1
00:00:04,943 --> 00:00:06,641
Okay. Ready?

2
00:00:14,222 --> 00:00:15,518
Cheers, you guys.

3
00:00:15,553 --> 00:00:19,258
♪

4
00:00:19,293 --> 00:00:21,821
Oh, ta-- tastes awful.
Oh, that's cold.

5
00:00:26,366 --> 00:00:29,499
I always say to you,
"Are you mad?"

6
00:00:29,534 --> 00:00:33,437
Doing a movie about Steve?
Okay.

7
00:00:33,806 --> 00:00:35,670
In my-- you know,
in my eyes, you are--

8
00:00:35,705 --> 00:00:37,705
you are making
a movie about a loser.

9
00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:39,641
So, uh,
why are you doing that?

10
00:00:47,651 --> 00:00:51,521
I met Steve Glew
about 20 or 25 years ago.

11
00:00:51,556 --> 00:00:53,853
I did not even know
what Steve was-- was doing.

12
00:00:53,888 --> 00:00:57,494
♪

13
00:00:57,529 --> 00:01:00,431
No one knew him.
No one knew where he came from.

14
00:01:00,466 --> 00:01:04,435
No one that you asked had
any idea who the hell he was.

15
00:01:04,470 --> 00:01:07,636
But everybody
wanted what he was selling.

16
00:01:07,671 --> 00:01:12,179
♪

17
00:01:12,214 --> 00:01:14,346
I mean,
I was handling amounts of money

18
00:01:14,381 --> 00:01:15,578
that I had dreamed of.

19
00:01:15,613 --> 00:01:18,878
And doing a deal
for $500,000...

20
00:01:18,913 --> 00:01:22,420
I had no idea that he had
made millions of dollars.

21
00:01:22,455 --> 00:01:24,158
I remember reading
something and thinking,

22
00:01:24,193 --> 00:01:25,786
is my dad a criminal?

23
00:01:28,461 --> 00:01:30,560
I learned
to protect my space.

24
00:01:30,595 --> 00:01:32,892
I saw people
follow me all the time.

25
00:01:38,741 --> 00:01:41,175
I was paranoid
beyond belief.

26
00:01:41,210 --> 00:01:46,246
♪

27
00:01:51,715 --> 00:01:53,319
When I'd get home,

28
00:01:53,354 --> 00:01:56,619
and open that bag,
it was diamonds.

29
00:01:56,654 --> 00:01:58,555
It was gold.

30
00:02:06,565 --> 00:02:07,630
Pez.

31
00:02:08,765 --> 00:02:09,830
I won the lottery.

32
00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:12,338
It's like printin' money.

33
00:02:15,970 --> 00:02:17,244
<i>♪ Listen, Steve ♪</i>

34
00:02:18,643 --> 00:02:20,973
<i>♪ Got your loving, ha ♪</i>

35
00:02:21,008 --> 00:02:23,844
<i> Welcome</i>
<i>to the wonderful world of Pez.</i>

36
00:02:23,879 --> 00:02:25,912
<i>Those colorful little</i>
<i>candy dispensers</i>

37
00:02:25,947 --> 00:02:28,915
<i>many of us purchased</i>
<i>for pennies years ago.</i>

38
00:02:28,950 --> 00:02:30,983
<i>Well,</i>
<i>pennies make dollars, folks.</i>

39
00:02:31,018 --> 00:02:35,460
♪

40
00:02:35,495 --> 00:02:38,760
<i>♪ You nearly</i>
<i>made me throw my life away ♪</i>

41
00:02:38,795 --> 00:02:40,564
<i>What-- what is that,</i>
<i>a Pez dispenser?</i>

42
00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:43,435
<i>You want one?</i>

43
00:02:43,470 --> 00:02:46,306
<i>♪ You played a game</i>
<i>only you could win ♪</i>

44
00:02:46,341 --> 00:02:47,736
<i>Some Pez are quite rare.</i>

45
00:02:47,771 --> 00:02:49,705
<i>And how much is this worth?</i>

46
00:02:49,740 --> 00:02:51,542
<i> Between three</i>
<i>and four thousand dollars.</i>

47
00:02:51,577 --> 00:02:54,842
<i>♪ Your love</i>
<i>is like fool's gold ♪</i>

48
00:02:54,877 --> 00:02:58,945
<i>♪ Just like a mirage, baby ♪</i>

49
00:02:58,980 --> 00:03:02,355
<i>♪ And all</i>
<i>that I got from you ♪</i>

50
00:03:02,390 --> 00:03:04,819
<i> People inside</i>
<i>the Pez cell</i>

51
00:03:04,854 --> 00:03:06,920
<i>think that this thing</i>
<i>has already peaked,</i>

52
00:03:06,955 --> 00:03:08,592
<i>and it has not.</i>

53
00:03:08,627 --> 00:03:10,957
<i>♪ Fool's love,</i>
<i>oh yeah ♪</i>

54
00:03:10,992 --> 00:03:15,302
<i>♪ Nothing but fool's love</i>
<i>oh yeah ♪</i>

55
00:03:15,337 --> 00:03:17,931
<i>♪ Nothing but fool's love ♪</i>

56
00:03:37,392 --> 00:03:38,457
That's good.

57
00:03:40,725 --> 00:03:44,595
I've been waiting to tell
this story for 20 years.

58
00:03:55,476 --> 00:03:57,872
When we moved out here,
we became back-to-earthers.

59
00:03:57,907 --> 00:04:00,512
We had goats,
we had chickens, we had pigs,

60
00:04:00,547 --> 00:04:02,613
we had a cow or two.

61
00:04:02,648 --> 00:04:04,582
♪

62
00:04:12,625 --> 00:04:14,724
Yeah, you couldn't imagine
living anywhere else.

63
00:04:17,927 --> 00:04:20,059
Right there.
It was where the grey barn was.

64
00:04:20,094 --> 00:04:22,567
-Silver barn is.
-Yeah.

65
00:04:56,768 --> 00:04:58,900
I wear three pair of socks,

66
00:04:58,935 --> 00:05:01,672
and I keep a paper towel
with me at all times.

67
00:05:02,207 --> 00:05:03,542
It just helps you cope.

68
00:05:09,616 --> 00:05:12,045
My whole life,
I'd been poor.

69
00:05:12,614 --> 00:05:14,883
Poor is when you don't have
enough money.

70
00:05:14,918 --> 00:05:19,426
When your house payment's
only $125 a month.

71
00:05:20,759 --> 00:05:23,430
Um, yeah,
we lived in a ratty old house

72
00:05:23,465 --> 00:05:26,928
that snow came in,
till we wrapped it in plastic.

73
00:05:26,963 --> 00:05:28,831
Literally,
a big sheet of plastic.

74
00:05:34,641 --> 00:05:37,675
The expectations
in my life were

75
00:05:37,710 --> 00:05:39,545
this guy
won't amount to nothin'.

76
00:05:39,580 --> 00:05:41,041
He's a joke.

77
00:05:41,076 --> 00:05:43,879
But I've always had
an inner person that...

78
00:05:44,783 --> 00:05:47,146
that knew
there was more.

79
00:05:48,820 --> 00:05:50,787
Uh,
that I could achieve more.

80
00:05:56,498 --> 00:05:59,466
At that point
in our life, um,

81
00:05:59,501 --> 00:06:00,731
we didn't have two pennies.

82
00:06:02,031 --> 00:06:03,833
And if you did have
two pennies,

83
00:06:03,868 --> 00:06:04,999
it was because you weren't
paying something else.

84
00:06:05,034 --> 00:06:08,134
♪

85
00:06:08,169 --> 00:06:11,170
There was never excess money.

86
00:06:11,805 --> 00:06:14,206
You used to make, like,
$11 an hour as a--

87
00:06:14,241 --> 00:06:18,210
as a skilled tradesman
who knew his stuff.

88
00:06:18,245 --> 00:06:21,686
♪

89
00:06:21,721 --> 00:06:24,986
My job
was mind-numbingly boring.

90
00:06:25,021 --> 00:06:28,726
I worked
for almost 25 years

91
00:06:28,761 --> 00:06:31,025
as a machinist
in a factory.

92
00:06:33,568 --> 00:06:36,899
I would set the cut, and, uh,
while the cut was running,

93
00:06:36,934 --> 00:06:38,835
I'd have
plenty of time to think.

94
00:06:38,870 --> 00:06:42,773
And I'd think about,
uh, something better.

95
00:06:45,976 --> 00:06:48,581
Tom Clancy
was his author of choice.

96
00:06:53,654 --> 00:06:56,919
He's in books, submersing
himself in that story and--

97
00:06:56,954 --> 00:06:58,591
and kind of living
that adventure.

98
00:06:59,220 --> 00:07:01,055
Because he hated his job.

99
00:07:01,090 --> 00:07:03,629
-Target acquired...

100
00:07:06,568 --> 00:07:07,798
I mean,
I suffered through it.

101
00:07:07,833 --> 00:07:09,162
Don't get me wrong.

102
00:07:09,197 --> 00:07:11,098
But I always wanted out.

103
00:07:11,133 --> 00:07:13,232
I always was waiting,

104
00:07:13,267 --> 00:07:16,235
every minute of every day,

105
00:07:16,270 --> 00:07:18,204
to figure anything out

106
00:07:18,239 --> 00:07:19,876
that would get me
the hell out of there.

107
00:07:19,911 --> 00:07:24,078
♪

108
00:07:32,594 --> 00:07:34,693
Yeah,
I was pretty miserable,

109
00:07:34,728 --> 00:07:36,959
until I found cereal boxes.

110
00:07:37,328 --> 00:07:38,829
And I just
really loved them.

111
00:07:46,168 --> 00:07:48,971
I'm a cereal box guy.
Always have been.

112
00:07:49,842 --> 00:07:51,842
Being compulsive obsessive,

113
00:07:51,877 --> 00:07:54,240
it's not the box,
it's the stack.

114
00:07:54,976 --> 00:07:57,243
There's a sense
of joy when you find

115
00:07:57,278 --> 00:07:58,915
something you hold special.

116
00:07:59,313 --> 00:08:00,983
There it is.

117
00:08:01,018 --> 00:08:05,185
The screwier a box is,
the better it is.

118
00:08:16,033 --> 00:08:19,265
♪

119
00:08:19,300 --> 00:08:20,838
I love cereal boxes.

120
00:08:20,873 --> 00:08:22,202
They're just fun.
Cap'n Crunch.

121
00:08:22,237 --> 00:08:24,039
And they're a part
of my childhood.

122
00:08:24,074 --> 00:08:28,109
We were the generation
that ate the sweet cereal.

123
00:08:28,144 --> 00:08:30,881
And I eat
the sweet cereal still.

124
00:08:30,916 --> 00:08:35,952
♪

125
00:08:58,372 --> 00:09:00,845
Steve, uh,
was never shy about things.

126
00:09:01,547 --> 00:09:03,650
He'd be running
up and down the aisles, like,

127
00:09:03,685 --> 00:09:05,278
"Oh,
look at this box variation.

128
00:09:05,313 --> 00:09:07,016
Look at this,
or look at that."

129
00:09:07,051 --> 00:09:09,755
And he was very
passionate about what he did.

130
00:09:21,296 --> 00:09:24,803
♪

131
00:09:24,838 --> 00:09:28,367
Steve figured out
a way of working the system

132
00:09:28,402 --> 00:09:30,171
of mail order premiums.

133
00:09:30,206 --> 00:09:33,240
Like, send ten box tops
for this free craft radio.

134
00:09:33,275 --> 00:09:35,308
♪

135
00:09:35,343 --> 00:09:37,684
Frisbees,
sports item, cars.

136
00:09:37,719 --> 00:09:40,049
I was getting
all kinds of stuff.

137
00:09:40,518 --> 00:09:42,854
I learned to take
those out and sell 'em,

138
00:09:42,889 --> 00:09:46,022
and it was generating
revenue back into the family.

139
00:09:46,057 --> 00:09:50,158
And it was thousands
and thousands of these items.

140
00:09:50,994 --> 00:09:53,293
He totally
skewed their system, and--

141
00:09:53,328 --> 00:09:57,165
and he did it often enough
that they actually changed

142
00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,904
corporate policy about--
about premium redemption.

143
00:09:59,939 --> 00:10:01,301
You know
that little disclaimer?

144
00:10:01,336 --> 00:10:03,941
They say "one per household."

145
00:10:05,472 --> 00:10:10,277
That's me. I did that.

146
00:10:10,312 --> 00:10:11,982
I mean, it--
it was the first

147
00:10:12,017 --> 00:10:15,183
effort of
"push it till it breaks."

148
00:10:17,253 --> 00:10:19,693
We started
going to toy shows,

149
00:10:19,728 --> 00:10:22,828
and I was yankin'
down 300 bucks a show.

150
00:10:24,832 --> 00:10:27,899
Thank you. One dollar.
Thank you. Just one.

151
00:10:27,934 --> 00:10:32,233
♪

152
00:10:36,910 --> 00:10:40,373
After they closed
the window on cereal premiums,

153
00:10:40,408 --> 00:10:42,177
it seemed
like the end of the road.

154
00:10:42,879 --> 00:10:46,346
But I had enough product
for one last toy show.

155
00:10:47,415 --> 00:10:50,086
That's when everything changed.

156
00:10:50,121 --> 00:10:51,758
Everything.

157
00:10:51,793 --> 00:10:53,958
It was very,
uh, film noire.

158
00:11:00,395 --> 00:11:02,329
I remember
the moment completely.

159
00:11:02,364 --> 00:11:07,400
♪

160
00:11:09,877 --> 00:11:10,942
Pez.

161
00:11:10,977 --> 00:11:12,438
Oh, my God, oh, my God,

162
00:11:12,473 --> 00:11:14,242
I want one of them,
I want one of them.

163
00:11:18,919 --> 00:11:20,479
Oh, my God.

164
00:11:20,514 --> 00:11:22,283
I could sell these and do
really, really well.

165
00:11:22,318 --> 00:11:27,321
♪

166
00:11:36,937 --> 00:11:41,973
♪

167
00:11:44,813 --> 00:11:46,274
Toy world is full of people.

168
00:11:46,309 --> 00:11:48,243
They go, "Shh, shh,
don't tell anybody."

169
00:11:48,278 --> 00:11:53,314
♪

170
00:12:02,864 --> 00:12:04,127
Where did you get those?

171
00:12:04,162 --> 00:12:07,867
♪

172
00:12:07,902 --> 00:12:09,363
Kolinska.

173
00:12:09,398 --> 00:12:11,266
It was--
it was haunting.

174
00:12:11,301 --> 00:12:14,940
'Cause it's like "Rosebud"
from, uh,<i> Citizen Kane.</i>

175
00:12:15,676 --> 00:12:18,878
-Rosebud.

176
00:12:18,913 --> 00:12:22,079
And she leaned over
and told me,

177
00:12:22,114 --> 00:12:23,850
"You want the good stuff?

178
00:12:23,885 --> 00:12:25,115
You gotta go to Kolinska."

179
00:12:26,085 --> 00:12:27,854
It was like the temptation

180
00:12:27,889 --> 00:12:30,450
of the pot of gold
at the end of the rainbow.

181
00:12:30,485 --> 00:12:35,521
♪

182
00:12:48,074 --> 00:12:49,436
The collectors loved...

183
00:12:51,011 --> 00:12:53,110
things that weren't available
to the open market.

184
00:12:53,145 --> 00:12:54,507
Things
that you couldn't go down

185
00:12:54,542 --> 00:12:56,344
to your grocery store
and pick up.

186
00:12:56,379 --> 00:12:58,445
They wanted
what was available in Europe.

187
00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:00,920
And so I was like, "Dad,
let's see what we can get,

188
00:13:00,955 --> 00:13:02,383
you know,
right from the factory."

189
00:13:03,518 --> 00:13:04,957
I don't go places.

190
00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:09,291
I mean, Europe--
Europe is this thing

191
00:13:09,326 --> 00:13:11,458
that rich people
only do, and...

192
00:13:12,967 --> 00:13:14,835
not something in my world.

193
00:13:20,601 --> 00:13:23,569
<i> Welcome aboard.</i>
<i>Welcome aboard the spacious...</i>

194
00:13:23,604 --> 00:13:25,142
I was about 20 years old.

195
00:13:25,177 --> 00:13:27,012
I had never
been out of the country.

196
00:13:27,047 --> 00:13:28,948
But there was no way
I was gonna just

197
00:13:28,983 --> 00:13:30,950
let that dream die anyway.

198
00:13:32,283 --> 00:13:34,085
I kind of took
the reins

199
00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,956
and contacted a--
a local travel agent.

200
00:13:37,486 --> 00:13:39,222
This needs to happen

201
00:13:39,257 --> 00:13:41,488
in order to take
that next step.

202
00:13:41,523 --> 00:13:44,293
How bad
do you want that next step?

203
00:13:44,328 --> 00:13:46,460
<i> A new concept</i>
<i>in air transportation.</i>

204
00:13:47,166 --> 00:13:48,561
I don't know.

205
00:13:48,596 --> 00:13:50,497
I don't know, yeah, okay.
Let's go.

206
00:13:50,532 --> 00:13:53,500
-He got me a passport.

207
00:13:55,108 --> 00:13:56,437
Next thing you know,
we had tickets.

208
00:13:56,872 --> 00:13:59,308
Next thing you know,
we're on a plane.

209
00:13:59,343 --> 00:14:04,016
♪

210
00:14:08,550 --> 00:14:11,089
Well, I heard that
he was making a trip to Europe,

211
00:14:11,124 --> 00:14:13,619
and I thought he was insane.

212
00:14:13,654 --> 00:14:16,655
♪

213
00:14:16,690 --> 00:14:19,427
He didn't speak
any foreign language.

214
00:14:19,462 --> 00:14:22,562
There was no internet,
he had no contact people

215
00:14:22,597 --> 00:14:25,136
on the ground,
he was just some hillbilly

216
00:14:25,171 --> 00:14:27,435
from Michigan
who got on a plane...

217
00:14:28,237 --> 00:14:30,911
and then just
landed somewhere.

218
00:14:34,983 --> 00:14:37,643
You know,
the state of Europe

219
00:14:37,678 --> 00:14:41,988
was vastly different
back then than it is today.

220
00:14:43,255 --> 00:14:47,257
The Berlin wall
hadn't been down very long.

221
00:14:47,292 --> 00:14:49,721
<i> The wall has</i>
<i>suddenly become irrelevant.</i>

222
00:14:49,756 --> 00:14:52,427
<i>Something, as you can see,</i>
<i>almost to party on.</i>

223
00:14:52,462 --> 00:14:54,132
<i>How do you measure</i>
<i>such an astonishing</i>

224
00:14:54,167 --> 00:14:56,002
<i>moment in history?</i>

225
00:14:56,037 --> 00:14:59,434
He was operating
out of this capitalist scheme,

226
00:14:59,469 --> 00:15:02,404
but he had no idea
what he was doing.

227
00:15:11,217 --> 00:15:12,612
But, you know,
he has that,

228
00:15:12,647 --> 00:15:15,615
like,
magical little troll quality.

229
00:15:19,126 --> 00:15:22,094
When you're doing this,
and you're fully invested,

230
00:15:22,129 --> 00:15:23,359
it's either win or lose.

231
00:15:23,394 --> 00:15:24,723
Live or die, you know?

232
00:15:24,758 --> 00:15:28,166
So we always had
everything on the line.

233
00:15:28,201 --> 00:15:32,104
♪

234
00:15:32,139 --> 00:15:35,371
We had to take out a loan
from our credit union

235
00:15:35,406 --> 00:15:37,505
to make
this very first trip happen.

236
00:15:38,074 --> 00:15:41,476
Failure wasn't an option.
We had to find the factory.

237
00:15:41,511 --> 00:15:46,217
♪

238
00:15:46,252 --> 00:15:48,780
But here you are,
you know, these small-town guys

239
00:15:48,815 --> 00:15:50,518
going out into the world,
you know?

240
00:15:50,553 --> 00:15:52,586
It's-- it's the big
adventure of a lifetime.

241
00:15:59,766 --> 00:16:03,234
At this time,
the conflict and genocide

242
00:16:03,269 --> 00:16:04,631
in Croatia was going on.

243
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,107
And we were right
on the southern border.

244
00:16:12,146 --> 00:16:13,673
So, we were driving around,

245
00:16:13,708 --> 00:16:16,445
you know,
trying to go off from a map,

246
00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,152
but at one o'clock
in the morning, in the dark,

247
00:16:20,187 --> 00:16:22,781
where you're not seeing every
sign or anything like that.

248
00:16:23,316 --> 00:16:26,455
And we got hopelessly lost.

249
00:16:30,197 --> 00:16:31,262
We screwed up.

250
00:16:32,826 --> 00:16:35,200
We were on an old
dirt road somewhere,

251
00:16:35,235 --> 00:16:37,532
and there was a chain
across the road.

252
00:16:37,567 --> 00:16:40,403
♪

253
00:16:40,438 --> 00:16:45,474
And it just basically
said, "Zagreb - X miles."

254
00:16:45,509 --> 00:16:49,247
♪

255
00:16:49,282 --> 00:16:51,084
We were out
in the middle of nowhere,

256
00:16:51,119 --> 00:16:53,581
looking in the dark
for any pops on the horizon.

257
00:17:11,898 --> 00:17:16,505
♪

258
00:17:17,673 --> 00:17:20,080
Well.

259
00:17:33,458 --> 00:17:35,458
-I don't know why...

260
00:17:36,494 --> 00:17:38,395
but Kathy's always
believed in me.

261
00:17:41,235 --> 00:17:43,367
We met at age 18.

262
00:17:56,679 --> 00:17:58,910
Kathy was one
of the flower children,

263
00:17:58,945 --> 00:18:00,516
uh, the beautiful people.

264
00:18:02,289 --> 00:18:05,257
I was just a guy.
Not worth a hill of beans.

265
00:18:05,292 --> 00:18:08,227
And yet, she sees the guy
that's-- that's there.

266
00:18:09,659 --> 00:18:10,757
The potential.

267
00:18:18,668 --> 00:18:20,668
The minute I saw her,
I knew she was it.

268
00:18:20,703 --> 00:18:22,241
Completely.

269
00:18:22,276 --> 00:18:24,210
And we've been together
every day since.

270
00:18:26,247 --> 00:18:28,841
Kathy allows me my dreams.

271
00:18:29,243 --> 00:18:33,846
Until I get too far off path,
then she reins me back in.

272
00:18:54,539 --> 00:18:57,672
She knows I get dangerous,
and careless...

273
00:18:58,906 --> 00:19:00,213
occasionally.

274
00:19:00,248 --> 00:19:02,446
But she supported me 100%

275
00:19:02,481 --> 00:19:03,909
on the--
the trip to Europe.

276
00:19:09,554 --> 00:19:10,850
I thought we were dead.

277
00:19:12,755 --> 00:19:15,492
But thank God I had Josh.
Thank God.

278
00:19:16,228 --> 00:19:19,463
-I mean-- .

279
00:19:21,929 --> 00:19:24,798
I truly began
to appreciate him.

280
00:19:24,833 --> 00:19:29,869
♪

281
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,947
Our first trip to Europe
for Joshua and me was like

282
00:19:41,982 --> 00:19:44,785
our graduation from
childhood to manhood.

283
00:19:45,521 --> 00:19:50,527
I did lean on him to be able
to emotionally do this.

284
00:19:54,060 --> 00:19:57,028
The next day
we were supposed to be finding

285
00:19:57,063 --> 00:20:00,900
the factory, and still
we had no idea where it was.

286
00:20:02,805 --> 00:20:04,673
And then, I see it.

287
00:20:06,611 --> 00:20:08,974
It's printed, the address
is printed right on here.

288
00:20:10,210 --> 00:20:13,352
It's right there, and
you're just, like, holy crap.

289
00:20:13,387 --> 00:20:18,489
♪

290
00:20:19,191 --> 00:20:21,789
I'm-- I'm amazed
how an American

291
00:20:21,824 --> 00:20:23,560
is able to get
into the factories.

292
00:20:23,595 --> 00:20:28,400
♪

293
00:20:29,035 --> 00:20:33,834
We really get a long ways
by playing up "dumb American."

294
00:20:34,536 --> 00:20:36,639
"Came here for Pez?
Dumb American."

295
00:20:36,674 --> 00:20:37,739
You know what I mean?

296
00:20:37,774 --> 00:20:42,810
♪

297
00:20:47,685 --> 00:20:50,389
I couldn't make
out any sense of this.

298
00:20:50,824 --> 00:20:53,755
Uh, I don't want
to insult Steve now,

299
00:20:53,790 --> 00:20:57,495
because appearance-wise,
what is it-- like, a homeless.

300
00:20:58,729 --> 00:21:00,432
Yeah.

301
00:21:00,467 --> 00:21:02,632
Actually, he looks like a poor,
homeless guy.

302
00:21:02,667 --> 00:21:05,866
♪

303
00:21:05,901 --> 00:21:07,340
I got in.

304
00:21:08,838 --> 00:21:10,706
Looking
disheveled and crazy

305
00:21:10,741 --> 00:21:12,576
has always worked for me.

306
00:21:15,713 --> 00:21:17,779
Everybody
underestimates you.

307
00:21:19,420 --> 00:21:23,048
And that's when I met Marcos.

308
00:21:24,491 --> 00:21:27,360
And what he showed me,
it was overwhelming.

309
00:21:27,395 --> 00:21:32,431
♪

310
00:21:32,466 --> 00:21:33,993
It was exactly like

311
00:21:34,028 --> 00:21:35,929
<i>Willy Wonka</i>
<i>& the Chocolate Factory.</i>

312
00:21:35,964 --> 00:21:39,933
♪

313
00:21:39,968 --> 00:21:41,836
We had got
our golden ticket...

314
00:21:43,477 --> 00:21:46,544
and we were in there
to buy our heart's desire.

315
00:21:46,579 --> 00:21:49,976
♪

316
00:21:50,011 --> 00:21:52,484
I saw so much wonderful Pez.

317
00:21:53,253 --> 00:21:55,784
This is the stuff
people dream of.

318
00:21:55,819 --> 00:22:00,492
♪

319
00:22:00,527 --> 00:22:02,758
It was,
like, you hit the lottery.

320
00:22:02,793 --> 00:22:04,892
-It was unreal.

321
00:22:04,927 --> 00:22:09,732
♪

322
00:22:09,767 --> 00:22:12,130
Marcos's job was design.

323
00:22:13,771 --> 00:22:15,837
We had made a friend.
A soulmate.

324
00:22:15,872 --> 00:22:17,608
That truly appreciates

325
00:22:17,643 --> 00:22:19,544
the artistic talent,
the vision.

326
00:22:19,579 --> 00:22:22,613
I-- I got what he was saying
and how much he loved it.

327
00:22:22,648 --> 00:22:25,484
It was stuff that just
wasn't sold in the U.S.

328
00:22:25,886 --> 00:22:29,521
Pez USA rejected damn near
everything Marcos would do.

329
00:22:40,193 --> 00:22:41,929
My name is Bud Damberg,

330
00:22:41,964 --> 00:22:43,964
and I'm the former
marketing manager for Pez.

331
00:22:43,999 --> 00:22:45,801
And I was there
for about 15 years.

332
00:22:47,805 --> 00:22:49,442
I love working
in the candy industry.

333
00:22:49,477 --> 00:22:51,037
It's one of the sweetest
industries around.

334
00:22:52,612 --> 00:22:54,744
Literally.

335
00:22:55,246 --> 00:22:58,044
Back in the 1990s,
Pez USA

336
00:22:58,079 --> 00:23:00,750
and Pez International
out of Austria,

337
00:23:00,785 --> 00:23:02,917
operated
very independently.

338
00:23:02,952 --> 00:23:05,051
Pez International
had distribution

339
00:23:05,086 --> 00:23:06,690
throughout
the entire world.

340
00:23:06,725 --> 00:23:08,494
But not the United States.

341
00:23:09,063 --> 00:23:11,860
Because
of Pez USA's agreement

342
00:23:11,895 --> 00:23:14,192
with the parent company
in Austria,

343
00:23:14,227 --> 00:23:17,866
they have 100% control

344
00:23:17,901 --> 00:23:20,803
of everything Pez-related
in the United States.

345
00:23:21,505 --> 00:23:24,136
And the, uh,
president and CEO

346
00:23:24,171 --> 00:23:26,138
of Pez USA
was Scott McWhinnie.

347
00:23:28,714 --> 00:23:30,912
Also very fondly known
as the "Pezident."

348
00:23:31,981 --> 00:23:34,113
He was the ultimate
decision-maker.

349
00:23:34,148 --> 00:23:37,985
He ran a very tight
and very lean ship.

350
00:23:38,020 --> 00:23:41,692
<i>"I love Pez" is a very common,</i>
<i>uh, statement.</i>

351
00:23:41,727 --> 00:23:44,090
<i>However, the kids of today</i>
<i>know nothing about nostalgia.</i>

352
00:23:44,125 --> 00:23:45,597
<i>They love Pez</i>
<i>for what it is.</i>

353
00:23:46,633 --> 00:23:48,193
The people at Pez USA

354
00:23:48,228 --> 00:23:51,471
decided what came
into the US and what didn't.

355
00:23:52,106 --> 00:23:54,100
If Scott didn't want something
sold in the United States,

356
00:23:54,135 --> 00:23:56,102
it wasn't sold
in the United States.

357
00:23:56,137 --> 00:23:58,973
Europe would bust it's butt
and come up with a great idea,

358
00:23:59,008 --> 00:24:01,041
or get some
really good licenses,

359
00:24:01,076 --> 00:24:02,911
and Pez USA
would say no.

360
00:24:03,413 --> 00:24:05,914
No, stupid, we hate it, no,

361
00:24:05,949 --> 00:24:07,916
no, you're ignorant,
we hate it.

362
00:24:07,951 --> 00:24:11,557
But everything
unique and creative

363
00:24:11,592 --> 00:24:14,626
that they came up with,
I could not get enough of.

364
00:24:14,661 --> 00:24:16,859
And that endeared us to them.

365
00:24:17,528 --> 00:24:20,159
They loved us.
Just loved us.

366
00:24:24,165 --> 00:24:26,836
These people were hungry
for American dollars.

367
00:24:26,871 --> 00:24:28,640
They wanted to work with us.

368
00:24:28,675 --> 00:24:31,005
They wanted to do business
with us and everything.

369
00:24:33,944 --> 00:24:37,275
I was looking at the,
uh, cabinet, in the office,

370
00:24:37,310 --> 00:24:39,112
and they had a display
in there of--

371
00:24:39,147 --> 00:24:41,081
of dispensers that
hadn't even hit the market.

372
00:24:42,590 --> 00:24:44,755
Um, one of them
was the Bubble Boy dispenser.

373
00:24:48,794 --> 00:24:50,530
Our jaws
just dropped to the floor.

374
00:24:51,599 --> 00:24:53,324
Uh, especially once, uh,

375
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:55,799
he told us
the stories behind 'em.

376
00:24:57,099 --> 00:24:59,638
Bubble Man was a reject

377
00:24:59,673 --> 00:25:02,234
from an idea to sell gum.

378
00:25:03,776 --> 00:25:05,974
Now, I had heard
of the Bubble Boy dispenser.

379
00:25:06,009 --> 00:25:07,943
He wasn't going to
be released.

380
00:25:07,978 --> 00:25:10,077
Well, he gave me one
from the cabinet.

381
00:25:10,112 --> 00:25:12,211
I mean, that was--
that was the coolest thing.

382
00:25:12,246 --> 00:25:15,984
He also gave me a purple Dino
and a yellow Dino.

383
00:25:16,353 --> 00:25:18,888
Stuff that should
never have been out there,

384
00:25:18,923 --> 00:25:20,791
but it existed.

385
00:25:23,730 --> 00:25:25,664
It was just
really wonderful Pez.

386
00:25:25,699 --> 00:25:30,735
♪

387
00:25:32,937 --> 00:25:35,641
At that point, I was home free.
I had my product.

388
00:25:35,676 --> 00:25:39,909
All of the obstacles
had been hurdled.

389
00:25:39,944 --> 00:25:44,716
-All except one.

390
00:25:44,751 --> 00:25:47,851
Coming back through US
customs was the hard part.

391
00:25:48,620 --> 00:25:50,656
Here at Homeland
Security Investigations,

392
00:25:50,691 --> 00:25:52,658
we investigate
transnational crime.

393
00:25:52,693 --> 00:25:54,858
Uh, basically
any crime that touches,

394
00:25:54,893 --> 00:25:56,222
uh,
the United States border.

395
00:25:56,257 --> 00:25:58,290
Uh, either inbound
or outbound.

396
00:25:58,325 --> 00:26:00,094
It runs across the spectrum.

397
00:26:00,129 --> 00:26:02,767
It could be, uh, contraband,
in that-- in the--

398
00:26:02,802 --> 00:26:05,000
in the form
of narcotics, money,

399
00:26:05,035 --> 00:26:08,333
body parts, human heads,
of course, arms.

400
00:26:08,368 --> 00:26:10,676
You know, various animals.

401
00:26:11,145 --> 00:26:13,811
Unfortunately, sometimes
those animals don't make it,

402
00:26:13,846 --> 00:26:15,340
but other times they do,
and all of a sudden

403
00:26:15,375 --> 00:26:17,111
you're opening a,
you know, a suitcase,

404
00:26:17,146 --> 00:26:18,915
and there's birds in there
or something else.

405
00:26:18,950 --> 00:26:21,786
♪

406
00:26:23,823 --> 00:26:25,053
It can be entertaining.

407
00:26:25,088 --> 00:26:26,758
Uh, for a serious crime,

408
00:26:26,793 --> 00:26:28,793
you could be looking
at decades in jail.

409
00:26:28,828 --> 00:26:31,763
♪

410
00:26:31,798 --> 00:26:34,667
He just had
great big duffle bags

411
00:26:34,702 --> 00:26:39,232
full of thousands and thousands
of Pez, and I don't know what

412
00:26:39,267 --> 00:26:41,399
the customs people thought,

413
00:26:41,434 --> 00:26:43,401
or maybe they didn't even
really look at them.

414
00:26:44,036 --> 00:26:46,712
They must not have,
or he wouldn't have been able

415
00:26:46,747 --> 00:26:49,880
to bring 'em in without
all the proper paperwork.

416
00:26:49,915 --> 00:26:53,818
♪

417
00:26:53,853 --> 00:26:55,446
It was something I learned.

418
00:26:55,481 --> 00:26:58,284
You had to be methodical
about how you went about it.

419
00:26:58,653 --> 00:27:00,990
I had to appear to be...

420
00:27:01,993 --> 00:27:03,355
a fool.

421
00:27:03,390 --> 00:27:05,731
Disheveled. Crazy.

422
00:27:06,233 --> 00:27:10,395
So, I'd stay awake for 24
hours prior to hitting customs.

423
00:27:10,897 --> 00:27:12,463
Well, that's--
that's exactly

424
00:27:12,498 --> 00:27:14,399
what you don't wanna do.

425
00:27:14,434 --> 00:27:16,434
Uh, you know, the more odd
and the more you stick out,

426
00:27:16,469 --> 00:27:18,876
if you're disheveled
and don't sleep

427
00:27:18,911 --> 00:27:22,308
and you're acting a little,
uh, kind of out of sorts.

428
00:27:22,343 --> 00:27:24,750
If anything, that's gonna
attract more attention,

429
00:27:24,785 --> 00:27:26,147
and it certainly
would for me.

430
00:27:26,782 --> 00:27:28,479
Oh,
I knew it would work.

431
00:27:28,514 --> 00:27:31,988
Um, doing crazy things
that made no sense.

432
00:27:32,023 --> 00:27:35,486
-Because then I'm harmless.
-You should be honest.

433
00:27:35,521 --> 00:27:37,994
You're gonna have to declare
what you're coming in with.

434
00:27:38,029 --> 00:27:41,327
You needed to be
as honest as you could,

435
00:27:41,362 --> 00:27:44,099
without being
completely honest.

436
00:27:45,872 --> 00:27:48,136
Yes,
I was definitely doing

437
00:27:48,171 --> 00:27:50,402
something technically illegal.

438
00:27:50,804 --> 00:27:53,240
Did I care? Nah.
Not in the slightest.

439
00:27:53,275 --> 00:27:54,439
Not in the slightest.

440
00:27:54,474 --> 00:27:59,719
♪

441
00:28:08,158 --> 00:28:10,488
Um, the items that--
that Steve Glew

442
00:28:10,523 --> 00:28:13,326
was bringing over
were grey market items.

443
00:28:14,062 --> 00:28:16,395
Um, which were items
that were not manufactured

444
00:28:16,430 --> 00:28:18,034
for United States market.

445
00:28:19,235 --> 00:28:21,136
They were legitimate
Pez dispensers,

446
00:28:21,171 --> 00:28:22,940
but he did not have
the licensing rights

447
00:28:22,975 --> 00:28:24,040
to bring them in.

448
00:28:28,442 --> 00:28:31,278
Pez Candy Inc.
in the United States

449
00:28:31,313 --> 00:28:35,414
is the only licensed entity
to sell them in this country.

450
00:28:42,230 --> 00:28:45,325
Let me
think about that one.

451
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,296
♪

452
00:28:53,104 --> 00:28:56,776
A snafu made
everything I did possible.

453
00:28:58,406 --> 00:29:01,473
There was one simple,
little thing

454
00:29:01,508 --> 00:29:03,442
that would have shut
me down.

455
00:29:03,477 --> 00:29:07,919
Pez USA contacting
international customs

456
00:29:07,954 --> 00:29:09,151
and registering...

457
00:29:10,451 --> 00:29:12,517
that they were
the sole importers

458
00:29:12,552 --> 00:29:14,288
of Pez products
from Europe.

459
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,061
My name's Julie Hilario,
I'm a special agent

460
00:29:18,096 --> 00:29:19,964
with Homeland
Security Investigations.

461
00:29:19,999 --> 00:29:22,461
Oftentimes,
we find that trademark owners

462
00:29:22,496 --> 00:29:24,166
may not be knowledgeable

463
00:29:24,201 --> 00:29:26,168
that they need
to record their trademark

464
00:29:26,203 --> 00:29:27,972
with U.S. Customs
and Border Protection

465
00:29:28,007 --> 00:29:29,875
for enforcement
at the border.

466
00:29:29,910 --> 00:29:32,537
One of the customs
agents that I dealt with,

467
00:29:32,572 --> 00:29:35,276
he said, "uh, you know,
uh, well, you know,

468
00:29:35,311 --> 00:29:37,014
you're not the importer
for this."

469
00:29:37,049 --> 00:29:42,085
♪

470
00:29:44,485 --> 00:29:47,189
And he got his sheet out,
and he was lookin',

471
00:29:47,224 --> 00:29:48,927
and he was lookin',
and he was lookin'.

472
00:29:51,492 --> 00:29:53,129
He said, "Oh, my God."

473
00:29:54,231 --> 00:29:56,165
Pez USA, I did check,

474
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,134
and their trademark
is not recorded

475
00:29:58,169 --> 00:29:59,498
with Customs
and Border Protection.

476
00:30:01,172 --> 00:30:03,040
Yeah,
I wasn't aware of that.

477
00:30:03,075 --> 00:30:04,569
I mean,
I know that, um...

478
00:30:05,271 --> 00:30:07,473
they had some very expensive
lawyers in New York

479
00:30:07,508 --> 00:30:09,145
that spent a lot of time
and money.

480
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,983
They were supposed to make
sure that it was registered

481
00:30:12,018 --> 00:30:13,512
in all
the classes of trade.

482
00:30:13,814 --> 00:30:15,580
They have a US patent

483
00:30:15,615 --> 00:30:18,385
and trademark with USPTO,
um, but they didn't take

484
00:30:18,420 --> 00:30:20,651
the second step of actually
recording their trademark

485
00:30:20,686 --> 00:30:22,125
with Customs
and Border Protection

486
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,258
for enforcement
at the border.

487
00:30:23,656 --> 00:30:25,557
And he goes,

488
00:30:25,592 --> 00:30:27,130
"if they're that stupid...

489
00:30:29,299 --> 00:30:31,497
go ahead."

490
00:30:31,532 --> 00:30:36,568
♪

491
00:30:50,386 --> 00:30:53,354
When we got back from
Europe after the first trip,

492
00:30:53,389 --> 00:30:56,225
going back to work sucked,
big time.

493
00:30:56,594 --> 00:30:59,162
It was like being in prison.

494
00:31:03,003 --> 00:31:04,970
But not having any money,

495
00:31:05,005 --> 00:31:06,532
I had to
stick it out for a while.

496
00:31:06,567 --> 00:31:09,469
I guess my dad, uh,
had done some talking

497
00:31:09,504 --> 00:31:12,406
to, you know, the--
the Pez dealers,

498
00:31:12,441 --> 00:31:15,948
and one of them heard that--
that I had that Bubble Boy.

499
00:31:19,580 --> 00:31:21,118
Buyers appeared...

500
00:31:22,286 --> 00:31:23,450
through word of mouth.

501
00:31:23,919 --> 00:31:26,354
The phone chain
was people talking to people

502
00:31:26,389 --> 00:31:27,454
that talking to people.

503
00:31:30,525 --> 00:31:32,360
Honestly,
I was flabbergasted

504
00:31:32,395 --> 00:31:34,428
at the prices
that people would pay.

505
00:31:34,463 --> 00:31:35,968
They're like, you know,

506
00:31:36,003 --> 00:31:37,299
I'll buy that Bubble Boy
from you.

507
00:31:37,334 --> 00:31:40,038
-$1,250.

508
00:31:41,107 --> 00:31:42,403
I was like, what?

509
00:31:42,438 --> 00:31:44,273
I mean,
it was a gift from Marcos,

510
00:31:44,308 --> 00:31:46,275
so we didn't have the intention
at all of selling it.

511
00:31:46,910 --> 00:31:49,047
Here I am,
a college student

512
00:31:49,082 --> 00:31:51,016
paying for my own tuition
and everything...

513
00:31:52,184 --> 00:31:54,151
being offered 1,250 bucks

514
00:31:54,186 --> 00:31:57,616
for a piece of plastic
that was given to me for free.

515
00:31:57,651 --> 00:31:59,486
The last thing
in the world I wanted to do

516
00:31:59,521 --> 00:32:01,323
was sell Bubble Boy.

517
00:32:01,358 --> 00:32:03,061
But, hey, man, I gotta pay
some bills.

518
00:32:04,130 --> 00:32:06,460
Money talks.
Money talks.

519
00:32:10,169 --> 00:32:12,631
The collectors
bought pretty much

520
00:32:12,666 --> 00:32:14,699
everything I had,
overnight.

521
00:32:17,275 --> 00:32:20,738
I paid 27 cents each.

522
00:32:21,675 --> 00:32:22,740
300 bucks.

523
00:32:23,109 --> 00:32:26,282
Without those
early sales, I never

524
00:32:26,317 --> 00:32:28,251
would have been able
to quit my job.

525
00:32:30,491 --> 00:32:32,552
One of my last
memories in the shop

526
00:32:32,587 --> 00:32:36,490
was Enya
playing on the radio.

527
00:32:41,662 --> 00:32:43,002
And it was just floating.

528
00:32:44,533 --> 00:32:48,139
Through the whole shop.
Her voice. And echoing.

529
00:32:48,174 --> 00:32:53,210
♪

530
00:32:53,245 --> 00:32:57,544
<i>♪ Let me sail, let me sail</i>
<i>let the Orinoco flow ♪</i>

531
00:32:57,579 --> 00:33:01,515
Her music was,
like, a place I wanted to be.

532
00:33:01,550 --> 00:33:04,749
And traveling to Europe,
and my dreams,

533
00:33:04,784 --> 00:33:07,389
married perfectly well
with that.

534
00:33:07,424 --> 00:33:09,556
♪

535
00:33:16,268 --> 00:33:19,797
When I left the shop
for the last time, I went from,

536
00:33:19,832 --> 00:33:24,736
uh, working 79-hour work
weeks to doing my own thing.

537
00:33:27,213 --> 00:33:32,711
I went to selling toys
and Pez full-time.

538
00:33:32,746 --> 00:33:37,089
<i>♪ Sail away,</i>
<i>sail away, sail away ♪</i>

539
00:33:37,124 --> 00:33:41,192
<i>♪ Sail away,</i>
<i>sail away, sail away ♪</i>

540
00:33:41,227 --> 00:33:44,459
<i>♪ Sail away,</i>
<i>sail away, sail away ♪</i>

541
00:33:51,237 --> 00:33:55,140
At that time, the hobby
was kind of this small,

542
00:33:55,175 --> 00:33:57,175
closed group,
and we all knew each other.

543
00:33:58,739 --> 00:34:00,574
And Steve was like this,
you know...

544
00:34:02,347 --> 00:34:06,514
magical troll who just
sprung forth out of nowhere.

545
00:34:07,016 --> 00:34:09,748
But then he found out
about the Pez community

546
00:34:09,783 --> 00:34:11,717
and started
talking to all of us.

547
00:34:11,752 --> 00:34:14,621
The Pez community
was a smallish community

548
00:34:14,656 --> 00:34:17,129
that taught
me everything I-- I learned.

549
00:34:17,498 --> 00:34:19,593
Welcome to the wonderful
world of Pez collecting.

550
00:34:19,628 --> 00:34:20,693
You're hooked now.

551
00:34:20,728 --> 00:34:25,335
♪

552
00:34:25,370 --> 00:34:28,701
I mean, I like to drink
scotch, I like fast cars.

553
00:34:29,236 --> 00:34:32,606
But there-- there's nothing
that compares with the feeling

554
00:34:32,641 --> 00:34:35,774
you get when you get
a great find in Pez.

555
00:34:37,877 --> 00:34:39,118
So, this is my Pez room.

556
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:41,780
So, I've
been collecting about 20 years.

557
00:34:42,182 --> 00:34:45,421
Your Thors, you're gonna be--
$200-300 range.

558
00:34:45,456 --> 00:34:47,192
This Pony
would probably go about 1300.

559
00:34:47,227 --> 00:34:49,491
I have 53
covered grandstands.

560
00:34:49,893 --> 00:34:52,395
They each hold 80 dispensers.

561
00:34:53,662 --> 00:34:55,299
I have everything filled up.

562
00:34:55,334 --> 00:34:56,894
Every empty space
is filled up with junk.

563
00:34:56,929 --> 00:34:59,303
So, if you want to
give me a title,

564
00:34:59,338 --> 00:35:01,602
you can say to me I am
a crazy collector.

565
00:35:04,574 --> 00:35:06,508
I will say
that I've spent

566
00:35:06,543 --> 00:35:09,412
$2,500
for one dispenser.

567
00:35:09,447 --> 00:35:12,448
The most I ever paid
for Pez was $11,000.

568
00:35:12,483 --> 00:35:14,219
-For one?
-One.

569
00:35:14,254 --> 00:35:15,748
And so,
in the Pez world,

570
00:35:15,783 --> 00:35:18,223
the person who brought
the most new product

571
00:35:18,258 --> 00:35:20,555
to us was Steve Glew.

572
00:35:20,590 --> 00:35:25,428
♪

573
00:35:25,463 --> 00:35:27,793
With the prices
people were paying,

574
00:35:27,828 --> 00:35:29,630
Josh and me were itching

575
00:35:29,665 --> 00:35:31,632
to go back
and get more product.

576
00:35:31,667 --> 00:35:34,800
And I had heard
the real mother lode...

577
00:35:35,869 --> 00:35:37,671
was Hungary.

578
00:35:37,706 --> 00:35:42,181
And Gunther was a person
of importance there.

579
00:35:42,579 --> 00:35:46,482
♪

580
00:35:46,517 --> 00:35:49,815
He had been a person
within the upper echelon

581
00:35:49,850 --> 00:35:52,719
at Pez corporation
in Austria, in Linz.

582
00:35:52,754 --> 00:35:56,756
And he had been tasked
with the role

583
00:35:56,791 --> 00:35:59,495
of opening up the East.

584
00:35:59,530 --> 00:36:01,464
He had power.
He had power.

585
00:36:01,499 --> 00:36:04,401
♪

586
00:36:04,436 --> 00:36:06,436
First time I met him, I believe

587
00:36:06,471 --> 00:36:08,504
it was on our second
trip to Europe.

588
00:36:09,006 --> 00:36:10,803
I mean, like,
I walk in the door

589
00:36:10,838 --> 00:36:12,673
and I ask about Pez,

590
00:36:12,708 --> 00:36:16,413
and Gunther Leitner
came out in the most God-awful

591
00:36:16,448 --> 00:36:20,318
plaid sports jacket
I have ever seen in my life.

592
00:36:20,887 --> 00:36:23,255
He comes up to me
at the counter and he said,

593
00:36:23,290 --> 00:36:24,619
"I hear you're here
huntin' for Pez, eh?"

594
00:36:25,288 --> 00:36:26,819
And I goes,
"Yeah, I'm huntin' for it."

595
00:36:26,854 --> 00:36:28,458
He says, "Yeah,
I know, I know, I know."

596
00:36:28,793 --> 00:36:30,856
And he says, "Don't you--
don't you know who I am?"

597
00:36:33,597 --> 00:36:35,531
No,
I have no idea

598
00:36:35,566 --> 00:36:38,336
who you are and I don't really
give a damn.

599
00:36:38,771 --> 00:36:42,340
Gunther took a Post-it,
just a stupid little Post-it.

600
00:36:43,109 --> 00:36:45,277
Wrote a few words,
signed his name.

601
00:36:45,646 --> 00:36:47,939
He said, "Okay, take this.
Go over there."

602
00:36:48,810 --> 00:36:50,876
And I handed the post-it

603
00:36:50,911 --> 00:36:52,680
to the, uh,
the guard at the gate.

604
00:36:52,715 --> 00:36:54,682
I mean, he might as well
have hopped to and clicked

605
00:36:54,717 --> 00:36:56,915
his heels
and opened up the gate.

606
00:36:56,950 --> 00:36:59,489
I mean, really.
That little Post-it.

607
00:37:00,459 --> 00:37:03,361
Everybody did
anything we ask.

608
00:37:03,396 --> 00:37:04,758
People walked up to me,

609
00:37:04,793 --> 00:37:06,496
and every time
I showed it to 'em,

610
00:37:06,531 --> 00:37:08,696
"Yep, yep. Yep, yep.
Over here. Over here."

611
00:37:08,731 --> 00:37:11,369
Next thing I know,
they got a truck...

612
00:37:11,404 --> 00:37:12,535
for me to load.

613
00:37:13,170 --> 00:37:15,835
And take everything
off to the airport.

614
00:37:15,870 --> 00:37:18,442
And he truly
was that powerful.

615
00:37:19,676 --> 00:37:21,709
Just wished
I could have taken it all.

616
00:37:21,744 --> 00:37:24,349
I really wish I could've,
but I couldn't.

617
00:37:24,384 --> 00:37:28,353
I only had 4,000 bucks
maybe in my pocket, so, I mean,

618
00:37:28,388 --> 00:37:31,048
it was very disappointing
for Gunther, you know?

619
00:37:31,083 --> 00:37:33,655
Gunther didn't give
the money to Pez.

620
00:37:33,690 --> 00:37:35,327
He kept it.

621
00:37:35,696 --> 00:37:38,627
Oh, and the last thing he says
as he's getting out of the car.

622
00:37:38,662 --> 00:37:41,531
He leans back in and he goes,
"I don't know you.

623
00:37:41,566 --> 00:37:42,730
I don't know you."

624
00:37:43,634 --> 00:37:44,864
Oh, my God.

625
00:37:49,101 --> 00:37:52,872
♪

626
00:37:52,907 --> 00:37:55,446
So, now we're finding out
all these illegal dispensers

627
00:37:55,481 --> 00:37:56,810
are all over the place.

628
00:37:56,845 --> 00:37:58,647
Word came
out that somebody took

629
00:37:58,682 --> 00:38:01,078
some pre-production
samples and were selling those.

630
00:38:01,113 --> 00:38:04,323
Pre-production samples,
illegal, on the black market.

631
00:38:05,125 --> 00:38:08,118
And apparently somebody
would go over to Europe

632
00:38:08,153 --> 00:38:11,726
and meet up with some of the,
um, workers who worked

633
00:38:11,761 --> 00:38:13,431
in the factories
after hours

634
00:38:13,466 --> 00:38:15,532
and pay 'em a few
hundred U.S. dollars,

635
00:38:15,567 --> 00:38:17,567
and before
you know it you had all these

636
00:38:17,602 --> 00:38:19,503
pre-production
samples disappear.

637
00:38:20,737 --> 00:38:21,967
Well, my
reaction was...

638
00:38:22,636 --> 00:38:24,706
isn't anybody
watching the factory?

639
00:38:26,105 --> 00:38:27,775
It's not like
when you go on a vacation

640
00:38:27,810 --> 00:38:29,744
you bring
a dozen back with you.

641
00:38:29,779 --> 00:38:32,813
This guy was bringing thousands
and thousands of them over.

642
00:38:33,248 --> 00:38:35,079
Scott was furious
that this was happening.

643
00:38:36,423 --> 00:38:38,621
So,
his mission was to find out

644
00:38:38,656 --> 00:38:39,721
who was doing this.

645
00:38:39,756 --> 00:38:44,528
♪

646
00:38:57,202 --> 00:38:59,708
I was a police
officer for 20 years,

647
00:38:59,743 --> 00:39:03,877
and I started my newsletter,
Pez Collectors News, in 1995.

648
00:39:03,912 --> 00:39:06,011
As a collector,
the idea of the newsletter

649
00:39:06,046 --> 00:39:09,949
was to get the word out there
to other collectors and just,

650
00:39:09,984 --> 00:39:11,687
what's out there,
and what's real,

651
00:39:11,722 --> 00:39:14,151
and is-- is there any
fakes going around.

652
00:39:16,496 --> 00:39:19,497
In a lot of senses,
Richie was the number one spy

653
00:39:19,532 --> 00:39:21,433
for, uh, Pez USA

654
00:39:21,468 --> 00:39:22,995
No, I wasn't a spy.

655
00:39:23,030 --> 00:39:26,031
People thought
I was the Pez police, but no,

656
00:39:26,066 --> 00:39:28,440
I really
didn't tell them anything.

657
00:39:28,475 --> 00:39:30,541
Did he report back to Scott?

658
00:39:31,043 --> 00:39:34,171
Yes.
Not a doubt in my brain.

659
00:39:35,581 --> 00:39:38,747
Scott McWhinnie
absolutely had a reputation

660
00:39:38,782 --> 00:39:42,080
for kind of, "the Pez
company hates collectors."

661
00:39:42,115 --> 00:39:45,050
And he's not
a particularly likeable guy.

662
00:39:45,085 --> 00:39:47,987
He's a little pompous,
he's a little full of himself,

663
00:39:48,022 --> 00:39:49,593
he's a little insecure.

664
00:39:50,195 --> 00:39:53,025
I was told by many people
that-- that Scott McWhinnie

665
00:39:53,060 --> 00:39:55,632
had spies in the Pez world.

666
00:39:55,667 --> 00:39:59,163
That anything we would say
would get back to him.

667
00:40:00,606 --> 00:40:02,166
Scott was very aware

668
00:40:02,201 --> 00:40:03,805
of the growing
collectors market.

669
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,611
He was also very well-aware
of the illegal activity

670
00:40:07,646 --> 00:40:09,008
going on
in the collectors market.

671
00:40:10,682 --> 00:40:12,583
So, one
of the first things we did

672
00:40:12,618 --> 00:40:14,211
to get information
out to them,

673
00:40:14,246 --> 00:40:17,115
was we invited Richie Belyski
up to the factory.

674
00:40:17,484 --> 00:40:20,723
He had a tour of the factory,
um, he interviewed Scott

675
00:40:20,758 --> 00:40:23,220
for an hour or two,
and we went to lunch.

676
00:40:24,564 --> 00:40:26,058
It was interesting.

677
00:40:26,093 --> 00:40:27,631
It was the first time
I was ever in there,

678
00:40:27,666 --> 00:40:29,226
and they don't give
tours to people.

679
00:40:29,261 --> 00:40:34,165
♪

680
00:40:37,274 --> 00:40:39,610
Um, yeah.
Yeah, he did.

681
00:40:39,645 --> 00:40:42,580
He was sort of a little bit
like a PR agency in a way.

682
00:40:42,615 --> 00:40:44,747
<i>That one's worth about $700.</i>

683
00:40:44,782 --> 00:40:46,078
<i>There's another sticker</i>
<i>on the back.</i>

684
00:40:46,113 --> 00:40:47,750
<i>An original sticker.</i>

685
00:40:47,785 --> 00:40:49,653
<i> Wow, that's terrific.</i>

686
00:40:49,688 --> 00:40:51,149
<i>Well, thank you, Richard.</i>
<i>We appreciate it.</i>

687
00:40:51,184 --> 00:40:52,821
<i>We all love Pez,</i>
<i>and now we know why.</i>

688
00:40:53,156 --> 00:40:56,594
I remember
when I went to the Pez factory,

689
00:40:56,629 --> 00:40:59,564
Scott McWhinnie pulled
one out of his pocket.

690
00:40:59,599 --> 00:41:01,599
He goes,
"Hey, you see this dispenser?

691
00:41:01,634 --> 00:41:03,260
-You know what this is?"
-And I said yeah.

692
00:41:03,295 --> 00:41:06,131
And he says, "Yeah,
I'm gonna be sellin' it soon."

693
00:41:09,642 --> 00:41:11,576
Bubble Man was designed
by Scott McWhinnie.

694
00:41:11,611 --> 00:41:13,237
He loved it.

695
00:41:13,272 --> 00:41:14,645
Absolutely,
he was passionate about it.

696
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:16,207
That was his.

697
00:41:20,587 --> 00:41:23,280
He had the character
developed and designed.

698
00:41:23,315 --> 00:41:26,756
Even went as far as having
the name, um, registered.

699
00:41:26,791 --> 00:41:31,695
♪

700
00:41:34,062 --> 00:41:36,733
Um,
and it was a project that Scott

701
00:41:36,768 --> 00:41:38,933
pretty much
worked on himself.

702
00:41:38,968 --> 00:41:42,167
And I-- I think he--
he cared very much about it.

703
00:41:42,202 --> 00:41:45,104
♪

704
00:41:46,745 --> 00:41:49,009
However,
that project was put on hold.

705
00:41:49,044 --> 00:41:51,814
And when Scott heard
that people were bringing

706
00:41:51,849 --> 00:41:53,882
Bubble Man over into
the United States

707
00:41:53,917 --> 00:41:55,851
and selling them for an obscene
amount of money,

708
00:41:55,886 --> 00:41:56,984
that burned him up.

709
00:41:59,219 --> 00:42:01,857
<i>Most expensive one here</i>
<i>right now is this guy here.</i>

710
00:42:01,892 --> 00:42:04,057
<i>And he's not old.</i>
<i>He's from 1992.</i>

711
00:42:04,092 --> 00:42:05,289
<i>He's called</i>
<i>the Bubble Gum Man.</i>

712
00:42:05,324 --> 00:42:06,598
<i>He's a prototype.</i>

713
00:42:07,167 --> 00:42:11,295
Scott McWhinnie was watching,
um, some news reel

714
00:42:11,330 --> 00:42:15,871
of a Pez convention,
and he saw the Bubble Man.

715
00:42:15,906 --> 00:42:17,972
Some girl had
one for sale.

716
00:42:18,007 --> 00:42:19,941
<i> There's only about</i>
<i>20 known in the whole world.</i>

717
00:42:19,976 --> 00:42:21,745
<i>It was something they designed</i>

718
00:42:21,780 --> 00:42:23,681
<i>that they didn't have to</i>
<i>pay licensing for.</i>

719
00:42:23,716 --> 00:42:25,342
<i>Manufactured a few,</i>
<i>and looked at it and said,</i>

720
00:42:25,377 --> 00:42:27,212
<i>"what were we thinking</i>
<i>when we made this?"</i>

721
00:42:27,247 --> 00:42:29,214
<i>-And that was the end of that.</i>
<i>-It's butt ugly.</i>

722
00:42:29,249 --> 00:42:31,249
-<i> That's right.</i>

723
00:42:32,956 --> 00:42:35,220
And Scott McWhinnie
had a fit.

724
00:42:35,255 --> 00:42:36,760
<i> And right now</i>
<i>his asking price</i>

725
00:42:36,795 --> 00:42:38,190
<i>is $1200.</i>

726
00:42:38,225 --> 00:42:40,632
<i>Wow, $1200 for a Pez?</i>

727
00:42:40,667 --> 00:42:41,732
<i>That's amazing.</i>

728
00:42:49,775 --> 00:42:52,974
At this point, when Scott
became aware of the-- the abuse

729
00:42:53,009 --> 00:42:56,912
that was going,
the best way of killing that

730
00:42:56,947 --> 00:43:00,685
was to take those dispensers
and put them into the direct

731
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:03,248
marketing program, and sell
it to all the collectors

732
00:43:03,283 --> 00:43:05,316
at a reasonable price.

733
00:43:05,918 --> 00:43:07,692
Okay,
this is Bubble Man.

734
00:43:07,727 --> 00:43:09,254
It's worth nothing.

735
00:43:09,289 --> 00:43:11,289
Everybody shouted,
"Bubble Man! Bubble Man!"

736
00:43:11,324 --> 00:43:13,159
These are absolutely rare.
They will not produce it.

737
00:43:13,194 --> 00:43:14,798
And then it--
then they produced it.

738
00:43:15,233 --> 00:43:18,736
Maybe actually on purpose
to-- to-- to--

739
00:43:18,771 --> 00:43:20,100
to damage the collector scene.

740
00:43:20,469 --> 00:43:23,972
The reason that anybody
was willing to pay 1200

741
00:43:24,007 --> 00:43:26,073
to begin with was because,
at the time,

742
00:43:26,108 --> 00:43:28,108
they thought that
there were less than ten.

743
00:43:28,143 --> 00:43:29,681
I gotta tell you,

744
00:43:29,716 --> 00:43:31,210
when we put Bubble Man
out there,

745
00:43:31,245 --> 00:43:33,179
it was insane
the amount of orders we got.

746
00:43:33,581 --> 00:43:35,951
People want 'em, you know,
for a $1.99.

747
00:43:35,986 --> 00:43:38,085
You got
a $1200 dispenser.

748
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,120
So, it was like--

749
00:43:40,155 --> 00:43:42,452
They've sold more
Bubble Boy than any--

750
00:43:42,487 --> 00:43:45,092
probably any
damn dispenser ever,

751
00:43:45,127 --> 00:43:47,963
and it came out
of Scott being so mad

752
00:43:47,998 --> 00:43:49,833
that
he couldn't see straight,

753
00:43:49,868 --> 00:43:53,738
and ordering
the product to stomp on us.

754
00:43:54,873 --> 00:43:56,235
You deal with the devil.

755
00:43:57,909 --> 00:44:00,437
And in all honesty,
Scott McWhinnie

756
00:44:00,472 --> 00:44:02,406
was my arch-nemesis.

757
00:44:03,244 --> 00:44:04,441
Oh, I hated his guts.

758
00:44:05,010 --> 00:44:09,886
And that's when I decided
to become the Pez Outlaw.

759
00:44:13,023 --> 00:44:16,321
I needed a vessel.
A person.

760
00:44:18,226 --> 00:44:20,292
I needed to build him.

761
00:44:20,327 --> 00:44:23,933
So that I can draw him in
when I need him.

762
00:44:23,968 --> 00:44:27,772
I definitely viewed the whole
thing as an adventure.

763
00:44:27,807 --> 00:44:31,039
The money,
the travel, the quest.

764
00:44:31,674 --> 00:44:35,912
My goal from that point on
was for accumulation.

765
00:44:35,947 --> 00:44:39,410
I needed the product
so I could beat Scott.

766
00:44:39,445 --> 00:44:43,315
Every sale I could take away
from Scott McWhinnie

767
00:44:43,350 --> 00:44:45,218
was a nail in his coffin.

768
00:44:47,189 --> 00:44:50,058
As the Pez Outlaw,
ain't nothing stops me.

769
00:44:50,093 --> 00:44:51,895
I mean,
for good or ill.

770
00:44:54,196 --> 00:44:55,800
I will win.

771
00:44:56,435 --> 00:44:59,034
I will win.
In the end.

772
00:45:03,469 --> 00:45:06,041
At that point,
we were going to Europe

773
00:45:06,076 --> 00:45:08,846
about every three
or four weeks.

774
00:45:08,881 --> 00:45:12,278
And going to shows
in between that.

775
00:45:12,313 --> 00:45:14,379
Sometimes
even landing at shows

776
00:45:14,414 --> 00:45:16,249
and going directly to them.

777
00:45:22,422 --> 00:45:24,323
We had so much cash

778
00:45:24,358 --> 00:45:27,095
a-- after some of these
conventions that,

779
00:45:27,130 --> 00:45:29,526
you know, you-- you did
feel like a rock star.

780
00:45:29,561 --> 00:45:33,068
I had so much money
that I was absolutely drunk.

781
00:45:33,103 --> 00:45:35,367
<i>And ta-da,</i>
<i>we have a basement.</i>

782
00:45:36,876 --> 00:45:39,074
But I mean,
we bought a ton of things.

783
00:45:39,109 --> 00:45:41,043
We bought a new house.

784
00:45:41,078 --> 00:45:43,342
<i>Well, guess what?</i>
<i>Here's my house in the ditch.</i>

785
00:45:43,777 --> 00:45:45,949
My mom really was able

786
00:45:45,984 --> 00:45:48,182
to have the freedom with them
coming into a little more money

787
00:45:48,217 --> 00:45:50,789
to really pursue
what she wanted to do.

788
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:01,327
She went to schooling
to become

789
00:46:01,362 --> 00:46:03,362
a therapeutic
horseback riding instructor.

790
00:46:06,598 --> 00:46:09,137
Steve had become
<i>nouveau riche </i> at this point.

791
00:46:09,172 --> 00:46:12,041
His Pez market was booming.

792
00:46:12,076 --> 00:46:15,044
He was making tons of money,
which he never had before.

793
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:16,441
Hey, that's
how I was doing things.

794
00:46:16,476 --> 00:46:18,179
I just-- talk to my bank.

795
00:46:18,214 --> 00:46:19,378
Do this, do that.

796
00:46:19,847 --> 00:46:21,578
He was so generous
with his money,

797
00:46:21,613 --> 00:46:23,954
he paid his family
and all his helpers well.

798
00:46:23,989 --> 00:46:26,418
I benefitted,
'cause I got to go to college

799
00:46:26,453 --> 00:46:28,222
without having to pay
for any of it.

800
00:46:28,791 --> 00:46:31,093
It was magic.
The whole time was magic.

801
00:46:31,656 --> 00:46:32,930
I won the lottery.

802
00:46:36,496 --> 00:46:39,629
Pez Outlaw was
so dominant in the marketplace

803
00:46:39,664 --> 00:46:42,137
that Scott McWhinnie,
the Pezident...

804
00:46:43,569 --> 00:46:45,008
He was losing.

805
00:46:45,043 --> 00:46:47,274
They advertised nothing.

806
00:46:47,876 --> 00:46:52,015
I had two full-page ads
in one publication,

807
00:46:52,050 --> 00:46:54,886
a full-page ad
in another publication...

808
00:46:54,921 --> 00:46:56,349
every month.

809
00:46:56,384 --> 00:46:58,417
He was blatantly
advertising these things.

810
00:46:58,886 --> 00:47:01,189
There's the easiest way
to find out.

811
00:47:01,224 --> 00:47:02,861
Steve was his own worst enemy.

812
00:47:03,697 --> 00:47:05,655
You know, put a billboard up,
here I am, guys.

813
00:47:05,690 --> 00:47:08,163
Come after me.
So, it's like--

814
00:47:08,198 --> 00:47:10,132
Well, you gotta remember,
at the end of the day,

815
00:47:10,167 --> 00:47:11,430
Pez is a brand.

816
00:47:11,465 --> 00:47:13,234
It's a registered brand.

817
00:47:13,269 --> 00:47:15,104
You go over there
on vacation, you bring back,

818
00:47:15,139 --> 00:47:16,908
you know,
a dozen, yourself.

819
00:47:16,943 --> 00:47:18,470
You can sell them online.
Nobody cares about that.

820
00:47:18,972 --> 00:47:20,505
When you start selling
thousands of 'em,

821
00:47:21,140 --> 00:47:23,145
and you're running
full-page ads...

822
00:47:23,647 --> 00:47:25,279
now you become a business.

823
00:47:25,314 --> 00:47:27,380
Scott took it
very seriously,

824
00:47:27,415 --> 00:47:30,185
"I'm gonna protect my product,
I'm gonna protect my brand.

825
00:47:30,220 --> 00:47:31,615
They're not gonna get
away with that any longer.

826
00:47:32,959 --> 00:47:34,354
♪

827
00:47:48,667 --> 00:47:50,667
After I couldn't
go with him anymore,

828
00:47:50,702 --> 00:47:55,980
um, I wasn't scared for him,
but I definitely was surprised,

829
00:47:56,015 --> 00:48:00,578
uh, that, you know,
he was able to-- to go alone.

830
00:48:03,682 --> 00:48:05,253
It was very nerve-wracking

831
00:48:05,288 --> 00:48:06,551
headin' off on my own.

832
00:48:22,734 --> 00:48:27,341
I think his mental health,
uh, state of mind,

833
00:48:27,376 --> 00:48:29,640
ex-drug persona, has to--

834
00:48:29,675 --> 00:48:32,379
it-- it can't not
play into paranoias.

835
00:48:36,352 --> 00:48:38,484
I learned
to protect my space.

836
00:48:44,327 --> 00:48:48,296
Getting off the
highway, taking back roads.

837
00:48:49,530 --> 00:48:51,167
Totally paranoid.

838
00:48:51,202 --> 00:48:52,630
I saw people
following me all the time.

839
00:48:53,666 --> 00:48:56,700
If I thought there was somebody
behind me, man, I'd ditch 'em.

840
00:49:04,314 --> 00:49:06,743
He had things
to be paranoid about.

841
00:49:06,778 --> 00:49:11,484
So, I would imagine that
he didn't know who to trust.

842
00:49:13,554 --> 00:49:15,620
Coming
from the Midwest,

843
00:49:15,655 --> 00:49:21,428
I had never seen officials
with machine guns.

844
00:49:23,069 --> 00:49:26,532
So, every border crossing
was a threat.

845
00:49:28,536 --> 00:49:30,734
Not just the people
with machine guns...

846
00:49:32,705 --> 00:49:35,541
...but the biggest nightmare
would be losing the load.

847
00:49:37,413 --> 00:49:38,742
That mattered.

848
00:49:42,220 --> 00:49:44,583
Every bag
out on to the blacktop.

849
00:49:45,352 --> 00:49:48,455
Every bag open.
Every bag dumped.

850
00:49:51,130 --> 00:49:53,130
Could I have possibly
gotten arrested?

851
00:49:53,165 --> 00:49:55,099
Yes.

852
00:49:55,134 --> 00:49:58,333
Would traps have been laid?
Yes.

853
00:50:00,271 --> 00:50:02,700
Sometimes, all he really wanted
was a bribe.

854
00:50:04,275 --> 00:50:06,704
I learned, if something
happens of that nature...

855
00:50:09,544 --> 00:50:11,148
Hand out some money,
you're done.

856
00:50:17,618 --> 00:50:21,521
Being that close to illegal,
maybe illegal.

857
00:50:21,556 --> 00:50:23,358
Of course you're paranoid.

858
00:50:27,859 --> 00:50:29,397
Scott never,
ever went to Europe

859
00:50:29,432 --> 00:50:30,794
to go chase down Steve.

860
00:50:30,829 --> 00:50:32,466
So, there--
there's none of this,

861
00:50:32,501 --> 00:50:34,171
you know, Scott
in a dark suit, you know,

862
00:50:34,206 --> 00:50:35,667
trying-- you know,
hiding behind corners.

863
00:50:35,702 --> 00:50:37,240
You know,
"I got you, Glew."

864
00:50:37,275 --> 00:50:38,571
You know?

865
00:50:38,606 --> 00:50:40,177
There wasn't
any of that drama.

866
00:50:40,212 --> 00:50:41,343
None of that ever existed.

867
00:50:42,676 --> 00:50:44,511
Would Scott McWhinnie
have tried

868
00:50:44,546 --> 00:50:46,249
to have people follow me?

869
00:50:46,284 --> 00:50:47,811
Yeah, he would've done that.
In a heartbeat.

870
00:50:49,749 --> 00:50:52,156
But if they were following me,
I did shake 'em.

871
00:51:18,184 --> 00:51:19,348
Steve Glew
was standing here.

872
00:51:21,649 --> 00:51:24,386
This was the place-- the place
Steve Glew was waiting for me.

873
00:51:25,088 --> 00:51:27,785
I just decided
to go visit Johann.

874
00:51:27,820 --> 00:51:29,490
I don't know
how I had his address,

875
00:51:29,525 --> 00:51:31,855
where I got it,
I have no idea, but I did.

876
00:51:31,890 --> 00:51:33,560
He came to me
without appointment.

877
00:51:33,595 --> 00:51:35,463
He just was standing
in front of my door.

878
00:51:35,498 --> 00:51:38,499
All of a sudden,
a guy pulls up on a, uh...

879
00:51:39,304 --> 00:51:40,897
mo-- motorbike.

880
00:51:40,932 --> 00:51:43,207
And I said, "You are lucky,
I am Johann Patek."

881
00:51:43,242 --> 00:51:44,571
And he said,
"Oh, I am Steve Glew

882
00:51:44,606 --> 00:51:46,705
from America
and I want to buy Pez."

883
00:51:46,740 --> 00:51:48,311
I just wanted to buy Pez.

884
00:51:48,846 --> 00:51:50,676
My answer was,
"Oh, yes, let's do."

885
00:51:50,711 --> 00:51:53,382
Let's do some deals
and I will show you something.

886
00:51:55,683 --> 00:51:57,452
I ask him to wait outside,

887
00:51:57,487 --> 00:52:00,455
and then I went in
and brought him some Pez.

888
00:52:00,957 --> 00:52:02,622
I had to sit on the curb

889
00:52:02,657 --> 00:52:05,757
outside this house he owned.

890
00:52:05,792 --> 00:52:07,726
While he went in
and got the product.

891
00:52:13,404 --> 00:52:15,206
Johann Patek. Yes.

892
00:52:16,309 --> 00:52:20,310
I do not know very much
about him that I would tell.

893
00:52:23,744 --> 00:52:25,249
It's all very basic here.

894
00:52:30,949 --> 00:52:33,422
Johann
is a collector in Austria.

895
00:52:33,457 --> 00:52:34,918
You know,
is this off the record?

896
00:52:34,953 --> 00:52:37,327
-Oh, okay.

897
00:52:42,565 --> 00:52:44,598
"What's in there?"
I don't tell you.

898
00:52:45,997 --> 00:52:47,436
I will tell you later.

899
00:52:48,802 --> 00:52:50,637
There's not much
to tell there.

900
00:52:50,672 --> 00:52:54,542
I mean, he's basically
just been a competitor of mine.

901
00:52:56,480 --> 00:52:58,579
And now, something
dangerous will appear.

902
00:52:58,614 --> 00:52:59,976
Let me see. Uh.

903
00:53:00,011 --> 00:53:03,386
Hi, guys. Hands up,
or I shoot you.

904
00:53:04,587 --> 00:53:07,225
It's a genuine Pez shooter.

905
00:53:07,594 --> 00:53:09,755
Now, Zorro. Oho.

906
00:53:10,824 --> 00:53:12,362
I am fighting for the poor.

907
00:53:12,397 --> 00:53:14,364
I am taking
the money from the rich.

908
00:53:14,399 --> 00:53:15,893
I am Zorro and I--

909
00:53:15,928 --> 00:53:17,730
so everybody
could recognize me,

910
00:53:17,765 --> 00:53:19,864
I have Zorro
written on my stem.

911
00:53:19,899 --> 00:53:22,372
Otherwise, somebody would say,
"I am a bank robber."

912
00:53:23,408 --> 00:53:24,869
He knows everybody.

913
00:53:25,304 --> 00:53:27,278
But, yeah, he's a--

914
00:53:30,415 --> 00:53:32,580
Um...

915
00:53:32,615 --> 00:53:34,912
He was in the right
place at the right time.

916
00:53:34,947 --> 00:53:39,257
Steve happened in and kind of
got in that territory.

917
00:53:39,959 --> 00:53:43,294
Um, and I don't know
if they're friends.

918
00:53:52,833 --> 00:53:54,437
Can we go up there and film?

919
00:53:54,472 --> 00:53:55,999
-No.
-No?

920
00:53:56,434 --> 00:53:58,639
-Okay, well, why not?
-No.

921
00:53:58,674 --> 00:54:01,873
Because this will--
in-- affect my business.

922
00:54:01,908 --> 00:54:03,347
Oh, I have to...

923
00:54:03,982 --> 00:54:06,515
...be silent
because I'm on a tape.

924
00:54:07,452 --> 00:54:08,682
I have no business.

925
00:54:08,717 --> 00:54:10,552
I never was
a businessman.

926
00:54:10,587 --> 00:54:14,688
I always wanted to be
part of the collectors game.

927
00:54:16,527 --> 00:54:17,988
He just
didn't want me to see.

928
00:54:19,530 --> 00:54:22,630
If people knew
how much he actually had,

929
00:54:22,665 --> 00:54:24,665
like, if I had opened
my mouth to the world

930
00:54:24,700 --> 00:54:26,502
that he had one bazillion...

931
00:54:27,835 --> 00:54:29,703
uh, the value
would have plummeted.

932
00:54:29,738 --> 00:54:32,508
Then, all of a sudden,
he wasn't interested anymore.

933
00:54:32,543 --> 00:54:34,070
Because he thought
he-- he could get it

934
00:54:34,105 --> 00:54:35,874
for an apple and an egg.

935
00:54:35,909 --> 00:54:40,483
But this was not so,
and so we parted our ways.

936
00:54:42,718 --> 00:54:44,718
He did not even know
what he was doing.

937
00:54:44,753 --> 00:54:46,687
I mean,
every dedicated collector

938
00:54:46,722 --> 00:54:49,118
is crazy a little bit
in his mind.

939
00:54:49,153 --> 00:54:51,494
Because otherwise
he would not be a collector.

940
00:54:51,529 --> 00:54:53,463
Collecting is, um,

941
00:54:53,498 --> 00:54:55,630
more or less a-- a disease.

942
00:55:11,813 --> 00:55:14,418
I think
my symptoms of anxiety,

943
00:55:14,453 --> 00:55:17,553
depression,
the highs, the lows,

944
00:55:17,588 --> 00:55:21,458
where you-- you-- the minute
you've-- you get high,

945
00:55:21,493 --> 00:55:22,756
the immediate thought...

946
00:55:23,325 --> 00:55:24,956
is what you know is coming.

947
00:55:25,827 --> 00:55:26,859
The low.

948
00:55:27,328 --> 00:55:28,993
So, you don't even
get to enjoy it.

949
00:55:51,721 --> 00:55:53,083
In my brain,

950
00:55:53,118 --> 00:55:55,184
I decided that
what was going on--

951
00:55:55,219 --> 00:55:56,988
well,
I just made something up.

952
00:56:01,467 --> 00:56:03,401
I have a very good...

953
00:56:04,063 --> 00:56:05,634
imagination, and...

954
00:56:06,069 --> 00:56:08,967
my heart is in creation.

955
00:56:09,002 --> 00:56:10,067
Hah!

956
00:56:11,136 --> 00:56:12,410
It's actually straight.

957
00:56:53,079 --> 00:56:55,112
By that time,
I had my master's in business.

958
00:56:55,147 --> 00:56:57,213
And I'd always envisioned,
you know,

959
00:56:57,248 --> 00:56:59,754
coming and working
for my dad, uh, anyways.

960
00:56:59,789 --> 00:57:01,624
He had the momentum,

961
00:57:01,659 --> 00:57:04,627
he had the pockets,
he had the mechanism in place.

962
00:57:07,731 --> 00:57:09,159
We had six employees,

963
00:57:09,194 --> 00:57:10,732
Josh was on the team.

964
00:57:12,131 --> 00:57:15,132
And I continued
my adventures as Pez Outlaw.

965
00:57:15,934 --> 00:57:19,675
I enjoyed messing
with Scott McWhinnie.

966
00:57:19,710 --> 00:57:21,644
He'd go
into boardrooms in Europe,

967
00:57:21,679 --> 00:57:24,746
screaming and yelling
and calling everybody names.

968
00:57:24,781 --> 00:57:27,276
Here he is,
some president

969
00:57:27,311 --> 00:57:30,048
of an international
corporation.

970
00:57:30,083 --> 00:57:31,819
-I am Pez USA! I am--
-And yet,

971
00:57:31,854 --> 00:57:33,755
I'm the number one thing
on his mind?

972
00:57:33,790 --> 00:57:35,691
Oh, my God,
I think I love you.

973
00:57:36,193 --> 00:57:39,629
We could've, um, sued him.
Brought him to court.

974
00:57:39,664 --> 00:57:41,730
The time, the money,
the frustration,

975
00:57:41,765 --> 00:57:43,666
to sue this guy.

976
00:57:43,701 --> 00:57:46,130
I have other ways I could
do it for a lot less money.

977
00:57:51,236 --> 00:57:55,205
I doubt literally
that people were following me.

978
00:58:03,919 --> 00:58:05,655
Yeah, the Shadow.

979
00:58:05,690 --> 00:58:07,250
The Shadow was following him.

980
00:58:15,260 --> 00:58:16,567
That's fun.

981
00:58:16,602 --> 00:58:17,667
That's fun.

982
00:58:18,967 --> 00:58:21,264
It ain't paranoid
if it turns out to be true.

983
00:58:32,376 --> 00:58:35,113
Scott would call
his counterparts over in Europe

984
00:58:35,148 --> 00:58:37,588
and discuss
these illegal dispensers

985
00:58:37,623 --> 00:58:39,887
that Steve was importing
and selling,

986
00:58:39,922 --> 00:58:43,319
and about having a stop put
to it, and the Europeans agreed

987
00:58:43,354 --> 00:58:46,663
to hire a private investigator
to put an end to it.

988
00:58:46,698 --> 00:58:48,797
I don't know who that was,
'cause they're private.

989
00:58:50,768 --> 00:58:52,196
Did they find out anything?

990
00:58:53,065 --> 00:58:55,001
It-- it seemed
like there was pieces

991
00:58:55,036 --> 00:58:58,004
of the puzzle that
were hard to put together.

992
00:58:58,039 --> 00:59:00,270
I mean, I have
my own personal theories...

993
00:59:01,240 --> 00:59:02,877
that...

994
00:59:02,912 --> 00:59:04,681
you know, I think
that maybe there was

995
00:59:04,716 --> 00:59:06,650
some people with-- inside
the company at the time

996
00:59:06,685 --> 00:59:08,146
that were doing things
they shouldn't have been doing.

997
00:59:08,648 --> 00:59:10,313
Steve has told us that...

998
00:59:10,848 --> 00:59:12,920
Gunther Leitner was actually

999
00:59:12,955 --> 00:59:14,790
selling things
under the table to him.

1000
00:59:14,825 --> 00:59:15,989
No.

1001
00:59:16,391 --> 00:59:18,255
I mean,
my experience with Gunther,

1002
00:59:18,290 --> 00:59:19,861
he was always
an upstanding man.

1003
00:59:19,896 --> 00:59:21,390
Upstanding businessman.

1004
00:59:21,425 --> 00:59:23,865
Gunther was well-known
in the Pez organization

1005
00:59:23,900 --> 00:59:25,262
because he was in
charge of the factories.

1006
00:59:25,697 --> 00:59:28,771
You know, he was the--
the top guy, so...

1007
00:59:28,806 --> 00:59:31,334
that-- that would be
beneath him, to do that.

1008
00:59:39,311 --> 00:59:41,916
♪

1009
00:59:41,951 --> 00:59:44,182
-Dog, come here.

1010
01:00:30,197 --> 01:00:32,263
David Welch?
Do you know that name?

1011
01:02:30,383 --> 01:02:32,790
Steve Glew
became so notorious...

1012
01:02:33,419 --> 01:02:35,254
that even over there,

1013
01:02:35,289 --> 01:02:38,928
they had pictures
of Steve Glew in the factory.

1014
01:02:39,630 --> 01:02:43,097
And Pez even decided,
let's put video cameras

1015
01:02:43,132 --> 01:02:46,166
here-- there-- there,
24/7 on the lines,

1016
01:02:46,201 --> 01:02:49,532
so if somebody came in at night
or whatever, we can see them.

1017
01:02:58,510 --> 01:03:01,181
It was definitely
a cat and mouse game

1018
01:03:01,216 --> 01:03:02,380
between McWhinnie and I.

1019
01:03:02,415 --> 01:03:04,118
-I was a threat.

1020
01:03:06,254 --> 01:03:08,485
So, yes,
there were meetings a-- amongst

1021
01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:11,928
myself and Scott and other
people within the company.

1022
01:03:11,963 --> 01:03:13,160
But he was passionate
about it.

1023
01:03:13,862 --> 01:03:16,427
And-- and passionate
that, you know,

1024
01:03:16,462 --> 01:03:17,901
that he wanted 'em stopped.

1025
01:03:23,172 --> 01:03:25,106
I had to be very careful.

1026
01:03:25,141 --> 01:03:26,470
Very careful.

1027
01:03:26,505 --> 01:03:28,208
Where I went,
how much exposure

1028
01:03:28,243 --> 01:03:30,111
I gave myself.

1029
01:03:30,146 --> 01:03:33,114
They just knew who I was.
Everybody knew who I was.

1030
01:03:34,579 --> 01:03:35,611
♪

1031
01:03:39,386 --> 01:03:41,859
On one of the last trips
to Europe...

1032
01:03:43,060 --> 01:03:46,160
it's like visiting
this very special,

1033
01:03:46,195 --> 01:03:47,656
wonderful place.

1034
01:03:47,691 --> 01:03:50,934
And the door
to the factory offices

1035
01:03:50,969 --> 01:03:52,100
was wide open.

1036
01:03:52,938 --> 01:03:54,498
And Gunther...

1037
01:03:54,533 --> 01:03:56,104
...Gunther
happened to be there.

1038
01:03:56,673 --> 01:04:00,075
And he came running
out of the offices

1039
01:04:00,110 --> 01:04:01,670
into the parking lot,

1040
01:04:01,705 --> 01:04:04,442
and he just goes,
"You cannot be here!

1041
01:04:04,477 --> 01:04:07,511
You cannot be here!
I cannot be seen with you!

1042
01:04:07,546 --> 01:04:09,579
I don't know you!
I don't know you!"

1043
01:04:15,587 --> 01:04:18,357
After that,
I knew I was persona non grata.

1044
01:04:20,097 --> 01:04:22,064
And if I went near
the place--

1045
01:04:22,099 --> 01:04:25,562
I mean, poor Marcos saw me and,
you know, it's just,

1046
01:04:25,597 --> 01:04:29,269
big hearted wonderful Marcos,
who you love dearly.

1047
01:04:29,304 --> 01:04:31,568
Won't look at you,
won't say a word.

1048
01:04:32,504 --> 01:04:35,209
They were afraid of me
because I could get 'em fired.

1049
01:04:35,644 --> 01:04:38,179
Um, they were afraid
to lose their jobs.

1050
01:04:38,214 --> 01:04:39,378
Every one of 'em.

1051
01:04:39,913 --> 01:04:42,216
Even knowing me
or saying they liked me

1052
01:04:42,251 --> 01:04:44,482
could cost them
their job and their livelihood.

1053
01:04:44,917 --> 01:04:48,321
And eventually it did shut
their factories down.

1054
01:04:50,391 --> 01:04:52,622
Uh, Kolinska turned into a...

1055
01:04:53,057 --> 01:04:55,064
a ketchup factory, and soup.

1056
01:04:56,529 --> 01:04:59,101
Ormoz turned
into a dustpan factory.

1057
01:04:59,136 --> 01:05:02,203
And, uh,
I don't say it with a brag.

1058
01:05:02,772 --> 01:05:05,206
But I accept responsibility

1059
01:05:05,241 --> 01:05:08,176
for both being shut down
because of me.

1060
01:05:09,410 --> 01:05:11,113
It had nothing
to do with Steve Glew.

1061
01:05:12,710 --> 01:05:14,985
There wasn't
one decision made

1062
01:05:15,020 --> 01:05:19,583
regarding a factory that had
anything to do with Steve Glew.

1063
01:05:19,618 --> 01:05:21,255
Zero.

1064
01:05:23,787 --> 01:05:26,095
I could see
the writing on the wall.

1065
01:05:26,130 --> 01:05:28,295
I was headin'
down the tubes.

1066
01:05:28,330 --> 01:05:30,396
Scott McWhinnie was winning
at that point,

1067
01:05:30,431 --> 01:05:35,368
because when you make it
impossible for somebody

1068
01:05:35,403 --> 01:05:38,305
to buy the thing
that competes, you win.

1069
01:05:38,340 --> 01:05:41,011
Yeah,
it was deeply frustrating.

1070
01:05:41,046 --> 01:05:42,738
I got the hell
out of there and...

1071
01:05:44,181 --> 01:05:45,246
it was just sad.

1072
01:05:55,225 --> 01:05:56,389
Once I got home...

1073
01:06:00,230 --> 01:06:02,461
there really wasn't room
for old me anymore.

1074
01:06:11,439 --> 01:06:14,044
Kathy's hands
started twitching.

1075
01:06:14,780 --> 01:06:17,641
And, uh, the Parkinson's
started coming on.

1076
01:06:27,125 --> 01:06:28,223
I can't do that.

1077
01:06:28,258 --> 01:06:29,455
Not gonna do that.

1078
01:06:32,658 --> 01:06:33,723
Not doing that.

1079
01:06:36,794 --> 01:06:39,102
The whole story's about her.

1080
01:06:40,435 --> 01:06:41,500
I was busy.

1081
01:06:42,169 --> 01:06:44,074
Being what I call
Pez Outlaw,

1082
01:06:44,109 --> 01:06:46,670
and doing
what I needed to do

1083
01:06:46,705 --> 01:06:49,277
to earn what I thought
was being a man then.

1084
01:06:53,250 --> 01:06:56,614
But I knew
that I needed to be better.

1085
01:07:03,161 --> 01:07:04,820
<i>It's okay, you'll be</i>
<i>all grown-up and spotted,</i>

1086
01:07:04,855 --> 01:07:06,558
<i>and we'll show</i>
<i>you these pictures.</i>

1087
01:07:07,460 --> 01:07:10,661
As things became
more difficult for my mom...

1088
01:07:12,302 --> 01:07:15,765
he stepped up
to a new level of being

1089
01:07:15,800 --> 01:07:18,372
that I don't even think
the closest people,

1090
01:07:18,407 --> 01:07:19,736
you know, in our lives,

1091
01:07:19,771 --> 01:07:22,442
would've ever expected
to happen.

1092
01:07:22,477 --> 01:07:23,542
Um...

1093
01:07:24,578 --> 01:07:25,742
but that...

1094
01:07:27,317 --> 01:07:28,547
that's how much
he loves her.

1095
01:07:28,582 --> 01:07:29,680
My mom.

1096
01:07:36,590 --> 01:07:38,689
I used to think
I had to ride a horse...

1097
01:07:39,725 --> 01:07:41,494
to be the man
she could love.

1098
01:07:42,230 --> 01:07:44,596
She liked horses, so,
"Ooh, I gotta be a cowboy."

1099
01:07:44,631 --> 01:07:47,203
So, I tried to be a cow--
You ain't gotta be a cowboy.

1100
01:07:47,238 --> 01:07:49,733
Be useful. Be decent.

1101
01:07:49,768 --> 01:07:51,405
Be kind.

1102
01:07:51,440 --> 01:07:52,604
Tell her you love her.

1103
01:08:08,226 --> 01:08:11,227
I went out
and did this crazy thing

1104
01:08:11,262 --> 01:08:14,164
because this crazy thing
took care of my family.

1105
01:08:16,465 --> 01:08:18,729
But if I was gonna
continue with Pez,

1106
01:08:18,764 --> 01:08:22,172
I realized that
I had to take action.

1107
01:08:22,207 --> 01:08:23,899
We gotta find
other ways to do things.

1108
01:08:24,334 --> 01:08:26,572
And that is what led to...

1109
01:08:27,674 --> 01:08:29,278
the big decision.

1110
01:08:35,715 --> 01:08:38,914
Trying to find...
There we go.

1111
01:08:41,688 --> 01:08:45,822
After buying
all this product for so long,

1112
01:08:46,925 --> 01:08:50,794
i-- it finally occurred to me,
why don't I create my own?

1113
01:08:50,829 --> 01:08:54,765
Um, I had a lot of good ideas,
just like Marcos.

1114
01:08:54,800 --> 01:08:56,866
He's gonna hate me for this.

1115
01:08:58,639 --> 01:09:00,408
Steve was very creative.

1116
01:09:00,443 --> 01:09:01,871
He kept coming up with all
these different

1117
01:09:01,906 --> 01:09:03,576
interesting
color variations like, um,

1118
01:09:03,611 --> 01:09:06,678
crystal Pez
with see-through heads.

1119
01:09:06,713 --> 01:09:09,747
If the order was,
you know, large quantities,

1120
01:09:09,782 --> 01:09:13,751
anyone can get anything
directly from a factory.

1121
01:09:13,786 --> 01:09:17,491
I decided to create
my own designs.

1122
01:09:17,526 --> 01:09:21,363
I'd named 'em
the "Holiday Colors."

1123
01:09:22,132 --> 01:09:24,927
The half million-dollar order
was my attempt to come out

1124
01:09:24,962 --> 01:09:27,831
of the shadows,
and do business openly.

1125
01:09:30,605 --> 01:09:32,242
I was trying to go legit.

1126
01:09:32,277 --> 01:09:34,442
Yes, definitely
I was trying to go legit.

1127
01:09:34,477 --> 01:09:36,609
And not have to talk
in code.

1128
01:09:37,244 --> 01:09:41,251
And, uh, be able to say,
"Yes, this is my product."

1129
01:09:47,655 --> 01:09:49,655
I mortgaged my house.

1130
01:09:50,724 --> 01:09:52,427
I took out a line of credit.

1131
01:09:52,462 --> 01:09:54,990
-That got me 250 of it.

1132
01:09:55,025 --> 01:09:57,960
And then, believe it or not,
I had 250 cash.

1133
01:09:58,662 --> 01:10:01,403
You know,
we went from bringing it back

1134
01:10:01,438 --> 01:10:03,339
in, uh, duffle bags,

1135
01:10:03,374 --> 01:10:06,408
to importing it through
a broker in Grand Rapids.

1136
01:10:06,443 --> 01:10:09,510
And we were spending
huge amounts of money.

1137
01:10:14,649 --> 01:10:16,847
They created
all my product...

1138
01:10:17,416 --> 01:10:20,785
in the name that
it was going to, like, Taiwan.

1139
01:10:20,820 --> 01:10:23,491
And Taiwan packaging.

1140
01:10:24,593 --> 01:10:26,989
Rerouted it to me.

1141
01:10:27,860 --> 01:10:30,630
Legally. On paper, legally.

1142
01:10:41,940 --> 01:10:44,578
I laid out
the whole business plan, and...

1143
01:10:45,213 --> 01:10:48,010
I could afford to pay
just under five bucks

1144
01:10:48,045 --> 01:10:50,716
per to have them made.

1145
01:10:51,618 --> 01:10:55,523
And then sell 'em for 25
and be on a good profit margin.

1146
01:10:57,923 --> 01:11:00,528
And I'd been assured that

1147
01:11:00,563 --> 01:11:03,058
this was going to be
exclusive to me.

1148
01:11:04,831 --> 01:11:08,030
And I have faxes
of those assurances.

1149
01:11:13,873 --> 01:11:15,609
We were set.

1150
01:11:15,644 --> 01:11:18,876
Half a million dollars
was gonna turn into...

1151
01:11:18,911 --> 01:11:22,517
a minimum
of 2.5 million dollars.

1152
01:11:22,552 --> 01:11:25,047
And then Christmas time
rolls around,

1153
01:11:25,082 --> 01:11:26,950
and I was just so excited.

1154
01:11:30,461 --> 01:11:31,757
<i>♪ What is Christmas? ♪</i>

1155
01:11:31,792 --> 01:11:33,528
<i>♪ Christmas is for living ♪</i>

1156
01:11:33,563 --> 01:11:35,090
<i>♪ What is Christmas? ♪</i>

1157
01:11:35,125 --> 01:11:37,532
<i>♪ Christmas is for love ♪</i>

1158
01:11:37,567 --> 01:11:40,667
<i>♪ Christmas</i>
<i>is for taking dreams ♪</i>

1159
01:11:40,702 --> 01:11:43,637
<i>♪ And making</i>
<i>dreams come true... ♪</i>

1160
01:11:43,672 --> 01:11:46,376
Oh, my God.
Are you kiddin' me?

1161
01:11:46,411 --> 01:11:49,643
<i>♪ ...everyone,</i>
<i>especially for you ♪</i>

1162
01:11:49,678 --> 01:11:52,910
Everything I wanted
was in front of me.

1163
01:12:08,466 --> 01:12:10,763
This is the stuff
people dream of.

1164
01:12:10,798 --> 01:12:17,440
<i>♪ Christmas is for everyone,</i>
<i>especially for you ♪</i>

1165
01:12:18,641 --> 01:12:20,102
The best thing in the world.

1166
01:12:20,137 --> 01:12:22,610
And Scott McWhinnie,
I'm not done yet.

1167
01:12:40,124 --> 01:12:42,157
We started selling
it at conventions,

1168
01:12:42,192 --> 01:12:45,061
I started
selling it at toy shows.

1169
01:12:45,096 --> 01:12:47,470
Everybody wanted his colors.

1170
01:12:47,505 --> 01:12:49,604
You know,
he had five different stems

1171
01:12:49,639 --> 01:12:51,936
of a yellow snowman
and of the red snowman.

1172
01:12:52,405 --> 01:12:54,675
You could only buy them
from Steve.

1173
01:12:54,710 --> 01:12:57,612
It was so different
than what Pez was putting out.

1174
01:12:57,647 --> 01:12:59,713
So, this is Pez's version
of the skull.

1175
01:12:59,748 --> 01:13:01,913
Right?
So, this is his variation.

1176
01:13:01,948 --> 01:13:04,080
You know, he did the black face
with the yellow eyes.

1177
01:13:04,115 --> 01:13:05,587
It just popped.
It looked cool.

1178
01:13:06,323 --> 01:13:09,118
Steve Glew had so many
color variations of things,

1179
01:13:09,153 --> 01:13:12,561
that I was in shock when I saw
those all out at one table.

1180
01:13:12,596 --> 01:13:14,530
They were
selling like a madman.

1181
01:13:14,565 --> 01:13:17,225
And it was more
than I could dream of.

1182
01:13:17,260 --> 01:13:20,668
To have my own product line
that I was proud of.

1183
01:13:20,703 --> 01:13:23,132
And I was,
I was extremely proud of it.

1184
01:13:23,167 --> 01:13:26,905
That was the year
that I did a million bucks.

1185
01:13:27,274 --> 01:13:28,643
It was magic.

1186
01:13:31,274 --> 01:13:32,944
Going legit had worked,

1187
01:13:32,979 --> 01:13:36,519
but it was the briefest
moment ever because,

1188
01:13:36,554 --> 01:13:38,785
oh, man,
did the shit hit the fan.

1189
01:13:44,595 --> 01:13:46,023
Steve and David Welch

1190
01:13:46,058 --> 01:13:50,225
and I were walking
from our rooms upstairs

1191
01:13:50,260 --> 01:13:52,095
down to the convention floor.

1192
01:13:53,164 --> 01:13:55,802
And we walked
through the door,

1193
01:13:55,837 --> 01:13:59,740
and the first thing we see
is this huge display.

1194
01:14:03,944 --> 01:14:06,978
I had a job to do,
and I executed the job.

1195
01:14:07,013 --> 01:14:11,114
And the job
was to help stop this.

1196
01:14:24,701 --> 01:14:27,768
This is what Pez did
with the Misfit.

1197
01:14:27,803 --> 01:14:29,638
This is how
they packaged it.

1198
01:14:29,673 --> 01:14:32,234
To them, it was misfit,
it was ugly.

1199
01:14:32,269 --> 01:14:35,303
The ones that Steve had done
were on Pez cards.

1200
01:14:35,338 --> 01:14:37,041
They were made
at the factory.

1201
01:14:37,076 --> 01:14:39,714
They were on the--
a stripe candy card.

1202
01:14:39,749 --> 01:14:42,178
But then when we walked
into the ballroom that day,

1203
01:14:42,213 --> 01:14:44,114
they were
on a completely different card,

1204
01:14:44,149 --> 01:14:47,689
and they were actually labeled
on that card as Misfits.

1205
01:14:49,022 --> 01:14:50,956
Scott came up
with the name Misfits

1206
01:14:50,991 --> 01:14:53,222
'cause they didn't fit into
the rest of the assortment.

1207
01:14:53,891 --> 01:14:55,994
The Misfits
were manufactured

1208
01:14:56,029 --> 01:14:58,964
as a way to put
him out of business.

1209
01:14:59,333 --> 01:15:02,671
Where he was selling them for,
say, 20, 25 dollars,

1210
01:15:02,706 --> 01:15:04,805
we're selling
them now for $1.99.

1211
01:15:05,307 --> 01:15:09,205
He sold for less
than I paid to have it made.

1212
01:15:11,176 --> 01:15:12,978
So, basically...

1213
01:15:13,547 --> 01:15:15,013
pulled the gas
right out of him.

1214
01:15:15,515 --> 01:15:17,114
Scott used the marketplace.

1215
01:15:17,149 --> 01:15:20,051
He used the market
to-- to kill him.

1216
01:15:23,353 --> 01:15:26,156
The Pez company decided
to put him out of business.

1217
01:15:26,191 --> 01:15:27,993
Steve and David
turned around

1218
01:15:28,028 --> 01:15:29,324
and they went back
to their room,

1219
01:15:29,359 --> 01:15:30,897
and they never came back
that day.

1220
01:15:41,778 --> 01:15:43,173
It was horrible.

1221
01:15:43,208 --> 01:15:45,373
It was just horrible.
They hurt him.

1222
01:15:45,408 --> 01:15:48,783
They hurt him financially,
really bad.

1223
01:15:53,251 --> 01:15:55,053
Yeah. Yeah.

1224
01:15:55,088 --> 01:15:57,154
A little--
a little satisfaction.

1225
01:15:59,059 --> 01:16:01,763
The man
was broken that day.

1226
01:16:04,933 --> 01:16:06,801
I dropped my prices,

1227
01:16:06,836 --> 01:16:09,804
pushed it out into the market
as cheap as I had to.

1228
01:16:09,839 --> 01:16:11,201
It didn't work.

1229
01:16:14,041 --> 01:16:15,139
Worthless.

1230
01:17:12,396 --> 01:17:14,165
I didn't realize
how devastating it was

1231
01:17:14,200 --> 01:17:15,397
to him,
though, initially.

1232
01:17:15,832 --> 01:17:17,839
This was right
around the time my wife

1233
01:17:17,874 --> 01:17:20,039
and I got married, and Steve
was supposed to drive up

1234
01:17:20,074 --> 01:17:22,470
from Michigan for our--
for our wedding.

1235
01:17:22,505 --> 01:17:25,946
And, uh, he just was a no-show,
and I didn't know why.

1236
01:17:30,051 --> 01:17:33,250
We lost contact after that,
and Steve stopped calling.

1237
01:17:33,285 --> 01:17:36,088
I think he-- I think
he stopped taking phone calls,

1238
01:17:36,123 --> 01:17:38,288
too, because of what--
of what happened to him.

1239
01:17:42,525 --> 01:17:45,768
That's when he went into his--
his period of seclusion.

1240
01:17:47,332 --> 01:17:48,903
Where he just, like,
dropped off of the,

1241
01:17:48,938 --> 01:17:50,399
uh, off of the map.

1242
01:18:05,284 --> 01:18:07,482
You know, he just
sort of went off the radar.

1243
01:18:07,517 --> 01:18:10,287
Which is exactly
what the plan was.

1244
01:18:34,214 --> 01:18:35,378
I lost all my money

1245
01:18:35,413 --> 01:18:37,787
and went
$250,000 in debt.

1246
01:18:39,252 --> 01:18:41,417
You know, you fight for--
to pay your bills.

1247
01:18:42,153 --> 01:18:45,894
You damn near lose your house
so many times it's tiresome.

1248
01:18:54,070 --> 01:18:57,939
Josh had to slowly let go
of all four of the employees,

1249
01:18:57,974 --> 01:18:59,402
including my son-in-law.

1250
01:18:59,437 --> 01:19:01,107
And his last job...

1251
01:19:02,143 --> 01:19:03,472
was he fired himself.

1252
01:19:26,035 --> 01:19:28,497
Yeah, I went through
some pretty bad years.

1253
01:19:28,532 --> 01:19:30,334
Financially and mentally.

1254
01:19:32,239 --> 01:19:33,909
But I think that...

1255
01:19:34,611 --> 01:19:37,506
the crash was
important to find me.

1256
01:19:43,349 --> 01:19:46,251
I had a decade
of what I call a primal scream.

1257
01:19:47,155 --> 01:19:48,583
Scott McWhinnie decided...

1258
01:19:49,285 --> 01:19:51,993
that he finally
had the way to kill me.

1259
01:19:52,428 --> 01:19:54,996
And he was right.
He did.

1260
01:19:57,264 --> 01:19:59,264
Okay.

1261
01:20:02,267 --> 01:20:05,501
After the crash,
the story was all I had left.

1262
01:20:06,003 --> 01:20:07,943
And that's when
I wrote my blog,

1263
01:20:07,978 --> 01:20:09,373
<i>Pez Outlaw Diary.</i>

1264
01:20:10,574 --> 01:20:12,376
You don't just
create a product.

1265
01:20:12,411 --> 01:20:13,476
You create a story.

1266
01:20:15,645 --> 01:20:18,019
When Steve
started writing his blogs...

1267
01:20:18,588 --> 01:20:21,484
nobody knew
any of that about him.

1268
01:20:23,191 --> 01:20:26,489
Steve feels
that this is his legacy now.

1269
01:20:26,524 --> 01:20:28,227
He wants people
to know what happened.

1270
01:20:28,262 --> 01:20:30,064
He wants
the story to be out.

1271
01:20:30,099 --> 01:20:32,495
It validates it.
It says, "Yes, this happened."

1272
01:20:34,400 --> 01:20:36,906
I think everyone
wants to be remembered in life.

1273
01:20:36,941 --> 01:20:38,468
They wanna make their mark.

1274
01:20:38,503 --> 01:20:40,470
And they wanna
get it right.

1275
01:20:40,505 --> 01:20:42,043
At least once.

1276
01:20:42,712 --> 01:20:46,113
Honest to God,
if it wasn't for Pez Outlaw,

1277
01:20:46,148 --> 01:20:48,115
nobody would remember
Scott McWhinnie.

1278
01:20:48,684 --> 01:20:50,986
He's a plot point
in my story.

1279
01:20:52,385 --> 01:20:55,386
If I can get this character
of Pez Outlaw...

1280
01:20:56,554 --> 01:20:58,257
deeply ingrained enough

1281
01:20:58,292 --> 01:21:00,127
into the history
of Pez, then...

1282
01:21:01,361 --> 01:21:02,690
that will be enough.

1283
01:21:02,725 --> 01:21:04,197
It's a good story.

1284
01:21:05,365 --> 01:21:07,035
It's a good story.

1285
01:21:12,977 --> 01:21:15,637
It was 20 years
before I saw Steve again.

1286
01:21:15,672 --> 01:21:18,343
And he swore he'd never go
to another convention.

1287
01:21:23,988 --> 01:21:25,416
I said, "Steve,

1288
01:21:25,451 --> 01:21:27,682
everybody wants to know
about you, Steve.

1289
01:21:27,717 --> 01:21:30,322
Everybody wants to hear
your story."

1290
01:21:33,690 --> 01:21:35,525
Nowadays,
I think that, you know,

1291
01:21:35,560 --> 01:21:37,725
with all the new collectors
coming into the hobby,

1292
01:21:37,760 --> 01:21:40,068
they-- they don't know
of the backstory.

1293
01:21:40,103 --> 01:21:42,730
They don't know-- they weren't
there when it happened, and...

1294
01:21:42,765 --> 01:21:45,007
For a guy like
me who wants to collect

1295
01:21:45,042 --> 01:21:48,142
everything Pez,
his history was--

1296
01:21:48,177 --> 01:21:51,046
was part of the influence
of-- of even why I collected.

1297
01:21:52,577 --> 01:21:54,181
Steve Glew
was a featured person

1298
01:21:54,216 --> 01:21:55,677
at the convention,

1299
01:21:55,712 --> 01:21:57,448
and he hadn't been
heard from for years.

1300
01:21:57,483 --> 01:21:59,549
And I mean,
there was many, many,

1301
01:21:59,584 --> 01:22:01,320
many people that
wanted his signature.

1302
01:22:02,289 --> 01:22:05,753
He definitely
has a great cult following.

1303
01:22:05,788 --> 01:22:07,722
He-- he was just this...

1304
01:22:07,757 --> 01:22:09,427
I don't know,
Pez God.

1305
01:22:09,462 --> 01:22:10,967
I mean, how--
how else do you say it?

1306
01:22:15,105 --> 01:22:18,568
I think everyone
wants someone just to say,

1307
01:22:18,603 --> 01:22:20,306
"I see
what happened to you

1308
01:22:20,341 --> 01:22:22,275
and it-- and it matters."

1309
01:22:23,311 --> 01:22:25,014
It's-- it's a huge thing

1310
01:22:25,049 --> 01:22:26,741
to find out
that you're not alone.

1311
01:22:27,577 --> 01:22:30,349
Everybody
wants their story told.

1312
01:22:30,384 --> 01:22:32,054
Everybody wants
to be remembered.

1313
01:22:33,651 --> 01:22:35,222
The story of Pez Outlaw

1314
01:22:35,257 --> 01:22:38,588
is an act out
of my mental issues.

1315
01:22:39,023 --> 01:22:42,361
Learning to cope
with anxiety, depression...

1316
01:22:43,331 --> 01:22:44,396
and...

1317
01:22:45,232 --> 01:22:48,301
the voices in your head,
so to speak.

1318
01:22:48,336 --> 01:22:50,666
And in some cases,
some of the things

1319
01:22:50,701 --> 01:22:53,438
that you have
are actually tools.

1320
01:22:53,473 --> 01:22:55,275
They are not burdens.

1321
01:22:56,044 --> 01:22:59,312
Honestly,
I think his story is good,

1322
01:22:59,347 --> 01:23:01,776
and it's fun,
but I think the human side

1323
01:23:01,811 --> 01:23:05,516
of Pez Outlaw
is way more valuable.

1324
01:23:08,158 --> 01:23:11,126
I can be who I am
and be miserable...

1325
01:23:11,722 --> 01:23:13,524
or I can be who I am...

1326
01:23:15,165 --> 01:23:17,033
and try
and find the good in it.

1327
01:23:19,202 --> 01:23:21,466
And if you're lucky,
like me,

1328
01:23:21,501 --> 01:23:23,237
you married your therapist.

1329
01:23:43,688 --> 01:23:45,193
She's been
everything to me.

1330
01:23:45,789 --> 01:23:47,096
Everything.

1331
01:24:05,281 --> 01:24:07,248
I hope you have success.

1332
01:24:07,283 --> 01:24:09,646
I wish-- I wish you-- because
you're very sympathetic man.

1333
01:24:09,681 --> 01:24:12,319
But I think
you picked the wrong topic.

1334
01:24:12,354 --> 01:24:13,452
That's my impression.

1335
01:24:13,487 --> 01:24:14,816
Let's see...

1336
01:24:14,851 --> 01:24:16,389
if you--
if you also have to take out

1337
01:24:16,424 --> 01:24:17,852
a mortgage for your house.

1338
01:24:17,887 --> 01:24:20,426
Then I-- I-- I--
I keep right.

1339
01:24:20,928 --> 01:24:22,494
You picked the wrong person.
Anyway.

1340
01:24:23,497 --> 01:24:28,533
♪

1341
01:25:22,655 --> 01:25:27,691
♪

1342
01:26:22,715 --> 01:26:27,751
♪