When you click one of the advert on this page, that is how I earn money for writing this. Section #1. Chris Jordan It is very sad that several people have purchased from this batch of fake ad regulars and witch regulars. The warning bells were all there, so I can only assume they intended to purchase and profit from them while knowing that they were fake. Anytime someone asks you to keep communications "just between us", you can be pretty sure they are hiding something. I will write an article for the next issue of the Pez Collectors Store Newsletter (subscription is free! just provide your email address http://www.pezcollectors.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=40&chapter=2012 New Facebook page that I like. The following is a very important story written by Chris Jordan in Pez Collectors Store Newsletter. This story confirms many of my own personal thoughts relayed in Pez Outlaw Diary. Excellent work Chris Jordan. I've been waiting 15 years for work like this.  |
Dispensers from this same batch of pez were previously sold to John LaSpina, a well-known pez collector and dealer. John was suspicious of these as the print on the ad regulars is different than known vintage pieces. John had them chemically tested and discovered that they were printed in the 1990s. It even could be that the regulars themselves were made in the 1990s – the molds were available and the hobby was booming at that time, which invites fraud to occur! This same batch of fakes reappeared in the hands of the man from Sacramento.
A week later, I was contacted again by the seller. He had been told these were likely replicas. He did not want to incur the cost of a verification process and he stated, “It would be unfair and illegal to offer them as new when I can’t vouch for their origin(s).” I offered to have the testing done through the chemistry department at the University of Missouri where I worked and he indicated he would send some to me the following week. My emails after that were not answered and I never received samples for testing. Despite being warned that these were likely replicas, there are at least 4 individuals who purchased them at extremely cut rate prices, for a penny on the dollar and who now are in possession of these fakes.
At least some of the individuals who purchased the fake dispensers are dealers that resell pez. Sadly, the distribution is fairly broad in at least 3 states in the USA (in CA, WI and FL) and in Finland. One individual took over 100 assembled fakes, plus loose stems and caps with sleeves to a well-known and highly respected collector who has an outstanding collection of legitimate vintage regulars so that a comparison to known vintage ad regulars and witch regulars could be done. After comparing and noting certain characteristics of all of these regulars, the collector shared photos of his findings with me. I am now sharing these photos with you so that you can learn to identify the fake pez. The true, known legitimate vintage pieces are shown on the top of the photos and the fakes are on the bottom.
Note
that the printing is much crisper and more ‘perfect’ on the fakes. This
is not because they are more ‘mint’, but because the process used to
print the dispensers
in the 1990s was much better than the processes available for printing
in the 1960’s. John LaSpina’s paint testing showed these were printed in
the 1990s.
real on top, fake on bottom in all photos
Note there are differences in the font, print size and sometimes slant or angle of the printing, or angles such as the on the Indian Chief’s headdress which are incorrect on the fakes. These differences can be hard to distinguish if you don’t have these photos or a legitimate regular to compare to.
There
are some characteristics that are common to every single regular in
this lot and make it likely that they were all made from the same mold
pieces.
First,
the cap does not line up properly and shows a bit of white sleeve on
the left, back side of the cap by the hinge (the side you see when the
thumbtab is up and on the right of the cap). This gap of exposed sleeve
is present on every one of the fakes. This is not generally seen at all
on legitimate regulars. Additionally, notice the dimple that is present
just below the peak of the thumbtab. On
every one of the fakes, a dimple or dent just below the peak of the
thumbtab can be seen. This molding irregularity is known to occur
occasionally, on some metal pin and on some plastic hinge hole caps,
while other metal pin or plastic hinge hole caps do not show the dimple.
This further suggests that the same mold was used to create all of these parts.
Further, the cap of the fake regulars is skewed to the left side when viewed from the front. Notice how the cap center line does not match up to the center line of the stem, and the sides are offset.
For legitimate pez, there are 4 different styles of caps for regulars - the tall thumbtab and the short thumbtab. Further, both the tall thumbtab and short thumbtab may come with a metal pin or plastic hinge holes. Certain dispenser are known to have come with tall thumbtabs, and metal pins while others came with short thumbtabs and metal pins, while others came as tall or short with plastic hinge holes. The fakes in every single case have a tall thumbtab and metal pin. This is probably because they were all likely made from the same mold. Some ad regulars are known to come with short thumb tabs or with plastic hinge holes, (ex. PEZ Macht Froh! should have a tall thumbtab with a plastic hinge hole, and a Royal Toffee, Sports Chief and Seven PEZ daily should have short thumbtabs with metal pins). In every case, the fakes are made with tall thumbtabs and metal pins.
real has hinge hole for plastic head spring, fake has metal pin
real has short thumbtab, fake has tall thumbtab
The fake ad regulars and fake regulars all have a no shadow (just blocks with no shading on the edges) PEZ patent number side and the fake regulars all have a shadowed PEZ side. This combination of mixed shadowing is unusual. Snow White is known to come on a shadow, no shadow stem, but it is reversed, with the shadow on the patent number side and the no shadow on the PEZ only side. Legitimate regulars come with no shadow on both sides or shadow on both sides, but the mixed shadow, no shadow is not commonly seen (I have never seen it, and haven't found anyone who has seen it on a regular). The molds used for creating these regular must have used a no shadow patent number side mold with a shadowed PEZ only side mold which is generally not done.
This lot represents a mix of 8 different colored stems and caps made with the same colors plus black caps. The fake regulars are mixes of the different colored stems and caps, some of which are in combinations that are not known to exist, making them highly suspect. These same color stems and caps are used in the Advertising regulars.
Also
included with the 100 or so regulars and ad regulars were additional
unassembled caps attached to sleeves and printed and unprinted stems.
Below are photos of some additional ad regular stems that are believed
to be fake.
There
is no reason that a group of 364 regulars, representing some 21
different cap and stem color combinations, and 12 different ad regulars,
should all have the exact same characteristics of metal hinge pin, tall
thumbtab, dimple below the thumbtab, cap misaligned to the stem and
sleeve, no shadow patent side and a shadowed PEZ only side and for every
ad regular to have printing variations that are not seen in legitimate
dispensers, unless these are all made from the same molds and printed as
replicas.
People create fake pez dispensers because they believe that they will make lots of money by selling these to unsuspecting collectors. They attempt to replicate vintage pieces that have a high value because that is where the most money can be made. Sadly, this devalues legitimate pieces and it is a black mark on the hobby. Collectors who care about the hobby and their collection would not want to encourage the dishonest fakers by purchasing a fake dispenser, even if it were at a fraction of the price of a legitimate piece. Even if you planned to keep it, you will eventually die and the collection will be passed on to someone who won’t know that it is fake. If you value your collection, don't encourage dishonesty by purchasing a fake. Be on the lookout and don’t let the dishonest people ruin our hobby!
Again the above story is from Chris
Jordan at Pez Collectors Store Newsletter. I thought my readers might
like to see this as well as the other fine work done through the links
provided.
Approx 1990 to 1994 were Magic time for KOA.
see Chapter 9. KOA has been tampering with Pez for 20 ...
Section #2.
It has already happened.
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| Toronto-based 3-D jewelry company Hot Pop Factory created personalized Pez dispenser heads for the employees of an architecture firm. |
3-D Printer Fraud for Dummies
Why would I pay even $800.00 for a pink Rhino MMM when I cold make hundreds of them for less than $10,000.00?
Have you caught the episode of CSI where a bad guy makes a plastic revolver from a 3-D printer? How about the episode og Big Bang Theory where Wallawits n Kuthrapoli buy a used 3-D printer for $5,000.00 making a whistle n action figures in there images with it?
Pez collectors pay $2,000.00 each for rare color variations. Make 3 heads with a used 3-D printer, voila a $1,000.00 profit. Who would ever do such a thing? A whole bunch of people, start with fantasy pez producers under the guise of fantasy Pez, at least for the first sale. Big money is a very powerful seductress.
I've been warning for years about high prices for "RARE" pez. So far all that you had to worry about was rare on demand from people at the factory. Now anybody who can borrow $5,000.00 is a threat.
My point is this n always has been. Rare pez can not be worth thousands of dollars if you want to maintain the integrity of pez collected. $250.00 to $300.00 needs to be top money for anything created in the last 20 years. Otherwise by paying thousands you are creating the viability of fraudulent pez.
It is a brave new world with the advent of 3-D printers. Example, the impact technology had on VHS, audio tapes, the ability to burn CDs & DVDs. 3-D printers are the same kind of threat to people who collect Smallish Plastic Objects.
Yes of course there would be more details to such a venture, but I refuse to give a detailed roadmap or a how to. 3-D Printer Fraud for Dummies if you will. Of course Pez Corporation might bring legal action, having already written Pez Fraud for a Dummy (me).
Section #3.
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| Green Hornet |
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| Fake Brown Green Hornet |
Richie Belyski Good question Steve. What molds exist outside of Pez. But with today's computers I'm sure Pez heads can be reproduced.
Green Hornet I have a real problem with the brown hats & off color masks. Has anyone ever seen a brown hat Green Hornet mint in cello? If so I would like to see it. I believe at the very least the Hat & Mask mold was used in outside production at a facility not affiliated with Pez Europe. The tell. Hat color variations. Were they variations or attempts to get it right? After all the name is Green Hornet, not Brown Hornet. Would anyone at the factory during the real production period really be that stupid? It defies logic that Pez Europe or the Green Hornet license holder would have allowed a production of brown hats. Once colors are selected & approved by licensee, The colors are recorded & strictly adhered to. Making brown hats points to greed during aftermarket production. Same goes for Raven long beak. Also statements made by the owner of the inventory.
Timed releases controls market price. Example. Say I had thousands of Green Hornets & controlled the molds. Well if I'm silly I rush out & sell everything all at once. Or say I control the release & distribution at a rate that holds value. Actual possibility is at a minimum that KOA only owns the Hat & Mask mold. As it is probably one mold with both. Swapping hats & masks.
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| Owl MMM |
Concerning Batman with cape loose.
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| Batman w/cape |
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| I Believe this is the 1950s Spacegun in question. BTW who did make it? |
Adam Cromer Jackotrades was the username that came to mind as he scammed several thousand with fake Pez and a fake brain surgery story.
Steve Glew Where was Jackotrades located? US or Europe? Who were they connected to? What year was this done?
Adam Cromer They were connected with people on the west coast and had dozens of rare colors for sale, I assume they made the rest. People who couldn't bother to google his name collected thousands of dollars for him as a gift since he told them he needed out patient brain surgery and he scammed them too. Those hk fakes were coming via him. For Newer Pez Dispensers See. Chapter 15. Free Pez Dispensers Pictorial Price Guide / Value List to the Last 15 Years
Further Questions About Pez Spacegun Molds This statement is taken from Wikipedia.
"The 2006 eBay sale of a clear 50s Space Gun for $11,000 took place but according to noted Pez author, David Welch, the dispenser was later proven by chemical testing to be a well-made fake."
My questions are. How do you make a fake without at a minimum access to the molds? You absolutely can not make a fake Pez Gun without a mold. Who has or had the mold? Was this it or are there more? After all who would go to the trouble of finding a mold, then just use it once? Where was the mold used? Is the mold still available for use? Which brings us back to the 80s spacegun & shooter "find". Bare in mind the big find of orange guns was approximately the same time. Also this group of guns had oil traces in them & it appeared very fresh at the time.
Here is my 2 cents on this gun. In the mid 1990s when I first asked for clear plastic head Pez. I was at first told no, that clear plastic was not possible. So let me get it right crystal clear plastic was thought at first not possible in 1990 yet used in 1950. When clear plastic was first used by Pez Corp in mid 1990s, it took a while even then to get the process right. Common sense should have told anyone who thought about it that this gun was not possible in the 1950s. Also with toys that were made in clear plastic type material in the 1950s the clear material is no longer clear. It has a yellow tint at the very least 50+ years later.
This leads to the obvious question. If a fake 1950s spacegun was made in clear plastic. What other "RARE" color variation 1950s spaceguns were made after the year 2000 using the same mold? I mean really. Do you honestly believe molds were found or made, then used just once to make the Crystal 50s gun? That possibility is not credible. So what other "RARE" 1950s guns were made, sold, & now in collections.
"clear space gun pez". One important fact pretty much tells the story. Plastic & injection molding was in its infancy in the 1950s. Have you ever seen a clear plastic toy molded from the 1950s that didn't have a yellow tint to it today? Add to that the fact that in 1998 when I asked for clear plastic heads in an order. I was told it was not possible as the process was to complicated. Yes a few months later they did it. Point being as late as 1998 clear plastic injection molding was not considered an easy process. Proof of this was in the early clear plastic heads produced in 1998, most had small air bubbles.
Deduction the clear plastic 1950s pez space gun is a fake. An after market creation produced after 1998. Which brings up the question. Who has that mold? Were others produced from that mold in "rare colors"? Has there been a surge of rare or odd colors for the 1950s space gun in the last 10 years? Yes. Were others produced from that mold in normal colors? Has there been a "find" of 1950s pez space guns in the last 10 years that actually should be attributed to this mold used to make the clear gun?
This part of this answer is very important.
Reproducing Pez in exact detail is easy with modern molding technology. If you have an injection molding facility to do it in. A head can be scanned, a mold then can be produced from that scan. The only factor in whether or not to do it is. Is it worth doing? Which is exactly why I have always warned against $1,000.00 plus price tags for items made of plastic. Specifically Pez Dispensers. By paying thousands of dollars for a pez dispenser, you make faking it worth doing.
With all I've said you have to be asking yourself. Who can I trust? #1. David Welch. I like Dave & I trust him to be honest. #2. a group of people I have known a long time John The Cool Pez Man Devlin, Mary Anne Kennedy & Shaun Peterson. Honest with no motivation or inclination to be anything else. You can trust these people.
Section #4.
I gave a large amount ( more than 1/2 of the 500 to 1000 per created) of the following merchandising items away with X amount of $$$$ spent at shows or through the mail as thank you gifts.
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| 100% fake. These are Pez Outlaw merchandising items. I never represented them as anything else. So once n for all these are not Pez Corporate items, they are Pez Outlaw items. I made or rather had them made. side story. These pins are why all others convention pins etc exist. The people who ran the conventions asked for the name of my guy n pins for conventions came into being. |
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| 100% Fake money Clip. These are Pez Outlaw merchandising items. I never represented them as anything else. So once n for all these are not Pez Corporate items, they are Pez Outlaw items. I made or rather had them made My ring guy continued this item to other dealers after I stopped buying them. |
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| 100% Fake Ring These are Pez Outlaw merchandising items. I never represented them as anything else. So once n for all these are not Pez Corporate items, they are Pez Outlaw items. I made or rather had them made. All pez rings were created by me, period. The red one with cloisonne inserts etc, all of them. Interesting factoid, both versions of the Pez Outlaw Peter Pez red cloisonne insert rings were a two step process. my pin guy made the peter pez inserts n my ring guy combined them. My ring guy continued this item to other dealers after I stopped buying them. |
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| by astronit |
I found the above image of Quisp n Quake pins, money clip n rings on a recent search on line. The image says by astronit. Very interesting. Gotta love it when a bootlegged item is claimed by an imposter. The above jewelry was conceived approved of n bought n paid for by Pez Outlaw. I know this fact to be true, first hand knowledge.
For the record. The above bootlegged merchandise was conceived n all sold well over 10 years ago, otherwise I would not admit the above.. At first I put this in the Cereal Box Price Guide, but thought better. I wanna keep the Cereal Guide clean, not Pez Outlaw stuff.
Astronit if I got it wrong no matter, it writes better this way
Section #5.
Title for this content. PezPolice time to hide your crazy.
pezpolice are just amateur crazy, whereas I am professional crazy. Nobody likes gettin caught up in a crazy loop you can't seem to get out of.
Steve ill tell you why, and its because most Pez Collector's are blinded to the truth. They are in a hobby ran by a small group of sellers who (the majority of which) only have their best interests in mind. They hide the price fixing and shady deals from the public because if people knew most of the bs that goes behind the scenes they'd leave the hobby. Dealers conspiring to raise prices , shill bidding on eBay, there's a lot of really shady stuff that goes on and when you only have 200 active Collector's that support the conventions you have to hide it even more because a single naysayer could destroy the whole hobby. There are a few honest dealers, and then there are the rest who spend their convention time laughing at other dealers who had mispriced items they could resell or laughing at customers purchases. That's not how you treat your supposed friends. But that's what really goes on.
got angry phone calls and a physical threat against my life, these people are batshit insane. I took down the post for now as that is what the police advised me to do, just forgot how sick some of these people are.
So if you want to repost it w/o my name freel free
sj glew WHOA!
I gotta say that one really caught me a bit off guard. I used to refer to this type of thing as the PezPolice. This used to happen a lot to me in the early days. I fought each one, one by one till the cowards went away. I am very disturbed that this type of bullying behavior is still going on.
All I can say to cowards like the ones who targeted the above person is. I'm right here you wanna go at somebody you know who I am. If you come at me you better bring your lunch. Stupid Stupid people, just unbelievable.
I've been dealing with morons like this for 15 to 20 years.
I'm kinda Disappointed that the people who attacked the above writer have not come at me. To be honest I don't seem to be attacked much in the last year or so. I guess the pezpolice are just amateur crazy, whereas I am professional crazy. Nobody likes gettin caught up in a crazy loop you can't seem to get out of.
I will point out to collectors the following. You can trust John the cool pez man Devlin, Mary Anne Kennedy, Shaun Peterson n David Welch. I know a bunch of you wanna go off on me about Dave, but cut the crap. I've known Dave W. for almost 25 years, David is a good n honorable man who has done a tremendous amount for your hobby. Self publishing at least 2 or 3 books, which let me tell you is no small feet. I count David Welch as a friend n that list is very small by choice. He has done more behind the scenes to protect your hobby than any other person I know of.
So you wanna bash on Dave, go somewhere else.
Pez Outlaw, sj glew.
Section #6.
Andre Zeich.
49-8142-7991
Farmerstrasse 14c Groebenzell Germany 82194
If you are ever offered a deal by this guy. Turn sharply in the opposite direction, run as fast & far as you can. If you do business with this guy, you will eventually regret it.
One of the things I do while writing this is keep track of search terms that lead people to www.pezoutlaw.com. I'm floored by the number of people that search "andre zeich". For the life of me I can not see why. The term "andre zeich" is in the top ten all time search terms used that lead viewers to pezoutlaw.com. To say I'm puzzled by this is an all time understatement.
Andre is the kind of guy who greets you while hiding behind a pole or something until he is sure you aren't mad at him. I think the guy lived in constant fear that people he was doing business with would find out everything he was doing behind your back. You would contract say for 3,000 Pez dispensers each & he would make 6,000 Pez dispensers. He would then deliver the Pez dispensers you contracted for, you would start selling & set your price. At this point he would quietly contact other dealers & undercut your price to sell the extra Pez dispensers he had also made. Then when he had gotten what he could out of the overproduction he would offer you the rest at super cheap saying he had no idea pez corp did an overrun, that he felt it was only right that I should have them. This guy was a real piece of work. So from the beginning the pez colors were not my exclusive as promised. Total amount spent with this guy $471,950.00 on Pez dispensers.
Andre I believe is also the manufacturer of all those toy cars & trucks with PEZ stenciled / stamped on them in black. I know he initiated / manufactured the coin plates & light fixtures. You see Andre Zeichs main business is buying closeout in Europe. So slapping a stenciled logo on something to make it salable was no big deal.
Andre Zeich is also the guy that facilitated the production of Joe & Chicago Daves pez trucks (the black or silver cab, glow in the dark trailer, red or orange wheels) , which Scott also later copied. Andre followed the same format here. He produced the Pez dispensers they ordered, plus the same amount for himself to undercut there sales. Later I ended up buying a 2 ton truck load of Pez dispensers Joe & Dave had left & the remainder of Andre's (a couple thousand loose pez dispensers) "overproduction". How did Andre do it? Well he would get the quote from Van Melles of say X per carded pez dispenser, then he would double the order & charge you 5X per pez dispenser. There by getting his Pez dispensers for free, plus 3X immediate profit. Then in the end when he was done undercutting your sales, he could sell you the leftover Pez dispensers as "overproduction" at cost & still make 100% profit.
I just finished going over everything from 1998. To my surprise I found a fax dated November of 1998 where I proposed a pez truck project. Pez Trucks with black cab & trailer, also pez trucks with glow in dark cab & trailer. By January of 1999 Andre & I were close to quits. My guess is he shopped a combo of this idea to Joe & Dave.
Here's a little background on Andre Zeich. In order to even get the opportunity to do the deal on the pez colors there were 3 other pez deals I had to do. As in if you buy these Pez dispensers I think I can get them to do it, over & over. Like the container full of pez body parts (aprox 130,000) from Asia or somewhere. Remember how I used to give away pez body parts when you spent various amounts on other pez dispensers, well this is why. The gold, silver, white & gray hair pez pals w/body parts playsets. A mess of smashed aral pez & pez mariner playsets. Also a load of pez dispensers & body parts carded on one card. This is what I had to do to get the privileged of buying the pez colors.
German Andre & the pez cars. Why would a multiple million dollar injection molding company use a stencil or a stamp? Wouldn't you think the word pez would be molded into the plastic? It was molded on the original small cars & planes. Is it just me or does this not make any sense at all? And why year after year do they keep coming, different types, different sizes. A seemingly never ending supply & assortment.
In the rear view mirror, Andre Zeich's creations are obvious. Though I will say. If Andre Zeich was nothing else. He was prolific in his ability to think outside the box. Worthless to prized collectible is no small thing.
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| Andre Zeich Trucks, cars, planes etc. Notice two similarities between all of these items. One, they are all common generic closeout toys. Two, A simple black stencil makes them all more valuable than they were originally. All are part of the Andre Zeich make common closeout collectible recycling plan. |
German Andre & all those little pez plastic cars with black pez stenciled on them is for me one example. I bought a ton of them from him once, they all arrived soaking wet. I believe this was a method to make the pristine new yellow pez header cards on the bags look aged by 20 or so years. I do not believe for a minute that all those little plastic toys with black pez stenciled on them are real. Other items created in the time period that these are supposed to be from DO NOT HAVE BLACK STENCIL FOR PEZ. On the real cars & planes the pez is molded in the plastic.
When you understand who German Andre is, it makes more sense. Also what he actually does for a living & what his network of distribution is. His real business is buying & selling closeout type items in Europe. All sorts of collectibles & toy. Which is why he knew who to contact & bribe to get my pez projects done. In short he knew how to game the system so large shipping containers of product that technically should not, did. He is very hands on. By this I mean through the hiring of people he knew how to make 2 containers of Pez dispensers into one. Who is better situated to buy large quantities of small plastic cars & trucks. Create packaging. Have each item stenciled & because it comes from Europe it has the air of authenticity. Also because it comes from Europe nobody in the US has or can get any frame of reference on the items. Further being situated in Europe Andre feels immune from any repercussions on his dealings. Knowing Andre as I do (at best questionable morals) there is no doubt in my mind he is making these items.
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| coin plate |
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| Andre Zeich Pez Light Fixture. |
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| Another little gem from German Andre. Find a bunch of closeout ball in the holes games. All you need to do is find the picture, copy it and put it in. |
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| I believe this calender handout from Hungary was the picture used by Andre Zeich to create the Smurf Pez balls in the holes games. Both pictures courtesy of Rudi. |
I was always assured they were real, so I sold them as real. In the mid 90s I had no reason to believe otherwise, but after years of doing business with German Andre he lost my trust. It's one of those situations where piece by piece as you learn more & see more you understand more. One deal alone may look a little funny but you have no reason to doubt so you let it go. Realization only comes when the accumulation of things is to big to ignore any longer and it finally dawns on you that this guys word can not be trusted. The final straw was when other dealers informed me that he had produced a large quantity of the pez colors for himself & was undercutting my wholesale on these items to them.
So after all of this WHY did I buy a very large wooden crate of loose pez colors from German Andre & let him lie to me saying they were production over run? It's simple, he only wanted $2.00 each. There was & is only one thing you can take to the bank with this guy, he always delivered the product. I bought the loose pez colors & another crate of joes pez trucks because at $2.00 each I actually had a good chance for 100% profit even after Scott made his. I also was in vendetta mode, trying to flood as much product into the hobby before Scott released his reproductions. Hoping that Scotts sales would suck. I figured every collector I sold to was one less Pez dispenser sale for Scott.
This was in the end one small victory I achieved in the pez color wars. Scotts sales on the Misfit Pez dispensers did suck & that inventory of Pez dispensers sitting there meant he had some explaining to do. I also believe poor sales of the Misfit Pez dispensers was part of what was used to ease Scott into retirement. Again a small victory considering the down side for Scott was being nudged to retirement. For me the down side was I eventually lost what had taken 20 years of work to build. So even though I claim I won a battle in the pez color wars, Scott won the pez war. After being the #1 pain in his rear for over 6 years, he slowly & methodically removed me.
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| European Pez Pins |
Sorta like the Pez plates which I know for a fact can & were made on demand. I also know these pins could be duplicated on demand. My question is were they? The fact that quite a few sets were available from known associates of Andre Zeich in Northern Europe, makes me believe they were duplicated.
It's an Andre Zeich thing. You gotta know the guy. If you do, well then some things just seem clearer.
Andre Zeich if you want out of the book, it is or can be a separate deal for you. If you would like your name removed from the book or this blog 24,000 pez dispensers should be the right amount of compensation / restitution for your duplicity. Pick any 3 groups of 8,000 pez dispensers each from the chapter 20 offer.
Section #6.
Spanish Andre.
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| picture of Spanish Andre Yo Yo. sure as God made little green apples, these are fake. you had to know the guy like I did. then you would also have no doubt. |
Spanish Andre the short version. pez yo yos yeah that's all of them. oops I found more, oops I found more, oops I found more. After about 3 times you give up. Guess what I think yeah oops he is still finding more. "Finding" Yes I believe there is no doubt he made these.
This item I believe was initially made blank to be used as a Coke or whatever promotional premium. I call this type of item a platform, commonly sold in bulk to silk screen companies. T shirts, mugs, Frisbee, tote bags, pens etc. The type of thing commonly used to put company logos on. Go to any cart in a mall, T shirt store or merchandise printing web site you will find this type of item. Better yet take a yo yo to one & ask them if they could do this type work if they had the blank yo yos.
I believe Spanish Andre bought thousands of these blank yoyos then silk screened or applied the the pez image & wordage to these yo yos. A relatively cheap & simple process, especially if you have 10,000 to 20,000 blank yo yos to sell. Like German Andre he realized by doing so he could sell these items to Pez collectors & dealers in America. I forgot to mention Spanish Andre is also a buyer of closeout items in Western Europe.
Total amount spent with this guy a few thousand dollars.
Both German & Spanish Andre buy closeout merchandise. Both realize with a little manipulation an item they bought cheap could be made very profitable in the American Pez collector arena. Both realized with a good story & coming from Europe the home of Pez it would work. Both also realized Americans would realistically have no way of knowing if they were real or checking on a product from Europe.
You might ask, Why didn't someone from Europe in the 1990s expose them. Ah glad you asked. It's that old deal, don't expose my deal & I will keep my mouth shut about yours. Spanish Andre was relatively small potatoes, though he has had a big impact with the yoyos, but realistically he was small potatoes. The same rule applies. A pact of silence existed, nobody wanted to put any cracks in the illusion.
German Andre on the other hand was very well connected. He also knew what others were doing, which made him untouchable. Whatever the King of Austria was involved in, German Andre knew about it. He also knows the real story about the pez shooter & pez spaceguns. He could only be attacked sideways by ruining his distribution network. Reduce his activities to small potatoes.
My advice to the powers that be in Europe concerning Pez is, don't push this guy to the point where he feels he also has nothing to lose. You think my book is a pain, German Andre could Rock Your World if you make him mad enough. As he has had a hand one way or another in almost every sleazy deal out of Europe. That is unless the number of things he has done are to many & could end him up in jail.
Location, Location, Location. Any potential crimes I committed were in Europe. As I have no plans of going to Europe again, I'm good. German Andre's crimes were committed in Europe & he lives in Europe. So don't expect a tell all any time soon. Though if at some point like me he feels he has nothing to lose. Well let's just say, I would buy the book.
I know, I know. Pez Collectors will find a lot of today's entries upsetting. Stems switched for stems with made in Hungary. Washing pez dispensers like dishes in the sink to clean them up. Razor blades and erasers used to fix pez dispensers. Using parts from a few pez dispensers to make one correct Pez dispenser. Oh yeah & gluing beaks, noses, hats, whiskers etc on pez dispensers. All sacrilege to pez collectors. Nobody wants to see the cow butchered, they just want that really great steak. In truth though somebody has to kill the cow, I have always loved that metaphor. "Somebody has to kill the cow". Peaz Dealers will never admit to these and many others that are necessary to be able to offer the beautiful pez dispensers you see at shows. Truth be told most do it.
???????????
First hand knowledge. Old molds in many cases have happily been reused. Blue Dumbo's to name one. Okay I will name a few others; C class trucks pink, yellow & orange cab black stem, Merlin, Old King Loui, Baloo & Mowgli, an off color Goofy with teeth, Pez Pal Boy & Pez Pal Girl. There are more.
Two interesting points about the above paragraph. The reuse of these pez molds was sanctioned. Blue Dumbo opened an interesting door. Remove the copyright on the back of the head & make him blue, skirt the need for the Disney license. Today in a few pez collections exists a few odd color King Loui, Baloo & Mowgli Pez dispensers. These pez dispensers were an attempt at the Dumbo plan regarding Disney. In the end the JB character change was discarded & pez dispensers were just run as is for Russia. WAY Over 50,000 Disney licensed characters were distributed after the Disney licenses had lapsed. I know this to be fact, first hand knowledge, I bought them. Also at least that much went to Eastern Europe & Russia after the Disney licenses had lapsed for retail sales. I saw it. If I had not bought what I could, that's where mine would have ended up also.
Licensing law is all licensed items must be sold by end date on license or destroyed. Not moved out of sight & quietly distributed to obscure markets. Pez Corporation intentionally moved this product to Hungary & Slovenia to skirt the Disney Licenses. MGM, Warner, Smurf Product etc was handled likewise. Look I saw this, so don't even.
Some of the items were recently made. I also smelled the plastic, trust me I know the smell of new plastic. When you open a box & plastic bag that unpackaged pez dispensers are shipped in. That new plastic smell is overwhelming, similar new car smell but plastic.
Other pez molds have been offered.
None of this is legal, yet in most pez collections all of the above are the more treasured dispensers.
Amendment to chapter about collectibles in general.
Cereal premiums.
At one point I figured out the plastics company that produced the more highly sought after & "Rare" premiums that went into a particular cereal box. The guy who owned the company was willing to run the molds again for a price. He also was willing to sell me the molds & samples he had for a price. This is just a cautionary tale for collectors of "Rare" collectibles made of plastic.
Pez
In house examples are C class trucks, King Loui, Baloo, Mowgli & Blue Dumbo, to name a few. All were reproduced beyond original end of production dates. Why? Because it was profitable to do so. This I know for a fact. What I suspect was also produced after original end of production dates are: Pez Space Gun, Pez Shooter & about a dozen or so no feet Pez dispensers. Why? Because it was profitable to do so, meaning someone paid the right person what they wanted to do it.
You understandably could question what I suspect. I would not blame you. Though I do lay out in great detail the proposed Space Gun project I was involved with in Chapter 12. The Pez Space Gun Project. You also are now aware of a mold owned by a dealer with the rights to produce that mold. Other people also own original molds. I have seen them with my own two eyes. You are also aware now that almost any color of an item can be had for a price if you know who to pay. Verification is the approx 20 dispensers I had produced & packaged in colors I specified. Let alone the colors made on demand by the right people within the company. Again, if you know the right person & are willing to pay there price. All is possible.
The following is something I strongly suspect is true. Through fragments of conversation and knowing how things work in the underground Pez economy. A similar setup was offered to me.
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| Owl MMM |
I believe the molds were borrowed, leased or bought. Then used to create Pez dispensers and Pez Guns. I believe this happened for sure in about 1989 to 1992. It may have also happened after that, but around 1990 I strongly believe all the evidence says this happened. I am not the only person who believes this happened. You would be shocked to know the names of those who also have suspicions that this happened. Some have tipped there hand about this belief by there reactions or statements to me. Especially in the early days, about 1994 when I was finding so many great dispensers in warehouses.
There reactions to what I found, were laced with suspicion. Corrections about how it was being made wrong etc. Some even flat out said " You are making or having this stuff made". It always shocked me how quickly these top dealers & collectors leaped to that conclusion. If the Kings stuff was correct? Why wouldn't mine be? If he could find massive amounts of really old no feet stuff? Why was it so unbelievable that I could find massive quantities of even newer Pez dispensers? The only conclusion was that they never believed the Kings dispensers were all original finds of old inventory.
After all, Hadn't it been necessary for them to correct his mistakes for years. One dealer stated this to me as a matter of fact. As he explained the correction he would have to make on one of my dispensers.
Here is a list of the molds I believe were used in roughly 1990 by this individual with the injection molding machine. Some in many different colors. Indicated By *
Molds that I believe were used by this individual for this private production in about 1990 were.
Pez Space Gun* 1980s orange version especially
Pez Shooter* orange version especially
Green Hornet and hats*
Cow* A or B sorry can't remember for sure which one.
Mimic the Monkey*
Monkey Sailor
Clown with Chin*
Cockatoo*
Raven
Yappy Dog*
Cool Cat*
Owl Melody Maker*
With the guns it was indicated to me at the time approximately 10 years ago. That after the orange versions were sold there might be other colors available.
storage
Collecting should always be about patience. You have your entire life to find each dispenser. There is absolutely no hurry. If you feel hurried or pressured, WALK AWAY. That dispenser will come along later.
Any idiot with to much money can have an instant collection. Paying a lot of money for something takes no talent at all. You also will have no stories about acquiring the item, except I paid some guy a ton of money for them.
The biggest threat to any hobby or collectible is when people pay stupid to collect it. Con artists make there living off stupid. If your willing to pay too much for something, someone will always show up to relieve you of your money. Be patient, go slow, look a lot, years if needed & haggle until your family is embarrassed. Then you have something to be proud of, something you can brag about. A thousand dollars is just plain stupid.
The biggest factor is Pez dispenser vulnerability. Plastic can be duplicated & nobody so far shows interest in checking or revealing true date of origins. Also on rare color variations. Most are newer, made to make money. How many people who do this will figure they have enough money?
A rule of thumb can be used for most items released in the last ten years.
Over the counter Pez dispensers. The ones that received wide distribution in the USA or foreign countries, value $1.00 to $3.00. Still in release closer to $1.00. Out of distribution closer to ten years, value closer to $3.00. Length of distribution time longer, closer to $1.00. Shorter distribution period or foreign only closer to $5.00.
Special release Pez dispensers $1.00 to $15.00. Massive special release $1.00 to $5.00.
Mail aways from Pez Corp $1.00 to $10.00. Problem with these dispensers is nobody really knows how many were made. In many cases distribution was not confined to Mail away program. The old East Coast Pez Museum bought an awful lot of "Mail Away Only Dispensers" at closeout prices. Also a huge amount was sold at closeout prices to Dollar stores on the West Coast.
Sports Special release Pez Dispensers $1.00 to $10.00. Availability, Distribution etc all factor in. Did it happen once or was it repeated.
Restaurant Special release Pez Dispensers $1.00 to $10.00. Was it one and done or repeated several times.
Special Color variations $25.00 to $250.00. This group is a real pet peeve of mine. I am biased. One of a kinds are only that, until another one is made. Most one of a kind color variations are made to be just that. Problem is once you get $1,000.00 for one, are you done? Usually there are or will be more. The money is to good. One of a kinds are made on demand to make money. Nobody I ever met wanted to make money just once.
Mint is a very elusive, if not impossible condition to find a pez dispenser in. These are and were plastic toys. Never created or handled by workers to maintain mint status. Most dispenser are gang boxed loose in cartons of approximately 400 for shipment to packaging facilities. Not individually bagged. No padding. Just thrown in boxes loose for shipping. My values also reflect that fact.
Value for any given dispenser is subjective, based on condition and market environment. Say a dispenser is worth $2000.00 book value. If you are a high profile dealer and willing to wait a year or two to get that price. Then maybe you can get $2000.00. Realistically though value should be what you can get within a relatively short period of time. What you can get and value should be closer. My values will try to bridge that gap. I will be tinkering with this price guide on an ongoing basis. Trying to get that middle ground right.
I'd also like to cover one other area before we get to the list & values. Recently I've noticed a lot of inquiries about pez values based on the country written on the stem or country of origin. The country of origin plays no part in value except in two respects. The 1953: U.S. Zone Germany Regulars. The other way it could come into play is age. By this I mean different regions or countries were used dominantly in different time periods of Pez production. Still though the head is what counts, not the country.
Heads not country. Heads not stem color. It's all about the Head on the stick. The stick is always secondary. Except in the case of Feet vs No Feet on the stem. No Feet is always better.
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| Green Hornet |
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| Fake Brown Green Hornet |
Richie Belyski Good question Steve. What molds exist outside of Pez. But with today's computers I'm sure Pez heads can be reproduced.
Green Hornet I have a real problem with the brown hats & off color masks. Has anyone ever seen a brown hat Green Hornet mint in cello? If so I would like to see it. I believe at the very least the Hat & Mask mold was used in outside production at a facility not affiliated with Pez Europe. The tell. Hat color variations. Were they variations or attempts to get it right? After all the name is Green Hornet, not Brown Hornet. Would anyone at the factory during the real production period really be that stupid? It defies logic that Pez Europe or the Green Hornet license holder would have allowed a production of brown hats. Once colors are selected & approved by licensee, The colors are recorded & strictly adhered to. Making brown hats points to greed during aftermarket production. Same goes for Raven long beak. Also statements made by the owner of the inventory.
Timed releases controls market price. Example. Say I had thousands of Green Hornets & controlled the molds. Well if I'm silly I rush out & sell everything all at once. Or say I control the release & distribution at a rate that holds value. Actual possibility is at a minimum that KOA only owns the Hat & Mask mold. As it is probably one mold with both. Swapping hats & masks.
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| Owl MMM |
Concerning Batman with cape loose.
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| Batman w/cape |
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| I Believe this is the 1950s Spacegun in question. BTW who did make it? |
Adam Cromer Jackotrades was the username that came to mind as he scammed several thousand with fake Pez and a fake brain surgery story.
Steve Glew Where was Jackotrades located? US or Europe? Who were they connected to? What year was this done?
Adam Cromer They were connected with people on the west coast and had dozens of rare colors for sale, I assume they made the rest. People who couldn't bother to google his name collected thousands of dollars for him as a gift since he told them he needed out patient brain surgery and he scammed them too. Those hk fakes were coming via him. For Newer Pez Dispensers See. Chapter 15. Free Pez Dispensers Pictorial Price Guide / Value List to the Last 15 Years
Further Questions About Pez Spacegun Molds This statement is taken from Wikipedia.
"The 2006 eBay sale of a clear 50s Space Gun for $11,000 took place but according to noted Pez author, David Welch, the dispenser was later proven by chemical testing to be a well-made fake."
My questions are. How do you make a fake without at a minimum access to the molds? You absolutely can not make a fake Pez Gun without a mold. Who has or had the mold? Was this it or are there more? After all who would go to the trouble of finding a mold, then just use it once? Where was the mold used? Is the mold still available for use? Which brings us back to the 80s spacegun & shooter "find". Bare in mind the big find of orange guns was approximately the same time. Also this group of guns had oil traces in them & it appeared very fresh at the time.
Here is my 2 cents on this gun. In the mid 1990s when I first asked for clear plastic head Pez. I was at first told no, that clear plastic was not possible. So let me get it right crystal clear plastic was thought at first not possible in 1990 yet used in 1950. When clear plastic was first used by Pez Corp in mid 1990s, it took a while even then to get the process right. Common sense should have told anyone who thought about it that this gun was not possible in the 1950s. Also with toys that were made in clear plastic type material in the 1950s the clear material is no longer clear. It has a yellow tint at the very least 50+ years later.
This leads to the obvious question. If a fake 1950s spacegun was made in clear plastic. What other "RARE" color variation 1950s spaceguns were made after the year 2000 using the same mold? I mean really. Do you honestly believe molds were found or made, then used just once to make the Crystal 50s gun? That possibility is not credible. So what other "RARE" 1950s guns were made, sold, & now in collections.
"clear space gun pez". One important fact pretty much tells the story. Plastic & injection molding was in its infancy in the 1950s. Have you ever seen a clear plastic toy molded from the 1950s that didn't have a yellow tint to it today? Add to that the fact that in 1998 when I asked for clear plastic heads in an order. I was told it was not possible as the process was to complicated. Yes a few months later they did it. Point being as late as 1998 clear plastic injection molding was not considered an easy process. Proof of this was in the early clear plastic heads produced in 1998, most had small air bubbles.
Deduction the clear plastic 1950s pez space gun is a fake. An after market creation produced after 1998. Which brings up the question. Who has that mold? Were others produced from that mold in "rare colors"? Has there been a surge of rare or odd colors for the 1950s space gun in the last 10 years? Yes. Were others produced from that mold in normal colors? Has there been a "find" of 1950s pez space guns in the last 10 years that actually should be attributed to this mold used to make the clear gun?
This part of this answer is very important.
Reproducing Pez in exact detail is easy with modern molding technology. If you have an injection molding facility to do it in. A head can be scanned, a mold then can be produced from that scan. The only factor in whether or not to do it is. Is it worth doing? Which is exactly why I have always warned against $1,000.00 plus price tags for items made of plastic. Specifically Pez Dispensers. By paying thousands of dollars for a pez dispenser, you make faking it worth doing.
With all I've said you have to be asking yourself. Who can I trust? #1. David Welch. I like Dave & I trust him to be honest. #2. a group of people I have known a long time John The Cool Pez Man Devlin, Mary Anne Kennedy & Shaun Peterson. Honest with no motivation or inclination to be anything else. You can trust these people.
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