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The Pez Outlaw Movie is on Netflix & Amazon Prime.
Pez Outlaw, the thief who actually ran Pez Corporation for a decade.
What I'm saying is actually very simple.
Most of the important decisions made in the 1990s at Pez USA were either influenced or a direct result of my activities. What was imported into the USA it seemed was purely my decision. If I decided to import it, Pez USA then decided to import it. I created a website and an entire line of new product, within a year Pez USA copied everything. For a decade Pez Outlaw was the most influential person who actually never worked for Pez Corporation.
I'm gonna surprise you now with a prediction.
2022 will again be the year of Pez Outlaw. I just feel it in my bones.
Pez Corporate Con-men.
In the mid 1990s Pez Corporation was riddled with corrupt individuals.
Gunther n Scott
Scott McWhinnie the ex-president of Pez USA may have won the Pez Color War, but our history will be linked forever n I know that torments him.
To the contrary this gives me comfort.
Scott McWhinnie may have gotten a better retirement package than me but I'll be a part of his life till the day he dies.
I may have gotten a life sentence of poverty but Scott McWhinnie will never shake our history.
Recently a friend was shocked that I'm on twitter, I have to in order to stay in touch with my BFF Scott McWhinnie.
Let's look at this from another angle.
Were it not for Pez Outlaw n The Pez Color War, would Scott McWhinnies rein at Pez USA be remembered at all?
Scott McWhinnies record would read X-amount of sales, X-amount of Pez USA growth n success then totally forgotten n forgettable.
But Scott McWhinnie vs Pez Outlaw in the Pez Color War, That will be remembered.
We each played our roles in a story worth retelling, not a boring balance sheet followed by a Gold Watch.
You're Welcome Scott.
Scott McWhinnie Head of Pez USA
During The Pez Color War
Scott's biggest fear I think n what I think motivated him against his better interests & eased his retirement. Scott was obsessed with the idea that I was making more money than him selling Pez. Truth be told for a few years I did make more money than Scott McWhinnie head of Pez USA. Though I also believe I was working harder during that period than he was also. Created California Pez Convention. Full page Pez advertisements in several magazines every month. Over a dozen self published Pez Handbooks. Several Pez video tapes. Promotional Pez rings, pins & money clips that I gave away with sales. Free Pez Bags & body parts given away with sales of Pez dispensers. I also appeared at & contributed to all of the Pez conventions at the time. Not to mention advertising those Pez conventions.
I also brought as much new product & product innovation to the hobby in those years as he did. Especially if you consider bringing Crystal & Glow in the Dark Pez dispensers to the Hobby. No one at Pez Corp had even considered Crystal or Glow Pez until I aske that they be made. Also don't forget the 22 Holiday Color Pez dispensers I introduced in a 1 year period. So yes indeed I did make more money than him for a while, But I earned it.
For those few years I was actually running a Shadow Pez Corporation, right under there noses. The crazy part is as mad as it made Scott, it made him even madder that one I was doing it right out in the open & two doing a better job of it. Like I've said on more than one occasion reputable people or organizations contacted me not them thinking I was Pez USA. So yes you could say I got up Scotts nose a bit. In reality I had sublet an apartment in his head.
At one point he was on the warpath in Europe at the pez factories, I mean really in my opinion getting crazy on the management over there. What he did not know is at the same time he was obsessing about me at the pez factories, I was over there buying pez dispenser from the very same people & they in effect were hiding me from him & telling me what he was saying & doing. This situation occurred on 2 trips. You see they did not like him & they did like me. These actions & his general manner I believe is why he "retired". You see Pez USA was owned at the time (probably still is) by Haas. Sometimes people forget who works for who & just because you sell a larger amount of Pez dispensers that does not change. Also sometimes when you outsell your bosses, it make them jealous & envious. Which means if say you start trying to read them the riot act about something that has you, say a little crazy (me) they find a way to stop the noise. After all your not the one contributing to there retirement. Your not the one who say paid for there new house or car.
Spy vs Spy. What you may not know is that during most of the time I sold pez dispensers, there were 2 or 3 people who reported back to Scott directly & indirectly everything they could find out about what I was doing. Bless there hearts, I believe they felt it was there way to get on his good side for purposes that benefited them. So even today when folks lose there mind on twitter. Same old song. Different day. The reason I know this is because the Europeans told me what he was up to & why. They also gave me a heads up on what to avoid. Believe it or not for a period of time there were actual rules to this game.
LET ME BE VERY CLEAR ON THIS. WHEN SCOTT COPIED THE PEZ COLORS HE DESTROYED ME. He destroyed my reputation & wiped me out financially. I had so much money tied up in the pez colors of all types that it was impossible to recover. My finances & business are still feeling the effects to this day. I willingly stuck my neck out way to far on this group of Pez dispensers by investing everything I had earned to date, plus borrowing $150,000.00. All these years later & I am still trying to recover from that one decision. At the time the only avenue that was left was to sell the remainder of the Pez dispensers at any price to recoup any portion of the money I spent. HERE WAS THE MAIN PROBLEM. With his production he was now going to sell his pez misfits to collectors at less than I paid for mine. It was perfectly executed by Scott to rid himself of his nemesis.
The funny thing though is I believe it was his downfall as well. After producing the inventory for the pez misfits & the pez dispensers they led to. Scott had now stretched his neck out pretty far also & when sale declined enough I believe Gunther whacked him. You see the real puppet master in the whole thing I believe was Gunther. Andre negotiated the deal with Van Melles of Germany, who then submitted the Pez dispenser orders to Austria for approval. By guess who? Yes that's right Gunther. Scott then proceeded to go a bit nuts on Austria about the pez colors. After he calmed down he decided if he created a competing inventory of Pez dispensers, he could destroy me once & for all. Well guess who had to sign off on the pez misfits? That is correct Gunther Leitner.
So in the end I believe Gunther Leitner played both Scott & me like a Fiddle by expertly facilitating both of our retirements from selling Pez dispensers. Both Scott & I were casualties of his assent to power at Haas. In all honesty I believe Scott was the real target & that I was just a useful tool to that end. Here is why I never really held this whole episode against Scott. What he did he had every right to do, but Gunther did not. Gunther was the one who approved the pez colors & he knew full well I had been promised these Pez dispensers would be exclusive to me. So when he approved the pez misfits he knew that promise was being broken & that is why I no longer play by the rules.
You may wonder why in this story when referring to the pez color wars between Scott n myself. I use phases like: He destroyed me. I eventually lost everything, etc. This is not an effort on my part to solicit sympathy. Rather it is more like when I was a little boy. We used to play Cowboys, good guys & bad guys. Inevitably while playing Cowboys somebody would start yelling " Mom he won't take his dead's", meaning you shot him & he refused to lay down & play dead. Well in the pez color wars between Scott & myself it was like playing Cowboys. To state it less accurately or smooth over how losing affected my life would be the same as not taking my dead's. He won so I am taking my dead's.
The other day I was thinking what a remarkable Forum it would be if one day he and I sat down at a Pez convention to swap stories in front of you all. One catch though for me, I would only consider doing it once I had released this as a book. With a published book in hand I would consider it fun, without this as a book I would not.
During The Pez Color War
Scott's biggest fear I think n what I think motivated him against his better interests & eased his retirement. Scott was obsessed with the idea that I was making more money than him selling Pez. Truth be told for a few years I did make more money than Scott McWhinnie head of Pez USA. Though I also believe I was working harder during that period than he was also. Created California Pez Convention. Full page Pez advertisements in several magazines every month. Over a dozen self published Pez Handbooks. Several Pez video tapes. Promotional Pez rings, pins & money clips that I gave away with sales. Free Pez Bags & body parts given away with sales of Pez dispensers. I also appeared at & contributed to all of the Pez conventions at the time. Not to mention advertising those Pez conventions.
I also brought as much new product & product innovation to the hobby in those years as he did. Especially if you consider bringing Crystal & Glow in the Dark Pez dispensers to the Hobby. No one at Pez Corp had even considered Crystal or Glow Pez until I aske that they be made. Also don't forget the 22 Holiday Color Pez dispensers I introduced in a 1 year period. So yes indeed I did make more money than him for a while, But I earned it.
For those few years I was actually running a Shadow Pez Corporation, right under there noses. The crazy part is as mad as it made Scott, it made him even madder that one I was doing it right out in the open & two doing a better job of it. Like I've said on more than one occasion reputable people or organizations contacted me not them thinking I was Pez USA. So yes you could say I got up Scotts nose a bit. In reality I had sublet an apartment in his head.
At one point he was on the warpath in Europe at the pez factories, I mean really in my opinion getting crazy on the management over there. What he did not know is at the same time he was obsessing about me at the pez factories, I was over there buying pez dispenser from the very same people & they in effect were hiding me from him & telling me what he was saying & doing. This situation occurred on 2 trips. You see they did not like him & they did like me. These actions & his general manner I believe is why he "retired". You see Pez USA was owned at the time (probably still is) by Haas. Sometimes people forget who works for who & just because you sell a larger amount of Pez dispensers that does not change. Also sometimes when you outsell your bosses, it make them jealous & envious. Which means if say you start trying to read them the riot act about something that has you, say a little crazy (me) they find a way to stop the noise. After all your not the one contributing to there retirement. Your not the one who say paid for there new house or car.
Spy vs Spy. What you may not know is that during most of the time I sold pez dispensers, there were 2 or 3 people who reported back to Scott directly & indirectly everything they could find out about what I was doing. Bless there hearts, I believe they felt it was there way to get on his good side for purposes that benefited them. So even today when folks lose there mind on twitter. Same old song. Different day. The reason I know this is because the Europeans told me what he was up to & why. They also gave me a heads up on what to avoid. Believe it or not for a period of time there were actual rules to this game.
LET ME BE VERY CLEAR ON THIS. WHEN SCOTT COPIED THE PEZ COLORS HE DESTROYED ME. He destroyed my reputation & wiped me out financially. I had so much money tied up in the pez colors of all types that it was impossible to recover. My finances & business are still feeling the effects to this day. I willingly stuck my neck out way to far on this group of Pez dispensers by investing everything I had earned to date, plus borrowing $150,000.00. All these years later & I am still trying to recover from that one decision. At the time the only avenue that was left was to sell the remainder of the Pez dispensers at any price to recoup any portion of the money I spent. HERE WAS THE MAIN PROBLEM. With his production he was now going to sell his pez misfits to collectors at less than I paid for mine. It was perfectly executed by Scott to rid himself of his nemesis.
The funny thing though is I believe it was his downfall as well. After producing the inventory for the pez misfits & the pez dispensers they led to. Scott had now stretched his neck out pretty far also & when sale declined enough I believe Gunther whacked him. You see the real puppet master in the whole thing I believe was Gunther. Andre negotiated the deal with Van Melles of Germany, who then submitted the Pez dispenser orders to Austria for approval. By guess who? Yes that's right Gunther. Scott then proceeded to go a bit nuts on Austria about the pez colors. After he calmed down he decided if he created a competing inventory of Pez dispensers, he could destroy me once & for all. Well guess who had to sign off on the pez misfits? That is correct Gunther Leitner.
So in the end I believe Gunther Leitner played both Scott & me like a Fiddle by expertly facilitating both of our retirements from selling Pez dispensers. Both Scott & I were casualties of his assent to power at Haas. In all honesty I believe Scott was the real target & that I was just a useful tool to that end. Here is why I never really held this whole episode against Scott. What he did he had every right to do, but Gunther did not. Gunther was the one who approved the pez colors & he knew full well I had been promised these Pez dispensers would be exclusive to me. So when he approved the pez misfits he knew that promise was being broken & that is why I no longer play by the rules.
You may wonder why in this story when referring to the pez color wars between Scott n myself. I use phases like: He destroyed me. I eventually lost everything, etc. This is not an effort on my part to solicit sympathy. Rather it is more like when I was a little boy. We used to play Cowboys, good guys & bad guys. Inevitably while playing Cowboys somebody would start yelling " Mom he won't take his dead's", meaning you shot him & he refused to lay down & play dead. Well in the pez color wars between Scott & myself it was like playing Cowboys. To state it less accurately or smooth over how losing affected my life would be the same as not taking my dead's. He won so I am taking my dead's.
The other day I was thinking what a remarkable Forum it would be if one day he and I sat down at a Pez convention to swap stories in front of you all. One catch though for me, I would only consider doing it once I had released this as a book. With a published book in hand I would consider it fun, without this as a book I would not.
Gunther Leitener.
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| Gunther Leitner His betrayal was personal. |
The 1st time I met Gunther Leitner was at the pez yellow house when Joshua n I were talking to the people who worked there about buying some pez dispensers. A man in a plaid sports jacket came out of an office. He approached the conversation listened for a bit then introduced himself. Hello my name is Gunther Leitner. Getting no recognition he said "Don't you know who I am". Then he said "I know what you want, I'm the guy you need to deal with". He turned grabbed a post-it, wrote something on it and signed it.
Gunther gave us an address and said go here. When we arrived at the address, we showed the post-it to the guard & the gates opened. Once in the warehouse the manager snapped to & took us to a pile of boxes containing older pez dispensers. We selected what we could afford & paid Gunther. I believe though that he was very disappointed. Being one of my first few trips, we only spent a few thousand dollars. Not a lot of money in the beginning, as we were just figuring this whole thing out. Though from my point of view a very successful encounter, we got a little of everything. The pez trucks sold out in a few days, so within two weeks, I went back to Gunther on a trip just for Truck Pez dispensers.
Gunther Leitner opened the pez doors of Pez Corporation for me. Gunther Leitner personally and in writing cleared the way to the pez warehouses, making it possible for me to buy roughly 2 million pez in Europe. I used the avenues established by him to purchase most of the pez dispensers I bought in Hungary.
The 2nd time I met Gunther Leitner.
see C5 Trip #3 Hookers n Trucks #pezoutlaw #hollywood ...
The 3rd time I met Gunther Leitner.
The 4th time I met Gunther Leitener.
Covert at Mickey Ds.
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| 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. |
On one of my trips early on I decided to drive over to Linz in Austria. The home offices for Pez International. The parking lot was pretty much empty & the doors to the offices was wide open. Not wanting to look like I was up to any funny business. I just stood there 20 feet from the open door yelling in to see who would come out.
To my surprise it was none other than Gunther Leitner who walked out that door to see what the commotion was about. From the terror on his face I could tell he also was surprised. Actually he was Horrified that I was there.
Gunther. What are you doing here? I can't be seen with you.
Me. Well I was hoping to buy some Pez.
Gunther. You have got to get out of here. I can't be seen with you.
Me. I understand, but I was hoping to buy some Pez.
Gunther. Go over to the Mickey Ds. I'll meet you there after I look around & see what I can "FIND".
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| picture courtesy of Rudi |
When we met up at Mickey D's Gunther was acting like a nut. All nervous and Paranoid. You'd think he had just stolen the Hope Diamond not a couple of trays of Pez. Saying crazy things like, "I don't know you". Like I was all invisible or something. Making out like I was the the BAD guy. He's the one that had stole the stuff not 20 minute earlier.
As we sat there in the car, Gunther Leitner passed me the pez dispensers (the ones in the picture). Being very careful to keep the pez below the dashboard. I passed him the money. The whole time he is looking around to make sure nobody he knows is seeing him. THEN HE SAYS, "I DON'T KNOW YOU". I thought well that was an odd thing to say. He counted the money.
I handed Gunther Leitner $2,000.00 for 2 trays of pez dispensers and some paper pez items he took out of the home office in Linz to sell me. The only known origins Mr. Majestic Pez dispenser (pictured left) was in one tray.
Gunther Leitner actually said $2,000.00 was not enough, you can send me more later. I said, No that's it no more it is all I have on me (approx $2,000.00), take it or leave it. He took it, then scurried off looking over his shoulder as he went.
I find it interesting over a decade later. $2,000.00 to me today is a lot of money. Over a decade ago it was a good deal of money. Gunther must have been used to getting pretty good sums of money on a regular basis for him to look down on $2,000.00 CASH. Selling stolen Pez was obviously not new to him, though from what I understand he was used to mailing the Pez, not face to face. Made me wonder,was Gunther the guy who had been sending the packages of Pez dispensers to Dave all these years. It is just that, ("you can send me more later") made me think he was used to this.
Below are pictures of some of the rest of the Mickey D Pez.
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| These are the Pez Dispensers Gunther Leitner sold me at Mickey Ds. Picture courtesy of Rudi. |
Approx 20 old no feet pez dispensers were; Mr. Majestic pez dispenser, Muselix nf pez dispenser, Asterix nf pez dispenser; Obelix nf pez dispenser, Sparefrow pez dispenser, Orange pez dispenser, Psyc Flower pez dispenser, Psyc Hand pez dispenser, Ring Master pez dispenser, Gorilla pez dispenser , Ball & Glove pez dispenser, Santa small head pez dispenser, Casper pez dispenser, Bullwinkle pez dispenser, Duck with Flower pez dispenser & some old Regular pez dispensers. A bundle of aprox 24 gray new pez regulars, the new design, never seen to that point. Pez paper items, mostly protoype pez boxes not used for peppermint pez. Maryann bought most of these pez paper items.
Gunther Leitner is the guy who opened pez sales and was in charge of Pez distribution in Hungary to Russia. He then was in charge of facilitating & overseeing production of pez dispensers in China for the US market. The success of these things helped facilitate his further rise at Haas.
If you as a reader or Gunther Leitener himself have ever wondered why I seem to have a bone to pick with Gunther in Pez Outlaw Diary.
When my family is threatened n you can't be bothered after we've done business n I've kept your secrets. Well Gunther if you refuse to be helpful in one way, then we will find another way for you to be useful. I'm very big on re-purposing useless things.
Gunther you were in a position to stop Scott McWhinnie but you chose to remain silent out of self interest.
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| 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. |
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| more pics from Pez Haas factory in Traun Austria. |
