Characters

Early PEZ dispensers did not have heads on them. They were what is known now as "regulars". A regular dispenser is just a rectangular box with a contoured flip top for dispensing the candy. Toy character head dispensers were introduced in 1955, after the candy was introduced in the United States. There are over 550 unique dispenser heads with thousands of variations. The company formerly had a general rule against creating likenesses of real people.

In the 1970s, three historical figures were created: Betsy Ross, Daniel Boone, and Paul Revere, which were released as part of the Bicentennial series. These dispenser heads were not made to actually look like the people they represented, but instead used generic faces with different accessories.

In 2006, a limited-edition series of three Pez dispensers were made to look like the Teutul family from Orange County Choppers. These are the first dispensers to have been made in the actual likeness of living people.

The NASCAR-themed dispensers are based on the helmets of famous drivers, rather than their actual likenesses.

In 2007, a limited edition Elvis set was released featuring three dispensers from different time periods in Presley's life.

In 2008, the first Star Trek dispensers were released in a gift set with the seven original series crew and the Starship Enterprise.

In 2009, in honor of the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, Pez released a boxed set with dispensers in the likenesses of the following characters: the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, Dorothy Gale, Toto, Glinda, the Wizard of Oz, and the Wicked Witch of the West. Only 300,000 sets were made. found in the external links section below.