The Pez Collection to Beat (almost) All Other Pez Collections & How My Wife Inadvertently Created a Pez Obsessed Monster (That would be Me)

So, ever since coming back into the blogging world last month, All Things Kevyn has been a place to hear (or read) me go on and on about the movies. Which makes sense, since I am a dyed-in-the-wool old school cinephile. But hey, there is more to life than just the cinema. No seriously, there is. I mean it. There really is. And anyway, the name of this blog is not All Things Cinema. The name of this blog is All Things Kevyn. So here I go with another quirk that makes the aforementioned Kevyn, to whom this blog is all things to (or for ... or from ... or whatevs), tick tock tick. That quirk is Pez, or more accurately, the art of collecting Pez. I guess you may have figured that out from reading the above title, but hey, can't a guy ramble on a bit before getting down to those so-called brass tacks of legend and lore? Yeah, ok, I'll stop rambling and get on with the promised Pez talk. And awaaaay we go!

It all started back in February of 1998 in a small suburban town called Lemoyne, Pennsylvania. Okay, Pez, as a company and as a candy actually started waaaay back in 1927 in a small European nation called Austria. But this isn't the story of the history of Pez and/or the Pez Dispenser (for that head over here: PEZ), but instead, this is the story of this blogger's Pez collection, and how it grew from eight little dispensers to over 2600 of the little mofos! Again, it all started back in February of 1998, when I met my, then future wife, Amy. When Amy and I met (which was just four weeks before we got married, but that is another crazy tale for another crazy time) she had eight little Pez dispensers sitting on her bedroom dresser. They were Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse, Tweety, Santa Claus, a Halloween Witch, a Valentine Heart, and the Tasmanian Devil, aka Taz! I was instantly fascinated. By both the soon-to-be little missus AND these eight little Pez dispensers on the soon-to-be little missus's bedroom dresser. So much so that nearly 23 years later, both the wife and the Pez dispensers are still here.

The story goes, I began to buy Amy presents of new Pez dispensers for her bedroom dresser. A few her and a few there. Donald Duck. Goofy. Fred & Barney. Dino. Garfield. It didn't take long to go from a small shelf on top of Amy's dresser to a wall hung shelf. Shortly thereafter, a few days after we had our whirlwind wedding (again, another crazy story for another crazy time), that lone shelf turned into a three tier shelf, followed shortly after by a stand-up corner curio cabinet. More and more dispensers came into the household. More Garfield's and Flintstones and Pink Panthers. Then came the new Star Wars dispensers and fresh new dinosaur Pez known as Pezasaurs. Soon this little collection of eight dispensers turned into 20 and then 50 and then 100 dispensers. This is when Amy started joking that it went from her collection to our collection to my collection. A collection she wasn't even allowed to touch anymore. Of course that is a huge exaggeration. Even today, it is most certainly still OUR collection - and she is most certainly allowed to tocu the Pez dispensers. Well, at least most of them. 

Over the next few years, the collection grew and grew and grew. With additions from Europe and Japan, mostly via ebay, the count went up to 200 and 300 and 400. Yowza!! Then came the conventions. Yes, that's right true believers. There are Pez conventions. Lots of 'em too. Cleveland. Myrtle Beach. L.A. Austria. Japan. Sweden. Stamford CT, where the Pez factory is located. There is even a yearly Pez cruise. Yeah, we collectors are dorks. Big dorks. And being the dorks we are, Amy and I headed to several of these conventions, where we added to our collection a hundred fold. Room hopping in the hotels, we gathered up more and more and even more dispensers. Old ones from back in the day. New releases from overseas. All kinds of Pez items, from banks and toy cars to convention pins and homemade fantasy Pez dispensers. We toured the factory in Connecticut, hung out with other Pezheads, and even won a few dispenses. Thanks to Amy's quick raffle skills, we won a rare Rudolph Pez dispenser from the 1970's!!

Eventually we surpassed 1000 Pez and even threw a 2000 Pez party in our apartment in Harrisburg Pa. Now, tucked away in our midtown home is a room full of Pez dispensers. 2,624 of them to be exact! Add to that another 250 or so other Pez items (banks, Christmas ornaments, a money clip, coffee mugs, a 2004 Pez calendar hanging on the back of the door, plush Pez, and much much more). Oh yeah, and a t least seven more dispensers on their way from Pez.com and ebay. Yeah, we're dorks. Anyhoo, there ya have it, and to prove the greatness of this collection, here are some random pix from the room. Also, as  a sidenote, there used to be a Pez Museum in Easton Pa (about an hour form our house) that had to close down out of shame for not having as many Pez dispensers as we had. That is a (mostly) true story. Anyhoo, here are the pix. I'll be back soon with more cinematic ramblings and my Best of 2020 List! Huzzah. And yes, the pupper dogs wanted to get in the pictures too.

That's it gang. See ya 'round the web.