Feet

Feet are the small flat tabs molded onto the base of a PEZ dispenser's stem that allow it to stand upright. The presence, absence, and style of feet are among the most useful clues for dating a dispenser, although they are not foolproof.

Background

The original PEZ dispenser design, now known as a "regular," was based on a cigarette lighter. PEZ founder Eduard Haas intended PEZ as an aid to quitting smoking, so a pocket-sized, lighter-like shape was familiar and practical. These early dispensers had no base and were simply squared off at the bottom.

Once character heads were added and the product began to be marketed to children, the dispensers tended to topple when stood upright. To give them stability, a small base was added. Because the dispenser now had a "head" at the top, the base at the bottom was naturally dubbed the "feet." PEZ began phasing feet in around 1987.

No feet

No feet (abbreviated NF, sometimes also called non-footed) refers to a dispenser with a uniform stem and no support tabs at the base.

• Years: Produced from 1949 until roughly 1987, when feet began to appear.
• Patents: Box, DBP, 2.6, 3.4, 3.8, and some 3.9.
• Countries: Austria, Germany, Hungary.

Some modern dispensers are also footless despite being made well after feet became standard — including the regular remakes (1995), the Psychedelic Eye remake (2001), Valentine Hearts (1997–2009), trucks (due to their shape), and various crystal and limited-edition pieces that shipped with display stands. A footless dispenser on a 4.9 or higher patent stem is not vintage.

Thin feet

Thin feet were the first style of feet added to dispensers, appearing around 1987.

• Profile: Roughly half the thickness of later thick feet.
• Patents: Mostly 3.9, occasionally 3.4; not generally found on other patents.
• Countries: Austria, China, Hong Kong, Hungary, Yugoslavia.

Because thin feet sit at the transition between vintage and modern production, 3.9-patent thin-feet dispensers are sometimes called "quasi-vintage," and collectors differ on whether to count them as vintage.

Thick feet

Thick feet appeared around 1990, with a noticeably thicker profile than thin feet. This thicker style was standardized and remains the norm on modern dispensers — so a dispenser described elsewhere as having "normal" or "standard" feet simply has thick feet.

• Patents: Mostly 4.9 and higher; a few on 3.9.
• Countries: Austria, China, Hungary, Slovenia, Vietnam

Transition stems

A small number of early footed stems represent the literal transition from no feet to thin feet: the stem has thin feet, but the spine (the raised channel on the back) is the same depth as the front channel, exactly as on a footless stem. These 3.9 transition pieces — found on dispensers such as Speedy Gonzales, Dumbo, and the Duck Child — are rare and prized by collectors.

Identifying fakes

Because footless vintage dispensers generally command higher prices, some people shave the feet off footed dispensers and pass them off as no feet.

The tell is to compare the spine (raised area at the back of the stem) with the channel (at the front). On a genuine no feet dispenser the two are equal in depth. On a shaved fake — or on a legitimate footed stem — the back spine is raised significantly higher than the front channel. Holding a known footless dispenser beside the suspect piece and sighting along the base makes the difference easy to see.

A note on dating

Feet are a helpful but imperfect dating tool. Stems were assembled from whatever molds were on hand, so patent numbers can appear "out of order," and footless remakes muddy the picture further. Country of origin, patent number, IMC, and construction details should all be weighed together rather than relying on feet alone.