The 1956 PEZ Space Guns Are the Vintage Candy Shooters That Launched a Collecting Era

A Candy Dispenser That Shot for the Stars

If you spend any time at PEZ conventions or flipping through vintage collector guides, one name keeps coming up as the holy grail of early dispensers: the 1956 PEZ Space Guns. These are not your standard character-head dispensers. They are sleek, futuristic ray guns that actually shot PEZ candy from the barrel, and they represent a fascinating detour in the brand's history that collectors have been chasing for decades.

Growing up in Ohio, I heard stories about these from longtime collectors before I ever saw one in person. When I finally held a red Space Gun at a swap meet years later, I understood immediately why they inspire such devotion. There is something completely different about the way they feel in your hand compared to every other PEZ dispenser ever made.

What Makes the Space Guns Unique

PEZ introduced the Space Guns in 1956, operating out of New York City and manufacturing the guns in Austria. The design was ambitious: a pistol-style ray gun dispenser that used a trigger mechanism to shoot individual PEZ candies out of the barrel. It was a dramatic departure from the stick-type dispensers of the era, and it was meant to capitalize on the space-age enthusiasm sweeping American culture in the mid-1950s.

The guns came in a wide range of colors, including red, blue, yellow, brown, silver, green, and gold. That color variation is one of the things that makes building a complete collection such an obsession. Certain colors like the silver and gold are significantly harder to find than the more common red and blue examples. Each piece features white plastic end caps and the unmistakable silhouette that makes them instantly recognizable even to non-collectors.

What I find remarkable about the Space Guns is that PEZ essentially made two versions at the same time, one for retail shelves and one as a mail-in premium, and they look nearly identical. Tracking down both distribution types is a whole sub-hobby within PEZ collecting.

Retail and Mail-In Variations

The distribution story adds another layer of depth for serious collectors. Some Space Guns were sold at retail outlets, available directly off store shelves. Others were offered exclusively as mail-in premiums, meaning a child had to send in proof-of-purchase or a small payment to receive one through the mail. These two routes to market mean there are legitimate variations to search for beyond just the color differences.

Collectors who want to assemble a comprehensive Space Guns display typically aim for at least one of each color they can locate, plus examples from both the retail and mail-in distribution channels. It is the kind of collecting goal that can take years to work toward, which is part of what keeps the pursuit exciting.

A Short Production Run With a Long Legacy

The Space Guns did not stay in production long. Concerns about the shooting mechanism made them impractical to continue marketing, and PEZ moved on to the character-head dispensers that became the brand's signature format. That relatively brief production window is a big part of why surviving examples are so desirable today.

• Introduced: 1956
• Manufactured in Austria
• Available colors: red, blue, yellow, brown, silver, green, gold (rarity increases in later colors)
• Distribution: retail shelves and mail-in premium orders
• Design: trigger-operated, candy-shooting pistol format
• Ideal for: vintage PEZ collectors, space-age memorabilia enthusiasts, early dispenser specialists

Display Ideas for the Space Age Corner

If you are lucky enough to own one or more Space Guns, they deserve a display that honors their age. A shallow shadow box with a dark background lets each color variation stand out individually. Grouping them by color spectrum, from warm reds and yellows through the cooler blues and greens to the rarest silver and gold, creates a genuinely striking visual arrangement. Pair them with a few pieces of 1950s space-age advertising or packaging and you have a display that tells a whole era's story.

For the collector who loves early PEZ history, the Space Guns are an essential chapter. They represent the moment when PEZ tried something genuinely bold, before the company found the character-head format that would define it for the next seventy years.