf.

C close-up of the non-dispenser items. The Marvin the Martian thing actually moves, and a Pez is dispensed from his rocket ship onto the little shovel he is holding.

Pez costumes, given to me by my old friend Laleh when she visited her family in Poland.

Asterix! From Switzerland. These were some of my personal favorites. Given to me by my dear friend Brent.

Close-up of Japanese label. Brent brought me some from Japan. The animal ones in the far right of the picture of the whole collection are from Japan.

Smurfs! The middle Smurf is an older design, but Smurfette and Gargamel were bought recently in Europe.

Funky animal designs from Europe.

Pokemon! I think Brent got these for me in Japan, too. Or maybe I got them in Europe? Anyway, they are not American (you can tell from the packaging).

A novelty Pez item. Did you know that Pez dispensers were originally manufactured without the head? They were meant as aids to quit smoking (keep those hands occupied). Well, someone decided to make this little spooky glow-in-the-dark alien head that pops onto an original-design dispenser. Spooky! Reminds me of my college days…

A not so great picture of the Donald Duck, etc. dispensers. I got the Brutus and Scrooge ones at the flea market in Munich.

All of the Star Wars dispensers (as of 2001)

Super heroes! The light blue Batman dispenser was what touched off the whole collecting business for me… I bought it late one night at a convenience store with my friends. Later I noticed that there was also a black version. I am not sure why, but the idea of so many strange and underappreciated Pez designs out there intrigued me. How many were there? I got bit by the collect-all-four bug.

Some of the holiday designs. You can see that I have older and newer versions of many of the designs. The Snowman, Lamb, Rabbit and Easter Chick are all in old-and-new versions.

The Simpsons! Did you know that Lisa Simpson was modelled after Matt Groening’s sister, who went to Reed college, which is where I went to college? Well, it’s true.

Some wacky monster Pez. I think the drippy one (second from the right) glows in the dark. The Eye-saur (the one with the big eye on the left) was given to my dad as a promotional item. He used to be a Mazada dealer and Mazada made a TV add in which one of their vehicles shoots out of a Pez dispenser, to emphasize its cute smallness. So the company sent dispensers out to all the dealers to promote the campaign.

The Garfield Pez line was really extensive in Europe. I guess Garfield is still enjoying some popularity there.

Itty bitty Pez keychains! Cute! They actually hold the Pez candy, but only two pieces.

Some odd Pez items. The Marvin the Martian “Candy Hander” can be seen in some more detail here. The Power Pez was one of my favorite toys for a year or more. You have to open up a slot on the side, and then push the button. As the Pez rotate around the decive, one shoots out when it gets to the opening. Then there is the “Jungle Mission” dispenser. It is a flashlight, compass, magnifying glass and Pez candy dispenser. For all of your survival needs. These were given to me by dear friends, also. Thanks to Amy and Brent. I love you guys!