The PEZ success story is one of ingenuity. How else could such a plain candy become one of the world's best-selling candies? The company produces over 3 billion of those candy blocks every year, but chances are they wouldn't have sold even 1 billion if not for the creative dispensers. PEZ started out as breath mints, first distributed in tins and then in containers resembling cigarette lighters. In 1955 the company made its big breakthrough in America, placing heads such as Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse on its dispsensers. And so a cultural icon was born. Since introducing the modern dispensers, there have been over 1,500 different heads on them. The candy iteself comes in a number of flavors and varieties as well, with more than 25 different styles developed over the years. PEZ dispensers became so iconic that they became collectors items, with one valued at over $13,000.