Holiday PEZ Dispeners

Here is the patriotic character Uncle Sam. He can be found as a regular PEZ dispenser as well as a half-sized key chain dispenser. In this reduced size, he holds about a half-roll of the candies but has just as much patriotism.

He's good for both Tax Day (April) and the 4th of July!

Shown here is the newest Jack O' Lantern variation, along with the lovely Black Cat and a very goofy-looking one called the Mummy. It looks a like more like a funky black skull than a mummy to me...

The Halloween skull has slowly gotten less detailed and less angular. My oldest skeleton is the smallest one on the far left in the picture.

Here we have our Halloween Ghosts and Ghouls. From left to right is Slimy Sid, Naughty Neil and Happy Henry.

Originally made in regular plastic, these guys are now produced in glow-in-the-dark versions.

The witch has really changed in the last two revisions. She's gone from being rather scary looking to more cartoony. I have one of the older three-piece witch heads, those are a bit more desirable.

The newest one incorporates the glow-in-the-dark plastic.

The snowman design was recently updated too. In the oldest styles, he has teeth that are distinct pieces of plastic. Some newer versions of the "old" snowman has a mouth that is one connected piece.

The updated snowman has round teeth instead of square ones, a bright hat and a festive holiday scarf.

On the left you can see the "classic" Santa. He existed like this for many years and was only reissued more recently. In the middle is one of the "no eyes" Santas, which came to me the good ol' fashioned way, by just finding him on a shelf. Those are ones where no pupils or eye details got painted on them and they can be quite collectible.

On the right is the "new" Santa. He's now got a more detailed face, and some cute spectacles.

Sometimes you also see "misfit" Santas that were made in colors other than the traditional red and white.

For Valentine's Day, PEZ has a series of large hearts. They can be red, neon pink, pale pink or purple. A variety of message are printed on them. I'm still trying to get an idea of just how many varieties of these there are. In 2008, PEZ introduced hearts in "crystal" form, meaning they are made of a tinted/see-thru plastic. Those seem to just be in pink or red.

Solid colors include red, pink and dark purple.
Sayings include:
I Love You
Be Mine
Be My Valentine
Happy Valentine's Day
XOXO

NEW for 2009: I haven't seen them myself yet, but PEZ has released Cherub (Angel) PEZ for Valentine's Day.

There aren't any official St. Patrick's Day PEZ dispensers, but there is one for the breakfast cereal mascot Lucky. A series of four were made for GM brands and Lucky the Leprechaun was reborn as a mini-dispenser. Along with the characters from Cheerios, Trix and Cocoa Puffs, these half-size dispensers were packaged as a limited edition with boxes of cereal. They are half as tall as the regular dispensers and don't have a spring mechanism inside.

If you're looking for them now, your best bet is on eBay.

They've changed the rabbit a few times over the last decade.

The bunny on the right in this shot is the older one. Then came the cartoony bunny in the middle, definitely a male bunny.

The most recent rabbit is the pink one on the left, who is clearly a girl bunny.

The overall style of the chick hasn't changed much. However, the revised version (left two in the picture) has a much thicker shell. It's not a flexible layer of plastic, it's now a hard-cast shape.

The 2nd from the left didn't get it's mouth/beak painted, and as you look at this picture, it's face looks blank from this angle.

The lamb has gotten more complex and big-headed as it's evolved.

The far right one in the picture is so old, the white head is yellowing a bit. The far left is the most recent design.