Museum Of Pez Memorabilia

Burlingame, California

The Museum of Pez Memorabilia is small -- a storefront with two rooms open to the public, display cases and racks loaded with the popular candy dispensers. But worth a stop if you're near San Francisco airport -- it's only a few miles away.

Gary and Nancy Doss, who have been collecting Pez for over ten years, are surprised how it has taken over their lives. Originally the owners of a computer retail and repair business, they set up their personal Pez collection as a diversion for customers. Word spread, and collectors started calling from all over in search of dispensers. The computers eventually got squeezed out. Today, the couple can barely pull themselves away from piles of shipping boxes that help feed the giant global Pez collectors market.

The collection, behind glass displays, includes -- with the exception of about eight pieces -- every Pez ever made. The museum is high tech for its size -- a side benefit of the computer business. There's a video kiosk, and an interactive touchscreen that answers your questions about Pez. The museum runs a Web site.

The Rarest

According to Gary, it's the "Make A Face" Pez from the 1970s -- sort of a Mr. Potato Head, with attachable parts. Taken off the market quickly, due to concerns about the swallowing habits of small children. It's worth $4,500 (in the package). The museum includes other rarities: a Mary Poppins, and a "Sparefroh" -- a pixie-ish promotion for a Austrian bank "Zentralsparkasse".

Bootlegs

Though the Pez company controls all decisions on characters manufactured, there is a collectors market for handmade "fantasy Pez." Elvis, the Pillsbury doughboy, and others. Not that the Doss collection includes any -- none are on display.

With a little severe arm-twisting though, Gary goes into a backroom and returns with the dreaded Hitler Pez dispenser. Der Fuhrer was created by some guy and sold by mail, until the Pez lawyers cracked down (aside from protection of their intellectual property, Pez, originally from Austria, thought this might not be best for their brand image). It looks like the counterfeiter bought generic cartoon-headed Pez and hand-painted the signature black mustache and hair. Gary said "there are still fifty of these floating around."

The closest thing, we guess, is a Darth Vader Pez dispenser, not yet a valuable collectible, but available for 2 bucks.