Pez Outlaw, My B Movie Life #pezoutlaw

ebay link to Pez Outlaw Collectibles.

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

I have limited out the last 3 days tweeting on twitter. You still see a fraction of my work promoting Pez Outlaw. When not if, there is a Pez Outlaw Movie etc. This, This is how it was done. RELENTLESSLY!

There is no room for embarrassment or humility when you are promoting a project.

Notes From The Asylum now has over 1 million 450 thousand views.
 

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.

1954-55 Drive In Headliner "Attack of the Killer Ants" 

In my mind we went in that Baby Blue Ford Station Wagon.

A Shrink would have a Field Day with this one, you know analizing the picture.
I dream of these simpler times. 

Don't it just figure that the day I finally get to take the tour at the Pez Visitors Center, a Giant Radioactive Ant shows up. What are the odds.

Of course a Giant Irradiated Ant would go to the Pez Candy Company (sugar draws ants), it's just a coincidence that they came the day I was visiting..
Where else would Giant Ants go, The Morton Salt Company, I think not.

Little known fact, Salt disorientates ants, we had the beginnings of an ant infestation (I dislodged them in my roofing project), anyway we poured salt on counter top in there path.
Supernatural, Salt wards of demons Ghosts etc. circle of salt, salt doors n windows, so I thought why not ants.
Well it worked n I pretended that of course, I knew it would. NOT A CLUE Really, but I take wins where I can get them.

Oh Yeah I stepped on the punch line. The salt worked n it was bizarre, most of the ants just froze once they crossed into my created salt flats.
My guess is scout ants lay sent for the rest to follow, salt removed the trail disorientating those who followed.
When reports back to the colony were no survivors, signs were put up DANGER AHEAD, like the one Josh n I saw in Slovenia cocerning Croatia.


Pop Pez, how about a line of 1950s B movie classic pez dispensers.
All the irradiated critters that were gonna kill us in the 50s.
There was Tobar, giant ant, giant spiders, giant leeches, The Terror Of Tiny Town, Plan 9 from outer space, The Fly, Voodoo Women, & Aliens n spaceships / flying saucers.

In the beginning, all was unknown. 
What we knew, was accepted.
The hated future, not contemplated.
Once revealed, the lines were drawn.

My friend warned me of the peril.
I thought I heeded his advice.
My stance was tempered.
Could the hatred be that strong?

Was I to blind to see it?
I refuse to mouth the words agreed upon.
All fall in line or are shunned.
Did I choose to late?

Was the warning only for me?
Is it even possible to correct the past?  
I just don't care anymore.
My world is small, my needs are few.

Pez Outlaw, Do you finally understand how this works?

Pez Outlaw 
************

Has the life of Pez Outlaw reached the point where his adventures are now being retold as urban legend?
Please understand that When I talk about Pez Outlaw, I'm not talking about me.
he, Pez Outlaw lived from approximately 1992 to 2002 or 2005.
My life is completely separate from his.
I'm simply the caretaker of the Pez Outlaw Legacy, nothing more.

One of the biggest mistakes I made in the 90s was selling before all possible product had been acquired.

opening shot

an 8 year old child, (1959) Pez Outlaw being dragged to, then pushed into the classroom closet at the Maple Grove Elementary school. Darkness, then the door opens revealing Pez Outlaw 10 years later in solitary confinement county jail Ohio. 
see C1. Crazy Is Easy If You Are Motivated, #pezoutlaw... for the rest of this story 

scene 2

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

Segue to a crowded Pez/toy show floor where a woman whispers Kolinka in my ear to Josh n I on the little plane to Ljubliana about to die. see C3.She Whispered, "Kolinska" #pezoutlaw #hollywood... for the rest of this story

scene 3

1994 Flight to Ljubljana. After waiting all night on benches in a small corner of the Vienna airport finally it was time to board. We walk out onto the airstrip & are directed to board Sky Kings plane. 

“Sky King” starred Kirby Grant as Schuyler “Sky” King and Gloria Winters as his niece, Penny.

Pilot copilot & 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.

see C3.She Whispered, "Kolinska" #pezoutlaw #hollywood... for the rest of this story

Wardrobe. Me in my Trench Coat n Midnight Blue Velour Track Suit, clutching a paper towel in my left hand for security, true story. On the flight from the US to Europe I would not let the Flight Attendants take my coat as I did not trust anybody. 

 Sitting in my seat on that flight to Slovenia, I began wondering how I ended up here, sure I was about to die. The whispered word "Kolinska" that led me to that moment in time. From 1970 to 1990 I had been an accumulator of things old, from 1990 to 1994 I started doing antique n toy shows as a seller. During 1993 I started selling Pez from Canada, which led to the decade that changed my life's direction forever. All the previous was reflection while sitting on this plane ride from Hell, from here the adventure begins.

The story unfolds. 
 Reality TV pales in comparison to the life I lived for 11 years.  Hungary - 700,000 Pez Smuggled. Pez Outlaw 

Pez Outlaw Dispenser

 Spies, Black market deals, smuggling and Bribery.
10 years, Nobody could catch me.
I ran circles around the corporate cool kids and made them look like incompetents.

Final shot.
As the credits roll show a backshot of Pez Outlaw today sitting on set in the dark watching his life being made into a Hollywood Movie.
To me this is the money shot, telling the audience that after all that they just watched HE WON.
Life is hard n people need the encouragement of seeing that if you stick with it n believe in yourself, you actually can succeed. 

Box Office receipts weren't so great this past summer, What You Got To Lose by telling a middle class story of hope n dreams rewarded?



After Pez Outlaw, I intend to retire.

Pez Outlaw T-shirt L XL 2XL or 3XL signed Pez Outlaw just tell me which size

Pez Outlaw Diary


 

Pez Outlaw, Catch Me If You Can. #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.

A Bit before we made the Pez Outlaw Movie my home was almost foreclosed on again. 24yrs after Pez Corp's FRAUD on my company n I was still feeling the effects. 

For a few years there were people who thought Pez Outlaw had the Golden Touch.
If he got into something others automatically wanted in.
It's a good lesson in humility now.

In 1998 I spent over $500,000.00 on Pez Dispensers blissfully unaware that this one move would result in the destruction of my lifelong dream. For a decade I lived a fantasy life as Pez Outlaw chased by an international Corporation that had one goal in mind. Destroy Pez Outlaw at all costs. This story is about my adventures as Pez Outlaw, Spies, Blackmarket deals, Bribes, life in the underworld of Collecting Pez and even Hookers.

As Pez Outlaw I earned over 4.5 million dollars in 11yrs.
I traveled the world, at least 100 international trips buying pez and smuggling them into the USA.
Within my world I actually became quite famous.
That life ended in flames for me and my arch rival.
For over a decade now I've been working to get The Pez Outlaw Book published and the movie made.

As the Wall came down (the end of the old Soviet Union), the opportunity of this unique moment in time revealed itself. Opportunity for Pez Corporation and for me Pez Outlaw.

I think a lot now about that unique moment in time. Pez Corporation used it to expand into a vast new market. I used it to exploit the vulnerabilities of that rush to expand.

After the Wall came down, there was a lot of confusion. Confusion is your friend if you want to do crazy things in plain sight and have it seem normal. An Outlaw can look like just another businessman coming into a new market wishing to embrace newfound opportunity.

Luckily I had CASH and lots of it, because as we all know "Cash Is King". The number of hands by business types reaching out for the money I offered was like beggars in the slums of a third world country. It was indeed a unique moment in time.

Add to that the Corporate chaos within Pez Corp. In there rush to expand East into a rich new market, many choices that favored my efforts were made. People I found easy to deal with were given positions of authority, In normal times I wonder if the same choices would have been made?

Because the expansion East was so hurried, product was a huge problem and corners were cut. Older inventory and older molds, some no longer under license were rushed into new warehouses and new injection molding factories. Add to that the new user friendly staffs and this brave new world was perfect for me/Pez Outlaw to make his entrance on a world stage.

I loved this time. As I look back now I realize what a huge gift this magic moment was for me.
I grew up lower middle class and definitely not from money. I had a stereotype 1960s youthful experience. Free Love, Drugs and Rock and Roll.

I left my youth of the 1960s behind for love and 25yrs of torture to my soul working in the shop.While working in the shop I dreamed of the moment that finally arrived in 1994. A moment where if you could walk that delicate line between legal and illegal I could escape and lead the life I'd only dreamed of. When my moment arrived I grabbed that brass ring with both hands like a starving child.

What followed was My Perfect Decade. Money I can now only dream of having, because as you might guess it ended badly. That moment in time and I were both ill suited to survive, but ignorance was bliss and we both thought it could go on forever. With all my soul I wish it had, but like a crossroads deal with the Devil I got the standard ten years before my time ran out.

Now two decades later a story about Pez Outlay in Playboy Magazine and interest in a Hollywood Movie. Again I wait at the Crossroads like Robert Johnson eager to make that deal for just one more great decade before my time runs out again.

For ten years I had the unexpected pleasure of traveling to Europe & other areas of the world searching for Pez. A more noble journey would have been in search of wisdom or truth. My journey was in search of Plastic.

 My lifestyle allowed me to travel Worldwide roughly 10 times per year for most of 10 years. Each trip lasted 4 to 8 days. Some of the trips were more of a whirlwind affair involving many countries on the same trip. Austria to Hungary, Sweden to Hungary, South Africa to Hungary, Slovenia to Hungary, France n Germany to Hungary. Somehow I always ended up in Hungary. I also took my dream trip to Australia. I don't miss it, especially with flying being what it is today. Though for ten years it was my life & beyond what I ever thought possible. 

Everywhere I went people on the hustle with a recent jolt of freedom. Eastern Europe was to me a real contradiction. Remnants of the old oppression side by side with the new energy of a fresh batch of entrepreneurs. My timing could not have been better, the perfect marriage of an idea, the will to act on it n the environment for it to be possible.

In my years as Pez Outlaw I bought n sold well over 2 Million Pez Dispensers.
In my Pez Outlaw Decade I earned 4.5 Million Dollars.

So many hushed conversations where things were spoke of in an abstract shorthand, even when you'd think nobody could possibly hear.
Bribes to grease the wheels n routes chosen very carefully to avoid detection.
Flamboyant when selling but maintaining an undetectable profile when buying.
What a crazy decade.

It seems that I tell you everything and yet I tell you nothing at all.
There is so much more. 
When the Book is written, Then and only then will I tell the rest of the story.
Pez Outlaw

In the 1990s a major cable channel contacted Pez Outlaw thinking I was Pez Corporation. 
I can't stress the significance of that n that it happened because my activities were so big at that time that they would get that confused.

My Movie. 
opening shot

an 8 year old child, (1959) Pez Outlaw being dragged to, then pushed into the classroom closet at the Maple Grove Elementary school. Darkness, then the door opens revealing Pez Outlaw 10 years later in solitary confinement county jail Ohio. 
see C1. Crazy Is Easy If You Are Motivated, #pezoutlaw... for the rest of this story 

scene 2

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

Segue to a crowded Pez/toy show floor where a woman whispers Kolinka in my ear to Josh n I on the little plane to Ljubliana about to die. see C3.She Whispered, "Kolinska" #pezoutlaw #hollywood... for the rest of this story

scene 3

1994 Flight to Ljubljana. After waiting all night on benches in a small corner of the Vienna airport finally it was time to board. We walk out onto the airstrip & are directed to board Sky Kings plane. 

“Sky King” starred Kirby Grant as Schuyler “Sky” King and Gloria Winters as his niece, Penny.

Pilot copilot & 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.

see C3.She Whispered, "Kolinska" #pezoutlaw #hollywood... for the rest of this story

Wardrobe. Me in my Trench Coat n Midnight Blue Velour Track Suit, clutching a paper towel in my left hand for security, true story. On the flight from the US to Europe I would not let the Flight Attendants take my coat as I did not trust anybody. 

 Sitting in my seat on that flight to Slovenia, I began wondering how I ended up here, sure I was about to die. The whispered word "Kolinska" that led me to that moment in time. From 1970 to 1990 I had been an accumulator of things old, from 1990 to 1994 I started doing antique n toy shows as a seller. During 1993 I started selling Pez from Canada, which led to the decade that changed my life's direction forever. All the previous was reflection while sitting on this plane ride from Hell, from here the adventure begins.

The story unfolds.

Final shot.
As the credits roll show a backshot of Pez Outlaw today sitting on set in the dark watching his life being made into a Hollywood Movie.
To me this is the money shot, telling the audience that after all that they just watched HE WON.
Life is hard n people need the encouragement of seeing that if you stick with it n believe in yourself, you actually can succeed.

The 1st known photo of Pez Outlaw

The Pez Outlaw story takes place in the 1990s and involves my conflict with Pez Corporation. 
A decade that was the happiest time of my life.

In 1997-1998 I made a fateful decision to invest 1/2 million dollars in Pez. Half was old stock, half was product I designed.

In late 1998 I received the news that Pez USA was going to copy everything that I had designed n bought from Pez Europe.

My biggest regret is deciding to buy that 1/2 million dollars worth of Pez Product.
The irony is that without that choice I never would have entered this phase of my life or written Pez Outlaw Diary. 
Pez Outlaw Diary only exists because I needed a way to understand and process the rise n fall of Pez Outlaw. 

Spies, Black Market Deals, Smuggling n Bribery. 
10 Years Nobody Could Catch Me. 

Gun Towers, Armed Guard Check Points, Military Equipment on Tarmacs at Airports n Hookers almost everywhere you turned. FYI the Hookers were anything but shy. Five or six on the roadside as you drove by, one out of five would be flashing you, lifting her shirt as an invite. At a roadside food-stand one Hooker was wearing, we'll call them trousers, so sheer that she might as well have been wearing nothing. Add to that the always present groups of Gypsies

n bubba you got a story. 

Ex KGB Resorts. 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. A lot of these experiences were very unique & the last remnants of something 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 & more saucer in shape with windows & 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.

The stories of Gypsies, Prostitutes, clandestine meetings, Bribes, smuggling in plain sight, my own version of the Wild Wests Hole In The Wall being The Raba Hotel in Gyor Hungary n how Pez Corporation would have killed to know that location. How the staff at the Raba literally guarded my privacy. How my movements resemble a covert agent more than some Redneck buying Pez.

Note
I didn't just drive on the sidewalk in front of Pez Austria, Linz. This happened in other places in the old eastern block + Slovenia. I can't remember exactly why josh n I did this, all I remember is that on multiple occasions it was just the easiest solution. I blame this behavior on tiny tiny cars.
I also accidentally drove through a non vehicle area of downtown Viena.
Offers from prostitutes was a daily occurrence. Exposure sometime literally to prostitution were multiple daily. 
 The following are surveillance photos taken on the sly by me. For this transaction I paid Gunther Leitner for 50 boxes of 12 carded Silver Glows per box. The driver and I were then told where to meet off site by Gunther.

It Fell Off The Back Of A Truck. 

Photos are of the silver glow Pez buy. The driver was under orders from Gunther Leitner. I paid Gunther, then met the driver for delivery.

That's me on the left. These are Photos I took covertly while buying Pez.

Covert Pez photos I took. That's me on the right. Tell a friend many more to come.

Pez Outlaw Diary. Who doesn't want to read somebody else's diary. Especially if it is about Scoundrels and Thieves.

The Raba Hotel in Gyor Hungary

This is the Raba Hotel in Gyor. I spent well over 6 months here if you add up all my stays over a 10 year period. I loved this place. Highly recommended if you visit Hungary. Last few years of my travels my room was in far left corner of picture. The ones with balconies.

Restaurant at the Raba Hotel. I spent a lot of time here smoking cigarettes drinking espresso & Fanta orange as a chaser. Absolutely lovely place, many fond memories. Table with thingy on it was my table.

The Elvis Cafe.
The Elvis Cafe was this really weird restaurant located at the side of the road. I used to pass this cafe every trip in Hungary. Like I said, If you take the M1 freeway you really don't see Hungary. You have to take two lane blacktops if you want to see a passenger plane sticking out of a building. This restaurant was located about midway between the Vienna Hungarian border and Gyor. I actually stopped at this cafe several times. Had espresso up in the plane and bought several T-shirts.

Elvis Cafe outside Gyor in Hungary. Picture courtesy of Rudi.

The Real Pez Truck

The real for real Pez truck. Parked at the Yellow House aka Hungarocany in Gyor. For all the trucks that have been made and sold to collectors. I never understood why someone did not make the real thing. For me this truck is an icon. This truck is also the reason I thought Gunther was disappointed after we made our first Pez buy. He had them back it up to the warehouse, so once we were done it could be loaded for transport. That buy was early days only a few thousand dollars. What am I saying? I never in 10 years bought more than could fit in a good medium size car. Five duffel bags was my limit. I used to see this truck in Hungary, Slovenia and in between. Picture courtesy of Rudi.

Janossomorja
Jánossomorja  was the name of the town or was it the warehouse where Gunther sent me. All you had to do was spot the smoke stack with Pez on it. then find the roads that got you there. This was the warehouse where Pez dispensers were stored. At the time it was also where candy was made and pez were carded. Like Kolinska in Slovenia. More or less the distribution hub for the old Eastern Block countries and Russia. Gunther owned that part of the world when it came to Pez.
Austria, Traun.

This is the building Where I found Gunther Leitner that day. That's my crappy little red rental car turning the corner. Unlike the photo the parking lot was empty and the main door was wide open.
Below Photo of the Ferry Boat I booked passage on with Silja Ferry Lines in Sweden. Inset is Pez Pal Mariner. 

I arrived at Silja Ferry lines & was allowed to board the ferry & go to the gift shop on board the ship. There I met this really wonderful lady who ran things named Tuula. She said we have about 60 or so Pez Pal Mariner available but you have to be on board as a passenger & at sea before I can sell you any. I told her I really needed a lot of them so she checked & said she had 2 pallets of pez pal mariner at the other port. Off I went to buy a ticket. I booked a round trip, in a Tax deductible high end room. It was a room with an exterior window, so a view of the whole trip. This room even had a shower & a TV. Until this trip the idea of being on a large boat out in the middle of a big body of water left me a little uneasy. After this trip I realized it was more like being in a small city that happened to be a boat.

On one trip Gunther Leitner sold me aprox 50 boxes of Silver glow Pez dispensers. If I remember correct each box contained 24 carded Silver glow Pez dispensers. At this point Josh n I were staying in Austria so back to our hotel we went. At the Austria Hungary border the Austrian guards required a bond on the 50 boxes of Pez dispensers to be refunded when items were checked in at the airport. So we went back to the hotel n down packed the 50 boxes of pez into 3 large boxes of pez. When we got to the airport customs refused to refund my bond, saying 3 boxes is not 50. Where are the other 47 boxes of pez? The scene escalated till what the Delta airlines rep saw when he walked into the room was. An American with a pony tail & long beard screaming at officials. Two machine gun armed Austrian border guards looking on at the ready n Josh petrified at the whole scene. Delta walked in calmed everybody down, gave Josh a couple aspirin & mediated the whole situation. I flew Delta Airlines from then on, they never failed to stand up for me in any situation.

I've always felt that when Pez Outlaw walks off into the sunset, it will be under one of these Alien Umbrellas.
Homage to Chaplin's Little Tramp. For me there are a lot of similarities between Chaplin's Little Tramp n Pez Outlaw. Both stuck there fingers in the eyes of authority. Both are charming yet wicked. Both have very big hearts.

After Pez Outlaw, I intend to retire.

Pez Corporate Fraud, Pez Color War, Restitution.

The Day I became The Pez Outlaw. Black Santa #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...

Left to right Black Santas 1, 2 and 3.
These are the Pez Dispensers that put Pez Outlaw on Pez USA's radar/Hit List

Got the age old question again yesterday. "How do I tell if a Black Santa is real?"

I hate to tell people to scrape the inside of the head with a sharp knife. Barring that here are a few tips.

These 3 heads were all that were ever made. Stem colors might vary.

Watch the eyes. The one with white eyes pictured is the only way the eyes were ever done.

Black santas were never carded. Sorry, but they were test type pieces & this kind of thing was not carded. In my opinion carded Black Santas are fakers getting to cute by half.. Also a good way to keep you from checking them. I would not give you $3.00 for a Carded Black santa. All of the Black Santas I ever had were Loose & I had a lot of them. All 3 types. Never ever carded. In all my travels & purchases in the 1990s I never saw or was made aware of a carded Black Santa. PERIOD!

But what do I know, I only introduce The Black Santas made in Slovenia to the Hobby.

The above statements are to the best of my knowledge True.

I asked Myself today. Is the reason Pez Corp has never released the Black Santa because I've been harping on it for 30yrs.

At a casual glance of all the Pez released by Pez Corp you do see a lot of Black character heads have been released, but no Black Santa. Today I wondered for the 1st time if I am the reason.

That couldn't be the reason, could it?

Pez Outlaw for 30yrs is the Only Person to release a Black Santa Pez Dispenser. Clarification, The 1st & released most of them in collections today. Pez Corporation has never released a Black Santa to the market.

30 years after I released The Original Black Santa Pez I am commemorating that Historical moment with Black Santa Pez Outlaw.

Pez Corporation. 
Now would be a good time?

My personal Black Santa, before I sold him.

                                                                                   

Pez Corporation has refused to make a Black Santa for 30yrs n persecuted the person to the point of bankruptcy who had the audacity to release the only ones to exist.

Ponder that with me, Black Santa is the most powerful Pez Dispenser to have ever been created n I was DESTROYED for believing it was the right thing to do.

Wanna hear a funny thing, Poop Pez Sure, Brown Santa Sure because it will help destroy Pez Outlaw but Black Santa NO!

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, som

e 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.

To me the Black Santa is the most powerful Pez Dispenser to have ever been produced and never released.
Well that's a Hell of a statement, back it up.
No other Pez dispenser can claim to have shut down 2 factories in Europe besides making a farmer from Michigan an internationally Wanted Man by an International Corporation.
Black Santa and Bubble boy gave birth I hope one day "The Legend Of Pez Outlaw".

To my knowledge there are 3 versions of the Black Santa.
There was the 1st run of say 30 to 60 pieces intended as an idea for a new line by the color guy in Ormoz.
Sample pieces were sent to corporate offices as was the practice. 
After being rejected these sample pieces made there way to Johan Patek and David Welch by executives seeking money.

Executive/management types sending care packages of 20 to 50 pez to Johan and Dave was a very common practice.
I found this out when one gave me a package of pez and said you can send me money later.

At any rate thats how the 1st version found it's way out of Pez Austria.

The second version is a bit of a hodgepodge and I'm foggy as to why when or how.
The third version was a complete run of 300 made as a suprise for me by the management in Ormoz.
This was done for 2 reasons.
1. They really liked me before Austria put the fear of God into them.
2. After receiving as a gift one of the 1st version Black Santas Joshua and I were like children who'd received this years hot toy for Christmas.
Our reaction delighted the people in charge in Ormoz, remember they thought that a Black Santa was a very cool idea for production along side of the White guy Santa. We had validated there initial joy that had been crushed by the USA and Austria.

After Josh and I sold our Black Santas to collectors a shit storm hit Slovenia, the likes of which they'd never seen before.
I personally saw it happen, I saw the looks on there faces and the fear in there hearts was plain to see.
First Austria bought the Ormoz injection molding facility and then put another level of Austrians above the management that already existed.
There anger over Black Santa was not salved by buying Ormoz, eventually they shut down pez production and packaging in all of Slovenia, moving all of it up to Hungary so that they could keep a better eye on everything.

The crazy part was that my connections for getting pez was even better in Hungary because in Hungary they unlike Slovenia had no problem coloring between the lines or ignoring the lines completely.
My Kind Of Town. 
Ormoz became a dustpan factory because of Black Santa Pez Dispenser.
Kolinska became a soup catsup and mayonnaise factory because of Black Santa. 

Let me say it for you, all of this fallout to Slovenia was really because of Pez Outlaws activities in Slovenia. You say Potato, I say Potato.

But I got ahead of myself.
The Black Santa you see me holding in the picture below is from the 300 in the third group that were made as a surprise/giftish(.23 cents ea) for me before all that horrible stuff happened.
Before news of me selling the Black Santa had traveled very far I received news from Ormoz that they'd made 300 Black Santas for me.
In the time it took for me to go and get them. 
It may have been a month or 2 remember I had irons in the fire up in Hungary and McHookers probably happened in this interval also.
To my surprise while in route to pick up the 300 Black Santas I received news that the storm had begun and that I could only have 30 of the 300 and at that they were putting themselves at great risk.

I believe that some of the 300 - my 30 = 270 went to the plastic chipper.
After Ormoz shut down is when Ivan came on the scene and I do believe he found a few of the 300 Black Santas rescued from the chipper by folks that just couldn't let it happen.
I think of the Black Santas Ivan found and sold as "the Rescues of the 300".

1 of the 300. I haven't held this pez dispenser in about 24yrs. kinda cool when you think about it. I traveled to Ormoz Slovenia and got this black Santa 24yrs ago and now it's come back to me for a visit on Thanksgiving.

I'd like to add another group of product to the Pez Dispenser Lexicon.
"Midnight  Specials"
Midnight Specials is not intended as a derogatory term, to the contrary it's kinda a magical name for product created by a worker on pez equipment without authorization.
Most odd color variations are Midnight Specials and some even go so far as to complete the picture by having a buddy card them.
Midnight Specials are created solely to feed the insatiable appetite of collectors willing to pay top dollar for unique items.
I reference this term in this story because I feel that some/probably all of the Black Santas That I refer to as being in category 2 are Midnight Specials.
Legit by any standard of analysis but that's there origin.

The term "Midnight Specials" is a very colorful and expressive term for your color variations. It's like owning who you are and reclaiming a once derogatory term and embracing it with pride as many other groups have done.

Category 1 Black Santas, uniform to one another and intended as a concept/test piece.
Cat 2s always struck me with how rich and shiny the black plastic is that was used for the head.
Category 2 Black Santas, a hodgepodge that runs the gambit in beard, hat and stem color combos. 
Category 3 Black Santas, "The 300" very uniform, again all identical, I've always noted the odd clear layer on the surface of the face.


Almost 24yrs ago I introduced the Black Santa to US collectors.
When I released the Pez Corp rejected prototype Black Santa, I an unknown  became the most wanted and Hated person on planet Earth by PEZ Corporation.
  

Category 1

The Black Santa Pez Dispenser was rejected By Pez Corporation.

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 Santa's are the rarest and 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. 

Pez Outlaw shot to the most wanted & hated pez dealer after smuggling approximately 30 Black Santa Pez Dispensers into the USA. 

Black Santa was reviled by everyone in Austria at first sight.
Pez Corporation didn't just reject Black Santa, they thought of it as something obscene.

Ormoz had there license to produce Pez revoked because of Black Santa and literally became a dust pan factory. 
I became the most wanted person walking the earth by Pez USA because of Black Santa.
To validate these statements note that everything that I ever created was copied by Pez USA. EXCEPT Black Santa.
ALL all of the Black Santas that I ever sold were created in the full light of day as proposed project initially then as a present approved by Ormoz management. Which they got the Hammer for.  
So many people got really hurt by Black Santa so forgive me I get a little wound up about him.

I'm just a story teller, you want facts about pez that's John Laspina and David Welch s department. I will always yield to there knowledge.
I'm very serious about that thing of me just being a story teller. I don't want anyone to view anything I say as more important than words of a story teller. The only real facts I know are the stories of Pez Outlaw. nothing else.  

I used my tax returns in 1994 to finance my first trip to Slovenia, the date of 8,7,1994 which in US translates to 7-8-94 (they flip first 2 numbers) I believe by happy coincidence matches the timing of the trip when i got the 30 black santa's. making it my second or 3rd trip to slovenia.

already sold

Black santa would never have been mentioned on paperwork. 1st one was given not bought. next 30 that probably came with roughly this paperwork, mention would have been avoided. a generic mention like misc dispensers as heat was already on. number went from 300 to 30 in a matter of a week.

Envelope says trip 5 in 1998 in pen on opposite side. problem with that is ormos was a dust pan factory by then. so it must be some random notation i made about god knows what. my last trip to Ormoz was in 1996. so ignore that notation on other side of envelope, especially since receipt clearly states 1994. God knows why I do some things.

If you are circling any of the Black Santas at $350 or less. I suggest you get that done .

Face-plant Merlin

Coming soon to facebook "The Survivors".

All will be signed Pez Outlaw.

told my middle man I needed more Merlins n like Blue Dumbo next visit there sat 1,000 -1,200. smelled real fresh too. Made in factory in Gyor so? Did a tight pack because it was a bunch of them I never did tight packs before or after because pez need to breath. 

Anyway sitting in my seat waiting to change planes in France or Germany I see the baggage guys moving baggage. I recognize my bags as they get to them n watch them toss them like Hay bales onto the tarmac from the hold of the plane. Tarmac Face-plant Merlins fared very poorly from that one. 

You want to know a sight that will really break your heart.  I sat looking out the window of the plane to see my duffel bags tossed from the hatch down onto the tarmac. At least an eight or ten foot drop. Now that will break your heart.

Sweden

The trip to Sweden was one of the neatest trips I went on buying pez. Gary Doss informed me that the Pez Pal Mariner had been released & was available only in Sweden. Gary sent me a photo image of the back of the Pez Playworld card. From that information I planned the trip.

Mariner with body parts approx $10.00

I arrived in Sweden, Booked my car & Found a hotel. My stay was in Stockholm, a very interesting & nice place. Next morning I went to Toysrus. Here's something you may not know, most of the bigger cities in Western Europe, Australia & Sweden have Toysrus. Even Linz/Traun had one. Toysrus is a good place to find Pez dispensers & ask about who the distributor is. In worst case scenarios it is printed on the back of the cards & you can hire a taxi, point at the address & follow him.


After gaining/confirming the distributor address, also realizing the Pez Pal Mariner was not available at Toysrus. I set off for the distributor, he informed me this Pez dispensers was only available on the Ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. As this trip was only about the Pez Pal Mariner I didn't buy anything from the distributor. Besides they really didn't have much, it was a pretty small operation.

Photos of the Ferry Boat I booked passage on with Silja Ferry Lines in Sweden.

I arrived at Silja Ferry lines & was allowed to board the ferry & go to the gift shop on board the ship. There I met this really wonderful lady who ran things named Tuula. She said we have about 60 or so Pez Pal Mariner available but you have to be on board as a passenger & at sea before I can sell you any. I told her I really needed a lot of them so she checked & said she had 2 pallets of pez pal mariner at the other port. Off I went to buy a ticket. I booked a round trip, in a Tax deductible high end room. It was a room with an exterior window, so a view of the whole trip. This room even had a shower & a TV. Until this trip the idea of being on a large boat out in the middle of a big body of water left me a little uneasy. After this trip I realized it was more like being in a small city that happened to be a boat.


We left port & the first group of Pez dispensers was delivered to the room, where I began tearing them down to just pez dispensers & pez body parts. So they could be bagged for my luggage. I planned to carry half the pez in my luggage & airfreight the rest. Once we arrived in Helsinki, I met with Tuula & used my credit card to pay for the pallets of Pez Pal Mariners that were being loaded. She & I had to call the US credit card company to clear the purchase as it was about $10,000.00. Once all the paperwork was done she had ships personnel, dolly cart it all up to my room. I got a lot of puzzled looks because even though this was one of the good rooms/cabins, the 2 pallets of pez pretty much filled the room. I spent the entire night in the cabin tearing down half of the Pez dispensers into my luggage & down packing the other pez cases. If you down pack pez playworlds correctly 3 cases become 2 cases easy. After down packing, pez cases had to be taped together into 8 cases per for airfreight. When completed I had 3 duffel bags full of loose Pez dispensers & 6 or 8 large packs of pez for airfreight. In the morning we arrived back at Stockholm & I had not even left the boat. Aside from meals, a shower, looking out the window & packing Pez dispensers. I had no time left, including no time for sleep. I left a really good tip for the destroyed cabin & left with the small army of guys with dollies.


Once we arrived at my car, I gave the guys there tip & off they went. I found a cab driver & we discussed the airport & what I needed to accomplish. He decided Cathe (I think it was) was the freight airline I needed. He also decided we needed a total of 2 cabs plus my car to carry all the pez to the airport. Once the 3 cars were loaded he led the way to the airport, where he helped arrange everything with the freight company. He had been very helpful & got a really good tip. After they left & the freight was completed I was left with my pez luggage & one night remaining before my flight.


I booked a room in a hotel near the airport & got a well deserved nights sleep. The trip home was easy peasy. The freight arrived no problem, thanks to my broker in Grand Rapids. The trip was a big success. Then a year later the Pez Pal Mariners showed up in Hungary for liquidation into Russia. Oh well it had been a pretty cool adventure. Bragging rights, great scenery & a boat ride.

After Pez Outlaw, I intend to retire.

Pez Corporate Fraud, Pez Color War, Restitution.