The museum's ambition was exhaustive: one of everything. Pez dispensers have been manufactured since 1955, beginning as a novelty attached to peppermint candy marketed as an alternative to smoking. Over the decades, the dispensers grew into a vast collectible universe, with characters ranging from Disney and Star Wars to presidential figures and seasonal specials. The Dosses' collection represented years of dedicated hunting through flea markets, collector conventions, and private sales. Each dispenser was displayed with the care that art museums lavish on their acquisitions, because to Gary and Nancy Doss, that is exactly what they were.

In 2004, the museum expanded beyond Pez to include the Classic Toy Museum, a collection of well-known American toys and related memorabilia. Tinker Toys, Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs, Mr. Potato Head, View-Masters, Colorforms, Lego, Play-Doh, and Slinkys all had their place in the display. The most provocative section was the Banned Toys Museum, which showcased toys that had been recalled or prohibited for reasons ranging from safety hazards to inappropriate content. It was the kind of exhibit that made parents laugh nervously and children stare with fascination at objects they were being told, decades later, had been considered dangerous.

In 2009, the Pez company sued the museum for trademark infringement. The demand was remarkable: all profits from the museum's fourteen years of operation. The Dosses had built their collection and their reputation around a product they loved, only to find that the company behind that product considered their tribute an infringement. The suit was settled out of court in 2010, and the museum was permitted to remain open. But the legal battle took a toll, and the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia permanently closed in July 2019. The collection's fate after closure became another chapter in the ongoing story of how small, passion-driven institutions struggle to survive in a world that increasingly values scale over charm.