A warm welcome to our page — and to our blog
For very many years, you've been part of our journey.
What once started as a tiny page with maybe five visitors per post has grown into something we could have never imagined: a blog with numbers and views well beyond the millions.
For that, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you.
After being forced to rebuild our blog, we decided to take this as an opportunity, not only to start fresh, but also to give those who don’t know us yet a chance to look behind the scenes.
This is a bit about our lives, our passion for PEZ, and the story behind the blog.
Beyond the Smile:
My Pure Passion for the World of PEZ!
My name is Nenad
My friends call me Neni, but in this world, I’m known as the PEZ Ghosty. I have an incredible wife, Vesna, who supports me in every second of this passion, and two amazing sons, 18 and 16, who have grown up with this hobby since day one.
Where it all began
To explain how I got into collecting PEZ, I have to go way back. My parents were born in former Yugoslavia and moved to Austria in the early 1970s. Every summer, we traveled back to visit my grandmother. Life there was simple, and she lived on a very small pension, but she always managed to give us a small banknote as a welcome gift—just enough for me, as a child, to buy a PEZ dispenser at a local kiosk. I still remember the joy, playing with the dispenser and enjoying the candies. It meant everything. As the years passed, PEZ slowly faded into the background.
The moment everything changed
Around the age of 25, while traveling in Germany, I saw a huge PEZ display. It hit me like a flashback, instantly bringing me back to my childhood—it was love at first sight. But I didn’t buy one; I couldn’t decide which character to choose. A few months later, at a flea market in Vienna, I saw an entire box filled with PEZ dispensers—colorful, diverse, full of character. I didn’t hesitate. I bought the whole box. That moment felt like a sign. It was the official beginning of a unique and lasting love for PEZ.
The early days of collecting
Back in the early 2000s, I had no idea what existed—no knowledge of series, variations, or rarity. My only source of information was eBay. I bought pieces I was missing, often at outrageous prices, and some dispensers felt completely out of reach. But this hobby… always has surprises. If there’s one thing I’ve learned: never say never.
Finding the community
It took time until I realized there were others like me—people who shared the same passion. Eventually, I found my way onto MySpace and timidly joined the community. Then came Facebook, and everything changed. Suddenly, collectors from all over the world could connect, share photos, trade, and build friendships. One day, I saw that Kristin was looking for a trade partner—someone to exchange European PEZ for American ones—and that was the beginning of a truly special friendship.
The blog journey
Through my travels across Europe—collector meetings in Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, and beyond—I shared stories and experiences. Kristin liked my content so much that she invited me to become a partner on her blog. I hesitated. Was my English good enough? Could I really do this? With encouragement (and a lot of time spent improving my English), I agreed—on one condition: we would do things differently.
The beginning wasn’t easy. There were already many blogs in the collector scene. But we came to stay. Our style, especially our detailed pictorials and visual storytelling, found its audience, and the blog grew rapidly. Late nights, weekends, holidays by the sea, even ski trips—the laptop was always with me, always ready to post, stay up to date, and bring you the latest news. Often, I hear about things before they are announced. Sometimes I’d love to share everything immediately, but due to licensing or exclusivity, that’s not always possible.
More than just clicks
For us, it was never about chasing numbers. What we truly love is the creative process—designing pictorials, crafting banners, and building headers. While many thought the blog was a one-man show, Kristin worked behind the scenes, handling the technical side—an essential part that kept everything running.
What the blog means to me
I can hardly imagine collecting PEZ without the blog. It’s not just a platform—it has become an archive, a memory, and a part of my journey and life.
Thank you
Once again, thank you for your loyalty, for reading, for sharing, and for contributing with your own stories, images, and insights. And of course, a special thank you to PEZ itself for answering our many questions along the way. Thank you, Krissi, for your endless patience, your strength, and all the incredible technical work you’ve made possible.
One last thing — Why Ghosty
You might be wondering about the name Ghosty. In my early collecting days, I didn’t own many rare or special dispensers, but I had one favorite: a Naughty Neil Ghost with a misprint—the face was printed twice. I loved it, and somehow, that “ghost” became part of my identity.
Enjoy exploring our blog, and as always: Happy Collecting. Because PEZ makes us smile… yesterday, today, and every day ahead.
Hello
In 1998, when I received my first paycheck, I mailed away for the Garfield PEZ series—mostly because my father had the nickname “Odie,” and I thought it would be something fun to share with him. That’s how I ended up with my very first PEZ dispenser.
From there, something unexpected happened. Friends began adding to my collection, bringing me PEZ they found on store shelves after spotting the small display growing in our living room. Little by little, it started to take on a life of its own.
By the time James and I were married in May 2000, and moved into our first apartment, that small shelf had grown into something much bigger—around two dozen dispensers and counting. In 2003, when we bought our first home, my collection finally had a space of its own: my very first PEZ room. I painted the walls an eggshell deep red with high-gloss stripes of the same color—something I thought was quite chic at the time. Ten crown-molded floating shelves lined the walls, filled with PEZ, and that’s when I truly fell in love with collecting—especially the Fat Ear Bunny. I still remember James saying, “I think you have enough of those.”
By 2007, after moving to the Pacific Northwest, my collection had grown to a few hundred pieces and found a new home in a cabinet—but my passion for PEZ only continued to grow.
On March 24, 2013, I had an idea: to start a blog. At its heart, it was about connection—finding a fellow collector on the other side of the world and sharing our stories about PEZ. That idea became PEZ Palz.
On April 19, 2014, “Ghosty” (Nenad) became not only a co-creator of the blog, but also a dear friend. Together, we built something truly special, and PEZ became more than a collection—it became a shared journey, a creative outlet, and a meaningful part of both our lives.
Today, I’m lucky enough to have an entire room dedicated to PEZ—home to around 3,874 (and counting) dispensers, thanks in large part to the incredible friends I’ve made in the PEZ community around the world. I am truly grateful to all of our readers who have supported us through the years, helping create so many fond memories along the way.
PEZ Pals continues that same spirit—celebrating the stories, the history, and the joy behind every dispenser, and connecting collectors everywhere who know it’s never just about the candy.
