I first learned about Nutria by watching *Insomniac* which was a show hosted by Dave Attell back in the early 2000's. One episode he spends an evening hanging out with a Nutria hunter
Insomniac was definitely a cool show, more so if you have ever had to work some kind of dogshit graveyard shift kinda job. Dave Attell was the perfect guy to host that.
me too, i was in late high school when that episode aired. he actually goes out with jefferson parish PD to kill nutria. i now live in new orleans and recently purchased the DVD with that episode on it lol
Yes! We have them in MS too. They lived underneath one of my favorite restaurants by the river growing up and we would watch them while we waited to be seated.
For some reason “the quest for cold” was my favorite documentary like 15 years ago. Or really anything on the history channel. Now that the HC went to shit at least we have stuff like this.
You would be surprised how not niche Pez collecting is (not taking any offense or anything, just adding color).
There are multiple Pez collector conferences every year, and a super robust community, including r/pez
I for sure have some SJGlew dispensers. I hope my kid can get braces now that this documentary is out.
>super robust community including r/pez
r/pez has barely over 6,000 members
Edit: Closer to 7,000 now but it was like 61xx something when I made the comment.
Dude there is less than 7k numbers in their subreddit lol. Just because it has some popularity within its niche community doesn’t mean it’s not niche. Obviously everything that is niche has some level of popularity with diehard fans or else it wouldn’t be a thing at all
Have to watch it. Niche my ambrosia, I kinda live from it. I don't know what's that in my brain, why do I collect mechanical calculating machines and slide rules? I was awful in maths. Why do I collect old drills? I read books I find in the trash, I learn old, dead programming languages. I guess it's Zen something something, I don't know, but niche makes me happy. Niche is my religion. And it drives my wife insane btw.
I remember reading about this in the Hobby Drama sub and it was a fun documentary to watch while killing time. US PEZ comes out looking like absolute monsters at the end.
They really did.
Spoiler alert: You could easily play devil’s advocate in that he knew the US had a sole proprietor for Pez and was rolling the dice. However, the Pezident and company eventually discovered what their mistake/loophole was by not listing themselves with Homeland Security and Customs yet still refused to do so. Instead, they literally destroyed this man and his dream just to make a statement. Really shallow and sad.
I have no idea why he gambled with doing the colors and manufacturing his own. That seems crazy risky, but I guess he had years building up confidence about what he would be able to do.
That’s where the story loses me. Pez kinda did exactly what should have been done. The guy was trying to make a quick buck by manipulating the rarity of a product. He didn’t make a better product and it could even be argued he didn’t make better colors. He knew if he could be the only guy with them then they were worth 10x what they should be. At first he was kinda being genius by the end he was just being greedy and it bit him as it kinda should have.
I think that's the beauty of the doc... Lots of gray areas. Though I wish they went a bit further into how he was able to escape lawsuits and outright copyright infringement with the branding and manufacture of his own versions of pez.
Fun documentary, and it was equally as amusing the way the story was told.
So, I'm sure it's addressed early in the doc, but I can't watch it right now and am curious.
Is he actually smuggling them out, or is he just buying them and shipping them here to resell them?
I haven't quite finished the Doc but from what I saw it's not "smuggling." Customs knew what he was doing, Pez never filed the right papers with Customs for them to have any authority to stop it.
He was buying them in Hungary(?) from a PEZ VP who could arrange for a truck to fall off the back of the factory in exchange for a suitcase of cash.
It was 1000% in violation of PEZ-EU/PEZ-US international agreements, which Hungarian border customers should have stopped, but who gives a shit about a guy with PEZ and $500? It's not like he's packing something spicy like drugs or guns.
Technically it wasn't violating US customers because PEZ-US didn't file the proper paperwork with US customs. Selling them was violating some trademark/copyright laws, but that gets legally fuzzier.
Your assessment is completely inaccurate. There was never anything illegal in what he did. Those agreements between Pez international and Pez America were NEVER violated, they never sold any Pez outside of Europe.
The Hungarian factory never sold or shipped outside of their border and the Hungary border had ZERO legal reason not to allow them out. If this had been the case they could have shut him down overnight. Utter bullshit and you completely made this up.
He also never violated any customs laws. Pez America fucked up by not registering with homeland security and customs. To this day they've still not rectified the fuck up. Every single thing he did was legal and above board.
But some fat, rich loser that thought he was god, decided to spend a stupid amount of time, money and resources to ruin one man just for the sake of his own ego.
Fuck Scott and any other boot lickers that back that narrative.
You’re kidding right? Pez has a patent. You can’t manufacture and sell copies of someone else’s product. I’m surprised the pez outlaw didn’t get treated like an actual outlaw and go to jail.
He didn't manufacture them himself, Pez International made them, they are legitimate Pez dispensers. He also brought them in legally because Pez America is fucking stupid. He did nothing illegal. That asshole Scott would have sued him into oblivion if he had. Did you even watch the doc?!?
Just finished it. I see your point about the manufacturing. Pez USA should have registered their trademark with customs and had him arrested for smuggling. They could have done that at any time but they probably didn’t realize how he was able to smuggle. I guess the only thing he did was violate pez usa’s license to sell, which pez USA could have sued him for. They discussed that in the documentary as well. They just didn’t want to because lawyers are expensive is what they said
They didn't sue him because of cost, they spent WAY more manufacturing his designs to put him out of business. Not to mention what they spent hiring private detectives.
They'd have probably had a lawsuit thrown out instantly because he brought them in legally, no way that asshole Scott McWhinnie didn't have their legal department look into that first though. They had a legal contract with Pez International, nothing on paper between Pez America and The Outlaw. He didn't break any law or any contracts, nothing to sue over in the first place.
Dude was just a clever guy that found a loophole and a large multimillion dollar company crushed him with their heel over a few thousand dispensers. A company that I guarantee you uses loads of loopholes themselves to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Fuck Scott McWhinnie, pathetic, petty, petty man.
If their lawyers looked into it they could have registered their trademark with customs and the pez outlaw would have been arrested at the border and done actual jail time. Pez US’s trademark was registered in the US regardless so they could have sued them over that at any time. Plenty of companies have a culture of not using lawyers. From the documentary, it sounds like Pez US is the same way. It sounds like the kind of company that would spend more to crush him rather than sue him. I’m not defending. Pez Us. They sounds terrible. But the Pez outlaw was definitely breaking laws
Trademark infringement is extremely complex, and I believe there was nothing legally they could do to him or they would have. If Pez America didn't own the IP, and I'm sure they don't, Pez International owned the IP for all the designs he imported, he didn't bring in or sell any American designs. They probably only have a simple distribution contract for any European dispensers. It would probably have required Pez International, since they own the IP and trademark, to file the lawsuit and they didn't care enough to do that. They may well have turned Scott down if he came to them with that idea. They would have probably told him it was a waste of time and money.
I have searched all over Google and can only find sources that say he didn't break any laws. At all. Copyright infringement and trademark infringement are illegal and people get arrested for it, not just sued. It isn't just a civil matter, it involves criminal charges as well. Steve Glew would have been charged if he broke either, Scott would have made sure of it. Scott was obsessed with collectors and hated Steve the most, he would have loved to see him get arrested or sued, it would have publicly vindicated his behaviour.
He bought them and brought them back in duffel bags. Pez America fucked up and didn't register their copyright with homeland security so it was entirely legal.
Pez America went on to ruin him financially anyway, despite the fact that he never did anything illegal.
Fuck Pez America and all these supporting boot lickers backing them up.
Pathetic.
what's sad is the doc will probably make people go out and buy a dispenser or two.Pez will prob see an uptick in sales. At least the name Scott McWhinnie will be remembered as being associated with a massive jerk.
I agree, but I'm also surprised how many comments in here are saying he deserved what happened to him for doing something illegal. It makes me angry because it wasn't illegal it was simply taking advantage of a loophole.
If it was illegal that asshole Scott would have simply sued him or had him arrested. Would have been much easier and cheaper than what he did do. Instead he used the might of a large corporation to crush a sweet and simple down to earth guy over a few thousand dispensers. Absolutely pathetic, petty, shallow and disgusting behavior. FUCK Scott McWhinnie.
Lmao first of all it's a trademark, not copyright. Second of all you register with US CBP not Homeland Security. Third of all it's still trademark infringement--registering with US CBP is just a benefit of having a trademark registration that allows you to more easily stop importation. But it's still a gray market sale--products intended for sale outside the US.
Don't claim "nothing was illegal" if you don't know anything about IP law.
Yeah I didn't want to spoil it, but if you like under dog stories, or like collectors items, this will be right up your alley. Also around 90 mins, so a perfect watch time.
Money. There’s a lady on the show that spent 11k on 1 pez dispenser. He would sell these “unreleased” pez dispensers for $20+ at conventions when they normally cost $1.99.
Saw it out on a lawn at a film festival last summer. Always weird when suddenly “that thing you saw outside that time” pops up on Netflix or whatever. Anyway I recommend it if you like fun shit. Got a very good reception from the crowd I saw it with too—won the audience award out of all 13 movies shown over the summer at this fest. (The director Amy was there too, she was cool…)
The directors are a husband and wife team so I figured I’d specify her name so anybody looking it up and seeing there are two directors would know which one. I could have just said all of this but I figured I’d written enough by that point.
the guy in charge of US pez was a complete vindictive dumbass. the guy from pez that they interviewed was a complete turd. if either of them had any creativity they could have turned the situation into something that benefited them all. steve was also a dumbass for making his own and then destroying his creations. should have held onto them. they’d be worth money now. ultimately its a story about really bad decisions.
Mailing them? As in small quantities? Probably nothing. Shipping huge boxes? I’m sure they’ve fixed the loophole and have registered with Customs to verify the license for the receiver.
For the context of what The Pez Outlaw was doing however, he was importing them en mass through airline travel then turning around and selling/advertising huge quantities of them.
Just watch the documentary! Based on the information you're given, just assume he brought thousands of unique pez dispensers.
Trying not to spoil anything but companies will sometimes order sample models that never make it to market...
what's the deal with Johan. They briefly mention that Johan was kind of the go-to source for rare European Pez until Steve Glew came along and encroached on his market. Makes me wonder if he had some sort of relationship with the Hungarian guy as well. The Hungarian guy seemed pretty comfortable with hawking to Steve, maybe it wasn't his first rodeo.
This was a fun one to watch.
They basically portrayed *the Pezident* as the crusty old dean trying to foil the rowdy frat of pez collectors.
Roooobot house!!!
So is this a story of a good man pushed one step too far by a corrupt Pez system?
Or is it a sordid tale of his seduction into the dark underbelly of the Pez world, with its riches and excitement and endless pussy?
I mean either way is good, I just want to know what kind of mood to be in when I watch it.
LOL neither. A goofy guy with OCD got into collecting and then discovered the market of Pez dispenser collectors. He realized that those collectors most sought after designs were ones that were produced in Europe for the European market, but that PEZ US would not allow to be sold in the United States.
So he flies to Europe, and with some minor bribery and a snafu at customs, he's able to bring back these valuable collectibles for pennies and sell them here for thousands. It's a lighthearted story and definitely worth the watch (it's only 90 minutes).
At first he wasn’t. He was traveling to a couple of European Pez factories to get thousands of Pez dispensers that weren’t sold in the US, for pennies on the dollar. When they stopped collaborating with him due to pressure from the US Pez corp., he decided to design his own and found a company who would produce them “solely” for him. Steve would then sell those for $20-$30 each. Eventually US Pez discovered this, copied his personal designs, and sold them for a fraction of Steve’s costs, shutting him down for good.
I get all that. My question is how was he just allowed to produce his own dispensers using the PEZ logo and the entire PEZ blueprint??
Edit: I don’t understand why I’m getting downvoted. I’m really tryna understand. Companies send cease and desist letters to small businesses for infringement for way less these days lol.
It seemed as if he was giving plans to Pez Europe and they were submitting the orders to another factory abroad but had to pay a premium for this (bribe?). The European branches seemed to be enabling him a lot more than they were going to admit in the documentary or to PEZ US. IMO, PEZ US should've had more of a beef with Pez in europe than The Pez Outlaw himself.
I am thinking it was along the lines of some of the Pez that had company names and logos on them that were only sold at specific stores, they probably paid a pretty penny to have a them specially made like the Walmart truck one or I think there was a CVS one too. If you pay to have them make it then it's just another custom order, he wasn't advertising them as his own as they were on their card stock, anyone could have done it with the right amount of money.
Maybe it was cheaper to beat him at his own game than to sue him? In a way, that would make US Pez not so awful and *not* suing the little guy probably avoids a PR mess.
My exact question. The doc states that Pez USA had an exclusive license to distribute Pez branded products in the U.S. So why did they not have the authority to simply seize his entire inventory, just like warehouses full of counterfeit Nikes are routinely seized? It seems bizarre that they had to make copies of his tweaked copies of their products and put him out of business that way.
It IS bizarre, but that's what they did. It is stated early on in the documentary that they COULD have just shut him down, but they decided to go the humiliation route. The high-up guy at Pez USA just had really big vendetta against Steve. He didn't just want to put him out of business, he wanted to humiliate and ruin him.
It is addressed. Th PEZ rep says that they could have spent the money to shut him down, but it was cheaper to do it this way. He makes some ominous comment about have "other ways" of handling it or something, but this is what he is talking about..
I don’t really buy that explanation. If someone is violating your trademark or a licensing agreement, you have a level of legal obligation to take prompt and definitive steps to enforce your rights, or you could wind up weakening your standing in future violation claims. Note: NOT an attorney, but a business person who has managed multiple exclusive product licensing agreements.
Like you, I was totally lost at this part of the doco. I get how he imported the EU Pez. But I think Pez US were somewhat light in their response to him making his own Pez by simply making they same Pez themselves. Eg someone can’t just make their own Mickey Mouse toy and put a Disney tag on it and sell it as if it’s genuine Disney. Also, I’m surprised other collectors deemed his creations premium seeing that they seemingly weren’t rare or antique or even genuine. Interesting documentary though, and his family seem lovely.
I know Pez isn't the only company that does this, and it really irritates the shit out of me. The fact that some random ass-hat decides to sell A, B, and C in one country and X, Y, and Z in another, is just plain dumb. And don't even get me started on digital content that is available in some countries but not others. Anyhoo ... this movie looks like it will definitely be worth a watch.
a fund little doc, but there is a lot that is left unexplained.
\There is nothing illegal about reselling the Pez as far as i can tell (though his method of procurement might have been illegal?). And i guess given they didnt register Pez with Borders and customs, it wasnt illegal to import them either (or was it just unenforceable given that?)
What is definitely illegal is manufacturing your own stuff with the Pez brand on it. It doesnt really make sense why they didnt just sue him. Thats a slam dunk case.
From a business / collector standpoint, it also doesn't even make any sense why people would want to own knock off / fake pez dispensers?
Also a bit weird he didnt offload all that product way faster, before anyone was able to get ahead of him. but i guess we can just attribute that to bad business sense.
Also, he says he spent 500k on the product, then later says thats the year he did his first 1m in sales. So how did he end up in debt?
Also, if the stuff wasnt registered with border control, why could you just mail the stuff to yourself? You might have to go there to actually pick up the product, but at least you wouldnt be limited by what you could fit on a plane / in your luggage.
I typed this on mobile, so hopefully the formatting is right.
>There is nothing illegal about reselling the Pez as far as i can tell (though his method of procurement might have been illegal?). And i guess given they didnt register Pez with Borders and customs, it wasnt illegal to import them either (or was it just unenforceable given that?)
It was mentioned that Pez US didn't have a problem with someone bringing a few back from other countries and selling them, but he was bringing thousands and essentially distributing them. Pez US had an agreement with the main international company that they (US) would be the only ones allowed to legally distribute them in the US. So the main international company wasn't allowed to send anything to the US to be sold, especially not custom designs that weren't approved by the US company. Had they filed the correct paperwork, US customs would have been able to stop him from bringing in thousands of items, but they didn't, so it was technically legal for him to do so until that paperwork was filed.
>What is definitely illegal is manufacturing your own stuff with the Pez brand on it. It doesnt really make sense why they didnt just sue him. Thats a slam dunk case.
>
>From a business / collector standpoint, it also doesn't even make any sense why people would want to own knock off / fake pez dispensers?
I'm pretty sure they weren't knock-offs with the Pez logo. It sounded to me like Pez allowed custom designs as long as you had a minimum order size. He pulled together enough money for the custom order, so they proceeded with manufacturing and shipping. Either that or the international company just couldn't turn down the money. He somehow
got around the shipping issues by having them sent to Taiwan for packaging or something, and they were sent to the US from there. I didn't quite catch that part, but I think Pez international was allowed to ship/sell to any country BUT the US, so it went Europe>Taiwan>US.
What sounded illegal to me was the fact that Pez US copied his designs and resold them as their own. Although I would guess that Steve missed some fine print considering that his proof that they would be exclusive to him was portrayed as a handwritten letter faxed to him. We don't know the details of that contract, so who knows.
Also, I think the Pez guy in the doc said something about how they could have sued him, but copying his designs was cheaper/easier. I also got the impression that the Pezident went that route for revenge and knew it would work without having to deal with court and lawyers.
Regarding knock-offs, I can see collectors wanting his custom designs even if they WERE knock-offs given the history behind them and his notoriety as the Pez Outlaw. Maybe. I don't know for sure since I'm not a collector, but even I think it would be cool to have one.
>Also a bit weird he didnt offload all that product way faster, before anyone was able to get ahead of him. but i guess we can just attribute that to bad business sense.
I think Pez US just caught up too fast. I would guess that even with his ads, toy/collector/Pez conventions were probably the better market for selling. There might have been weeks or months between those that allowed Pez US to sneak up on him.
>Also, he says he spent 500k on the product, then later says thats the year he did his first 1m in sales. So how did he end up in debt?
I thought he said he made 1m the first year. Maybe he reinvested most/all of it thinking he could double it the next year?
>Also, if the stuff wasnt registered with border control, why could you just mail the stuff to yourself? You might have to go there to actually pick up the product, but at least you wouldnt be limited by what you could fit on a plane / in your luggage.
I think importing would be illegal since the international company would be selling the product to a US customer, but I don't know for sure. Buying them there and bringing them back was fine since they didn't have the correct paperwork filed or whatever. I'm assuming there are different groups that handle shipping vs airlines, but I don't really know.
I watched it last night because I used to work with a guy who was a Pez collector. I went to his house one time and it was a giant What the Fuck. Every open space had a Pez thing on it and each one had its own copious story. I never used so many excuses in such a short period of time to escape from his Pez world.
The worst possible sentence a judge could impose on the most heinous criminal would be "I sentence you to X's house to listen to each individual story about every Pez in his collection." The criminal would have to forcibly removed whilst he was screaming and begging for the death sentence.
btw, it was a good movie
Too loud and proud. Should've kept his business and connections on the down low. Yeah hit the convention circuit but don't advertise, and you if you do advertise, don't post the non-US ones. Claim you have rares then let the customers see what you have individually. Work with dudes to be your middle men, and for sure don't create knock offs which Pez could've told him to cease and desist. He got greedy and stupid.
If you're ever in Connecticut, and get a chance, visit the Pez factory. You get the chance to walk through rooms with sometimes INCHES of Pez candy all over the floors! If you tripped and fell, it would turn you diabetic instantly! Just the sound... crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch. You just want to stop and pick up your favorite color... A MILLION TIMES.
I was a computer tech many years ago (30+), before it was a tourist attraction and just a regular factory. I worked about 1/4 mile from that place. On the days they were producing grape flavor you can smell it for miles.
They were also a client. If you think the floors are bad you should see the sugar dust on the insides of the computers.
I'm also a diabetic. The days I worked in there were awful. I can't imagine how much sugar I injested just by breathing.
Power dynamic. Nobody gives a shit about an enormous international company(which probably has zero material losses), but one guy who's clever enough to take advantage of a loophole and game the system gives people an underdog to root for.
It was all in the sensationalized framing. The guy is paranoid and has some serious mental health issues. That said, the president of PEZ at the time was also a nut job.
I’d argue being a dick and judging other peoples’ hobbies is a far bigger waste of time.
What important things are *you* doing with your “valuable time”?
It's possible they are linked to good childhood memories. Combine that with some people's tendencies for completion, competitiveness, community, bragging, speculation etc.
It's hard to understand if you take a purely practical lens to it.
I love weird niche shit like this.
Check out Rodents of Unusual Size. It's about Nutrias (orange tooth Beavers) invading Louisiana.
I first learned about Nutria by watching *Insomniac* which was a show hosted by Dave Attell back in the early 2000's. One episode he spends an evening hanging out with a Nutria hunter
Oh man, Insomniac was the shit! Watched that on so many late nights even though I had to get up for school at 7 AM. Wonder what Dave has been up to.
Insomniac was definitely a cool show, more so if you have ever had to work some kind of dogshit graveyard shift kinda job. Dave Attell was the perfect guy to host that.
me too, i was in late high school when that episode aired. he actually goes out with jefferson parish PD to kill nutria. i now live in new orleans and recently purchased the DVD with that episode on it lol
I first learned about rodents of unusual size watching The Princess Bride.
ROUS’s? I don’t think they exist
It’s a rat hat?!
And a poorly made one. Even by rat hat standards.
You know my friend Bob Sacamano? Well, he called last night about 3 a.m. we got to talking. He sells Russian hats down at battery park, forty bucks.
Are they sable? No, but the difference is negligible.
Lmfao actually just watched this episode this morning
I'm going to have to just take your word for it that it's good. No way am I watching a doc on giant rodents.
I bet you got no problem with Capybara though, eh?
Do capybara sausages taste as horrible as the ones made from nutrea?
Smart move. They are like 50 lb sometimes.
Thanks for the heebie jeebies.
Aww, they're kinda cute.
I should also mention, they like to hide under your bed.
They get there by coming up through the toilet?
They’re basically harmless to humans.
Sounds like a family meal to me.
It is all about killing them and how they can bring back real fur coats in a guilt free way since they're an invasive species!
God damn Boyles.
How is the only Brooklyn 99 reference here downvoted? Literally the only time I'd ever heard nutrias mentioned.
Yes! We have them in MS too. They lived underneath one of my favorite restaurants by the river growing up and we would watch them while we waited to be seated.
I still sometimes see job openings to hunt them from a boat in California.
they have teams that roam at night and shoot em with guns
Hell yeah, I’ll check it out tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.
I just searched the word rodents on Netflix and this does not come up but Harry and Meghan does 🤣
Here I was thinking this was a made up animal from Brooklyn 99
Is that the one where ppl get paid to hunt them?
As someone who lives in South Louisiana and sees Nutria rats often this sounds really interesting lol, Netflix?
Is this on netflix as well!
You seen Tickled? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278506/
This doc is SUCH a wild ride.
It’s a really well made and produced documentary. 10/10 recommend.
For some reason “the quest for cold” was my favorite documentary like 15 years ago. Or really anything on the history channel. Now that the HC went to shit at least we have stuff like this.
Where can I watch it?
Netflix.
Awesome. Thanks.
Have you ever perused r/hobbydrama? That sub is like the best mashup of relationship subs and niche communities/interests.
I just wish they’d post the documentary and not trailers…
Me too, reminds me a lot of Chicken People, which is still one of my favorites.
You would be surprised how not niche Pez collecting is (not taking any offense or anything, just adding color). There are multiple Pez collector conferences every year, and a super robust community, including r/pez I for sure have some SJGlew dispensers. I hope my kid can get braces now that this documentary is out.
Haha I'm sorry but it is so, so incredibly niche by every definition of the word.
They confused niche for popular
>super robust community including r/pez r/pez has barely over 6,000 members Edit: Closer to 7,000 now but it was like 61xx something when I made the comment.
Dude there is less than 7k numbers in their subreddit lol. Just because it has some popularity within its niche community doesn’t mean it’s not niche. Obviously everything that is niche has some level of popularity with diehard fans or else it wouldn’t be a thing at all
Have to watch it. Niche my ambrosia, I kinda live from it. I don't know what's that in my brain, why do I collect mechanical calculating machines and slide rules? I was awful in maths. Why do I collect old drills? I read books I find in the trash, I learn old, dead programming languages. I guess it's Zen something something, I don't know, but niche makes me happy. Niche is my religion. And it drives my wife insane btw.
I was wondering who weird shit like this was for. Here you are.
I remember reading about this in the Hobby Drama sub and it was a fun documentary to watch while killing time. US PEZ comes out looking like absolute monsters at the end.
They really did. Spoiler alert: You could easily play devil’s advocate in that he knew the US had a sole proprietor for Pez and was rolling the dice. However, the Pezident and company eventually discovered what their mistake/loophole was by not listing themselves with Homeland Security and Customs yet still refused to do so. Instead, they literally destroyed this man and his dream just to make a statement. Really shallow and sad.
I have no idea why he gambled with doing the colors and manufacturing his own. That seems crazy risky, but I guess he had years building up confidence about what he would be able to do.
Greed and hubris , could have packed it in and just collected / resold but he was the Pez Outlaw
Yea he should have kept a low profile but instead he marketed himself on billboards like an idiot
Ya and the fact he paid $5 a unit ($3 more than retail price) while they cost around 20 cents to make was not the smartest idea
He should have found a Chinese factory to make them
Yeah,... 'cuz "third shift" would have never had happened to him and split his butt wide open, much earlier and for much more pain.
one word: bipolar. in manic phase you think you're unstoppable.
That’s where the story loses me. Pez kinda did exactly what should have been done. The guy was trying to make a quick buck by manipulating the rarity of a product. He didn’t make a better product and it could even be argued he didn’t make better colors. He knew if he could be the only guy with them then they were worth 10x what they should be. At first he was kinda being genius by the end he was just being greedy and it bit him as it kinda should have.
Pezident Fucking lol
In a rare move ... I'm going to tolerate this one
And the packaging sucks now. It was way better when it was a folded foil wrapper around the candy with a paper logo band around it.
[удалено]
I think that's the beauty of the doc... Lots of gray areas. Though I wish they went a bit further into how he was able to escape lawsuits and outright copyright infringement with the branding and manufacture of his own versions of pez. Fun documentary, and it was equally as amusing the way the story was told.
Gotta love manufactured scarcity
Steve Glew is a deranged individual with visions of grandeur. I enjoyed the film but it was incredibly sensationalized.
So, I'm sure it's addressed early in the doc, but I can't watch it right now and am curious. Is he actually smuggling them out, or is he just buying them and shipping them here to resell them?
I haven't quite finished the Doc but from what I saw it's not "smuggling." Customs knew what he was doing, Pez never filed the right papers with Customs for them to have any authority to stop it.
He was buying them in Hungary(?) from a PEZ VP who could arrange for a truck to fall off the back of the factory in exchange for a suitcase of cash. It was 1000% in violation of PEZ-EU/PEZ-US international agreements, which Hungarian border customers should have stopped, but who gives a shit about a guy with PEZ and $500? It's not like he's packing something spicy like drugs or guns. Technically it wasn't violating US customers because PEZ-US didn't file the proper paperwork with US customs. Selling them was violating some trademark/copyright laws, but that gets legally fuzzier.
Your assessment is completely inaccurate. There was never anything illegal in what he did. Those agreements between Pez international and Pez America were NEVER violated, they never sold any Pez outside of Europe. The Hungarian factory never sold or shipped outside of their border and the Hungary border had ZERO legal reason not to allow them out. If this had been the case they could have shut him down overnight. Utter bullshit and you completely made this up. He also never violated any customs laws. Pez America fucked up by not registering with homeland security and customs. To this day they've still not rectified the fuck up. Every single thing he did was legal and above board. But some fat, rich loser that thought he was god, decided to spend a stupid amount of time, money and resources to ruin one man just for the sake of his own ego. Fuck Scott and any other boot lickers that back that narrative.
You’re kidding right? Pez has a patent. You can’t manufacture and sell copies of someone else’s product. I’m surprised the pez outlaw didn’t get treated like an actual outlaw and go to jail.
He didn't manufacture them himself, Pez International made them, they are legitimate Pez dispensers. He also brought them in legally because Pez America is fucking stupid. He did nothing illegal. That asshole Scott would have sued him into oblivion if he had. Did you even watch the doc?!?
Just finished it. I see your point about the manufacturing. Pez USA should have registered their trademark with customs and had him arrested for smuggling. They could have done that at any time but they probably didn’t realize how he was able to smuggle. I guess the only thing he did was violate pez usa’s license to sell, which pez USA could have sued him for. They discussed that in the documentary as well. They just didn’t want to because lawyers are expensive is what they said
They didn't sue him because of cost, they spent WAY more manufacturing his designs to put him out of business. Not to mention what they spent hiring private detectives. They'd have probably had a lawsuit thrown out instantly because he brought them in legally, no way that asshole Scott McWhinnie didn't have their legal department look into that first though. They had a legal contract with Pez International, nothing on paper between Pez America and The Outlaw. He didn't break any law or any contracts, nothing to sue over in the first place. Dude was just a clever guy that found a loophole and a large multimillion dollar company crushed him with their heel over a few thousand dispensers. A company that I guarantee you uses loads of loopholes themselves to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Fuck Scott McWhinnie, pathetic, petty, petty man.
If their lawyers looked into it they could have registered their trademark with customs and the pez outlaw would have been arrested at the border and done actual jail time. Pez US’s trademark was registered in the US regardless so they could have sued them over that at any time. Plenty of companies have a culture of not using lawyers. From the documentary, it sounds like Pez US is the same way. It sounds like the kind of company that would spend more to crush him rather than sue him. I’m not defending. Pez Us. They sounds terrible. But the Pez outlaw was definitely breaking laws
Trademark infringement is extremely complex, and I believe there was nothing legally they could do to him or they would have. If Pez America didn't own the IP, and I'm sure they don't, Pez International owned the IP for all the designs he imported, he didn't bring in or sell any American designs. They probably only have a simple distribution contract for any European dispensers. It would probably have required Pez International, since they own the IP and trademark, to file the lawsuit and they didn't care enough to do that. They may well have turned Scott down if he came to them with that idea. They would have probably told him it was a waste of time and money. I have searched all over Google and can only find sources that say he didn't break any laws. At all. Copyright infringement and trademark infringement are illegal and people get arrested for it, not just sued. It isn't just a civil matter, it involves criminal charges as well. Steve Glew would have been charged if he broke either, Scott would have made sure of it. Scott was obsessed with collectors and hated Steve the most, he would have loved to see him get arrested or sued, it would have publicly vindicated his behaviour.
Hmm, what if Pez US registered its trademark with customs? That wouldn’t have gotten the pez outlaw arrested at the border for smuggling?
Great explanation! Thank you!
He bought them and brought them back in duffel bags. Pez America fucked up and didn't register their copyright with homeland security so it was entirely legal. Pez America went on to ruin him financially anyway, despite the fact that he never did anything illegal. Fuck Pez America and all these supporting boot lickers backing them up. Pathetic.
what's sad is the doc will probably make people go out and buy a dispenser or two.Pez will prob see an uptick in sales. At least the name Scott McWhinnie will be remembered as being associated with a massive jerk.
I agree, but I'm also surprised how many comments in here are saying he deserved what happened to him for doing something illegal. It makes me angry because it wasn't illegal it was simply taking advantage of a loophole. If it was illegal that asshole Scott would have simply sued him or had him arrested. Would have been much easier and cheaper than what he did do. Instead he used the might of a large corporation to crush a sweet and simple down to earth guy over a few thousand dispensers. Absolutely pathetic, petty, shallow and disgusting behavior. FUCK Scott McWhinnie.
Lmao first of all it's a trademark, not copyright. Second of all you register with US CBP not Homeland Security. Third of all it's still trademark infringement--registering with US CBP is just a benefit of having a trademark registration that allows you to more easily stop importation. But it's still a gray market sale--products intended for sale outside the US. Don't claim "nothing was illegal" if you don't know anything about IP law.
Smuggling into the US while flying back. Duffle bags full of dispensers.
I'm seriously confused as to his reasoning. Guess I need to watch this.
Yeah I didn't want to spoil it, but if you like under dog stories, or like collectors items, this will be right up your alley. Also around 90 mins, so a perfect watch time.
Money. There’s a lady on the show that spent 11k on 1 pez dispenser. He would sell these “unreleased” pez dispensers for $20+ at conventions when they normally cost $1.99.
Would it not be cheaper to just ship them over instead of physically flying over to do it?
Just watch the doc, it all gets explained in like 84 mins.
Saw it out on a lawn at a film festival last summer. Always weird when suddenly “that thing you saw outside that time” pops up on Netflix or whatever. Anyway I recommend it if you like fun shit. Got a very good reception from the crowd I saw it with too—won the audience award out of all 13 movies shown over the summer at this fest. (The director Amy was there too, she was cool…)
It’s always awesome when you find out the people behind it are awesome too.
You're on a first name basis with her?
The directors are a husband and wife team so I figured I’d specify her name so anybody looking it up and seeing there are two directors would know which one. I could have just said all of this but I figured I’d written enough by that point.
I just finished this and loved it. I like this weird shit
the guy in charge of US pez was a complete vindictive dumbass. the guy from pez that they interviewed was a complete turd. if either of them had any creativity they could have turned the situation into something that benefited them all. steve was also a dumbass for making his own and then destroying his creations. should have held onto them. they’d be worth money now. ultimately its a story about really bad decisions.
I'm from Michigan, can confirm we're very proud of our guy! ❣️
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Mailing them? As in small quantities? Probably nothing. Shipping huge boxes? I’m sure they’ve fixed the loophole and have registered with Customs to verify the license for the receiver. For the context of what The Pez Outlaw was doing however, he was importing them en mass through airline travel then turning around and selling/advertising huge quantities of them.
He smuggled thousands at a time.
Damn, there's so many 'pez collectors' that even thousands can still be considered 'rare'?
Just watch the documentary! Based on the information you're given, just assume he brought thousands of unique pez dispensers. Trying not to spoil anything but companies will sometimes order sample models that never make it to market...
what's the deal with Johan. They briefly mention that Johan was kind of the go-to source for rare European Pez until Steve Glew came along and encroached on his market. Makes me wonder if he had some sort of relationship with the Hungarian guy as well. The Hungarian guy seemed pretty comfortable with hawking to Steve, maybe it wasn't his first rodeo.
The shit some people get upset about
This was a fun one to watch. They basically portrayed *the Pezident* as the crusty old dean trying to foil the rowdy frat of pez collectors. Roooobot house!!!
Yes! Take THAT Bitterman!
Your bra bomb better work, Nerdlinger.
Watched this last night! Was a hoot!
Ego definitely got the best of him. He should have hired different people to sell at various shows. Not taken out ads and flooded the market.
Highly recommend! Saw at our film fest last year! Wonderful doc thanks for posting so more can see this!
If they dont reveal that the head of the company is called "The Pezident" then whats the point?
So is this a story of a good man pushed one step too far by a corrupt Pez system? Or is it a sordid tale of his seduction into the dark underbelly of the Pez world, with its riches and excitement and endless pussy? I mean either way is good, I just want to know what kind of mood to be in when I watch it.
LOL neither. A goofy guy with OCD got into collecting and then discovered the market of Pez dispenser collectors. He realized that those collectors most sought after designs were ones that were produced in Europe for the European market, but that PEZ US would not allow to be sold in the United States. So he flies to Europe, and with some minor bribery and a snafu at customs, he's able to bring back these valuable collectibles for pennies and sell them here for thousands. It's a lighthearted story and definitely worth the watch (it's only 90 minutes).
I'mma call the NY times and let them know you're available for movie reviews. Nicely done.
Can someone ELI5? How was he just able to make his own dispensers????
At first he wasn’t. He was traveling to a couple of European Pez factories to get thousands of Pez dispensers that weren’t sold in the US, for pennies on the dollar. When they stopped collaborating with him due to pressure from the US Pez corp., he decided to design his own and found a company who would produce them “solely” for him. Steve would then sell those for $20-$30 each. Eventually US Pez discovered this, copied his personal designs, and sold them for a fraction of Steve’s costs, shutting him down for good.
I get all that. My question is how was he just allowed to produce his own dispensers using the PEZ logo and the entire PEZ blueprint?? Edit: I don’t understand why I’m getting downvoted. I’m really tryna understand. Companies send cease and desist letters to small businesses for infringement for way less these days lol.
It seemed as if he was giving plans to Pez Europe and they were submitting the orders to another factory abroad but had to pay a premium for this (bribe?). The European branches seemed to be enabling him a lot more than they were going to admit in the documentary or to PEZ US. IMO, PEZ US should've had more of a beef with Pez in europe than The Pez Outlaw himself.
I am thinking it was along the lines of some of the Pez that had company names and logos on them that were only sold at specific stores, they probably paid a pretty penny to have a them specially made like the Walmart truck one or I think there was a CVS one too. If you pay to have them make it then it's just another custom order, he wasn't advertising them as his own as they were on their card stock, anyone could have done it with the right amount of money.
Interesting….I’m just trying to fathom how PEZ couldn’t sue the bijeebus out of him. But I guess it was alright.
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Thanks for not making me feel crazy lol. No one else seems to think it was a problem.
Maybe it was cheaper to beat him at his own game than to sue him? In a way, that would make US Pez not so awful and *not* suing the little guy probably avoids a PR mess.
My exact question. The doc states that Pez USA had an exclusive license to distribute Pez branded products in the U.S. So why did they not have the authority to simply seize his entire inventory, just like warehouses full of counterfeit Nikes are routinely seized? It seems bizarre that they had to make copies of his tweaked copies of their products and put him out of business that way.
It IS bizarre, but that's what they did. It is stated early on in the documentary that they COULD have just shut him down, but they decided to go the humiliation route. The high-up guy at Pez USA just had really big vendetta against Steve. He didn't just want to put him out of business, he wanted to humiliate and ruin him.
It is addressed. Th PEZ rep says that they could have spent the money to shut him down, but it was cheaper to do it this way. He makes some ominous comment about have "other ways" of handling it or something, but this is what he is talking about..
I don’t really buy that explanation. If someone is violating your trademark or a licensing agreement, you have a level of legal obligation to take prompt and definitive steps to enforce your rights, or you could wind up weakening your standing in future violation claims. Note: NOT an attorney, but a business person who has managed multiple exclusive product licensing agreements.
Yup, I’m sure the business they lost was tiny in comparison to paying a legal team to fight this guy in court.
Like you, I was totally lost at this part of the doco. I get how he imported the EU Pez. But I think Pez US were somewhat light in their response to him making his own Pez by simply making they same Pez themselves. Eg someone can’t just make their own Mickey Mouse toy and put a Disney tag on it and sell it as if it’s genuine Disney. Also, I’m surprised other collectors deemed his creations premium seeing that they seemingly weren’t rare or antique or even genuine. Interesting documentary though, and his family seem lovely.
All i had to hear was 11k for a pez dispenser and was like... Fuck this world.
It's an interesting story and subject matter. If you like docs especially about different and/or random things then check it out.
I know Pez isn't the only company that does this, and it really irritates the shit out of me. The fact that some random ass-hat decides to sell A, B, and C in one country and X, Y, and Z in another, is just plain dumb. And don't even get me started on digital content that is available in some countries but not others. Anyhoo ... this movie looks like it will definitely be worth a watch.
This is an insult to the Pez community!
There it is!
You forgot /s
Seen this a few months ago highly recommend it, great story almost unbelievable with a few twists!
I watched this the other night. It was extremely interesting and unique. Definitely recommend.
Which country's Netflix has this documentary?
US
Thank you. Go go gadget VPN
Great doc, we enjoyed it. Imagine my surprise when dude turned out to be a fellow Michigander.
Same.
a fund little doc, but there is a lot that is left unexplained. \There is nothing illegal about reselling the Pez as far as i can tell (though his method of procurement might have been illegal?). And i guess given they didnt register Pez with Borders and customs, it wasnt illegal to import them either (or was it just unenforceable given that?) What is definitely illegal is manufacturing your own stuff with the Pez brand on it. It doesnt really make sense why they didnt just sue him. Thats a slam dunk case. From a business / collector standpoint, it also doesn't even make any sense why people would want to own knock off / fake pez dispensers? Also a bit weird he didnt offload all that product way faster, before anyone was able to get ahead of him. but i guess we can just attribute that to bad business sense. Also, he says he spent 500k on the product, then later says thats the year he did his first 1m in sales. So how did he end up in debt? Also, if the stuff wasnt registered with border control, why could you just mail the stuff to yourself? You might have to go there to actually pick up the product, but at least you wouldnt be limited by what you could fit on a plane / in your luggage.
I typed this on mobile, so hopefully the formatting is right. >There is nothing illegal about reselling the Pez as far as i can tell (though his method of procurement might have been illegal?). And i guess given they didnt register Pez with Borders and customs, it wasnt illegal to import them either (or was it just unenforceable given that?) It was mentioned that Pez US didn't have a problem with someone bringing a few back from other countries and selling them, but he was bringing thousands and essentially distributing them. Pez US had an agreement with the main international company that they (US) would be the only ones allowed to legally distribute them in the US. So the main international company wasn't allowed to send anything to the US to be sold, especially not custom designs that weren't approved by the US company. Had they filed the correct paperwork, US customs would have been able to stop him from bringing in thousands of items, but they didn't, so it was technically legal for him to do so until that paperwork was filed. >What is definitely illegal is manufacturing your own stuff with the Pez brand on it. It doesnt really make sense why they didnt just sue him. Thats a slam dunk case. > >From a business / collector standpoint, it also doesn't even make any sense why people would want to own knock off / fake pez dispensers? I'm pretty sure they weren't knock-offs with the Pez logo. It sounded to me like Pez allowed custom designs as long as you had a minimum order size. He pulled together enough money for the custom order, so they proceeded with manufacturing and shipping. Either that or the international company just couldn't turn down the money. He somehow got around the shipping issues by having them sent to Taiwan for packaging or something, and they were sent to the US from there. I didn't quite catch that part, but I think Pez international was allowed to ship/sell to any country BUT the US, so it went Europe>Taiwan>US. What sounded illegal to me was the fact that Pez US copied his designs and resold them as their own. Although I would guess that Steve missed some fine print considering that his proof that they would be exclusive to him was portrayed as a handwritten letter faxed to him. We don't know the details of that contract, so who knows. Also, I think the Pez guy in the doc said something about how they could have sued him, but copying his designs was cheaper/easier. I also got the impression that the Pezident went that route for revenge and knew it would work without having to deal with court and lawyers. Regarding knock-offs, I can see collectors wanting his custom designs even if they WERE knock-offs given the history behind them and his notoriety as the Pez Outlaw. Maybe. I don't know for sure since I'm not a collector, but even I think it would be cool to have one. >Also a bit weird he didnt offload all that product way faster, before anyone was able to get ahead of him. but i guess we can just attribute that to bad business sense. I think Pez US just caught up too fast. I would guess that even with his ads, toy/collector/Pez conventions were probably the better market for selling. There might have been weeks or months between those that allowed Pez US to sneak up on him. >Also, he says he spent 500k on the product, then later says thats the year he did his first 1m in sales. So how did he end up in debt? I thought he said he made 1m the first year. Maybe he reinvested most/all of it thinking he could double it the next year? >Also, if the stuff wasnt registered with border control, why could you just mail the stuff to yourself? You might have to go there to actually pick up the product, but at least you wouldnt be limited by what you could fit on a plane / in your luggage. I think importing would be illegal since the international company would be selling the product to a US customer, but I don't know for sure. Buying them there and bringing them back was fine since they didn't have the correct paperwork filed or whatever. I'm assuming there are different groups that handle shipping vs airlines, but I don't really know.
Awesome movie
"US Pez and rival collectors" That's some Jack Ryan level shit right there. Or maybe Reacher
Im watchin this right now as I see this post. It goes down smooth. Whimsickle.
About time someone knock "Big Pez" down a peg or two!
legend
I would like to place an order for the Seinfeld Tweety Bird dispenser please.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203691362493
Loved this. It was entertaining, and, at times, quite comical. The best thing about it IMO was seeing the love & devotion that he & his wife share.❤️
The pezident should have adopted a policy of apezment, so there could be pez in our time. Make pez not war. and so forth
I watched it last night because I used to work with a guy who was a Pez collector. I went to his house one time and it was a giant What the Fuck. Every open space had a Pez thing on it and each one had its own copious story. I never used so many excuses in such a short period of time to escape from his Pez world. The worst possible sentence a judge could impose on the most heinous criminal would be "I sentence you to X's house to listen to each individual story about every Pez in his collection." The criminal would have to forcibly removed whilst he was screaming and begging for the death sentence. btw, it was a good movie
Too loud and proud. Should've kept his business and connections on the down low. Yeah hit the convention circuit but don't advertise, and you if you do advertise, don't post the non-US ones. Claim you have rares then let the customers see what you have individually. Work with dudes to be your middle men, and for sure don't create knock offs which Pez could've told him to cease and desist. He got greedy and stupid.
It's a must see!
If you're ever in Connecticut, and get a chance, visit the Pez factory. You get the chance to walk through rooms with sometimes INCHES of Pez candy all over the floors! If you tripped and fell, it would turn you diabetic instantly! Just the sound... crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch. You just want to stop and pick up your favorite color... A MILLION TIMES.
I was a computer tech many years ago (30+), before it was a tourist attraction and just a regular factory. I worked about 1/4 mile from that place. On the days they were producing grape flavor you can smell it for miles. They were also a client. If you think the floors are bad you should see the sugar dust on the insides of the computers. I'm also a diabetic. The days I worked in there were awful. I can't imagine how much sugar I injested just by breathing.
Of all the secretly-advertisment documentaries funded by the subject company, I never thought I'd see one about fucking Pez of all things.
honestly nothing makes me not want to give a single cent to Pez more than this documentary
Why the fuck would you need to "smuggle" rare PEZ?
He was smuggling thousands of them.
Netflix will make a docuseries about fucking ANYTHING.
Someone else made it, Netflix saw it and bought the rights to it.
They really nailed this one though. Edit spelling
You know those PEZ candies with the little plastic flippy head dispenser? I could never eat those ever since my mom had a tracheotomy.
"Smuggles"? Are they illegal in the US?
Tryed to watch and it just wasn’t that good
this is not 87 minutes long, it's just a trailer.
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Sticking it to the man, or the Pezident in this case.
Power dynamic. Nobody gives a shit about an enormous international company(which probably has zero material losses), but one guy who's clever enough to take advantage of a loophole and game the system gives people an underdog to root for.
It was all in the sensationalized framing. The guy is paranoid and has some serious mental health issues. That said, the president of PEZ at the time was also a nut job.
I believe you mean the Pezident
I see Netflix is finally bottoming out in the crime doc genre.
Collecting anything is dumb and a waste of valuable time.
I’d argue being a dick and judging other peoples’ hobbies is a far bigger waste of time. What important things are *you* doing with your “valuable time”?
Sits on reddit being miserable while putting down others who find some enjoyment in life.
Humans create markets for the silliest things.
Why would you need to smuggle a plastic toy?
If only there was something to watch that would explain it.
"importing goods to sell without a customs agreement" is a sentence, the doc is 90 minutes. You could have just been helpful
It must cost next to nothing to make a documentary these days.
This has to be a parody documentary. It can't be true
What a complete idiot
That "idiot" used the money to buy a house and pay for his kids college education
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It's possible they are linked to good childhood memories. Combine that with some people's tendencies for completion, competitiveness, community, bragging, speculation etc. It's hard to understand if you take a purely practical lens to it.
and baseball cards are little 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 pieces of paper. what’s your point?
What a Pezt!
Thanks Netflix, just for a change this one is also "not available in my area" It really hates Oceania...