Pez Outlaw, Life On The Run #Netflix #Prime

The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.

Countries covered in this chapter are Austria, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic & Switzerland. Yes I traveled to all these countries, a few many times. Hungary over 70 times. The only TV show that even comes close is The Amazing Race.

The lifeblood of any hobby is the new collector. New collectors bring that steady shot of adrenaline to a hobby with there enthusiasm. New collectors are crucial to a hobby or it stagnates then contracts. Hardcore collectors are fine & great, but they know what they know, have what they have & what they need is smaller. You can not maintain a vibrant hobby with a group of people whose collections are closer to completion. You need excited people who need & want almost everything.

It comes very natural to me to do things with a flare n to do the unusual.
Normal, does not get my juices flowing, I find normal tedious n boring.
Being attracted to creative over the way it's normally done makes for better stories.
I believe with all my heart that one day the Pez Outlaw story will be recognized for what crazy fun it was.

Collectors like a good story that comes with a pez dispenser. A story they can retell when showing people there collection. Ideally each dispenser has a story, something interesting about it that makes owning it interesting. If what a collector collects is interesting it makes them interesting to there friends. When each dispenser has a story it brings a collection to life & gives it meaning.

Collectors who bought from me got that story. My story. The story of this crazy guy who traveled the world buying pez. What he looks like, How he acts, the paper towel always in his left hand, the beard, the pony tail, the Hawaiian shirts & the pink bunny slipper. That's who these came from.

As a bonus while pointing at there Pez they could relate the adventures of  this crazy guy. How he traveled to Europe every month. His experiences buying pez in the black-market there. The crazy jams he got himself into. All the crazy people he did business with. The absurd amounts of money that change hands on a handshake. All these stories represented by these items in there collection. Plus the individual stories each Pez Dispenser had. It makes a collection exciting.

So yes every dispenser I sold had a story.

On that note, here's the story.

The Best stories First

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.

Australia.

I had heard that the company distributing Pez dispensers in Australia had some older inventory. So I planned a trip. Kathy who had never shown much interest in my travels, decided she wanted to go. You see my trips consisted of long flights, lots of driving & hotels. If you could see it from the road, that was what sight seeing was. Except Gyor where I relaxed & got away from it all, but even there it was mostly the Raba & centrum. Downtown in Europe is referred to as centrum or zentrum in most countries I visited. Candy is zukor in Hungary, show a pez dispenser & say zukor in a store & you are directed to where Pez dispensers are.

So Kathy decided she was going & I never saw anybody get a passport so fast. We flew to California, then took I believe it was Quantis airlines to Australia. The flight from California to Sydney was over 20 hours. Arriving in Sydney we picked up our car & drove to the hotel. This was the first country I had been in where they drove on the wrong side of the road. The drive to the hotel was insane. Once at the hotel we parked the car & did not drive it again until we drove back to the airport to leave. For the entire week we were there we took cabs. Kathy who had come to sight see used public transport quite a bit, she was off in one direction or another most every day. She had agreed not to rope me into her travels as she understood I had no interest. Though she did con me into some zoo or something & some hole in the ground called the Two Sisters.

Point of interest, this trip took place the week Princess Diana died. I remember this because on the way home that is all that was on the airport TVs.

The first company I visited JNH Toys had Pez dispenser inventory but had recently lost the distribution rights for Pez in Australia. I often wonder if they sold all those Pez dispensers. What I remember that they had were Melody Makers Pez dispensers & Duck Tales Pez dispensers. They told me Millers distributing now had the pez distribution rights. At Millers I found 4 cases of older pez dispensers, but the rest was fairly current for the time. The good new was the guy who ran the place would ship pallets anywhere for cash. We set up a purchase of just under $10,000.00 & my business was done. My business had taken about 3 days & I was hoping to just relax & walk around the city. Which I did but I also ended up on a couple of Kathy's adventures. Customs on the trip home in California was surprisingly no problem & the pallets arrived just fine. Though I did have to use my broker in Grand Rapids to clear customs. I really liked Australia & would visit again, Though next time I would lay over midway in Hawaii for 4 or 5 days.

The name of the company where I bought the pez was Millers Distributing Co. from John E. This company also handled all the arrangements to ship the majority of what I bought via freight.

South Africa.

This trip was a colossal failure.
That said this trip ranks as one of my favorite.
The size n scope of it was huge, talk about leaving your comfort zone.
This trip also opened my eyes in many ways.
When you broaden who you are by your experiences your mind benefits in ways you don't see immediately.


I flew from the US to Switzerland & from there to Johannesburg/Joburg South Africa. The flight was on Swiss Air a terrific airline though if I remember correct from Switzerland to Joburg took 18 hours, a very long flight. The plan was to spend 3 days each in Jogurg searching for pez & then fly down to Cape Town for a 3 day pez search.


Things went South immediately upon arrival in Joburg. The atmosphere at the airport was troubling, jittery is the only way I can describe it. Apartheid had ended but what I sensed at the airport, was made obvious to me later. After getting my bags I was approached by a driver, he said where are you staying? I told him I hadn't actually made a reservation but figured on staying in Joburg. He immediately began shaking his head & saying no no no, you don't want to stay in Joburg & recommended a Hilton on the outskirts of Joburg. So he drove me over to the brand new Hilton in Sandy. On that drive & a few others I got the picture. White communities with 5 foot brick walls topped by razor wire & broken glass. Trucks with workers in the back driven by white people.


Even at the hotel it was apparent. The cleaning lady applied for a job, with no idea who I was or what I did. She pressed for a job based only on the fact that I was American. In the mid 90s Apartheid had ended but things were still pretty bleak.


My driver helped me accomplish everything I wanted to check on within a day & 1/2, he was amazing. The answer was nobody who had any involvement with pez would even take a meeting. No pez was bought. Even though that Hilton was the best hotel I ever stayed in & I was scheduled to fly to Capetown in a day. I got the h... out of South Africa. I had the concierge book me on the soonest flight to Hungary. Where I surprised my contact by just appearing at his home out of nowhere. He quickly put together a load of pez for me. That done, I spent the next 4 days at the Raba, just decompressing from the experience of South Africa.
 

  Austria, Traun.

Pez Haas factory in Traun Austria. picture courtesy of Rudi

I left the US and arrived in Budapest on Malev Airlines on Sunday morning. Picked up my car ($900.00 for a Chevy Corsica) & left town. Setting out to meet my contact. As usual, half of the Pez dispensers I was promised was there. Had to come back on Monday to for the rest. I now had the last of the Monkey Pez dispensers & Dog Melody Maker Pez dispensers. It appears that the last of existing inventory of Pez dispensers from Austria was gathered together in Hungary to be used in the old eastern block countries. Most of it having been produced in 1991 & 1992. The second infusion of older Pez dispensers for Russia came 2 or 3 years later when all production of pez was halted in Slovenia & existing Pez dispensers were shipped to Hungary.

When I had finished in Hungary I left for Austria. As I passed through Vienna I stopped by to visit The King of Austria. This visit covered in another area. After visiting The King, I drove to Linz. Arrived in Linz, well actually Traun. The main headquarters & worldwide headquarters for Pez corporation is located in Linz/Traun. On the few times I stayed in Traun it always made everyone very nervous, especially since I missed Scotts visit to the same area only by a day or two.

I stayed at the Hotel Traunerhof (phone 07229/3323) at $45.00 a night. While there as it was summer I visited a large flea market in downtown Linz hunting for Pez dispensers. Saturday & Sunday between 8:00 am. & 1:00 pm. For directions ask for the Flo Market in Zentrum Linz. I found a gray pez space gun for $2.50. You can also visit a shopping center near Traun called Uno. On sundays between 6:00 am. & 12:00 pm. there is a flea market there also.

Here's the funny thing about Austria.

Even though I traveled through Austria for 70 some trips I actually only stayed in Austria a handful of times.

Hardly any of the Pez I bought were bought in Austria.

Though I did travel through Austria a Lot by car to Hungary, Slovenia, Germany etc.

Austria was my preferred end point n beginning point for travel to n from Europe.

I traveled by car extensively in Austria, east to west n north to south.

These are the gates I went through on the Covert at Mickey D's encounter. Once you go through the front gates. Keep going straight, South. After the big building on the right you will find the site offices. Its a smaller building.

more pics from Pez Haas factory in Traun Austria.

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.

Spain.
Spain could have been a better trip in hindsight.
The biggest reason it wasn't is that I was beginning to tire of the road which is why I asked Josh to join me once again.
The travel, the deal making, the attacks and the unscrupulous people I had to deal with were all beginning to wear me down.
Which is probably why when I met resistance I just said screw it n left. Much to Joshua's dismay. In the old days he n I would have made it happen because there was a way, I just didn't have the will any longer.

The trip to Spain held a lot of promise. Not since the Mariner did I have so much information ahead of time. A pez plastic molding facility had been operated outside Pamplona called Dulce Unzuay (this is from memory as I don't seem to have any written records on this trip.). I knew this from some mint in cello molded Pez planes & a package from a pez dispenser. Josh hadn't been traveling with me since the early days but he had some Spanish speaking ability so we planned this trip together.

After arriving in Barcelona we picked up our car & drove to Pamplona. We found a hotel & got a little more local info. The next day we drove over to the local Pez distributor. This info can usually be found on the back of carded pez at the bottom. As always if you are confused about directions in a foreign country, hire a cab & point to the address. When we got to the distributor we found that like most countries product was now imported complete. Used to be say like the case in Spain & Slovenia. They had there own injection molding facility & a confectionery facility that created the candy & package the final product. Now though the old confectionery facility just imported carded Pez dispensers ready for distribution.

Realizing they only imported now & all the unpackaged old pez dispensers were gone we asked about Dulce Unzuay. We were told they no longer made pez dispensers at the plastic molding facility. Well can we call & go over anyway. The call was made. We were told no we could not visit & all old pez inventory was gone. Heartbroken we left & left Spain returning home the next day. Josh had to get back to school & I had other fish to fry.

Mistakes were made on the pez trip to Spain. We never should have asked to visit the pez plastics plant, we should have just shown up. I learned early on with toys & Mickey Ds, never ask the question over the phone. Any company worth its salt is to busy to want to fool with some idiot on the phone. So being busy a fast no is always given so they can get back to what they were doing. Better to just show up and force companies to be people. On the phone a person can be a company. In person they can't. People always feel some need to be hospitable no matter who they are, if you have traveled several thousand miles to see them. Never ask an important question over the phone.

Mistake #2, I did not follow up. Knowing that home assembly was used to assemble the Pez dispensers made at Dulce Unzuay. It always has bothered me that I never planned a second trip focused on canvasing the community surrounding the pez injection molding plant for components in garages. There is no doubt in my mind that the homes or garages of the people who did the home assembly have parts for Pez dispensers still. My guess judging from the time period this would have been done in, is that no feet dispensers is what was being assembled.

The way to do this is. Locate yourself at a hotel in the immediate community surrounding Dulce Unzuay. Have the people at the hotel direct you to a local print shop that speaks English. Have that print shop create a flier in Spanish stating you are at that hotel & that you want to buy components of pez dispensers from when they did the home assembly. Walk around the neighborhood where the plastic plant was or is handing out your fliers. Put them in mail boxes & on car windshields. Let the hotel know what you are doing so people who respond can be directed to you. Plan on spending 7 to 10 days at the hotel. Have about $9,000.00 in Euros in the hotel safe to draw on as opportunities arise. Pay as little as possible for Pez dispensers that shows up.




France




Kicked to the curb in France. Quite often flying in & out of Europe, flights were missed due to late arrivals. In many cases you would be booked next day same flight which meant you stayed overnight in whatever city your delay occurred in. Frankfurt, somewhere in Switzerland, New York (an ice storm) & Paris were a few of the layovers.

France was the worst. Arriving from Vienna on my way home the flight arrived late. Here's a tip, if you don't have 2 hours for a connecting flight in Paris things get dicey real fast. Degaul airport is a sprawling facility with very old & very new sections thrown together in a very disorganized manner. Before you can check in you need to pass back through a huge funnel like areas to clear customs for international flights. At any given time 1/2 of the customs people are on break & the rest are slow. Very often you are at the back of a mass of people waiting forever, knowing your flight is boarding.


On this occasion resulting in a missed flight. We were all sent down to baggage claim to rebook. Every other missed flight I was allowed to leave my checked bags, checked in. Not this time. For normal people this is not a real problem, one or 2 large suitcases on rollers & they were all off to the hotel. In my case though it was 5 huge duffel bags & by the time I gave up arguing over the absurdity of try to take them to the hotel all the shuttles had departed. To make matters worse I had to pay someone to help me move the bags to where he said I could catch a shuttle. When I got to that location, he quickly scurried off. Leaving me to realize I was now at an isolated area outside the airport under an overpass, with 5 huge pieces of luggage full of Pez dispensers & no means of transportation. The only people around were military with machine guns. I thought here we go again.

A little background here. For the first 5 years of my travels Delta had been partnered with Lufthansa which meant the European hub was Frankfurt. Let me tell you that is one really nice airport, modern, easy to move through, nice people & all the good food joints. So nice that I almost counted the Frankfurt airport as a travel destination itself. It is hands down, my favorite airport. So it was quite a comedown when they changed & partnered with Airfrance which is the opposite in every way. Slow, mostly old, very difficult getting from a to b (if you don't have 1 hour between flights, you are in trouble), mostly rude & confusing food


The military though was a huge surprise they too were opposite of every other military in Europe I had encountered. These guys were nice, helpful & generous. The French military whose job was to guard the airport, approached & asked me what I was doing. Expecting the worst I explained. They grabbed my bags, carried them to a better location, where they had a cab waiting & loaded them in. They had even told the driver where I needed to go & haggled the price he could charge me. So France not so much, but the military in France a good friend if you ever need one.

Once in the cab I realized the guys had screened him also. The cabby was Indian & a really nice person. He offered to drive by the Eiffel tower if I wanted, so I could at least see it. Though still being in a very sour mood I declined, I just wanted to get to the hotel & go to bed, as it had been a very long day already. At the hotel he gave me his card in case I change my mind. Now I wish I had, it was a chance of a lifetime to see something very special. I checked my luggage in & headed to my room. Turns out this was a terrific hotel, great food & a terrific feather bed. I slept like a baby caught my flight the next day & made it home fine.

This trip is where I learned my airport manners. Here's what I mean. From the moment you leave home till you are again home, you are in a mechanism of travel. To fight with it or get upset is a waste of time. You will depart then return & all that really matters is how you behaved in between. When you reflect on the adventure it is better not to have memories of going crazy on people. After that trip, I quite often watched as people went nuts on airport staff at the different malfunctions that always occur. Then when they got to me I was patient, polite & understanding. Which usually amazed them because by now they were wore to a nubb.

This is even more true now. Ten years later. I don't have to think back about bad behavior at airports. I was the guy who said don't worry about it. These things happen. I'm here, all that happened, Happened. Yet I got there, I got home & it is all history now.



Germany, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic & Switzerland. 

I actually traveled extensively through most of these countries. Even though I never really stayed in them. Land in Germany drive the Autobahn to Austria. Czech & Slovak were both parts of big searches for Pez in the early days. Most trips involved a lot of driving from somewhere to somewhere else to get stuff.
Switzerland was a hub in some of my travels. The layovers were so long sometimes that I count them as a visit.

For more on or from Pez Outlaw

Notes From The Asylum - self explanatory...

The Cereal Box Price Guide Book...



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