Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Think I forgot to mention...the list of manuf. Industry's Choice Winners is posted in the forum at teddybearandfriends.com.

I really don't know how they get from the raw materials to the yarn and plush. Joe said that shrimp shells (and one other crustacian shell--maybe crab) are a natural source of polymer and have been used to make plastics for thousands of years. Now they've figured out how to spin it into a fiber. There are billions of tons of waste shells from the seafood industry, so the supplies for making it are cheap, at least! Their business card doesn't list a web address, but try "soysilk.com" and see what happens.

Mindy

The bears are for sale. The artist bears tend to be one-of-a-kind, so they mark them "sold" and their buyers either pick them up at the end of the show or the artists ship them when they get home. Editions and manufacturer bears are samples for order-taking.

Karen said that she cut out the bear pieces and sent them to Pat, who embroidered them and sent them back so Karen could sew and stuff the bear. She didn't mention how long Pat took to do it, though.

Mindy

By the way, we also saw more singing and dancing Elvis bears today. Preferred Plush has a complete line, including singing, dancing hound dogs. It's quite the thing this year. I guess I'm old-fashioned, though--I prefer my bears quiet and cuddly instead!

You asked what they feel like: Soft. Honestly, not as super soft as some of the new plushes for baby products. But still, soft and comfy. It's kind of feathery. It reminded me of alpaca in a way, though it's not at all similar. I guess it's hard to describe.

Yesterday I shared a picture of a display in the Hansa booth, with a life-sized wooly mammoth. Today we learned that not only has FAO Schwarz bought the mammoth, but an NBA player just bought an 18’ bull giraffe (which we’re told fits nicely into a 20’ shipping carton) and Kirstie Ally collects Hansa. The pieces are sold in 21 countries, and the U.S. is finally about to get them on a noticeable scale. The company controls their growth to match production, but they’re finally ready to tackle the U.S. Kellie and I met the company founder and owner, Hans Axthelm, and head designer Hennie Navaratte. (Their new US rep is someone old-timers will recognize: TBF founder Gary Ruddell!) They told us that Hansa has more than 4,000 pieces in the line, and plan to introduce about 100 new ones each year. They spend a phenomenal amount on research and development, including creating their own plush furs, to make their realistic animals. They put real animal fur into a spectrometer to figure out what colors it actually is, then reconstruct in via computer to make plush to match. They work with zoos around the world, and bodies such as the Smithsonian Institute. Mr. Axthelm hinted that they are working on a huge project in Europe—he mentioned the E.U.—but told me he can’t give me details for another few months. (There’s no better way to whet a journalist’s appetite than to drop hints then say, “Details to come”!) He also showed me members of their new teddy bear line, which look more like real bears than most teddies and are very cute. I was so interested in listening to him talk that I forgot to snap pix, but I’ll swing by for some tomorrow. I will also have more in the magazine very soon.

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow, we visit Gund and Bearington, plus spend about half the day with Steiff. I’m sure there will be a lot to report!

Cheers,
Mindy

As I mentioned, both Douglas and Folkmanis are celebrating anniversaries this year. Representatives for both companies mentioned their pride in simply lasting so long—really an achievement in this business. Douglas had some of their early pieces on display, alongside modern designs. Their dogs are the company hallmark, but their Sassy Pet Sacks, cold-weather animals, undersea creatures, horses, and fantasy creatures have all taken off. Good people, good company, good stuff. Expect more on Douglas in our July/August issue.

- New dogs from Douglas: German shorthaired pointer, basset hound, and beagle.
- New dragons: Topaz, Ruby, and Jade.
- Douglas’s new poseable horses. Must-haves for your granddaughters—and any of you who, like me, loved horses when you were a tween!
- A few of Douglas’s “senior” creations, along with a new horse.

At Folkmanis, we got to see company founder Judy Folkmanis’s first actual puppet—a turtle, which she received a patent for. The Folkmanis company history is a great story. Judy made puppets in her living room and sold them on the street in Berkeley, CA. She went from home versions of the Muppets to the turtle to a realistic beaver, which inspired the now 30-year-old line of realistic animal puppets. I forgot to take pictures of the newest puppets, a peacock and a harbor seal, but I’ll try to remember to snap them tomorrow. The peacock is especially cool. Company rep Elaine Kolias reiterated some of the info in the Mar/Apr issue about the Brer Rabbit series, string pull puppets, and Sierra Club line. She also told me that Disney is releasing “Song of the South” on DVD, which is totally cool and exciting. Great music, great stories. (It’s one of my husband’s favorites, and I bought him the videotape from England, but have yet to transfer it to DVD so we can watch the thing!) Folkmanis did a lot of research on the Uncle Remus stories before doing the current puppets, and came to the conclusion that the stories have been misunderstood and misrepresented in recent times. They’re hoping the puppets, which are often sold at bookstores, will stimulate an interest in those stories and other classic literature. Perhaps Disney has come to the same conclusion?

A bit of sheer gossip: Elaine mentioned that Pixar has built their new facility across the street from Folkmanis. Isn’t that neat?

- Judy Folkmanis with the turtle that started it all.

On the artist side, we saw Lynn Gato and Karen Meer. Lynn mentioned that the storm that paralyzed New York left no snow at all in her home state of Vermont—there’s some irony for ya! We don’t see Lynn on the show circuit much, but she mentioned that she’ll be doing the Springfield, MA, shows in April and November and possibly the upcoming Kennebunk, ME, show. She’s also repped by Felicia Hymer, the Bear Scout.

- Lynn with some of her Christmas bears.
- Lynn’s bears “The Alumnae” (with H sweater), “Americana bear” (hat), and “Calverton” (overalls.

Karen told us she decided last fall that this would be her last Toy Fair—after 19 years! But she isn’t throwing the towel in on bears, just going for alternate methods of marketing them. She’s started doing open-mouth bears, and is still doing old-style bears and historical characters.

- Karen with a new open-mouth bear.
- Karen’s “George Washington”.
- Karen just did a wonderful piece in collaboration with Pat Urso. Karen made the bear, and Pat silk ribbon embroidered flowers on the front and back. Gorgeous!
- Karen repped Sharon Dressman at Toy Fair. These are Sharon’s pandas.
- We caught Salli DiFrank of Village Bears (Sarasota FL) shopping Karen’s booth. She’s looking at whimsical dolls by Sarah Westenberger (AKA, Martha Burch’s sister). Salli and her husband Jim mentioned that they really liked the gollies presented by the Teddy Group, feeling that they are more traditional than many of the gollies on the market today.

So, you know how New York has world-famous restaurants and all sorts of cuisine? You can’t prove it by Kellie and me today. For breakfast, we had free bagels and coffee in the press center. For lunch, we had free cookies and diet Coke from the Folkmanis hospitality room. And right now, I’m munching a roll leftover from dinner night before last. Fortunately, we’ve got a great dinner planned (Italian with the Wilsons and McKays). I’d kill for a vegetable right now!

What did we do that kept us so busy we couldn’t eat? We started the day in the toy district at North American Bear Company’s workshop. Then we took the bus to Javits to celebrate anniversaries with Douglas Cuddle Company (50 years) and Folkmanis Puppets (30 years). [TY is celebrating their 20th anniversary, too.] We chatted with some artists and retailers, learned how Hansa makes their amazing, lifelike animals, checked out some new bear-related activity books for kids, got the skinny on the new Maryland show this fall, then headed back here to collapse for a bit before dinner.

At NABCO, Barbara Isenberg shared the Muffy line with us, including the new “Iris” bear that’s pictured in the March/April issue of TBF. We learned that the line of Muffy minis—plush, not mohair—will be expanding in a “Muffy of the Month” line, most of which are new designs. These $10 items are aimed at kids, not collectors, though I’m sure that more than one will find their ways into collectors’ hands. On the collector end, in addition to NABCO’s Couture line, Steiff is doing another Muffy—Barbara said that partnership has been successful for both companies—but the prototype is with Steiff, not NABCO, so we will see it tomorrow. She mentioned a travel trunk and outfits representing the countries where Muffy is sold. Of course, we also petted the super-soft plush baby toys and hugged the squishy bears. Little kids today have it good!

- Barbara Isenberg with Muffy “Iris”.

Finally, for gifts or kids or just-for-fun-when-you-crave-a-bear-but-don’t-have-a-ton-of-cash:

- Teddy Ruxpin is back! He’s telling stories to a new generation of kids. Director of Marketing Helen Hames told us that they got preorders from parents who want Teddy for their 20-something kids and from young parents who want to share a favorite childhood toy with their children. I told her that our crowd collects the originals—but might want a new digital version for their grandkids.
- Fiesta has bears sure to get on my good side: the line is named Teddy Bears with Friends! There’s a cowboy with cow, beach bum with dolphin, and safari guy with wild animal.
- We also saw a nice polar bear on all fours in the Fiesta booth. Big—at least two feet tall and a yard long.
- At the Aurora booth, we saw a dancing bear dressed as Elvis and who sings the King’s songs.
- A cute Aurora teddy is a mid-year introduction, so didn’t even have a name when we saw him.

Speaking of Ron, Kellie and I had a nice long chat with Elke Block. She showed off the newest Incubator pieces, including designs by Elke herself, Joan Woessner, Serieta Harrell, and Jody Battaglia. If you like ‘em, let a store know so they can place an order. Some of the pieces won’t be produced unless they reach a minimum order (talk about a limited edition!).

- Elke has done a grouping of old-fashioned flat elephants with button wheels. “Papa” and “Mama” are each 5-1/2”, while “Baby” is 4-1/2”.
- Serieta also has some flat friends, though hers are door hangers or ornaments. There’s a “Ducky,” “Kittie,” “Teddy,” and “Bunnie.”
- Joan’s darling mice, “Benjamin,” “Mr Thomas,” and “Miss Lavender” are each 3” tall.
- Jody’s newest pieces are “Miss Lollypup,” “Cappy Quacks,” “Jimmy Jingle,” and “Princess Ginger Cookie.”
- We snapped Linda from Bears & More in Glendale, AZ, visiting with Elke.

An unusual new product: SoySilk Pals. Joe Raffino says they started working with alternate fibers about five years ago. By alternate, I mean yarn made from bamboo and soy. Their yarn is now sold in needlework stores around the world. Joe told me they’ll be introducing a yarn made from shrimp shells soon. Apparently it’s an age-old thing that they’ve been able to adapt to modern uses.

Their new project is teddy bears and bunnies made from soy plush. I am not clear on how the soy turns into yarn, let alone into plush. But it’s a nice creamy color and soft to the touch. Jonelle Raffino spoke passionately about the need for renewable materials that are Earth friendly and aren’t based on petroleum products. Apparently the soy fabric is just such a product, plus it’s got anti-bacterial properties and is nice and soft.

Right now they have bears and bunnies in a couple of sizes. They’ll soon be introducing colored fabrics, plus additional designs such as a seal, cat, monkey, and penguin. Kellie and I spotted Ron Block of Edinburgh Imports in the booth, so perhaps the fabric will be getting wider distribution in our circles soon.

Theresa Wang and Chris Nimeth accepted a pair of TOBY Industry’s Choice Awards for World of Miniature Bear’s “Pope” and Bing’s “Cory Jr.”

Hildegard Guenzel accepted a pair of awards, too, for “Roxane” and “Red Pepper.” More on the TOBYs later.

Not an award winner, but kind of a fun idea: Elizabeth at Sakar International shared their iPod/MP3 player holders with us. Each bear is also a backpack, and has an AM/FM radio and speakers to play your music. Can't you see one sitting in your studio or bear room?

Back to the artists... Steven Clark and Shane Elliott, The Bear Guys from Waterloo, ON, Canada, are enjoying their first Toy Fair. Well, I think so, at least. Steven admitted he finds it “nerve-wracking” and said he felt a bit queasy at first. But then he said, “It’s a totally different world from the collectibles market, a completely different market—it’s a grander scale. We’re reaching stores instead of collectors, so it makes us look at the bear world from a different perspective, meet different people.” That’s important for spreading the word about bears, of course.
The guys said they think New York is fabulous. “The blizzard makes it that much better,” said Shane. “The snow makes us feel at home,” added Steven.
Shane admitted to lots of sleepless nights preparing for the show. “We do it because we love it.”
“I can’t imagine life without bears,” said Steven. “We looked for a niche, for a market for years, and we’ve found it in bears. We would be making them even if we weren’t selling them. We love them.”

- Steven and Shane
- Blue panda “Happy Happy” is an open edition.
- “Spike,” with the brown nose, is one-of-a-kind. The little guys in the background are, from left, “Pediddle,” “Cocoa,” and “Pedoodle.” (Do you ever say “pediddle” when you see oncoming cars with only one headlight?)

*********************
Cindy McGuire and Heidi Steiner are sharing a stand. Cindy reported she’s been to two shows (Spamalot and Hairspray) and the Met. “You’ve gotta work the fun stuff in!” she told me. Both of them reported that it had been a busy morning, and they had seen many familiar faces. They’re hoping to meet new people over the course of the week, of course.

Across the aisle, we talked to Antje Bender of Kosen. Some of you might remember that we did an article on Kosen a few years ago. Great realistic animals. Their artists sketch from real animals to design the patterns.

- Owls, for all you Harry Potter fans. (It’s OK, you can tell me—I was there at midnight to buy my book!)
- The pandas are from last year, but the sloth bears are new. Both are limited editions.
- On the “fiction” side, Kosen has several new fairytale characters: a king, queen, and knight.

*************
The Teddy Bear Group is a new manufacturer in England. Kellie and I chatted with Clinton Cooper, whom some of you met at the San Francisco gift show. He is using “home workers” to make the bears, rather than a factory. Clinton used to work for Merrythought, so he knows his way around a factory, but he says he doesn’t want to be cutting out the bears with metal stamps. Instead, using teams of home workers allows artists to be as creative as they like, plus control the quality of the work. The artists are finishing the faces and details, too. Here are some group shots of the bears (and gollies) thus far. Kellie and I have already requested more information and photos from Clinton for an upcoming issue of TBF!

In the artists’ section, we ran into Jared and Jane Monroe. Jared is keeping up with TT during the show, too. Referring to an online discussion, he said that he knows people were amazed when they learned how much a Toy Fair booth costs, but he and Jane think the exposure is worth it. We’ve just learned through a TBF survey that our readers do the majority of their shopping via bear stores, so putting yourself in front of store owners makes sense to me!

- Jared showed us “Bowie” and “Chase”. He said that since “Bowie” means hunter in a nordic language, “Chase” seemed appropriate for the matching bear.
- Jane was displaying her Golden Teddy nominee, “Woodrow,” and a friend, “Americana Teddy.”
- Jane was also showing “Tucker,” a 22” cutie. If I read the tag right, “Tucker” will be arriving at Ruthie’s Tee Co. fairly soon, which is right down the street from my house....

Our first stop for the morning was Tide-Rider, where Dave Smith showed us a few new pieces from Merrythought:

- “Tigger” for the Disney show in May. Dave said this one is still awaiting approval by Disney, but is close to what you’ll see at the show. The little brown guy at his side is a “Cheeky Walt,” also for the show.
- “Cheeky Pirate” and “Cheeky Deliveryman” are both new this year.

Dave said some of his samples didn’t come in, so I flipped through the catalog. If you get a chance, look online to see if the new pieces are there yet (I think it’s Merrythought.co.uk). There were some cute non-Cheeky pieces that might bear investigation.

Greetings from a white world. The city that never sleeps was at least resting today, due to the storm. We got at least a foot of snow—I heard as much as 17”. Traffic was at a standstill this morning, which meant it was a real challenge to get to the show. Kellie, Lori (the Doll Reader ad manager), and I gamely joined the line for the shuttle bus, but when we realized that it wrapped 3/4 of the way around the Marriott and wasn’t moving at all, we changed tactics. We walked to the nearest subway station, took the subway about 10 blocks, then trudged the rest of the way to the convention center. All the women at the show were sporting “smoky” eye make-up and “tousled” hair, not really by choice. At least exchanging stories of “how we got to Javits” made good ice-breakers at our meetings all day!

I’m glad to report that, despite the weather, the show was busy. Those who were here for the blizzard three years ago were (pleasantly) surprised at the number of attendees present and buying. We’ll know more later in the show, but it seemed to be a good first day.

Bad news: Unfortunately, the Broadway Bears auction was postponed due to the snow. I’m afraid we’re all disappointed on that count!

New York atmosphere:
- It cost me $10.50 to have a salad and water for lunch.
- Kellie and I went to dinner in a church that has been converted to a pizza place. I forgot the camera, which is too bad: the ceiling has an amazing dome with stained glass.
- When we took the subway, we only needed one token each, but had to buy two. Each.

Atmosphere photos:
- Strange dancing vegetables (?) that greeted us at the door to Javits.
- William Hung from “American Idol,” who for an unknown reason was performing during the show.
- Lifesize Teddy Ruxpin.
- TY paints the steps with an ad every year.
- Hansa has a fabulous display of animals. This is only part of it. Note Kellie in the back left, providing some size perspective.
- Gigantic Radio Flyer wagon (see the people underneath?).

First appointment tomorrow is at the North American Bear Company workshop to see what Miss Muffy VanderBear will be up to for the year. Tomorrow night, we’re meeting the Wilsons and McKays to learn about the new show in Maryland.

Until tomorrow...
Mindy

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm glad you liked yesterday's pictures. I played around with the camera and think I've figured out how to make them a bit smaller, but still easy to see.

It's snowing like the dickens! It's supposed to taper off at mid-day, but the blizzard warning lasts 'til 4 p.m. Oh boy! There's something like 6" on the ground right now. Yours truly is wearing business attire and Timberland boots!

We're going to fight our way through the snow to Javits Center, then deliver the first round of TOBY Industry's Choice Awards to manufacturers. (I'll post the list at teddybearandfriends.com later today. Artists, the judges drooled and sighed and struggled over your work ... buuut, you'll still have to wait ... I just wasn"t fast enough to tally both the artists and manufacturers before I left!)

Cheers!
Mindy

Dolores enthusiastically introduced me to her table neighbor, Jennifer Forgione. Jennifer went to school with Dolores’s daughters and is a talented artist in her own right. Jennifer draws using colored pencil and ink. She’s created really cute bear characters for a line of cards. She’s been drawing her entire life, but this was the first time she had ever sold anything. Her goal is to get into greeting cards. I really liked her characters, and was amazed that she was creating them with just colored pencil. 

So, that was my first day in New York. I’m going to go order room service (I LOVE room service) and curl up with a book. I’m meeting Kellie for breakfast in the morning, then, if we’re not snowed in, we meeting Dave Smith of Tide-Rider (Merrythought’s U.S. distributer) tomorrow at 10 a.m. I’ll try to send you a report of the day before we head out to the Broadway Bears auction tomorrow night.

Cheers!
Mindy

PS: Will work on the photo thing after dinner. They're either huge or blurry...not sure what's wrong. They didn't do that yesterday in the test run at home!

Dolores Austin had lots of big dressed bears on her table, including “Susan Marian Bera,” 18”. I liked her pink highlights.

Susan McKay is working on a variety of projects. She’s been doing some compilation pieces with doll artist Tawny Nix of Mt. Pleasant, TX. Susan does dogs or bears to accent Tawny’s dolls, and says the pairs have been very popular.

Susan had a several new puppies, including “Rosemary,” a pup with serious bling. She says that all of her pups end up being one of a kind, as she airbrushes each a bit differently.

I also liked Susan’s small-but-not-mini bears, which she says are just the right size to fit clothes made for North American Bear Co.’s “Muffy.” “Love the clothes,” Susan admitted.

[Having a little trouble with my posting technique. You may see this segment 4 times or not at all. Sorry.]

Janet and Alex Wilson were showing Janet’s handmade bears and her partially manufactured line. Three of her new Handmade Treasures are “George & Martha Washington” (in blue) and “Roslyn.” All are 3” tall. The partially manufactured bears are called the Fluffwees. Janet has the bodies made overseas, then she personally finishes the faces.

The Wilsons and McKays are working together to promote a new show in Hunt Valley, MD, on November 5 (that’s just north of Baltimore). Alex says the show is gaining momentum, and there seems to be a lot of excitement about it. Vendors will be dressed in Christmas costumes, and tables will be decorated in the same theme. I’ve already signed up for a table, and I hope I’ll see some of you there in the fall!

Mark also mentioned a new show by Marge Voigt of The Nursery Window, Ltd. in Kohler, WI. It’s a small invitational scheduled for October 14. Apparently people in the northern central states are missing the show ABC used to do in Kohler, so Marge decided to do her own. I’ve never been to Kohler, but I hear the resort is fabulous. Might be something to consider!

Greetings from New York!

I’m ensconced on the 42nd floor of the Marriott Marquis, which is right on Times Square. I’ve attached a blurry picture of the view. It’s blurry due to the window glass—and the snow. A Nor’easter has followed me to the city, and we’re supposed to have 6” by morning and as much as six more inches by the time it blows out tomorrow. It snowed for Toy Fair a couple of years ago, all but shutting down the city and the show. We’ll hope it doesn’t get that bad this year.

About the train ride here, I will say only that people who get motion sickness really ought not drink coffee before boarding or read while riding a train.

I spent the afternoon at the Doll & Toy Museum of New York’s 5th Annual Toy Expo and Cultural Event. It’s a tiny show in the basement of the Ethical Cultural Society building, right on Central Park West. The show included an exhibit of black dolls in honor of Black History Month, valuations of old toys by an antique toy consultant, and a display of children’s inventions.

While I was there, I visited with museum director Marlene Hockman and artists Janet and Alex Wilson, Susan and Mark McKay, Dolores Austin, and Jennifer Forgione. The small room was buzzing when I got there. Janet told me that people had shown a lot interest in her minis. The children were especially interested, she reports: they asked a lot of questions. Dolores agreed, saying that there were a lot of attendees and that it was fun to meet new people and introduce her bears to potential collectors.

[Jump the next msg--I broke this into several pieces.]