Pez Outlaw, A Jail Cell to Vietnam #pezoutlaw

Please Watch My Emmy Winning Movie, The Pez Outlaw on Amazon Prime & Peacock. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Best actor at SXSW.

It's My Story.

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

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Silent screams unheard

Never silent The voices

Peace, A coveted gift to others

The story I'm about to tell had a very deep cost.
I'm not particularly proud of it, but if I don't tell it somebody someday will.
Best you hear it from me.
Truth is that it had to unfold the way it did, for OH so many reasons I had no choice at all.

If Pez Outlaws story ever amounts to anything, I want this part of my life to be known first.
I want Pez Outlaw to be accepted with full knowledge of his life as a whole.
The good, the bad n the ugly.

WARNING. This story might be upsetting to some folks.

If you were in the Military but after 9 months they decide that the Vietnam war would be better without your participation, Are You A Veteran?
I've wondered about this a lot lately.

How do I explain the price to a mind in desperation. 
What appears of unique value had a cost of decades.

The pain is well hidden but should be cherished.
Wisdom is gained through the survival of adversity.

Treat what you are labeled with by others as your tool box.
Your view of this world is unique, a perspective unattainable by others.

Cherish who you are, don't allow others to define you.

The cost.
I slept with the light on for about a year following all this n it took about 20yrs to bounce back from the damage to me mentally.

So here is the hitch hiking story.
This all happened near the end of my time in the Marine Corp.  

In 1968 I decided one weekend to hitch hike my way home to see my girlfriend. A rather normal thing. Except on the way back to Quantico Virginia I was arrested for hitch hiking on the Ohio turnpike. I spent the next 30 days in county jail because I had also forgotten to get permission from the Marines. In short I did not have a pass. Being detached to the US ARMY at the time for schooling as a Cartographic draftsman. A map maker. It took the Marines a month to realize I was gone.

Fact is I could have cared less. Going through a crazy period, I had a great time. My status was AWOL, absent without leave. This gets you a private room, Maximum security in county lockup. So for the next few weeks I spent my time sleeping or messing with the guards. Here is an example of what I thought was fun at the time. The maximum security cell I was in had walls on 3 sides. The only side that had bars was the front. For me personally having your toilet in plain sight for all to see was less than modest. One morning I decided to do something about it. I used my Sunday newspaper to build a fourth wall, by weaving it through the bars. Ah privacy at last. Which I promptly took advantage of. Once I had relieved myself, the guards discovered my renovations. The guards were not pleased at all with my gesture of defiance. They promptly took it all down. Like I said crazy is easy.

Other than that I read books and slept. Until I was informed one day that a mass murderer of some kind had arrived. The State of Ohio needed my cell to house him. So off to general population I went. Not pleased at all with this turn of events.  I took the first opportunity to object, when meal time rolled around.  I took the tin tray of food being handed to me through the bars and tossed it on the closest guards.

Food fights on TV are a great source of humor. In county lockup not so much. I was placed in the hole. The hole in this jail was a 4 foot by 4 foot metal closet.  Inside The Hole was a small metal stool fixed to the floor in the middle of the room. The stool was meant to complicate an already small space. After a few hours the guard came by and said. We will let you out, if you promise to behave. I asked him. Can I go back to maximum security? He said nope, general population. I told him. I like the hole just fine. After all, it was a private room. For days they kept asking and I kept answering. No thank you, I liked it here in the hole. Finally after a few days the mass murderer was transferred out of county. So the hitch hiker was moved back to maximum security. Crazy is easy.

The rest of the Hitch Hiking story. Before I tell this part of the story I want to establish a few things. I love and respect the US Marine Corp. I also have the greatest admiration for the men and women who serve in it. The Marine Corp didn't fail me. I fail the United States Marines. I was only a Marine for nine months. That being said. The things I learned have been with me throughout my life. The Marines, Kathy and my mother each had a hand in establishing my moral compass. I haven't always measured up to it, but it is how I try to live.

I joined the Marines to escape my life of drug use and drinking since I was 15 years old. I came to the Marines already damaged goods. Also remember.  I was 17, then just turned 18 years old when this all happened. Please also remember that this was roughly 1969 during the Vietnam war. When I said warts and all I meant it. Even the parts I would rather forget. Problem is if I don't tell the whole story, you won't understand who I am. Why things that don't seem normal to you, seem very normal to me. We are all the sum and total of our life experiences.

Finally after about 30 days maximum security in the county jail of Ohio, I was escorted to my transportation back to the Marine Corp. You see my mother had been burning up the phone lines with the Marines to gain my release. When I arrived back at Quantico, I had to stand before my commanding officer. He told me my mother had assured him that I was a good boy. That he was going to handle everything administratively. Basically he was embarrassed. Nobody even knew I was gone. Having been detached to the army for training. Nobody had actually been keeping track of where I was. I had fallen through the cracks for over a month. Resulting in my 30 days of county lockup in Ohio.

Having missed my training as a map maker. 

I now had a "ONE WAY" ticket to Vietnam. 

I had one tiny problem with this. I knew if the Viet-cong didn't get me, someone from my own team might. I did not fit in anymore. My team player skills have always sucked. I'm not good with authority.  The indoctrination from boot camp, had worn off. I was again thinking independently and challenging everybody. In Vietnam this would have been a liability that would have gotten other people killed. Not being totally gone, even I knew what being fragged was. So when my commanding officer asked me if I had anything to say. Not wanting to die at 18 years old.  I indeed had a lot to say. After all why should now be different. I always had something to say or at least an opinion.

For the next 15 minutes, I had a lot to say. I told him that while on leave after boot camp I had taken LSD and shot Heroin. He asked if I had done LSD before joining the Marine Corp? I told him I had. Truth was, I had used LSD many, many times. There was one time period alone, when I had approximately 12 tabs of some blue concoction called purple haze or something. I remember vividly, it being rolled in paper like a pack of Necko's candy. Yes, I used most all of them. This was just one time period, not counting Mescaline/peyote. Sheets of paper with dozens of drops of LSD on it. Along with many other colors in tablet form. Yes sir, I had done a lot of LSD. Including freaking out twice, which back then was defined as a bad trip. Like I said I had also shot Heroin for the first time while on leave after boot camp.

All this rocked him back a bit. Thing is, I hadn't even gotten to the good part yet. Not wanting to leave my C.O. hanging I launched into the rest of the story. This part of the story is also true. What can I say. I had problems. I also was a major knuckle head.

I told my C.O. that I had been getting drunk and trying to cut my toes off. He asked me if I was telling the truth? Yes sir it is the truth. With what? A hatchet I bought at a hardware store. Where is this hatchet? In my locker. I was immediately placed under guard outside his office while two Marines went through my locker. After they found the hatchet, another guard was added to my detail which immediately escorted me to the base Psychiatrist.

The part I didn't tell him was, I had also tried on several occasions to get a friend to drive his car over my ankle. Honestly at a certain point there is such a thing as to much crazy. Rubber room or freedom. Skip the car part.

The shrink thought they had over reacted. After hearing my story he asked me. Do you still want to cut your toes off? I answered with a question. Do you think I will be discharged from the Marine Corp? His answer was very clear. Yes, you will definitely be discharged. Then no, my toes will survive. I was diagnosed Schizophrenic with masochistic tenancies. Today it would be called obsessive compulsive with a pinch of bipolar. Over the next month while I waited to go home my locker was inspected a couple more times. Not wanting to disappoint. I tried to make sure to have a hatchet in the locker for them to find. Which they would promptly take. Only to have it replaced with another. At this point, I was just screwing with them. Making them crazy was my new hobby.


Making them crazy was my new hobby. Isn't it funny how history repeats itself. Again now it's my job to make Pez Corporation nuts, by screwing with them as much as possible. Note, this is not a full time job, I only do what I can in my spare time, now that Pez Outlaw Diary is basically done.
 
After a while the Marine just let me leave. I hitch hiked home, while they handled my discharge. Believe it or not. Thanks to Jimmy Carter and the Red Cross. I now have a General discharge from the Marine Corps. That's like a "B" in school grades. Since all I ever got in school were "Cs". I guess it"s not so bad.

I left the Marines with a GED and an arm that aches, when the weather changes. You see, while being detached to the US Army I dislocated my elbow. This happened while I was doing the Armies obstacle course. My elbow was dislocated bad enough to require traction in the hospital for about a week. The Army enjoyed messing with the Marines detached to them for schooling. I always figured it was some kind of an inferiority complex.

Another quick story. Shortly after getting home I joined the Lansing chapter of the White Panthers or as I fondly remember them The Lansing Cocaine Club. Activities seemed to center around, staring out windows and mistaking Mailmen for FBI Agents. The result of Cocaine induced paranoia. Luckily I got bored and moved on after about a week.

This all must seem unbelievable, truth be told this isn't even everything.
There are still parts of this story that I've never shared.
Trigger words; Hot shower n Boots.
What can I say.  I led the charmed life of an imbecile.

Every day now it seems someone is being exposed n past behavior being revealed.
Precisely why I decided to tell you myself.
I will not live in fear of a past that made me who I am.

After Pez Outlaw, I intend to retire.

Pez Corporate Fraud, Pez Color War, Restitution.

 





 
My price guide is fun for beginners but if you want a real Pez Price Guide go here.

PEZ - JOHN CANDY DISPENSERS

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Pez Outlaw, The Post-it, Post #pezoutlaw

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

https://www.ebay.com/.../Pez-Outlaw-By-sj-glew/_i.html...

Please Watch My Emmy Winning Movie, The Pez Outlaw on Amazon Prime & Peacock. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Best actor at SXSW.

It's My Story.

Above Image is a Movie prop, not the real Post-it

Recently during the final scenes of the Pez Outlaw movie, We shot the postit scene. 

Take after take n I ended up with 10 Fake postits which I gave to Ilona Stevens to give to her friends.

To our suprise a bunch of folks had no Idea what they were, so here's briefly the story.

 Inside the pez yellow house we were talking to the people who worked there about buying some pez dispensers, when a man in a plaid sports jacket came out of an office. He approached the conversation listened for a bit then introduced himself. Hello my name is Gunther Leitner. Getting no recognition he said "Don't you know who I am". Then he said "I know what you want, I'm the guy you need to deal with". He turned grabbed a post-it, wrote something on it & signed it.

I sold this post-it on ebay a couple of years ago. While it was listed for sale Andy emailed me. He told me how uncool it was to sell this post-it. All these years later and they still thought I should play by there rules. Me I thought. Are you kidding me? After being wiped out financially during the Pez Color Wars you still expected me to take it and like it. How Bizarre. How Bizarre. 

That said. I don't think the person who won this post-it really realizes how significant a piece of Pez Outlaw memorabilia that little post-it is. That piece of paper signed by Gunther brought over 1/2 million dispensers to the hobby of collecting pez. The price it sold for on ebay was about $20.00. The actual value as an iconic mile marker in the hobby of collecting pez and Pez Outlaw History is more like $2,000.00 when you truly appreciate what it is.

Whoever bought Gunther's post it. I'd love a picture to put in the book. Right Here. I don't have a picture of it. 
If you'd like it's value to be $2,000.00, give me a pic n it will be.

 
That little post-it signed by Gunther Leitner, single handedly impacted the course of pez collecting in the early 1990s and for the next 10 to 25 years. Let me ask you if you think that there would even be a Pez Outlaw without that little post-it signed by Gunther.

So please, I need a picture of it. Let me make it n your ownership of it famous.

Gunther gave us an address and said go here. When we arrived at the address, we showed the post-it to the guard & the gates opened. Once in the warehouse the manager snapped to & took us to a pile of boxes containing older pez dispensers. We selected what we could afford & paid Gunther. I believe though that he was very disappointed. Being one of my first few trips, we only spent a few thousand dollars. Not a lot of money in the beginning, as we were just figuring this whole thing out. Though from my point of view a very successful encounter, we got a little of everything. The pez trucks sold out in a few days, so within two weeks, I went back to Gunther on a trip just for Truck Pez dispensers.

That's the story as I originally wrote it.

I now believe the following, because no record or acknowledgement of or by the buyer of that original postit has ever surfaced. 

A straw buyer must have bought this postit for Scott McWhinnie.

My guess is, so he would have leverage over Gunther.

Pez Outlaw, Rocky Rangoo #pezoutlaw

Please Watch My Emmy Winning Movie, The Pez Outlaw on Amazon Prime & Peacock. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Best actor at SXSW.

It's My Story.

1950s Rocket Crystal Radio.

I've been thinking about these lately. My older brother Virgil & I decided to sleep in the Attic to avoid our 3 brothers. We had this Rocket Radio. No batteries. You wrapped a wire around the chimney & we both Listened by huddle ing up & sharing the one ear piece. Ours was a Red, White & Blue Rocket.

I don't retain many clear memories from childhood, but this one stuck as a very treasured memory.

I'd buy one to nostalgicly display, But who on Earth can afford $80.00 for it on ebay. Ours could not have cost more than 2 bucks, even if that.

This was probably 70 years ago when I was 5 years old.

I did not expect to find even one of them on ebay, let alone approx 6 different listings.

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

https://www.ebay.com/.../Pez-Outlaw-By-sj-glew/_i.html...

When we were young, all things were possible.

Our only limitation was our imagination.

Hold your dreams close.

Don't let others limit what is possible for you.

Head Down That Road, It's exciting.

You will see things you never dreamt were possible.

When you are lucky, things you never dreamed happen.

My Babies now have young adult children.

I dream for them & you also.

My Life is once again filled with dreams of the possible.

I have been Lucky, my life has been filled with the impossible.

I have seen things & lived a life that exceeded my imagination.

What suprises await me? We shall see together.

Pics below. I'm second from the left. I think?
 

                                                                                          

This picture is nostalgic for me when I started looking at the background. On the other side of The white picket fence was our dads garden, The little building in the back held chickens & rabbits??? at various times. The tree to the right was a pear tree. That Pile between the small building & the pear tree was our wood pile. We heated with wood for a lot of years when I was young.

Comical phrase. Us boys used to carry wood into the house for burning. We used to tell each other, "Load Me Up". Makes me laugh now thinking of it.

The field behind our property was a big corn field. This was before President Eisenhower set up the highway system in the USA which ran through that corn field.

My guess is that this picture was taken between 1957 & 1959.

Making me approx 7 & Virgil maybe 9yrs old.

My guess is that my mother arranged us by age Left to right. Being second oldest that would make me second from the left.

Explanation. My Mother splurged on my birthay & bought us all Cowboy Hats & gun & holster sets. I picked the Roy Rogers gun & holster set.

I want to share a memory of my 8th Birthday in 1959.

My Mom decided to get my 4 brothers n I Cowboy Guns n Holsters.

Being my Birthday, I got 1st pick the Roy Rogers Double Holster n guns.

Last night while getting in the shower I had the vivid memory of us 5 boys walking down to Pete's store in our Cowboy Hats n Toy guns n Holsters.

My guess more than one of us wearing chaps n vests.

Just a beautiful memory of 5 boys ranging in age from 3 to 10yrs old decked out as cowboys getting ready to spend there quarters on cartoon supplies ready for the days adventures.

Rocky Rangoo

All Aboard The Rocket to Rangoo
Tales of the Old West & Huckleberry Hound
Six guns & Saturday morning cartoons

Early Saturday morning walks to Pete's store
Grape Soda & BBQ Tater Chips a weekly treat

Bike trips with jars of Kool-Aid
Riding out to my Aunts in the back of the truck staring at the sky

Back when my spurs were shiny
n Pizza came in a box from Chef Boyardee

Reality has taken over the space that once held my dreams
My prayer is to find Rocky Rangoo n live his life again

The Book of my life is written as Pez Outlaw
My inner child though, is named Rocky Rangoo

Maybe those Doctors were right n that's how we got here

Today people laugh when I call the clothes I'm wearing my outfit.

I think that I get that from my mother, she was really into outfits n loved dressing her boys.

I tried explaining an example to Kathryn Ann.

Back when the Brothers of The Brush was a thing.

Kathryn Ann, WHAT! wait a minute what the hell was that.

Obviously, a southside thing.

Anyway men grew beards n people dressed like Barbershop Quartets.

Still with me? Anyway mom made us boys matching outfits with vests.

So anyway I call what I wear each day my outfit.

I had an amazing early childhood.

Born into a 24x24ft cinder block house, 2nd born of 5 boys.

This type of house was common in our small neighborhood, I can think of 4 or 5 of them off the top of my head.

As my brothers started arriving an additional 24x24ft cinder block house was added to the north end of the original with the help of my grandpa Woodcock.

More boys meant further expansion n the low pitch roof was raised radically to add an entire second story.

My brothers n I ran the upstairs bunkhouse.

Yes we were probably considered poor, I knew what welfare spam, cheese n peanut butter were.

Unlike some who ate Welfare spam n hate it now, I still love Fried Spam.

I feel no shame about my preteen childhood, actually the opposite, it was magical

To my brothers: Virgil, David, Dennis n Lloyd.

This is the childhood that I prefer to remember.

The Hour is late, time to make peace with a life lived.

Rocky Rangoo

Born in a retching fever
Reality the bite of a rabid dog 

Escape, a path to danger
Decades to outrun the demon

Finally I found him
His ego destroyed us both

Flickers of hope between the shadows
Always trying to outrun my fears

The groove is deep
Finally the light returns

No longer shamed by who I am
Labels become assets

A feather on the wind
The solo path my home

Without dreams my light would surely go out
How does darkness give birth to unbelievable optimism
You must walk through darkness to see the sun rise


*****************************

I treasure the moments, few as they are, that make the long waits worthwhile.
I've seen the hardest of men finally reveal the truth that has been my lifelong companion.
I find that comforting but still not the answer. 


There are reasons for everything, I'm just beginning to understand that.
When I was young I fought against the contrary, now I simply accept it.
All that matters is what works n if you pay attention life hands you the road map.

There is a spoken truth behind this , but my new understanding does not allow me to share it.
From here out I do what works, I don't question or challenge it to my detriment.
Self sabotage is very simply ignoring the truth instead of embracing it.

What good is a truth that dooms you to failure.

***************************************************

I took the test, Yes I am officially a Hillbilly-Redneck.

What you say, You didn't realize America was being tested to figure this out.
Yeah sure but maybe not a test as much as being defined in media n by politicians etc.

It's OK, It's OK, we've got thick skins n we sure have been called worse.

We are that inscrutable class of people here in America, getting by n making it work.
Our recycling is reuse or re-purposing.
We used to be defined by our love n use of Ducktape.
Catch up folks, just like the kids we've move on, it's zipties now.
A close second is Ducktape.

We are hard pressed to find a political party to affiliate with because even if one appealed to us they both are real busy mean mouthing us.

Mostly though, the thing that we have in common is, we just want to be left alone, by everybody.

It could be worse, I could be a Commie Pinko.

The official Hillbilly-Redneck symbol should be a wrench ziptied to a roll of Ducktape.


 Now all we gotta do is get it made.

Pez Outlaw, KEEP ON TRUCKIN! #pezoutlaw

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

https://www.ebay.com/.../Pez-Outlaw-By-sj-glew/_i.html...

   

Please Watch My Emmy Winning Movie, The Pez Outlaw on Amazon Prime & Peacock. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Best actor at SXSW.

It's My Story.

received this question today from David Cavalieri via private message.

Hi Steve, I have a question I've wondered about for a while the "Glew" trucks yellow, pink and orange on black trailers. Were they all made in the same quantities? Any idea why the wheels were glued in place on some of them? Any idea why the orange set is so much harder to find than the other two?

A long time ago when my hair was still brown/black, Hell when I still had hair, Joshua n I made our first trip of over 80 to Hungary. Gunther sent us to the packaging facility that he controlled. A significant part of our load from that trip were Pink, Yellow n orange cab trucks with black stems n glued in wheels.

This story is further explained in McHOOKER's, Pez Outlaw #Netflix #Quibi #Disney #Am.

OK, all that said, here's the story.

Pez Austria has a meeting, "we need to expand distribution into the old eastern block of Europe". For those of us that didn't pay attention in History Class. The Old Eastern Block of Europe was the Soviet Union, which was made up of every country east of Austria n half of Germany.

So they picked one of there board of geniuses to head it up, Gunther Leitener.

Gunther created a new injection molding facility in Gyor Hungary n had every old mold he could lay his hands on sent to Gyor. Gunther created a home office for everything headed east in a house across the tracks from the Raba Hotel (soon to become Pez Outlaw's Shadow Pez Headquarters). I named Gunthers new House/Headquarters "The Yellow House".

Gunther's grab of old molds wasn't as sinister as it sounds, he had a new plastic n a new packaging facility to get up n running without disrupting the normal operations of Austria.

Part of this mold grab was the old C class truck molds, note America was on the next class of D series trucks then. Problem was, the axles were sloppy n fell out /old molds/wore out. I hate to tell you but to a normal worker in Gyor, the simple solution was the answer, just glue the wheels/axles in place. Problem solved.

When Joshua n I got to the warehouse of the packaging facility where pez product had been gathered from all over Europe, a portion of the C Class truck run was left. Most of the Orange cab trucks had been packaged n sent east to Russia etc. so only a few handfuls were left, say 1/2 or a box. Box = 300. Yellow cabs were next scarce due to shipped east, say 2 boxes = 500 ish. Pink Cabs though there were 3 to 4 boxes say 1,000 ish.

Due to very limited funds n being plopped down in Valhalla, we could only get some of everything.

We sold those trucks like food to a starving village, mind you we really weren't asking very much for them.. You gotta remember, I sold Psycho Lucy's for $25.000 each.

2 weeks after josh n me finding the c class Orange, Yellow n Pink cab black stem trucks, I went on my 1st solo trip to Hungary to pick up the rest of those trucks before they were gone forever.

My guess is yes that the Orange, Yellow n Pink cab c class trucks on black stems/trailer were indeed made in equal quantities. It's just that by the time I found them most of the orange n yellows had been sent east Russia etc.

Time to search east n improve your Russian contacts for Orange cab trucks.

see McHookers Post for the rest of this story.

McHOOKER's, Pez Outlaw #Netflix #Quibi #Disney #Am.

..

Pez Outlaw, She Whispered, "Kolinska" #pezoutlaw

Please Watch My Emmy Winning Movie, The Pez Outlaw on Amazon Prime & Peacock. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Best actor at SXSW.

It's My Story.

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

https://www.ebay.com/.../Pez-Outlaw-By-sj-glew/_i.html...

 

 

We chose the KGB over a WAR Zone, more on that later.

Left to right black Santas 1, 2 and 3.
These are the pez that put Pez Outlaw on Scott McWhinnies Most Wanted list of criminals.

I will always treasure the 100ish trips I made driving around Eastern Europe, they changed me in ways I find hard to describe. When I realized my traveling days were coming to an end I made a couple more trips to Eastern Europe, just to say good-bye.

She Whispered, "Kolinska" With that one word, Kolinska, a decade long Fairytale that changed my life began.

It was at toy shows While selling Pez in the early days that I started hearing stories about Europe and Pez Warehouses. I met a lady, I think her name was Maria, she whispered a story about a place called Kolinska in Slovenia. She said it was a warehouse, that had a store also, where you could buy pez. I also was told by Dwayne D. about the train trip he and his girlfriend took in Eastern Europe & how they brought back Silver Glow Pez dispensers. 


Yes I'm a big fan of Orson Welles but unlike Citizen Kane (Rose Bud) or The Graduate (Plastic) for that matter, this actually happened. At the time I was a Machinist/Welder at Campbell Inc. in Lansing Michigan. 

Feeling like I had enough info, Josh n I planned my first trip to Europe to buy Pez dispensers. I scraped together just under $3,000.00 & we were off. I really can't remember today if the first trip was Kolinska or the crazy drive through Eastern Europe of 4 countries in 2 days. Either way the game was afoot, shoe factories, border guards, crazy driving and pretty bad food.


Slovenia
Flight to Ljubljana. 

After waiting all night on benches in a small corner of the Vienna airport finally it was time to board. Joshua n I walk out onto the airstrip and are directed to board Sky Kings plane. Pilot copilot n 4 seats for passengers. One of the seats occupied by the overweight male stewardess handing out sandwiches from Rubbermaid containers. This did not look good. The flight turned out to be quite similar to a ride on a scary roller coaster with the male stewardess in your lap more than his own seat. Something to do with flying over the Alps in winter in a small plane, wind currents, downdrafts & low altitudes. We drove clown cars down through the mountains after that. The single most beautiful drive you will ever take is a winter drive from Vienna to Ljubljana through the mountains. The air is crisp & clean. The scenery unmatched anywhere in all my travels. Whenever I think of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen it is that drive in winter. Though driving clown cars through serious mountains can be a harrowing experience.

These are the Pink Bunnies I got from Marcos.

We arrive in Slovenia after taking our first and our last clown plane ride. I will never get on another small plane for the rest of my life. Honestly people say this & are usually exaggerating, But I literally thought I was going to die on that plane. After spending some time to regain our composure off we went to Rent a Clown Car. Josh & I had already decided we would not be using the return ticket to Vienna. Here's something you may not know. You can rent cars in Eastern European countries & drive anywhere. But if you rent say in Vienna or Germany you must get special paperwork, which is checked at borders to drive into Eastern block countries.

After leaving the airport we find our way to Kolinska the Pez warehouse & packaging facility in Ljubliana. Really terrific people, they invited us in for espresso, saying they had no problem selling us whatever Pez dispensers they had, that we wanted. Explaining that the Pez dispensers they had was limited, that Plastdispenser in Ormoz the plastics plant was where we needed to go for Pez dispensers. Two things to note here. They actually had quite a good selection of Pez dispensers. Though a month ago they had Pez dispensers I would drool for like rooster mmm, pig mmm, wyle, foghorn, henry hawk, cool cat etc. Second Pez corp downsized this facility, within 2 years they were selling soup & catchup.

Small group of the Black Santas I got from Marcos.

Foghorn Leghorn

They said Plastdispenser in Ormoz had all the pez dispensers. Though this information came with big warnings and concerns by them. Ormoz you see is very close to Zagreb and the war at that time. The whole Cerbs vs Croates thingy that involved ethnic cleansing. 

Would Josh n I have driven into a War Zone to get Pez? We almost did.
We got lost n came within a 1/4mile of driving into a WAR. Josh n I had a good laugh n drove as fast as we could in the opposite direction. 

If you took a wrong turn near Ormoz, within minutes you would have been smack dab in the middle of a war. That's not good. Second thing the road from Ljubliana to Ormoz they said was very dangerous, a lot of people were dying on it lately. Now I am really encouraged.

The drive down was interesting, a bit hilly with steep drop offs at roadside. Though the real problem was it was 1 lane north & 1 lane south without even a yellow line to divide them. To complicate things even further drivers in either direction treated it as though both lanes headed north or south at the same time. Remember this is me the guy the King of Austria thought was the worst driver in the world, who could not believe I was allowed to drive at all. Fair due though I learned my European driving skills in Slovenia, Slovak, Czech & Hungary. Just driving in your own lane on that highway was a duel with death.

Henry Hawk

My job was navigation, Of course we got lost. I remember screeching to a stop when Josh yelled that sign says Zagreb 20 miles. Whoa did we ever stop n turn around.  At the time the War in Croatia was going on, nope got our own crazy, don't need there's.

We spent that night at some weird hot spring spa. Kinda cool if you like taking a swim in hot sulfur waters at a KGB retreat.

KGB Resort. This place was actually pretty cool in a KGB sorta way. At the center of everything was this old looking glass enclosed swimming pool with a brick changing room attached, surround by wooden cabins for rooms. Lockers the whole bit. It was the pool that was the big deal. The pool was fed by a hot sulfur spring, so you swam in hot sulfur water. Of course we tried it. It was a very unique experience and as we were lost when we found it, I could not tell you for the life of me where it was. 

Being lost was not unusual for Josh n me, we were lost a lot. We really didn't care, all we cared about was finding our objective. We'd find our way out after that.  Though it wasn't long after this that we figured out chase the Taxi.
Chase the Taxi was hire a cab, show them an address then follow the taxi like a hunting dog.


A lot of these experiences were very unique and the last remnants of the old Eastern Block in Europe, soon gone forever.

Ex KGB Towers. At the borders of most old Eastern Block countries there were at regular intervals Guard Towers. They reminded me of water towers here but flatter and more saucer in shape with windows n a wrap around porch. These were the big ones, there were also smaller ones made of wood that reminded me of Park Ranger Towers over here. There were still a lot of cold war things standing in the early 90s.

One more thing that always struck me as odd. After crossing customs leaving Hungary, you would get on the Highway to Vienna. At the first overpass on the side of the hill was this wooden building that looked like a club house. It was manned with Austrian cops of one sort or another in the early to mid 90s because I saw them. In the later 90s, they appeared empty. This area was the same area where during the 1956 Hungarian revolt against Communism, where the Hungarian people fled across the border into Austria to escape the tanks that the USSR had sent in to squash the rebellion. The reason I know this is on one trip to Hungary I read a book that went into a lot of the details about the 1956 Hungarian revolt and the exodus from Hungary afterward.

I've got to tell you about the toilets in a lot of old eastern block countries. You know how when your sitting doing your business here it is a straight shot down in this country. Well that portion is way forward in the bowl, your business in the old country quite often lands on a flat raised area like table & just sits there till you flush, sometimes it leaves, sometimes not. To further aggravate the situation, above the toilet in our cabin was an open propane heater. So it baked the toilet & its contents. Sorry if this bit of color grossed you out and the only reason I tell you is it really grossed me out.

Next morning we arrived at Plastdispenser the pez plastics factory in Ormoz. First thing I noticed was very long lines of cars at one side of the factory. After watching for a while I realized they were dropping off assembled Pez dispensers n picking up components for Pez dispensers to be assembled. People from the surrounding community were doing home assembly of pez dispensers. The population of Ormoz is 2,400 people. Until that moment I had no idea this was how it was done. 

Later I found out this at one time or another was how it was done at most injection molding plants in Europe. Which means just like the Queen of Austria found pez dispensers n components for Pez dispensers in the community around the factory in Linz. You too could find them in the communities surrounding factories in Pamplona Spain, Ormoz Slovenia, Gyor Hungary and early production in China. One thing you need to know is workers especially home assembly workers always have pez stuff in there garages.

Josh and I were admitted in, then escorted to the upper level where the offices were. As we waited on the glassed in balcony, we were able to take in the view of the entire manufacturing area where production of pez components was actually done. In the dozen visits I made to this factory, this was always my favorite part of every trip. That is before Pez Austria bought Plastdispenser outright and banned me. A few years after Austria bought Plastdispenser, they moved dispenser production to Linz and Gyor. Ormoz was soon making brooms and dust pans. I always enjoyed standing there, just watching for about 10 minutes, before announcing I was there. The lady who I always did business with, Ljuba greeted me and invited me into her office. I have recently been informed that the reason I was dealing with Ljuba was because of her language skills. I explained what I was hunting for. She called Ljubliana and was told she could sell to me. Before they showed me what they had I was introduced to Marcos.

1st one

Marcos was there pez test shot guy and pez experimenter in chief. This guy loved his work. He took us to a cabinet which housed there pez collection. I later gave him a pez space gun and a pez shooter for there collection. Most facilities had a pez collection of one sort or another. In Ljubliana it was different pez dispensers on a beam around the top of the a room in the warehouse. Seeing the pez collection one piece jumped out at me, it was a black Santa Pez dispensers. Like I said Marcos loved his work, he was a very enthusiastic guy when it came to testing pez colors. Josh & I went nuts you'd think we had just seen an alien. We were told he had made a small run of these Pez dispensers because he thought the company ought to do this. Austria had decided, saying it was to controversial to produce. COKO PEZ an African caricature on the box for chocolate pez candy was ok, but a black Santa Pez dispensers was to controversial. This would be big news to approximately 20% of the population in America for whom Santa is actually black. In my opinion Marcos was correct.

Black Santa is probably the most historic Pez Dispenser ever made by Pez without corporate approval. Reason being Pez Corporation was scared to death of him. Black Santa was very taboo, way to controversial to exist or do as a Pez Dispenser. For these historical reasons I believe my Black Santas are the rarest & most desirable Pez that exist. There were 3 different versions of my Black Santas. I know the politically correct answer to rarest is Make-A-Face. I disagree. Black Santa is rarest Pez as it was never meant to exist. Like Bubble boy, it was an in house rejection. Unlike Bubble Boy he was never mass produced. Make-A-Face was mass produced. Even Owl MMM was produced in larger numbers than Black Santa. 

Let me restate, Black Santa was an actual proposed dispenser to Pez Austria. The first group of Black Santas are actually prototypes. Black Santa was rejected because of racist prejudice. Some of this was Austrian Pez Corporate Racism, some was an interpretation of perceived racism by Pez Austria about the USA. So Black Santa was deemed to offensive by Pez Corporation as a whole.

Unlike Bubble Man/boy my sales of Black Santa did not influence Scott McWhinnie to mass produce Black Santa. Out of 30 to 40 Pez One of the only dispensers Scott did not duplicate. No Comment. 

Asked if Black Santa was produced as a Misfit, my answer follows.
nooo, noooo. no way never. a real bug up the Austrian ass about a Santa that is Black. very serious on that. Marcos/Slovenia thought it was a great idea which as per his job he created for submission as possible. he got shot down very hard. thats why when josh n i thought he was agenious about it we became fast friends. he felt vindicated after being ridiculed n scorned.

Marcos Creations.

Black Santa Pez dispensers. red hat ones and white hat ones.

Psycho Lucy $100.00

Psycho Lucy Pez dispensers. White paint on face instead of black. I asked Marjan if he could make a Lucy Pez dispenser with white eyes. Somehow in translation this came out a White face Lucy Pez dispenser. So he created normal Lucy Pez dispenser but all face detailing done with white paint. This Pez dispenser was thought of because of the Lucy with White eyes. Marjan created about 300 of this Pez dispensers for me. I named her Psycho Lucy because my first reaction when he showed this Pez dispenser to me was. She looks Psycho.

Lavender thin ear Easter Bunny Pez dispenser.

Pink thin ear Easter Bunny Pez dispenser. Marjan created the lavender and pink bunny Pez dispensers to show executives and try to generate interest in this thin ear bunny being colors other than just white. The idea was rejected at that time also, so I got a few lavender and approx 30 pink bunny Pez dispensers.

Marco's Dino

Multi color Dino Pez dispensers from the Flintstones. These were odd color combos. Only got 2 or 3 of these Pez dispensers.

I finally found a picture of this very unique Marcos creation.

Value $250.00


 Ljuba told Marcos to show us what they had. Thumper Pez dispensers copyright removed on green stem. I'm specific about this one because at the time John L. said he had doubts it was a real Pez dispenser and changed the stems for a while till he accepted them after finding out they had actually been sold at stores in Ireland. Which made me wonder who he might think had the ability to manufacture Pez dispensers outside of pez corporation. Until that specific situation I never even considered the possibility. That's neither here nor there though, it just made me wonder.

picture courtesy of Rudi.

Anyway we got thumpers Pez dispensers, dalmation Pez dispensers, wyle Pez dispensers, pooh Pez dispensers, chip Pez dispensers, camel mmm Pez dispensers, duck mmm Pez dispensers, frog mmm Pez dispensers and all sorts of good stuff. We were ready to pay and I do mean pay. Another phone call was made to Breda. Breda was the name of  my contact at Ljubliana. Breda told Ljuba .23 cents each, direct deposit into the company account. So off to the bank we went so I could directly deposit the total into the corporate account. It was always this way in Slovenia, really decent honest & nice people to know. Before we left though Marcos came after us. He had a bag of pez dispensers he wanted to give us. In the bag were a few Black Santa Pez dispensers, pink & lavender bunny Pez dispensers & the dino color variation Pez dispensers. Also a couple of new dinosaur pez dispensers. We asked him to sign 2 of the dinosaur Pez dispensers, which he did while making jokes in Slovenian about being Elvis.

I sold these signed by Marcos Pez dispensers in about 2007, whoever got them has a real piece of Pez Outlaw History that they are probably unaware of.

Another little side story here. After that first trip to Slovenia Josh and I always drove down from Vienna to Ormoz. On one trip through the mountains we stopped so Josh could go skiing. Josh went up & down that mountain all day, so much so that he could barely walk when we left. I don't ski, but I did take the lift to the top so I could take in the view. Very impressive view and since I'm not crazy about heights so just riding that lift to the top of the mountain was a very big deal for me.

2nd one

On about my third trip to see Ljuba she let me know before I got there that they had several hundred black Santa Pez dispensers for me. Marcos had been a busy boy. On the drive down I became very worried about this just being way to many to exist. I even considered burning or burying a couple hundred of the black Santa Pez dispensers by the side of the road, feeling the hobby would freak at so many. 

Something happened and when I got there they said they could only let me have about 30 of the black Santa Pez dispensers. They were beginning to get heat from Pez in Austria. 

A couple trips later I walked in and some tall Austrian guy saw me on the balcony. As usual I had stopped to look out onto the factory floor for a few minutes. He came closer then said those infamous words "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE". 

This is very important. 

That Poor Austrian exec had the look on his face of the Dog That Caught The Car. On the one hand he had just caught Pez Outlaw in his building. On the other hand it was all over his face, Oh Shit Pez Outlaw is in my building n now I gotta explain that. He then turned and disappeared into an office. 

Seconds later Ljuba snatched me by the arm and yanked me into her office. Saying you gotta get out of here, before I lose my job. I'll meet you at the coffee shop across the road in an hour. Feeling lower than a snake I left, all the while people who had become friends avoiding eye contact.

I knew at that moment that one of the coolest parts of my life had ended.
As Pez Outlaw I traveled all over the world but nowhere was more magical than Slovenia.
Ormoz n Kolinska remain my fondest memories of that decade.

3rd one

When Ljuba got to the coffee shop she told me Pez Austria had bought Plastdispenser. That the Austrians were on the warpath because Scott was going nuts about me. That everybody knew what I looked like & if she sold Pez dispensers to me any longer she would lose her job. I never saw Ljuba or Marcos again & within a few years Pez Ormoz was making dust pans. My combined trips to see Ljuba or Breda were about a dozen in all. Though a year after Pez cut off business with Ljubliana I did see Breda one last time, she had about 1,000 road runner Pez dispensers so I drove down to see her n buy them.

I guess this is probably when all the trouble began. I had to keep a really low profile in Europe, no more blundering around without a care in the world.  
By now I was also traveling alone and I had to use a middle man to buy Pez dispensers in Europe. This is also about the time I started staying at the Raba in Gyor, only leaving to meet my guy or get something to eat. Gunther and everybody else wanted distance. 
They still wanted the over $9,000.00 per trip in cash please and there were approx 70 trips to Hungary alone buying Pez dispensers. 
About a dozen to Slovenia at under $5,000.00 per trip buying Pez dispensers. 
A few to Austria at under $4,000.00 each buying Pez dispensers. 
Australia about $15,000.00 for one trip buying Pez dispensers. 
Sweden about $9,000.00 for one trip buying the pez pal mariner playworlds. 
Spain and  South Africa were a bust less than $1,000.00 each. 
None of these figures includes expenses, this was just for pez dispensers. It also does not include containers or air freighted Pez dispensers bought. 

Other Books By Pez Outlaw/sj glew
The Cereal Box Price Guide
Princess Puddy n The Golden Bowl
The Barrel Book
Used Dogs



A few of the Slovenian Bills of Sale.

no redaction's.

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Envelope. Click picture once to enlarge. Click again for really big.

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For more on or from Pez Outlaw

Notes From The Asylum - self explanatory...

The Cereal Box Price Guide Book...



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