Pez Outlaw Diary: Mar 5, 2014

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Pez Outlaw, Crazy Is Easy If You Are Motivated #Netflix #Prime

The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.

Author Bio

Let me start with a little background. I am an obsessive compulsive with a very addictive personality. By the time I met Kathryn Ann (my wife) at 19 years old, I had already done the following. Used marijuana, Hash, Tar, LSD, peyote and Morphine. Injected crystal meth, Dysoxine and Heroin. With LSD it was always a race to see who could go crazy first. Tripping all day, then dropping acid again when my friends wanted to. With Heroin you either can't do it, because it makes you to sick or you can and never should have. My saving grace was I was to poor and just honest enough not to get addicted.

I have been clean and sober for 45 years.

I am the second oldest of 5 boys, no girls. My mother died in my early 20s. My father worked for Fisher Body in Lansing. When I was 18 years old he had a job all lined up for me. From which by the way I would have been retired for 10 years now. I showed up for the interview barefoot. Needless to say they went a different direction. My whole life has been like trying to fit a square peg, me into a round hole. It's always been like the two sides of my brain couldn't connect. It took 30 years to build a bridge between them. I have always had to find my own path. Which has always taken years.

For a period of time when I worked as a Machinist, at Campbell inc press repair. I wore a straight jacket and a 1950s air raid warden helmet at work as a hardhat. Yes a Straight Jacket the kind you get in the rubber rooms of a loony bin. I bought it at a medical supply company. Then cut it, so I could wear it backwards like a jacket. On the chest area like a row of medals, I had 4 gold Catholic medals. Symbolism or just acting out, you be the judge. I like to think of it as personal performance art.

By the age of 19 I had been married and separated. I had also been in and out of the Marine corp. I joined the Marine Corp in 1968 to escape my druggie life style. By 1969 they decided it would be better if I went home. THe diagnosis was schizophrenic with masochistic tendencies. Bare in mind, this was 1969 and if you had a pulse, that was usually good enough. I had also been in and out of a drug treatment program. For a bonus round I held an audition at a mental hospital. The audition went really well until in a moment of clarity I realized something. This realization prompted me to make the following statement. You do drugs, don't you! The response or rather lack of a response, caused the interview to be canceled. It really is a shame though, I'm positive I could have nailed that role. Crazy is easy, sanity is the b***h.

Interview over, my mother took me home. Yes 19 years old, half crazy and my mother was still standing by me. She never gave up and died before she could see the reality of the faith she had in me. She always told me as though it was fact who I was, giving me a road map to strive for. Where my mother left off, Kathy took over.

When I met Kathy I was a full blown alcoholic, at 19 years old. We have been together since the day we met. Within the first 3 days, she smacked me up side the head. I haven't had a drink or anything else since that day. It did not take God or a support group to quit. Just the fear of a good woman. For the first year Kathy and I were together we slept with the light on. It took over 20 years to clear my head and become a better person. It is not an exaggeration to say Kathy is a very patient and good person.

A Jail Cell to Vietnam?

The story I'm about to tell had a very deep 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.

A Postscript to the above story

Recently a visitor to the farm said thank you for your service after I mentioned that I'd been in the military.
I had to tell him that I'm not sure I'm allowed to accept that.
For that matter I've never been sure if I'm allowed to say that I'm even a veteran.

I also wonder about the whole situation now.
I joined the Marine Corps at age 17 and immediately (that very night) shipped out to boot camp.
The Marine Corps method in Boot Camp is to reduce the recruit to a blank slate then reshape you as a Marine.

What happens when this process goes wrong?
A little over a half year later the Navy Doctor diagnosed me as Schizophrenic and I was asked to leave.
No treatment was ever offered and no money to even get home, I had to hitch-hike from the east coast back to Michigan with nothing but the clothes on my back.
I was simply escorted to the front gate with nothing.
A few months later I received a discharge from the service as Medically Undesirable.
I eventually received a General Discharge.

Almost half a century later after sorting myself out without any help (except Kathy), I've begun to question a few things.
Nine months into military service my diagnosed condition manifested, yet no help or consideration was ever offered.
No help of any kind, zero.

Just seems like I got the rough end of the boot for something I never asked for and might very well have been triggered during my military service.
I gotta be honest, I'm not sure that I'm even allowed to say that I'm a veteran.

Your question is most likely.
After 50yrs why is this really on your mind?

Have you ever seen those commercials on the cable channels for VA Home Loans?
At the age of 67 and on social security, I thought what the heck and called the number.
After losing that half million dollars buying pez I was left with $250,000.00 in home and line of credit debt.
Kathy has paid it down to Approx $150,000.00 of combined debt over the last 20yrs.
Well that VA Loan thing to combine the Home Morgana would be really sweet right about now.

The man was very polite and thanked me for my service?
Followed by the fastest Home Mortgage application known to man.
Wasn't asked to fill out a thing, just a 3 minute conversation, followed by sorry you don't qualify.
And like magic there I stood 50yrs ago at the outside of the Military Gate with nothing once again.

That is precisely why I said, "Am I Allowed To Ask"?
*****************

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.

What can I say. I led the charmed life of an imbecile. Some of the people I knew when I was young and stupid did not. The thing that probably saved me over and over. Was my deep desire to get out. I wanted to change. Just walk away. I tried many times but always seemed to drift back. When I met Kathy, I walked away and never looked back. I was still crazy, but I quit drinking and doing drugs. Getting my mind back took another 20 or so years. I still look at things different than most but with every passing year I also walk further away from crazy. Though I do know where it is, should I ever have need of it.

So what is the point? Other than the fact that it is a good story. There are two possible answers?

Version #1. I have never understood people who can't commit to a goal. If you are willing to pay the price the goal is possible. Not guaranteed but possible. A goal though is definitely not possible if you won't commit to it and pay the price. Every journey no matter how far, starts with a single footstep forward.

Version #2. Like I said I could have nailed that audition, because crazy is easy.

I met Kathy less than a year later. My story would be very different if I had not met her. At least two of my friends from back then are dead now. Both deaths are drug related. One died of a Heroin overdose in Vietnam. The others body was found in the trunk of a car riddled with bullets.

After I met Kathy, I finally walked away. Said goodbye to my old life and all the people in it. After all, I liked her better anyway. I had been waiting since i was ten years old, to find her. Here's the thing you don't know. Unlike most males, I have been trying to find her my whole life. It was a very good trade. You now also understand why we slept with the light on for about a year.

One more quick story. After traveling in Europe buying Pez for about a year, where at the time everybody smoked. I had the genius idea that I could start smoking again but only in Europe. Well of course that didn't work. Within a year I was again 2 packs a day. After a few years I quit again, using the patch. Problem is like Dick Van Dyke and the gum. Well over over 10 years later. I still wear the patch. Now that I have established my bonefides. You can see how being obsessive compulsive, with addictive tendencies. That it made perfect sense, to travel once a month worldwide to find pez dispensers. The transition was very natural for my personality type.

Collecting
Collecting is very natural to me, being compulsive obsessive. It has taken on many different forms. In the 1970s I began buying and collecting toys. During the same time period, also cereal premiums. It was later in the 1980s that I started with Cereal boxes. My kids rarely got the prizes in cereal boxes. In the early days, Kathy used to drive me all over Michigan looking for cool closeout items at Toysrus. Generally I was in an accumulating period from about 1970 to 1985.

I also had a few year flirtation buying & selling Advertising promotional items.

In the mid 1980s this led to McDonald's premiums. Accumulating and making sets. Usually not satisfied unless I had 6 sets of each release. This also required driving around the state, because as usual I could not confine myself. I began buying all the leftovers I could find. While doing this I noticed nobody was paying any attention to the cases and cases of leftover happy meal boxes. So I began buying all I could get my hands on. This phase of things peaked when Josh ( my son ) and I decided to do a McDonalds convention. In roughly 1990 we loaded up 2 mini vans full of happy meals boxes and headed to the hotel. We set up our room, with massive overflow out into the hall.

What we didn't realize was on rare occasions a special group from McDonald Headquarters, also came to these conventions unannounced. This Special group from McDonalds always tried to stay anonymous, while selling the really cool stuff. Remember we had a massive amount of one thing, Happy Meal boxes. Cases and cases of them. To be more exact, two mini vans full of them. It had taken me 10 years to accumulate them all. It was a very good selection. Topped off by the fact that they were leftovers to begin with. So I had cases of Happy Meal boxes from the 1970s as well as the 1980s.

When room hopping started nobody knew us. They all just assumed we were that group from McDonald's Headquarters. Massive amounts of old happy meal boxes, cheap. We must be them. Word spread like a wild fire and chaos soon followed. This of course led to the hotel actually trying to shut us down. What happened was, our setup sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. Other dealers were going nuts, because all the money was being siphoned out of the hotel for the night. Neither the hotel or the other dealers could stop it. We continued to be mobbed. We sold out that first night and as we were no longer welcome. We were asked to leave. Having no reason to stay, we drove home that night. Two very empty mini vans.

I hate to admit it, but that happened quite often over the years.

You know how sometimes people will say,
'"Well you were lucky. It was easy for you. All you had to do was..."
It took 10 years of driving all over Michigan in my spare time buying and collecting all those boxes. That's how I created the potential for that one night of success. At every point it was the doing that made it possible, not the idea.

The other project or scheme that I had going around the same time was cereal premiums. Mailing away for the free toys or items you got for sending in upcs. You know the limits they now put in forms on the backs of cereal boxes. That was me. In a one year period I redeemed over 30,000 items from cereal companies, mostly Kellogg's. After doing it for about a year I realized there were no limits to how many toys you could send away for. So I started buying upcs from the refunder ladies, by running ads to buy them in there news letter. I also began working weekends at 3 recycling locations. Through all of these methods and a small inheritance from my grandmother. I accumulated a huge amount of upcs, along with the required original cut off the box forms. At this point I put my plan into action. I spent every night for months filling out forms and licking stamps.

The avalanche of stuff that started to arrive caught our little post office by huge surprise. Finally they just started calling, saying we have 5 bags of stuff. Can you come and get it? This went on for months, resulting in that line on Kellogg's forms that limits how many you can mail away for. As I said, that was me. I don't think until that 1 year period anybody had ever really taken it to that extreme. Crazy is easy.

The big difference with the first 2 projects and the pez project were. With McDonald's and the cereal premium project, my timing was perfect. I saw the loophole. Exploited the loophole to the maximum. Then got out. With the 3rd project, pez dispensers. I saw the loopholes. Different Pez product outside the US and warehouses with huge amounts of old Pez inventory. Well as usual, I aggressively exploited the flaw in the system by accumulated all the Pez dispensers I could. I mean come on traveling to Europe once a month for almost 10 years, even I thought that was extreme.

People always think, man that must have been cool. All the places you went to. All the stuff you saw. Man what I wouldn't give to have done that. Buzzer Noise. I'm a hermit. A recluse by nature and to top it off I don't like to fly. Plus as a bonus prize. I've got this clean thing about my hand. Why do you think I always carry a paper towel in my left hand, with spare paper towels in each left and right front pocket of my jeans. The thing that keeps it from getting out of hand, are my big dogs. They require of me that I pet them. Otherwise, I would happily slide down the Howie road. Yes I will shake somebodies hand, but I will not touch my face or mouth until I wash my hands.

I came close on the clean thing early on with Pez. Then came Boomie. Chica Boom was my first Bull Mastiff. When I returned home from Europe early on in my pez years. There she was waiting for me at the airport. Boomie made it very clear all that crazy was not going to get it done. So I modified. As I soon learned Boomie always won.

Chica & Soupy have both passed away. The job now falls to Rudi a 4 year old Bull Mastiff. Rudi is my constant companion & monitor of crazy. She very shortly will be joined by Proby, a 12 week old brindle Bull Mastiff. I keep thinking, I'm to old for this $-!t. Raising a new puppy. Crazy is going to get a workout, but Rudi needs some backup. She's been doing the job of 2 dogs long enough. It's cutting into her beauty sleep.

My aversion to travel was overridden by my other thingy of being compulsive obsessive. Which in this case manifested in my need for lots of something. It really does not matter what it is, just lots of it. The bigger the pile, the happier I am. I find massive piles of stuff very satisfying.

So travel for me was A to B, then B back to A. You just suck it up and get it done. Trips were compartmentalize into the plane part, the car part & the hotel part. I coped with the plane part by reading. I never got used to this, it actually got worse. The car part was okay, again A to B. The hotel part was the easiest part, while in Europe I spent the majority of my time in my hotel room. Meeting people was always kept brief, then get back to the hotel. I read a lot, 2 to 3 books per trip.

Where I fell down with the pez project was, at the point where the massive amount of Pez I had accumulated was starting to run out. I could not let it go. It had become a habit, a groove, a routine. It became what I did. How I defined myself. Then there was the money, the money was just to good. Kathy and I used to call it Pez Money. Even today my frame of reference is. Well it is or it isn't pez money.

There was one more factor at play, I had grown to love these odd little Pez dispensers. Along with the relationships I had with the people who collect them. I broke the cardinal rule. "Don't fall in love with your product". The dance was over but I didn't want to leave. If I had put that 1/2 million from 1998 into my next project, Party String Lights. I can't begin to tell you how different things would be right now. Though if I had, I probably would not be writing a book about anything right now and you would not be reading this. Pez Outlaw would not have seen the light of day. If I do sell this as a book or movie, I plan to invest at least half of it in Party String Light inventory. With the rest I will try to make a dent in the Pez project debt.

So I got creative. Have you ever heard the phrase? "Don't get creative." Well the second part is, it will bite you in the backside. So following form I spent all I had. Plus all I could borrow on what would have been my fourth project, Pez dispenser color variations. I thought this can't miss, people have been spending several hundred dollars each on Pez color variations. They are going to jump at $25.00 each and they did for a few months. I had not factored in the things I could not control. Andre, Scott and Gunther. The result were not pretty. I should have known better.

Personally, I think Pez Outlaw would be a fun movie. I will say this out front. If somebody wants this for a movie, they will find me the most flexible of people on everything about this story they have ever worked with. My best contributions would be on texture not exact content. The ticks and feel of it all. Examples; at every point of movement here and abroad I had a personal pat down ritual. One more little bit of trivia that would add character to whoever played me in a movie. Also as mentioned. I always carry folded paper towel in my left hand.

The pat down ritual.

This routine involved, my leather Passport plane ticket holder. My large zipper wallet and two pockets each holding approximately $5,000.00 cash. As a person watching, you would see a guy patting four areas of his body about 3 times each until the ritual ended. Then nope, a few seconds later four more pats just to be sure.

I always wore cargo pants, as they were the only type of trousers that provided the required pockets for large amounts of cash while traveling.

The leather passport ticket holder, went in the left front pocket of trousers. When traveling the airlines provide paper holders for tickets. Problem is you need something that keeps, tickets, passport, bill of sale and customs forms all together. As this is a group of items needed frequently together at borders, when driving or flying.

Large Zipper type wallet, right front pocket of trousers. Never carry a wallet in your back pocket while traveling, as it is just asking to be lifted. Getting a wallet out of a back pocket is easy for a thief, bump and gone. Getting a wallet out of a front trouser pocket, is much harder as you will notice a hand near your groin area. The wallet is for your show money. Containing an amount you allow others to see when paying for items while you travel. Make the amount in the wallet a believable amount ($300 to $400) so if robbed they feel they got your money. Yet an amount you could afford to lose and not damage your goal.

Two Zip locked bags containing approximately $5,000.00 cash each, usually in 20s, sometimes 50s. One packet per left and right leg pocket with snaps on pockets. Never open these pockets in public. Only in a rest room stalls or the hotel room, to refill your wallet. A thief would need to crawl the floor to get at these pockets. This is something you would notice. While traveling your body develops a SPIDEY SENSE for these four areas.

For me it became instinct when leaving one area to another to do the ritual 4 pat, pat down. Get bumped while walking, do the pat down. It is also very important to be aware of your surroundings. Notice where people are around you. Could what they are doing potentially involve you? Don't be friendly. Your friends are at home, you have enough friends. Be polite but maintain your space. I also minimized my exposure to potential problems by only conducting business or once a day walking to a meal. Other than that I stayed in my hotel room. In over 70 trips I carried well over $500,000.00 cash in small bills. I was never robbed, never even came close to being robbed.

One more thing about the 2 ziplock bags containing just under $5,000.00 cash each. As most of the cash I took in selling Pez at shows were $20 bills, most of the bills in the ziplocks were $20s. Can you believe it, this upset people who always wanted cash. In the last couple years I would have to change $20s for $100s at banks before leaving for Europe. Very annoying. It added an unnecessary degree of exposure to the whole process. Here I am spending over half a million dollars cash in ten years with these people, yet down to the smallest details everything had to be done there way.

Being a bit paranoid, personal safety enters the mind. On this one I am covered. Two of my closest personal friends are Bull Mastiffs. This is a very large breed of dog similar to Hooch in Turner and Hooch. My Neo, and Fila passed away last year. So now it's Rudy, Proby, Lou and Pink. Might surprise you but Pink & Lou are the ones who hit it the hardest. I sleep like a baby. These are very good dogs and I love them very much.

Rudy n Proby. Training is going well.

For all of these reasons even a paranoid person can feel comfortable writing this book. Besides I believe you will forgive me a little paranoia after Pez Corp in effect wiped out over 20 years of my life. Over 20 years worth of work, gone.

Follow sj glew ‏@pezoutlaw on twitter.

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

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The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.

When you find it, grab hold n don't let go till your hands bleed.

For over a year prior to my trips to Europe I traveled all over Canada searching for Pez.
I used to pay roughly $1.15 to $1.25 for the pez I sold in the US for mostly $5.00 each, sometimes $15.00 n $25.00 each.
It was like I had a printing press in the basement making money.

The year I spent traveling in Canada was the primer for my decade searching the world for Pez..

Ria & Me at Pezamania 6

Canada, Where it all started.

picture courtesy of Rudi

This all began with a trip to Canada buying Canadian cereal boxes for my collection. While there I noticed a big 5 foot tall clown rack of pez dispensers. After looking it over I noticed that on it were things like Rhino Melody maker Pez dispensers, Duck Tales Pez dispensers and Tom And Jerry Pez dispensers. Doing toy shows in the US I was aware of dealers like Sue and others who were selling these Pez dispensers for $25.00 each. Realizing I could buy these Pez dispensers up in Canada for $1.25, then sell them at toy shows and in Toy Shop magazine for $5.00 to $10.00, I cleaned the racks out of non US Pez dispensers. What followed was big success in both. My toy shop advertisements went from about a dozen Pez dispensers on a page of other toys I was selling. To Two full page advertisements every 2 weeks of almost all pez dispensers.

The clown Pez Racks pictured at the left were in my experience unique to Canada. I must have bought & sold about 18 of them. The Pez distributor for Canada had a heck of a time getting the stores to hang on to them. Stores would throw them away, give them away or sell them

After that first trip to Canada I attended my first Pez convention in Cleveland. Not to sell, strictly as an observer, to see what was going on. I became aware that these pez conventions even existed because of the little classified adds run by some guy called "John the Cool Pez Man Devlin". I had notice his little classified add of 2 lines trying to buy pez for about a year. I up to then thought "this guy is some kind of weirdo". Who calls himself "the cool pez man"? This guy has to be some kind of geeky nut. After that first trip to Canada I notice another add under his for the Cleveland Pez Convention. At the time there were maybe 3 advertisements in Toy Shop Classifieds concerning Pez on a regular basis and that was it for Pez. John the cool pez man, John Laspina n Dave Welch. I always noticed The cool pez man, I mean how do you not notice a guy calling himself the cool pez man, But this month there was a classified for a pez convention.

I decided to drive down for the Saturday part of the Pez Convention. When I arrived the first thing I noticed was that it was a very small affair. The main sellers or tables were David Welch, John Laspina, Sue Sterfeld n I believe this is where I first met the guy with the freaky name "John The Cool Pez Man Devlin". There were other pez dealers but these are the people who stood out to me.

From left to right. Me, Mary Anne Kennedy, John "The Cool Pez Man" Devlin and sorry I can't remember.

My intention was to just observe then leave, which is what I did. Dave Welch appeared to be the big deal, the guy everybody wanted to be a friend of. The Coolest Kid in Class. Dave is a good friend, but I have to admit I'm never quite sure where he is coming from, until recently when I received a very nice email where he opened up a little & gave me the advice of a friend. (On a personal note: Dave unlike your experience, with me a verbal & faxed agreement/contact was broken. Things didn't just go south as things sometimes do. People took direct actions in direct conflict with known agreements, with the intent of ruining my investment. In other words Scott & Gunther directly & consciously reproduced the Colors with the intent of causing my investment to suffer from there actions. I will probably never think those actions were acceptable.) John Laspina seemed to be the guy who wanted everybody to like him, which turns out fine because everybody indeed likes him. Sue Sternfeld was the show, the person who commanded attention & was completely on her game. That freaky guy who called himself "the Cool Pez Man" Him I remembered. He was the most genuinely nice person I met in my entire involvement in Pez & a friend for 10 years. Through him I met & grew to care a great deal for Marryann Kennedy who for me was the mother of the hobby of collecting Pez. When I decided to put on the first California convention the cool pez man was there & helped in any way he could, asking for nothing in return. Thank you "John the Cool Pez Man Devlin" the hobby has always benefited from your involvement.

At that convention I did buy 1 thing, a box of Smurf Pez dispensers from Sue Sternfeld. Today I don't remember why, but I was so mad about something concerning this purchase that I drove 1 hour past my turn north back to Michigan. I never bought from Sue again, though I did sell a bunch of Pez dispensers to her, including I think a thousand dollar pez bubble man. So in the end it all worked out fine.

After my first trip to Canada, my first pez convention and my first advertisement containing pez, I realized a couple things. There was a demand for pez dispensers not available here in the US and that this product was readily available just across the border in Canada. What followed was my Pez Outlaw primer for the European trips. For about a year and a half I traveled to Canada every month to buy Pez dispensers at Zellers stores. I went to every store in the Ontario Province (many multiple times), I know this because I had a list of all the stores. Before I was done searching for pez in Canada, I had traveled from Toronto to Saskatoon and later even British Columbia by way of Seattle.

These multiple piece head Tom & Jerry Pez Dispensers were common on the racks up in Canada at the time. Picture Courtesy of Rudi.

This is where my life as a Pez Outlaw began. For one simple reason. You are not supposed to bring Pez Dispensers licensed to sell in Canada into the US for resale. Bringing them in required a great deal of preplanning. Where to cross borders, how to refer to them and how to refer to what you were doing. Different Pez Dealers handled the border different ways. Some hid the pez and flat out smuggled them in. Some shipped them in. I even heard of one dealer who used a drop site, though I never quite understood that one. I always preferred to hide my pez in plain sight, using friendly border crossing points. Using the the outward appearance of some crazy guy doing a nutty thing. Becoming that guy, the pez guy.

Merry Melody Pez Dispensers were aqlso common in Canada at the time. Picture courtesy of Rudi.

My trips to Zellers in Ontario became so frequent that the stores thought I was the regional rep for Pez. To them I was this guy meticulously going through the racks reorganizing them. I always left the racks looking good and very organized. They must have just not noticed I was buying bags & bags of Pez dispensers retail as I left. I didn't start buying from the wholesale distributor of pez dispensers in Canada until later.

The Rhino Pez Dispenser in this picture is the one that got me thinking about going up to Canada. Dealers at toy shows were selling them for $25.00 each, back in 1992. This got me thinking, "I bet I could sell a few hundreds of these at $10.00 each." I actually sold a few thousand. I purchase probably 500 cases of the eight different Melody Makers pictured here. Picture courtesy of Rudi.

Some of the carded Pez I brought back from Canada. I was always accused of just being a dealer. Fact is I had a huge collection. Walls and walls covered in Pez. Plus about 10 Plexiglas Cabinets FULL of Pez dispensers. Which was separate from my massive inventory.

Shortly After My Trips To Canada Started. I came out with the first Pez Handbook. These were always fun.

sorry I have no images of Pez Handbook 8, 9 or 10

The Pez Handbooks were mostly printed in Black and White with a few exceptions. Each Pez Handbook was approximately 30 pages in length. Handbooks were meant to be promotional material and a sales tool. Even though I had a $3.00 price tag on them. I gave away almost every one with in person or by mail sales. For most issues I printed 300 to 500 copies. The handbooks had stories, convention promotion and a price guide. The last 2 pages were always items I had for sale. Plus as many pictures of Pez Dispensers as I could jam in it.

The Pez Handbooks were always the most popular Pez item I had for collectors. I was always being asked to include the latest issue.

Pez Outlaw Diary covers the character of Pez Outlaw from 1994 - 2003.
Notes From The Asylum covers Pez Outlaw from 2003 - 2017.

Never in a million years prior to 1994 would I have thought the next 11 years of my life possible. This kind of thing only happens for other people or on TV. Looking back I still find my 11 years traveling around the world buying n selling Pez to be a bit unreal.

For a few years I lived beyond my wildest dreams. I went from an average of $30,000/$40,000 a year to almost a million one year. My ride was mind blowing. I went from not really having left Michigan to traveling to Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Paris n Hungary. My fall was no less of mind blower, followed by an over 10 year deep depression.

I started my Pez adventure with under $4,000.00 cash, a tax return n what I could scrape together at the time. Over the next 11 years I turned that $4,000.00 into 4.5 million dollar gross sales. In 1998 Pez Corporation committed Fraud through Breach Of Implied Contract which eventually led to my near Bankruptcy. The only reason I did not file Bankruptcy was a mixture of stupidity and pride.

24 years ago at the age of 44 I began the decade that in a lot of ways will define my life.
It took me 25 years to get to the point in 1994 that I was ready to make my move.
Finally I had scraped together a few thousand dollars to begin my journey.
The next decade flew by at light speed, as I traveled the world buying Pez.
I had finally caught the wave.

Everything was built on the momentum of the previous success.
Flea markets, Good Will stores, Collectibles of every description, McDonalds premiums, cereal premiums and finally Pez.
Every success rolled into the next, all building to the decisions of 1998.

In 1998 I remortgaged my home ($125,000.00) and took out an additional line of credit loan for $125,000.00.
I put that borrowed $250,000.00 plus another $250,000.00 of earnings in 1998 on the biggest play I had ever made.
I made my play, a half million dollars pushed into the middle of the table.

In late 1998 I lost, sj glew died n Pez Outlaw was born.
Everything I had worked a lifetime for ended.
Like I said my path in life has not been an easy fit.

Yes I earned 4.5 million dollars in 11 years on a $4,000.00 investment, but in the end I lost $250,000.00 on a half million dollar investment that should have yielded a million, minimum.

The question then became, when you have lost almost everything what's your next move?
All material resources gone, what's left to draw on?
It was at that low point that I realized the one asset I still had, my mind.

Over the next decade I used it along with the new tool of the internet to write my story.
The process has been very slow, 15 years now.
The goal to sell the Pez Outlaw story as a book and a movie.

I can say this much as to the progress of that dream.
Having your story optioned does not guarantee that the movie will actually be made.
So I continue working.

That day in 1998, all my dreams died.
I know Died is melodramatic but the life I had lived prior to my fall was a completely different life than the one I lead now.
4.5 million dollars in a decade to $30,000.00 a year is over a 90% decrease in income.

Before my fall as sj glew I traveled the world, now I rarely leave my property.
Before my fall I had money, now I personally have no money.
I used to drive all over Eastern Europe, the USA n Canada.
Today I had to bring the car back from the airport n it was a challenge.

For more on or from Pez Outlaw

Notes From The Asylum - self explanatory...

The Cereal Box Price Guide Book...

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Pez Outlaw, She Whispered, "Kolinska" #Netflix #Prime

The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.

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.

The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.

I will always treasure the 70+ 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.

thats how Joshua n I ended up at that old KGB Spa/retreat. We spent the night. then we headed south till things made sence again. Context, after the Zagreb Fiasco. We made the mistake of going in any direction but that one. Very Very fast. We were so lost. Technically we were in good shape, we had 3 directions left, north, west n south. We had only lost east as an option. If anyone was following us, my guess they are sill lost after 25yrs.

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.