Posts
Chris Jordan There
will be a story in the Pez Collectors Store Newsletter in June, along
with pictures of the 37 witch regulars, and the several hundred ad
regulars, because collectors need to know that these are being
distributed again. The seller seemed to be honest enough to admit that
these dispensers were suspect so any buyers should have known better and
should have done some checking before making a purchase.
Chris Jordan It is very sad that several people have purchased from this batch of fake ad regulars and witch regulars. The warning bells were all there, so I can only assume they intended to purchase and profit from them while knowing that they were fake. Anytime someone asks you to keep communications "just between us", you can be pretty sure they are hiding something. I will write an article for the next issue of the Pez Collectors Store Newsletter (subscription is free! just provide your email address http://www.pezcollectors.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=40&chapter=2012 New Facebook page that I like. "if you don't quit yelling and cussing at me I'm not gonna sell to you anymore" |
Helicopter Bob.
Helicopter Bob was connected to Pez corp USA. He and one of his buds found a bunch of Pez dispensers in one of the buildings at Pez Corp. Pez pal cops and golden glow pez dispensers were two of the more notable pieces. Well they got the Pez dispensers out of there and began selling to john Laspina and other dealers.
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| picture courtesy of Rudi |
Later at a show in Atlantic city and up walks Helicopter Bob, he says hey I have 200 pez pal cops do you want to buy them? I said sure and we settled on a price, so off he goes to get the Pez dispensers. All the way back to me he is busy selling the Pez Pal Cops one by one for $5.00 each more than he agreed to sell them to me for.
You would think this kinda thing was uncommon, when actually it was more the norm. From Helicopter Bob to the 2 Andre's to Dead AL to the Austrian gun brokers, there was always more and in addition backhanded dealing going on.
Ole Bob was just the first in a long line,
I remember Bob saying to me once " if you don't quit yelling and cussing at me I'm not gonna sell to you anymore Pez dispensers." Finally I think he was hearing me. Total amount spent with this guy only a few thousand dollars.
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| 100% Fake money Clip |
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| 100% Fake Ring |
Andre Zeich.
49-8142-7991
Farmerstrasse 14c Groebenzell Germany 82194
If you are ever offered a deal by this guy. Turn sharply in the opposite direction, run as fast & far as you can. If you do business with this guy, you will eventually regret it.
One of the things I do while writing this is keep track of search terms that lead people to www.pezoutlaw.com. I'm floored by the number of people that search "andre zeich". For the life of me I can not see why. The term "andre zeich" is in the top ten all time search terms used that lead viewers to pezoutlaw.com. To say I'm puzzled by this is an all time understatement.
Andre is the kind of guy who greets you while hiding behind a pole or something until he is sure you aren't mad at him. I think the guy lived in constant fear that people he was doing business with would find out everything he was doing behind your back. You would contract say for 3,000 Pez dispensers each & he would make 6,000 Pez dispensers. He would then deliver the Pez dispensers you contracted for, you would start selling & set your price. At this point he would quietly contact other dealers & undercut your price to sell the extra Pez dispensers he had also made. Then when he had gotten what he could out of the overproduction he would offer you the rest at super cheap saying he had no idea pez corp did an overrun, that he felt it was only right that I should have them. This guy was a real piece of work. So from the beginning the pez colors were not my exclusive as promised. Total amount spent with this guy $471,950.00 on Pez dispensers.
Andre I believe is also the manufacturer of all those toy cars & trucks with PEZ stenciled / stamped on them in black. I know he initiated / manufactured the coin plates & light fixtures. You see Andre Zeichs main business is buying closeout in Europe. So slapping a stenciled logo on something to make it salable was no big deal.
Andre Zeich is also the guy that facilitated the production of Joe & Chicago Daves pez trucks (the black or silver cab, glow in the dark trailer, red or orange wheels) , which Scott also later copied. Andre followed the same format here. He produced the Pez dispensers they ordered, plus the same amount for himself to undercut there sales. Later I ended up buying a 2 ton truck load of Pez dispensers Joe & Dave had left & the remainder of Andre's (a couple thousand loose pez dispensers) "overproduction". How did Andre do it? Well he would get the quote from Van Melles of say X per carded pez dispenser, then he would double the order & charge you 5X per pez dispenser. There by getting his Pez dispensers for free, plus 3X immediate profit. Then in the end when he was done undercutting your sales, he could sell you the leftover Pez dispensers as "overproduction" at cost & still make 100% profit.
I just finished going over everything from 1998. To my surprise I found a fax dated November of 1998 where I proposed a pez truck project. Pez Trucks with black cab & trailer, also pez trucks with glow in dark cab & trailer. By January of 1999 Andre & I were close to quits. My guess is he shopped a combo of this idea to Joe & Dave.
Here's a little background on Andre Zeich. In order to even get the opportunity to do the deal on the pez colors there were 3 other pez deals I had to do. As in if you buy these Pez dispensers I think I can get them to do it, over & over. Like the container full of pez body parts (aprox 130,000) from Asia or somewhere. Remember how I used to give away pez body parts when you spent various amounts on other pez dispensers, well this is why. The gold, silver, white & gray hair pez pals w/body parts playsets. A mess of smashed aral pez & pez mariner playsets. Also a load of pez dispensers & body parts carded on one card. This is what I had to do to get the privileged of buying the pez colors.
German Andre & the pez cars. Why would a multiple million dollar injection molding company use a stencil or a stamp? Wouldn't you think the word pez would be molded into the plastic? It was molded on the original small cars & planes. Is it just me or does this not make any sense at all? And why year after year do they keep coming, different types, different sizes. A seemingly never ending supply & assortment.
In the rear view mirror, Andre Zeich's creations are obvious. Though I will say. If Andre Zeich was nothing else. He was prolific in his ability to think outside the box. Worthless to prized collectible is no small thing.
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| Andre Zeich Trucks, cars, planes etc. Notice two similarities between all of these items. One, they are all common generic closeout toys. Two, A simple black stencil makes them all more valuable than they were originally. All are part of the Andre Zeich make common closeout collectible recycling plan. |
German Andre & all those little pez plastic cars with black pez stenciled on them is for me one example. I bought a ton of them from him once, they all arrived soaking wet. I believe this was a method to make the pristine new yellow pez header cards on the bags look aged by 20 or so years. I do not believe for a minute that all those little plastic toys with black pez stenciled on them are real. Other items created in the time period that these are supposed to be from DO NOT HAVE BLACK STENCIL FOR PEZ. On the real cars & planes the pez is molded in the plastic.
When you understand who German Andre is, it makes more sense. Also what he actually does for a living & what his network of distribution is. His real business is buying & selling closeout type items in Europe. All sorts of collectibles & toy. Which is why he knew who to contact & bribe to get my pez projects done. In short he knew how to game the system so large shipping containers of product that technically should not, did. He is very hands on. By this I mean through the hiring of people he knew how to make 2 containers of Pez dispensers into one. Who is better situated to buy large quantities of small plastic cars & trucks. Create packaging. Have each item stenciled & because it comes from Europe it has the air of authenticity. Also because it comes from Europe nobody in the US has or can get any frame of reference on the items. Further being situated in Europe Andre feels immune from any repercussions on his dealings. Knowing Andre as I do (at best questionable morals) there is no doubt in my mind he is making these items.
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| coin plate |
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| Andre Zeich Pez Light Fixture. |
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| Another little gem from German Andre. Find a bunch of closeout ball in the holes games. All you need to do is find the picture, copy it and put it in. |
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| I believe this calender handout from Hungary was the picture used by Andre Zeich to create the Smurf Pez balls in the holes games. Both pictures courtesy of Rudi. |
I was always assured they were real, so I sold them as real. In the mid 90s I had no reason to believe otherwise, but after years of doing business with German Andre he lost my trust. It's one of those situations where piece by piece as you learn more & see more you understand more. One deal alone may look a little funny but you have no reason to doubt so you let it go. Realization only comes when the accumulation of things is to big to ignore any longer and it finally dawns on you that this guys word can not be trusted. The final straw was when other dealers informed me that he had produced a large quantity of the pez colors for himself & was undercutting my wholesale on these items to them.
So after all of this WHY did I buy a very large wooden crate of loose pez colors from German Andre & let him lie to me saying they were production over run? It's simple, he only wanted $2.00 each. There was & is only one thing you can take to the bank with this guy, he always delivered the product. I bought the loose pez colors & another crate of joes pez trucks because at $2.00 each I actually had a good chance for 100% profit even after Scott made his. I also was in vendetta mode, trying to flood as much product into the hobby before Scott released his reproductions. Hoping that Scotts sales would suck. I figured every collector I sold to was one less Pez dispenser sale for Scott.
This was in the end one small victory I achieved in the pez color wars. Scotts sales on the Misfit Pez dispensers did suck & that inventory of Pez dispensers sitting there meant he had some explaining to do. I also believe poor sales of the Misfit Pez dispensers was part of what was used to ease Scott into retirement. Again a small victory considering the down side for Scott was being nudged to retirement. For me the down side was I eventually lost what had taken 20 years of work to build. So even though I claim I won a battle in the pez color wars, Scott won the pez war. After being the #1 pain in his rear for over 6 years, he slowly & methodically removed me.
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| European Pez Pins |
Sorta like the Pez plates which I know for a fact can & were made on demand. I also know these pins could be duplicated on demand. My question is were they? The fact that quite a few sets were available from known associates of Andre Zeich in Northern Europe, makes me believe they were duplicated.
It's an Andre Zeich thing. You gotta know the guy. If you do, well then some things just seem clearer.
Andre Zeich if you want out of the book, it is or can be a separate deal for you. If you would like your name removed from the book or this blog 24,000 pez dispensers should be the right amount of compensation / restitution for your duplicity. Pick any 3 groups of 8,000 pez dispensers each from the chapter 20 offer.
Spanish Andre.
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| picture of Spanish Andre Yo Yo |
Spanish Andre the short version. pez yo yos yeah that's all of them. oops I found more, oops I found more, oops I found more. After about 3 times you give up. Guess what I think yeah oops he is still finding more. "Finding" Yes I believe there is no doubt he made these.
This item I believe was initially made blank to be used as a Coke or whatever promotional premium. I call this type of item a platform, commonly sold in bulk to silk screen companies. T shirts, mugs, Frisbee, tote bags, pens etc. The type of thing commonly used to put company logos on. Go to any cart in a mall, T shirt store or merchandise printing web site you will find this type of item. Better yet take a yo yo to one & ask them if they could do this type work if they had the blank yo yos.
I believe Spanish Andre bought thousands of these blank yoyos then silk screened or applied the the pez image & wordage to these yo yos. A relatively cheap & simple process, especially if you have 10,000 to 20,000 blank yo yos to sell. Like German Andre he realized by doing so he could sell these items to Pez collectors & dealers in America. I forgot to mention Spanish Andre is also a buyer of closeout items in Western Europe.
Total amount spent with this guy a few thousand dollars.
Both German & Spanish Andre buy closeout merchandise. Both realize with a little manipulation an item they bought cheap could be made very profitable in the American Pez collector arena. Both realized with a good story & coming from Europe the home of Pez it would work. Both also realized Americans would realistically have no way of knowing if they were real or checking on a product from Europe.
You might ask, Why didn't someone from Europe in the 1990s expose them. Ah glad you asked. It's that old deal, don't expose my deal & I will keep my mouth shut about yours. Spanish Andre was relatively small potatoes, though he has had a big impact with the yoyos, but realistically he was small potatoes. The same rule applies. A pact of silence existed, nobody wanted to put any cracks in the illusion.
German Andre on the other hand was very well connected. He also knew what others were doing, which made him untouchable. Whatever the King of Austria was involved in, German Andre knew about it. He also knows the real story about the pez shooter & pez spaceguns. He could only be attacked sideways by ruining his distribution network. Reduce his activities to small potatoes.
My advice to the powers that be in Europe concerning Pez is, don't push this guy to the point where he feels he also has nothing to lose. You think my book is a pain, German Andre could Rock Your World if you make him mad enough. As he has had a hand one way or another in almost every sleazy deal out of Europe. That is unless the number of things he has done are to many & could end him up in jail.
Location, Location, Location. Any potential crimes I committed were in Europe. As I have no plans of going to Europe again, I'm good. German Andre's crimes were committed in Europe & he lives in Europe. So don't expect a tell all any time soon. Though if at some point like me he feels he has nothing to lose. Well let's just say, I would buy the book.
Dead AL.
Dead AL was one of the worst & biggest liars I ever bought pez dispensers from & that is saying a lot when you factor in german Andre. Though in the end he was harmless & kind of a tragic figure. What will surprise you is I really liked this guy, he died of what I believe was a drug overdose of all things. I say of all things because he was the most accident prone guy I have ever known. Power tools on walls while remodeling with no regard for what might be in the wall or where it might be located. Catastrophic & predictable results always insued to his arm or some other part of his body in some other ill concieved endevor. I bought thousands of no foot Pez dispensers from him before he died & he always promised that that was everything. Promising this is all, this is everything & if it isn't may god strike me dead. He really said those words. It was not & God did. Again all things said, I liked Dead AL. Total amount spent on Pez dispensers with this guy $32,667.00.
Total spent with Dead Al $32,667.00 Total Pez dispensers bought 9,936.
Breakdown;
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| Left to Right. Practical Pig A, Pez Pal Sheik, Pez Pal Maharaja and Captain Hook. |
Maharajah 2,128 Pez dispensers @ average price of $3.83 each.
Captain Hook 1,130 Pez dispensers @ average price of $9.22 each.
Sheik 1,373 Pez dispensers @ average price of $5.13 each.
Practical Pig A. 1,805 Pez dispensers @ average price of $2.53 each.
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| Donald Duck & Mickey Mouse. Picture courtesy of Rudi. |
Donald Duck Rubber removable hat 1,350 Pez dispensers @ average price of $.78 cents each.
I gave you average cost per no foot Pez dispenser because the price kept going down with each buy. There were 4 buys total & with each buy he said this is all or may I be struck dead. Never was & he was, by a drug overdose. I tell you though I loved this guy. Every phone call was a new adventure in the life of the most accident prone guy I never met.
The final deal with Dead Al buying Pez dispensers was after he died. Mike Mitros drove out to Bambi's house & picked up $10,000.00 worth of Pez dispensers. It was the only way to complete the deal. Then Mike shipped the Pez dispensers to me. All I remember from this deal was when it was completed I had a large round trash can full of Mickey nf Pez dispensers & another full of Donald nf Pez dispensers. Bambi still has a bunch more no feet Pez dispensers.
Bambi.
This lady has or had around 10,000 to 20,000 no feet Pez dispensers. She is the hardest person in the world to buy Pez dispensers from. Every time you get close to finishing a deal she spooks like a deer in headlights. Finally I just gave up, as it was just a massive waist of effort. Besides I learned a ways in that, again there was more every time you thought you got it all. Also her relatives have been taking small amounts of Pez dispensers out at a time (she has no idea) & been selling them for years to big name dealers (the guys in Florida). She called again about a big pile of Pez dispensers she said she had just last May. I never even considered returning the call.
I remember a pez story from a bit before my time. There was this store John L. used to go to. In this store there were these barrels of no feet Pez dispensers being sold kinda cheap. John & some of his friends went a bit wild buying. Enough so that proprietor pulled the product figuring that they had under valued what they had. I believe this was Bambi & her pez dispensers. Location, personality & pez dispensers on sale lead me to this conclusion. Bambi was always the kind of person who worried endlessly that she might not be getting the last penny possible. Which is why Dead Al her nephew or grandson was a Godsend. You could at least reason with Dead Al. Ironic thing is what bambi held so tight is now being stold from her & in the end she will get nothing.
Dead Al & Bambi revisit. Today while thinking about pez stems, I thought I might bring up something that has always nagged at me. The no feet Mickey Pez dispensers with removable nose on the wire spring stems. Those stems always bothered me, I don't know who might have switched them or why but those pez stems never looked right to me. I believe Bambi bought all her no feet Pez dispensers in barrels from Pez USA. I also believe it was through a closeout mechanism that sold excess Pez dispensers for use by carnival type setups. It is possible Pez just slapped a bunch of excess heads on whatever stems they had just to get rid of them.
My problem is this. All of the Dead Al & Bambi pez dispensers were rough. At the least filthy & a fair percentage were incomplete broken or flawed. So I had to mess with them a lot. The majority of Pez dispensers just needed to be washed, cleaned with a toothbrush or have marks removed. Though about 10% had real problems, broken pieces or heads off.
In the process of fixing these Pez dispensers; gluing noses, turbans, sheik head dress repair etc. I had a lot of opportunity to take a really good look at Mickeys head & stem. In my opinion they were never meant to be together. They fit together, though just barely & not very well. Reminded me of a bad idea to move something out the door. If it were me I never would have tried to pass that stem off with that head. The wire spring & kicker on head, had a heck of a time being compatible. I just never thought that pez dispenser was right or correct. The time period of pez stem production verses time period for that pez heads production, didn't match up either. It was like the pez stems sat in the warehouse till a bunch of Mickey heads with no stems showed up & two left overs were combined, regardless of exact compatibility.
Two notes here. #1. The washing is why most Dead Al pez dispensers have rust marks on inner sleeves. #2. Combination Ink & pencil erasers are terrific for removing marks on heads or stems. Use the ink half of eraser to remove mark or lite scar (for deeper scars use a razor blade to shave area & prep for the ink eraser), then use pencil half of eraser to smooth it all out. Finally use grease from your forehead to bring back the shine.
I know, I know. Pez Collectors will find a lot of today's entries upsetting. Stems switched for stems with made in Hungary. Washing pez dispensers like dishes in the sink to clean them up. Razor blades and erasers used to fix pez dispensers. Using parts from a few pez dispensers to make one correct Pez dispenser. Oh yeah & gluing beaks, noses, hats, whiskers etc on pez dispensers. All sacrilege to pez collectors. Nobody wants to see the cow butchered, they just want that really great steak. In truth though somebody has to kill the cow, I have always loved that metaphor. "Somebody has to kill the cow". Peaz Dealers will never admit to these and many others that are necessary to be able to offer the beautiful pez dispensers you see at shows. Truth be told most do it.
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Pez Outlaw Diaries & Price Guide - Pez, The 1/2 Million Dollar Fraud?
PEZ | Pez Outlaw Diaries | Pez Price Guide PEZ
Pez. The 1/2 Million Dollar Fraud, PEZ Pez. A Story of Fraud, Dishonesty, Betrayal, Envy and Greed.
Pez Outlaw Diaries & Price Guide - Pez, The 1/2 Million Dollar Fraud?
PEZ | Pez Outlaw Diaries | Pez Price Guide PEZ
