They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors and are found all over the globe.
We meet a Kaneohe man who loves PEZ.
They are considered a childhood novelty.
The colorful plastic PEZ dispenser has been around for over 80 years and now comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Kaneohe resident Carroll Mimaki has been collecting the pop culture phenomenon for over a decade.
"I started basically because I thought they were really cheap things that were kinda neat, cause I used to remember when we were younger. Our parents used to buy us PEZ and we used to play with them," she says.
The Castle High graduate who works in the medical research field now has close to 300 candy dispensers.
"A lot of it was when my brother was in LA. He would go and buy stuff for me and things like that or when he would go to Japan or China for his work," she says.
"They are from Japan they are actually not made by the PEZ company," explains Mimaki as she showcases Japanese versions of the candy dispenser.
And it appears collecting is all in the family.
" I think I got my collecting bug from my mom. My mom she claims she doesn’t collect things but she does," she says.
The 50 year-old’s mother is a big fan of kokeshi dolls and she also has an impressive collection of magnets from all over the world, but this wouldn’t be possible without a little help from her sons of course.
"We started getting magnets from each city that we were in just you know cause they were cheap," she says.
But Carroll’s true passion is for the plastic dispenser and sweet candy.
"I like him cause he is cute. He is cute," she says.
PEZ can cost a buck and a quarter all the way up to $10,000 for a rare collectible. Carroll’s most expensive investment was $30.
"All the newer PEZ from 1978 on have feet. All the PEZ prior to that don’t have any feet," she explains.
Carroll is always on the hunt for something new.
"No real goal. Just collect them, collect them until one day I am gonna say enough is enough," she says.
Tomorrow Olena wraps up her series on collectors with a woman whose work with a local non-profit has lead to an impressive quacky collection.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
