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Love Bud Bears Love Bud Bears by Sandy
New Jersey
Posts: 224

Picture-1241.jpgHi, I was just wondering what size bear is considered a miniature?
I just made Michael & he turned out to be 8" so I wasn't  sure if he's small enough.
Here's a picture of the very first bear I ever made. His pattern is from STB BEARS- he's 3-1/4" tall.
I named him Roughy Toughy for the hard time I had making him. I should have started with a bigger bear.

matilda Matilda Huggington-beare
WA
Posts: 5,551

My local bear and doll club  when exibiting a bear, they consider 6inches and under as a miniture. They then have sections which cover the 1" 2" 3" bears.
I have no idea about other clubs. GOOD QUESTION I am interested in what others says. bear_smile

rikkisbears NSW Australia
Posts: 209

Hi,
my understanding is a true miniature is 3 inches or less. at the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair back in 2002. The catergory was Open Bear  3" & under.The next size up was a fair bit larger.

A couple of online miniature groups used to allow up to 5 inches.

I read somewhere that a miniature is based on the 1/12th doll scale ie those beautifull doll houses we see,the dolls for instance are 5 to 6 inches tall  which represents a 5 to 6 foot person ie 1 inch equals 1 foot in real life
therefore a miniature bear that is 1,2,or 3 inches tall would reflect a 1,2,  or 3 foot teddybear in real life.
Unfortunately I can't quite remember where I read it ( possibly one of my miniature bear books) or else one of the Dollhouse miniature groups I belonged to. They were a great source for miniature accesories for teds.


matilda wrote:

My local bear and doll club  when exibiting a bear, they consider 6inches and under as a miniture. They then have sections which cover the 1" 2" 3" bears.
I have no idea about other clubs. GOOD QUESTION I am interested in what others says. :teddybear:

Amanda Pandy Potter Bears
Staffordshire, UK
Posts: 1,864

I too get a bit bogged down with 'whats a true miniature' but I suppose its anything that 'looks' small and fits in your hand. Could be less than 3" but I have seen bigger bears that look so sweet and small. For me its anything that does my head in and I want to give up making! I do keep going but at the moment there is a few half made small bears!

Shelli SHELLI MAKES
Chico, California
Posts: 9,939
Website

Shelli Retired Help Advisor, Banner Sponsor

You might consider using the contests for guidance on this question.  Both the TOBY and Golden Teddy "rules" are available right now -- although not close at hand for me at this moment.  They specify size categories for miniatures.  I want to say last year it was 4" and under... but I can't be sure.  Other contests will have similar rules available; I cite these two only because they are the familiar, US contests, with which I have some limited experience and knowledge.

It probably doesn't really matter how explicitly one defines "mini bear" except for contest entry/competitive purposes.  So long as the idea is that it's a small handful of bear -- whether 2" or 7" -- I think you draw the same general collecting audience.  But this is, I admit, a bit out of my area, as I do the bigguns... ;)

Interesting question!

Dilu Posts: 8,574

And beautiful bigguns at that.

I think small would be 4-7 or 8

minis 3 and under

miniminis  2

So the question is: what do I know!

I like Shelli's idea of going by the rules that the big contests have.

Back a million years ago when I made antique reproduction doll house furniture, the scale was 1 inch to 1 foot.

So I may be still functioning under those old rules.....and talk about mixing apples with ornages....wood vs mohair......

Where are the experts?

bear_tongue

starlite Starlite Bears
Renfrew,Scotland
Posts: 1,676

The UK contests I have entered usually class miniature as 6" or less
Tried one other contest in US and I am sure it was <5"
:hug:
Anne

kbonsall Kim-Bee Bears
Pennsylvania
Posts: 5,645

When I list on ebay - i list them as minis unless they are over say the 8" mark.  I personally consider anything 5" and under mini... and anything 2 and under really mini LOL

Love Bud Bears Love Bud Bears by Sandy
New Jersey
Posts: 224

Thanks for all your responses I guess it's back to the drawing board for a smaller result.
I think going by the contest rules is a good guidance & a good way to narrow it down.

clare14 Country Bears
England
Posts: 3,066

I personally consider everything under 5" to be miniature, well they're fiddley enough aren't they!!  :lol:

I once made a bear at 1 and a half inches, phew, never again, but I did persevere!!  :teddybear:

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.  :hug:

Daphne Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568

It would be nice to define miniature size once and for all.

Some call their 8" bears mini and expect to get more $$ for them by doing so. Is this fair to those making 1-3" bears that truly are minis and definitely deserve to get a lot of money for them? Real minis are a lot of work, and in a totally different ball park than 'small' bears.

All in my opinion of course but some rule needs to be set!

Shelli - I agree that Contest guidelines as you mentioned are the best ones to follow!!!  :thumbsup:

Daphne

melissa Honeythorpe Bears
Wellington, New Zealand
Posts: 1,789
Website

I agree with you Daphne...I would say 4 inches and under.  I know that there is a heck of a lot of difference between my 4 inch bears and the 2 inch ones I occasionally attempt.  The four inch ones are easy peasy and the two inch fiddly diddly and take me twice as long two sew.

I agree with you about the 8 inch minis and the way people also call them "midi minis" - they're either mini or they're small!!  I also hate how people measure the sitting down height so that they appear smaller to the punter.

Having said that, I've snuck some of my 4.5 and 5 inch bears into my "miniature" section on bearpile.   :redface:

Jellybelly Bears Jellybelly Bears
Australia
Posts: 4,066

Anne, I love your little bear on your avatar.  So precious  :angel:
Hugs sarah

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