Pez Palz: Friends of PEZ, Join Us to Discover the Joy of Collecting! News, Contests, Fun plus More!: June 2016

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Time to Win Winners!

BIG Congratulations to our Winners!!!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Brian's Report from the Kleinmuenchen Gathering!

Brian's Report from the Kleinmuenchen Gathering!!

Thanks for Letting us share it Brian!!

Hey guys, here is my Kleinmuenchen Gathering report. Sorry to my German-speaking friends, this time just in English :-)

What a trip! I had told Guenter a month ago that I was going to Germany for work in June, and that I was planning on coming to Linz for his gathering. I asked Guenter to keep it a secret, because I wanted to surprise everyone when I showed up unannounced and said "hey guys, how's it going!" He agreed, and the plan was set in motion... As it turns out, my work trip was cancelled about a week before I was supposed to leave, but I still went to Europe anyways... You can't keep a PEZHead away from the PEZ!!!

I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday and spent my time there looking around the supermarkets for any new dispensers and candy. It was cool to see the new Euro Finding Dory, Angry Birds, and Batman/Superman on short cards in the stores. Aldi had the new round candy tablets that PEZ makes for the Aldi private label brand, so I scooped up some of those. The supermarket Rewe had the PEZ-branded round candies in the new cassis flavor as well. Jackpot! After walking around for a while it was time to catch up on my sleep and get rid of the jet lag. Had to be refreshed for my arrival the next day in Austria!

On Thursday morning I flew to Vienna and drove my rental car a few hours to Linz. Along the way I stopped at a few Spar and Hofer supermarkets. Hofer has carded refill packs, instead of the traditional long single row of packs on a blister card, they were double packed on a shorter card. I had never seen them before, so I had to pick some up! They had different flavors and card colors so i bought all the different ones I could find.

I got to the hotel at 2pm and checked in. What a nice hotel! I found Guenter right away, and headed to the courtyard cafe where the guests who had already arrived were enjoying a cold beer while the sun was beating down. As I walked in I was greeted by a lot of surprised smiles as they said "Brian!!! What are you doing here?" The surprise worked! After chatting for a bit Guenter asked me if I wanted to see the PEZ headquarters. I couldn't say yes fast enough! We drove over and I was instantly in awe. Seeing the PEZ logo on the building brought an instant smile to my face. We took some pictures outside, and headed into the lobby. Inside they have several cabinets with different dispensers on display. There's also a tall wall with many ads/paintings of PEZ girls and other marketing characters. So cool to see! There's also a giant silver glow in the lobby, definitely another photo op! After we got some pictures we thanked the nice lady at reception for allowing us inside, and headed back to the car.

The next stop was at Guenter's house to take a look at his collection. He has some unbelievable pieces! And a lot of paper / marketing items. A man after my own heart :-) After chatting with his lovely wife and discussing PEZ while relaxing outside on the balcony, it was time to head back to the hotel. Guenter, thank you for opening your home to me and showing me your collection, it was great!

The rest of the day was spent room hopping, drinking, eating delicious Austrian food (of course when in Austria you have to eat Wiener Schnitzel! And in case you never knew, Wiener actually means Viennese in German) and chatting with other fantastic collectors. There were many familiar faces (whom I had met last year at the Vienna VIP Gathering), and some new friendly faces as well. It was great to see Gerda Jahn there, the original PEZ girl herself. Always friendly and eager to talk to the collectors there. She's the greatest!

On Friday Guenter had arranged a factory tour for the entire group at the steel plant he worked at for many years. The first half was more historical / technical steel information inside their museum center. The second half was a tour inside the actual factories where the the steel was made. Who knew a PEZ trip could be so educational! It was very interesting to see.

After lunch (more schnitzel! I'll never say no) we headed back to the hotel and people had their rooms open for selling and trading. I brought with me a suitcase full of current US items that aren't available in Europe, both loose dispensers and various boxed sets, and all of it went very quickly. So glad I brought them! Although the cash didn't stay very long in my pockets, as it was my turn to do some major shopping. I found some old and new candy boxes, a few vintage regulars I didnt have, and some marketing/ paper items. And of course I love love love the Kleinmuenchen gathering dispenser, both the PEZ-made one and the set of 3 Guenter had made. Great job!

After dinner Silvia Biermayer invited me to her house to take a look at her collection. All I can say is wow.... I was able to see so many one of a kind things (dispensers, candy, paper items, displays, clothing... You name it, it was there!) which I'll probably never see again. Looking at her cabinets, I found the dispenser I was looking for... the original Admiral PEZ pal. Had to get a picture with it, and of course send a few teasing text messages to some friends telling them "guess what's coming home with me!!!" I hope most know I was joking (or am I?!?!?). Thank you Silvia for inviting me over, I really enjoyed going through your fantastic collection!

On Saturday morning a lot of us went to the Linz city center to go to the flea market. The center of Linz is absolutely beautiful and picturesque. Unfortunately no PEZ to be found at the "Flohmarkt" (hey I had a lot of competition!!!) but it was still a good time. After a few cold drinks at a cafe, we headed over to a wonderful Biergarten for a big group lunch. This time I tried the lamb goulash which was absolutely fantastic. Thanks Momo for the recommendation!

After lunch, Guenter had a cool excursion planned for us. The city of Traun (where PEZ is actually located) has a museum, and right now they have an exhibition on PEZ. What great timing! The curator there was very informative on the history of Traun, and knew quite a lot about PEZ. They had a working vintage vending machine that we got to try (and keep the candy), and had some items on display that I had never seen before. The giant Mickey dispenser rack was awesome! The curator had kept a binder of old newspaper clippings and PEZ photos over the years- that was really cool to look at!

After the museum it was time to head back to the hotel. A little more room hopping, drinking, eating, chatting... What PEZHeads do best. There was even a wedding party going on that evening at the hotel; it was neat to see some of their traditions and the differences between Austrian and American wedding receptions.

Sadly, it was time to say my goodbyes and go pack for my early 6am flight on Sunday morning. It was so great to see a lot of people there, and it warmed my heart that everyone asked about Porter and our wedding plans. They made me promise to bring him the next time we come. Done! The entire time I was greeted by the friendliest of people, some who knew me, some who did not, and no matter where i went, although I was the only American there, I always felt included and was continuously welcomed. Guenter, you did an amazing job my friend, and I can't wait until I'm able to come back.

Until next time, auf Wiedersehen, und vielen vielen Dank fuer die schoene Zeit!

-Brian "Youknowmyname" Jaskolski

Saturday, June 18, 2016

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK...the fabulous Michigan PEZ Convention Dispenser...

Are You Ready for Something Fabulous?

YES!!! Today is for sure a special day!! After we saw Silas's convention dispeners and now Jim Blaine's dispensers these custom Pez take convention Pez to a whole new level!!

Silas and Jim deserve full respect for their decision

to make something very special for all of us!
They both spent a lot of time and work

to create their spectacular dispensers.
GUYS, WE LOVE YOU FOR YOUR CREATIVITY!!!

Before we share the very

FIRST LOOK

from the AMAZING Michigan PEZ Convention dispensers, we would like to

give you some facts about Jim, and his convention.

THE HOST: Jim Blaine
(Jim's personal website can be found here)

Jim has been a PEZ collector since 1999, currently, including his extras he has about 17,000 Pez dispensers total. (4000+ in his personal collection)

Dr. Skull PEZ Army which has exactly 1,331 Skulls!!! WOW!!!

Jim has been a Newsletter Superstar since January 2016,
and he was voted for Facebook Pez Collector of the Month in February 2016. Jim is also founder of Dad2Mom.org where their mission is to bring low-cost clothing to families.

Jim says: PEZ has lead me to friends all over the world, to enjoy other cultures and other people. PEZ is a great way for people from all walks of life to come together. Not only to enjoy the art of collecting, but to learn from others, history, life lessons, and new things.

The Convention:

The MI PEZ Convention will be held in Embassy Suites (Troy, Michigan)
850 Tower Dr Troy, MI 48098 from Thursday August 25th till Sunday August 28th,
4 days full of PEZ Action, from a Kids Pool Party, to a PEZ Swap & Candy Pack Trade Party, Games, Bean bag contest with 12 specially created custom boards to play on, Raffles and a chance to make your own Souvenir Michigan PEZ Convention Button.
For more information please visit MIPEZCON.com OR
MICHIGAIN PEZ CONVENTION FACEBOOK GROUP

Fun Games for Everyone!!!

A new PEZPALZ CONTEST? YES stay tuned :) we are working with Jim on a nice contest!

The Convention Dispenser: These are so special! The center is magnetic and can be interchangeable with each other. The wonderful artworks/drawings came from Eddie Pez Hunter S.

The Colors:

Yellow

Convention dispenser

this one comes in the attendee or absentee packet, unless you registered the first day, then you were upgraded

Black & White

Early Registration dispenser
(anyone who registered the first day was upgraded from the yellow to this one)

Green

Exclusive & Dealer Dispenser
(anyone who registers as a dealer for the
Michigan PEZ Convention will receive this dispenser)

Red

Charity Dispenser
(the proceeds of this dispenser goes to our charity
Camp Lake Louise, it is available for purchase at time of registration.)

Blue

Ultra Rare Dispenser
(There will be very few of these available & will be hard to obtain one)

Rainbow or Multicolor

Prize Dispenser
(These will be used as prize dispenser at the Michigan Pez Convention, and will
also be a challenge to get one if you do not attend the MI Pez convention)

The center is magnetic and can be interchangeable with each other.

The official PEZ Portugal 2016 Gathering Dispenser....

Here they are from Castelo Branco, PORTUGAL the 2016 gathering dispenser.

Today we are so happy to see the crystal yellow

head lovey for the Pez Portugal gathering!!!

Our friend Luis who runs the PEZILLA is holding the gathering

in Castelo Branco, Portugal June 18th & 19th.

We have had many guesses on what color the stem would be

(I guessed green) we are sure that everyone is having a

great time at the event!!

Thursday, June 16, 2016

The Ben Pakulski Pez is Real!!

Ben Pakulski

is Creator of the Best Selling Mi40 Brand of Intelligent
Muscle Building Programs according to his website

http://www.benpakulski.com/

and looks like a guy you would not want to make mad!

We saw these Pez pop up earlier in the year, and we immediately thought they had to be made by a 3D printer, but now we learn that they are official!!!

These were made to help promote the new BCAA Chews.

Collectors are starting to get these added to their collections and we now have close up pictures.

Photo: google images

Photos: google images

3rd Annual Portugal PEZ Gathering

Our Dearest Friend Luis M. is holding the 3rd annual Portugal Gathering on the 18 & 19th of June in Castelo Branco, Portugal. Luis runs Pezilla a fun Pez blog with a beautiful artistic way of sharing news about Pez. We always look forward to reading Pezilla everyday. Luis made Pez history in 2015 with the first colored crystal Puck ever made by Pez. A fun note is that the green tint on the ball & puck is the same green used for the green crystal Pez soft. A new Pez will be introduced at the gathering to celebrate the occasion, we are so excited to see the unveiling of the new gathering dispenser. Be sure to check back with us or Pezilla to see the official gathering dispenser for 2016!!
We wish you all a wonderful time :)