One collector’s shelves, online

I’ve been collecting PEZ since the late 1990s.

This is where the rest of that sentence lives: [NUMBER] dispensers, shelf by shelf, plus the collector tools and display holders I’ve made along the way.

Walk the shelves Date a dispenser →
A close-up of favorite PEZ dispensers from the collection Add assets/img/hero/everyday.jpg

Top shelf this month Old favorites

dispensers
[NUMBER]
display shelves
4
box sets
[NUMBER]
when it started
Late ’90s

Walk the shelves

These are the four real shelves on my wall, exactly as they sit. Pick one to zoom in and get a closer look.

Shelf 1, photographed straight onAdd assets/img/shelves/shelf-1.jpg
Shelf 1 · [SHELF THEME][NUMBER] dispensers →
Shelf 2, photographed straight onAdd assets/img/shelves/shelf-2.jpg
Shelf 2 · [SHELF THEME][NUMBER] dispensers →
Shelf 3, photographed straight onAdd assets/img/shelves/shelf-3.jpg
Shelf 3 · [SHELF THEME][NUMBER] dispensers →
Shelf 4, photographed straight onAdd assets/img/shelves/shelf-4.jpg
Shelf 4 · [SHELF THEME][NUMBER] dispensers →

Collector tools

How old is that dispenser?

Flip it sideways and read the stem. The US patent number tells you roughly when it was molded, and the feet narrow it down from there.

Patent on the stemRoughly madeFeet?
2,620,0611952–1968No feet
3,410,4551968–1974No feet
3,845,8821974–1976No feet
3,942,6831976–1990Both—feet arrive in 1987
4,966,3051990–about 2000Feet
5,984,285About 2000–2010Feet
7,523,841About 2010 onFeet

One catch: the patent dates the stem, not the head. Heads and stems get swapped, so treat the number as a clue rather than a verdict.

Open the full dating guide →

Coming later

Every dispenser, then your shelves

Next up, I’m photographing every dispenser one by one so the whole collection is searchable. After that comes a web app so fellow collectors can do the same with theirs.

  • Search my collection Find any dispenser by name, series, year, or patent number.
  • Track your own Know what you have, and stop buying doubles at the flea market.
  • Show it off Get a public page for your collection to share with other collectors.

From my 3-D printer

The holders on my shelves

I got tired of dispensers tipping over like dominoes, so I designed my own holders. Now I print them for other collectors too.

[HOLDER NAME], loaded with dispensersAdd assets/img/holders/holder-1.jpg

[HOLDER NAME]

Holds [NUMBER] dispensers · [YOUR PRICE]

Buy on Etsy ↗
[HOLDER NAME], loaded with dispensersAdd assets/img/holders/holder-2.jpg

[HOLDER NAME]

Holds [NUMBER] dispensers · [YOUR PRICE]

Buy on Etsy ↗
[HOLDER NAME], loaded with dispensersAdd assets/img/holders/holder-3.jpg

[HOLDER NAME]

Holds [NUMBER] dispensers · [YOUR PRICE]

Buy on Etsy ↗

Printed to order in [MATERIAL]. Checkout and shipping are handled by Etsy.

Visit my Etsy shop ↗