Bubbleman
Bubbleman is a premium dispenser only available through a mail-in-offer.
Dispenser Information
Background
Bubbleman, featuring a pink head with large round cheeks and a puckered mouth, was originally designed for a never-released line of PEZ bubble gum. Gray-market PEZ dealer Steve Glew (a.k.a., the PEZ Outlaw) and his son brought home a pair of prototypes from a visit to a PEZ factory in Slovenia in 1994, which they sold for $800 a piece. In 1996, PEZ USA began offering the lime green Bubbleman as a mail-order exclusive, before expanding the range in 1997 to include four additional stem colors (pink, fuchsia, yellow, and blue). The neon lineup was introduced in 1998, followed by the crystal set in 1999. In 2001, a glow-in-the-dark version was sold for a limited time. Around 2002, the only regular version of Bubbleman offered on the mail-order form had a darker green hat and stem. In 2014, a white Bubbleman with a black hat was produced for the Japan PEZ Gathering. The latter two are the rarest of the Bubbleman dispensers.
Variations
- Original
- Neon
- Crystal
- Glow-in-the-dark
- Japan PEZ Gathering
Years Released
- Original: 1996
- Neon: 1998
- Crystal: 1999
- Glow-in-the-dark: 2001
- Japan PEZ Gathering: 2014
Feet
With feet
Patents & Countries
Hungary, Slovenia; 4.9, 7.5
Stems
- Regular: Lime green, Pink, Fuchsia, Yellow, Blue, Daker green
- Neon: Green, Orange, Red, Pink, Yellow
- Crystal: Green, Orange, Red, Pink, Yellow
- Glow-in-the-dark: Pink
- Japan PEZ Gathering: white
Interesting Information
Bubbleman was the first dispenser to be sold via mail-in premium offer.
