This article is from the PEZ candy and PEZ dispensers FAQ, by sharpe@dg-rtp.dg.com (Chris Sharpe) with numerous contributions by others.
At the time of Geary's first book, the black Batman was not in
production and were thus highly prized. The blue Batman has remained
in production. Then in 1995, PEZ began making the black Batman
dispenser again. Older black Batman dispensers are still worth more
than the 1995 issues. To determine if your black Batman is an older
version, check the patent numbers. The older version has a 3.9 patent
number (see question [4-17]) and came on yellow, black, or blue stems.
The new one has a 4.9 patent number and was issued on a black stem
only. Both the blue and black issues have recently been discontinued
and replaced by a revised dark blue batman with a larger head.
 
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