Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Now that's what I call a bear pile!!

Wow, how beautiful.....

Sheesh!  That sounds like a big job.  It's time-consuming, but my best advice would be to do a search on ebay and check the "sold" listings for the types of bears you have.  That would be the way I would do it.  It would at least give you an idea where to start.  What I might pay for a bear may be different from what someone else would pay. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so something that might appeal to me might not appeal to another collector, and sorry to say, it's very hard to say what a particular teddy is worth.  It's what the market will BEAR (haha), but first and foremost, it's condition, condition, condition.

I hope that helps.

Thanks for the comments!

Just imagine that day....it still makes me laugh..we left the show at about 2:00....loaded down with teddies and this huge lamb's head sticking out of a plastic bag...going to visit two historic houses in the Kensington area for a visit, leaving our bags with reception(!!!)....then a walk through the park...out to dinner with all these packages...back on the underground to our hotel near the airport.....I think we made lots of people stare and then smile....or they thought we were crazy!!!   

Yep, thank you, Peterbear, I am DEFINITELY in!

Okay, I'm in....but just what's a Year End Holiday Greeting Card Swap??? (doh, am i a little dense or what?)  I'll PM you, Peterbear....

So here (finally) are the results of my bear shopping in England this past September....

I hope you like the pictures!!

Artist bears Hugglets:

Frank Webster bear...I learned that Frank lived on Long Island, New York for a couple of years not too far from me!!
And then from Teeny bears by Tina Brooks...a cupcake bunny!!!!....too cute, and the cupcake part is very sturdy, yet looks very delicate! 
Finally, the magnificent Bears of Sue Quinn, what a gorgeous Hedgehog!! Wearing a lovely cashmere sweater over her little dress!

So then antique bears/sheep from Hugglets:

Come on, who could resist this face???? (not me!)  A lovely Dean's lamb from the 1950's...reminds me of England every time I see him

Here he is again (HE'S HUGE!), posing with a lovely doggie nose Chiltern bear and a little wool Steiff Lamb from Hugglets...

And then finally, a Charlie bear named Sparrow from the Exmoor teddy shop in Minehead....and a lovely Lily's bear by Liliane Vandepaepeliere of Belgium...I'm not sure if she's making bears anymore, but this one stole my heart at Teddy Bears of Witney!

so there you go....maybe I can go back to Hugglets next year?????  Well, we'll see...I loved it!

oh my!!!!  Love them all!

ohhhh, what a beauty!!!  It's never too early for Christmas present!

OMG, I LOVED HUGGLETS!!!!!   it was TOTALLY overwhelming and fantastic....met the loveliest people simply waiting in line for it to open!!!  Thank you, Peterbear, for the excellent advice....it happened to be quite warm in England when I was there, and I purposely dressed lightly!  Even so, it did get very warm in some of the halls, especially upstairs.  Next time I'm bringing a backpack, too. 

I loved this show because there were phenomenal artist bears, new manufactured bears, antique bears, bearaphernalia -- a mix of other things, jewelry, clothes for bears, and no kidding, my husband Steve was so fascinated by it, he bought himself one of those little growler mechanisms lol.....

I haven't been on here in a while....when i returned i had a very heavy workload to make up, and then....a week ago...I had gangrenous appendicitis and emergency surgery at 1:00 in the morning!!! Yikes!!  but all is better now...and since I have the next couple of days off while i'm recuperating (easy-peasy), I will check out all the postings that I've missed! 

I'll put up some pictures in the next day or two of the bears, bunnies and sheep i bought at Hugglets...plus of course, the Charlie bear from the Exmoor Teddy Bear shop in Minehead, and let's not forget I just had to buy SOMETHING at Teddy Bears of Witney!!!  and I'm definitely going back to the House of Bears in Bath, and next time I'll do more than just look at the lovely bears!

and now that i'm thinking about it....perhaps the first one is an Ideal bear?????  they had ears more on the sides or their head and a triangular shaped nose...it's hard to tell though...if you're in the U.S., it could be more likely... , as both Knickerbocker and Ideal were made here...but I'm not an expert...just a collector....

I'll put my two cents in.....    I think the bottom one is a Knickerbocker bear, and that's based on the stitching of his mouth.....and the chunkiness of his body....(Love the chunkiness)...he would have had a tag in the middle of his chest....but in any case, TOTALLY LOVELY BEARS!!!

Oh, thank you, Peterbear, so very much for that great advice!!!    Now I'm even more excited to go....

(and about 1 a.m. I realized I posted it's on Saturday, but yes, I do know it's on SUNDAY......doh!....my teddy bear brain must be filled with fluff!  lol)

OMG, I am still laughing.....you're very very funny, Tedz....and BRILLIANT!   Hmmmm...there's always room for one more pair of shoes...

Hello, everyone....

so it's September, and that means we're heading to the UK for our vacation...and for the first time we'll be going to Hugglets!!!   My cousin and his wife are housesitting this year (rather than sending the three cats to Cat Camp, so I can save that money and use it for bears!!  Woohoo!  Perfect!)

Hugglets will be our first stop before heading down to Cornwall and beyond.... It seems I always miss the show by a week or two, but this time I MADE SURE we would make it (my husband Steve is THRILLED...well, "thrilled" might not be the EXACT word he used, more like "OMG, EJ at a bear show?  Maybe I should tag along and supervise..."), sooooo....I have no idea what to expect.   Those of you who have attended, any advice or words of wisdom???

Is it totally overwhelming?  Where should I start?  Bottom floor to the top?  Top to the bottom??   I see the website says to wear comfortable shoes.....that makes sense.   Should I get there super early???   Is it possible to spend the whole day at a teddy bear show (I think the answer might be yes)???  Seriously, anything you really liked about it or thought a newbie visitor to Hugglets should know before they go??

I look forward to see what you guys think......thank you....

wow, what agility!!!!!!                      

OMG, such sweeeeet little things!

LOVE THAT, Winkin and Blinkin....lol....

Oh, well, there's always room for one more cat (or two).....or is it bear... or both?

I generally like to leave a bear with his given name by the artist or manufacturer because I figure they know best,  but there are some exceptions......occasionally I'll name the bears (or bunnies) that have no names that I know of...but then sometimes I forget (oops) and have to stare into their eyes to see if I can remember.  lol  (It's an age thing).
   
There's these two silly bunnies that I bought down the shore one year on a whim because they were so darn cute, looking at me through the window of the shop.....begging me to take them home.....sooooo......presenting....Nit and Wit!

Well, I've been thinking (quite a long time really) about this post since it first went up......

My first thought was, how about showing off some of those Steiff kittens I have in that little cart somewhere around here?????

And then there's always that super fantastic pristine US Zone Steiff Bunny I picked up this summer at an antique sale for a song......(on the left) with a few of his friends.....

No, no, no, forget those Steiff for now....how about some of those cream-colored artist bears I always seem to gravitate to?

(omg, is that a DANGERBEAR on the left in the back, you say????  It is! It is!  And she's a really beauty, too...her name is Amy.  {thank you, Becky})

But I've decided to post instead my "regular ted" collection,  Boyds, Gunds, Barrington bears, et cetera, the ones that my family and friends have brought to me over the last few years when they've come to visit, carefully wrapped in lovely paper inside small gift bags with bows and such, now residing on a little Windsor bench....I think my relatives and friends are a little extra patient with me because they think it's a little goofy to have a bear room set aside in the house....and I have to say....the teddy bears from my loved ones, they mean the most to me.

Oh, my goodness, what a beautiful pair!   Happy Birthday!  Yep, definitely Cavey looks guinea inspired....Love those names from Charlie Bears, Cavey and Tickle!  lol.

I have an idea that might work!  I've done myself this when trying to identify a bear.

Google "20-inch teddy bear"....put that in quotes though, because Google will pull up exact listings for you.  Then click on "images" and you'll see thousands of bear pictures.  You can narrow it down by saying it like this:

tan "20-inch teddy bear"   
light brown "20-inch teddy bear"

or something along those lines and see what pictures the computer pulls up. 

I took a quick peek...perhaps it's from Toys R Us...are they in the Dominican Republic? 

I hope this helps

OMG, SUCH A SWEETIE!           

oh, yes, a lovely waxed kissable nose....and Litwit, I LOVE LOVE LOVE ebay......

I agree...He's toooooo cute and looks very very cuddly....LOVE THAT BIG NOSE!

WOW, Peter, what a beautiful pair of teddies those are!!!!!   They are just GORGEOUS!!!  (I'm not surprised they're such big bears :lol:)

I just love the shading Sharon does on their faces.....