Chapter 8. Pez Corporate Thief's Liars n Con-men - Gunther Leitener etc

In the mid to late 1990s Pez Corporation was riddled with corrupt or corruptible individuals. One of these people was Gunther Leitener, the head of sales for the Eastern region of Europe & the person who set up production in China. Gunther was a nice enough person who liked money, cash please & lots of it. Gunther sold questionably procured Pez Dispensers to whomever showed up with cash. I was just one of his sources of Cash.

I personally handed CASH Money to Gunther Leitner for Pez he stole from  the home office minutes earlier in Linz. 

Gunther Leitener was a self entitled ego maniac. His first words to me when I first met him were. "Don't you know who I am?" I wish I could tell you that this was not typical of the people I bought from in Europe, unfortunately I can not. Johan Patek was just one more example of an ego maniac who had a very high opinion of himself.

Of course why wouldn't people like Gunther Leitener & Johan Patek be absolutely full of themselves in the 1990s. They owned the Pez world back then. Us mere mortals worshiped at there alters back then. This very same self entitled attitude gave them the right in there eyes to lets say behave by a different set of rules than we mortals live by. 

Gunther Leitner
His betrayal was personal.

Gunther Leitener contact info.

Linz. 001-43-732-84-244
car.   0043-663-070-241
         001-43-663-070-241
Linz Fax. 011-43-732-3882-222

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. The reason is His response to that file of faxes I sent Pez Austria, see chapter 3. I was desperate on the edge of a cliff pleading for a hand to save me. Gunther's cold detached response of Pez Usa & you need to work this out. That is why. Gunther you knew better & you knew what Pez USA was about to do. Yet Gunther you looked away & did nothing. Gunther that is exactly why you are prominently in the book. This I do not forgive. What Scott did I should have xpectedd.

Gunther Leitener you betrayed me personally. Gunther you were in a position to stop Scott McWhinnie but you chose to remain silent out of self interest. Gunther your silence played a very big part in allowing Scot Mcwhinnie to move forward with his plan to destroy my company. Tell me Gunther Leitener, How do I not take that personally? We did business together, yet you abandoned me like a stranger. As Andrew would say, not cool Gunther, not cool.

So yes Gunther Leitener until this is all resolved you will continue to remain on my S**T LIST. 

Gunther Leitner, First contact. He Opened the pez doors to me. Gunther Leitner personally and in writing cleared the way to the pez warehouse for me. I used the avenues established by him to purchase most of the pez dispensers I bought in Hungary.

From one point of view Gunther Leitner was very helpful, I never would have found all the pez dispensers I bought without his help. I paid aprox $.85 to $1.25 per pez dispenser, so someone was definitely making money. Considering that I bought over a 1/2 million pez dispensers. Then brought them home in duffel bags from various places in Europe. Further considering that, I'm really not sure that any of that money actually made it to Pez corp. Even if it did pez dispenser cost at the time was $.25 to $.35 somebody made $300,000.00 to over 1/2 million. This is why I was so offended when Gunther betrayed me by making all the colors for Scott. After contributing to a massive retirement fund for 10 years, no respect at all. Not to mention the actual pez colors deal where I paid 10 times actual cost & was guaranteed exclusivity.

The reason I put so much money into this Pez dispenser project was the inventory of older pez product in the warehouses had dried up. So if I was to continue I needed a whole new line of Pez dispensers. That being the case I poured all cash on hand & all I could borrow into the pez colors project. If I had a do over, I would have put that money into string lights & just moved on. I gambled everything on this group of Pez dispensers, figuring everybody had been properly paid off over the years & in this deal by itself. Also believing a promise, by these same people.

Nothing was ever written down, pez deals had always been done on handshakes, so to speak. For 10 years this had never been the kind of business that involved contracts. Remember my entire business was built in a gray area of Pez dispensers. So it was not weird at all to send payments of $150,000.00 at a time on someones word, believing why would someone kill the goose that laid the golden egg. It never even occurred to me that office politics on a global scale would trump over 1/2 million dollars divvied up by less than 4 people. So when one of those people (Gunther Leitner) put his rivalry with Scott, above personal profit I was blind sided to say the least. I had just never seen the bigger picture. By the way I don't think Scott saw it coming either. Our personal egos were dwarfed by Gunther Leitners ruthless ambition and in his view it was a twofer. The misfits/holiday color Pez dispensers rid him of two obstacles in his corporate trajectory. Besides he had other sources of side income, at least 3 that I know of.  A few of these other sources of income for Gunther Leitner were David W. the Queen & King of Austria. Possibly Scott & I were obstacles there also.

picture courtesy of Rudi

Gunther Leitner Covert at Mickey Ds. I personally handed Gunther Leitner $2,000.00 for 2 trays of pez dispensers & 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. Short of it I told him that was all he was getting, so move on. I'm thinking about that & 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 his stolen Pez, not face to face. hearing are crickets.

Gunther was acting like a nut. All nervous & 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.

You don't get to take 2 Million Dollars then act like Saints. Pez Outlaw last of the Mohicans. By the way I am part Indian 1/16 or 1/32. At any rate more than that new Senator from Massachusetts.

Pictured below. Some of the PEZ in this purchase from Gunther Leitner that totaled 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.



Covert at Mickey Ds.

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.

Pez Outlaw sjglew Signature onyour Pez dispenser I Smuggled into the USA...

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I smuggled approximately 700,000 Pez Dispensers into the USA from Europe. Get yours signed and authenticated as a Pez Outlaw Pez Dispenser.

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".

These are the Pez Dispensers Gunther Leitner sold me at Mickey Ds. Picture courtesy of Rudi.

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. Then said, 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. As he did it made me wonder, is this the guy who has 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.

Gunther Leitner is the guy who opened pez sales & 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. A few bodies left in his wake was not going to slow this guy down. The first time I met him he said " DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM" . Then he proceeded with a flourish to show me. He wrote one little post-it note (the one I sold on ebay about a year ago) told me to go to the pez warehouse & hand it to people. To a man they snapped to & helped me in any way I wanted. Impressive. Seriously color me impressed. Though don't be fooled, with pez dispensers it has always been & is POWER & MONEY. Preferably CASH.

Scott McWhinnie Head of Pez USA, Zombie in Chief.

Scott's biggest fear I think & what I think motivated him against his better interests & eased his retirement. The Zombie in chief 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 & 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.


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