Charlie Bears - You won't find a more affordable, collectable teddy bear

Charlie Bears were established in 2005 in the South of England. Owned and run by husband and wife team Charlie and William Morris. Their aim was to have continually changing ranges of affordable teddy bears by artist designers from all around the world, and that's just what they did! Past and current Charlie Bears teddy bear artists include Isabelle Lee from Korea, Australian Lisa Rosenbaum and Kiwi Heather Lyell.

Each year four new collections have been launched - two in the Spring and two in the Autumn. The Charlie Bears collection comprises plush teddies and animals and the Isabelle Collection has limited edition bears made from the finest mohair and alpaca.

Occasionally extra, even more exclusive ranges are released, such as 'Show Specials' characters which are only available to official Charlie Bears stockists who attend the Spring Fair at the Birmingham NEC, where Charlie Bears were first unveiled in 2006. Other special collections include limited edition mohair bears that are only for members of the Charlie Bears Best Friends Club.

Charlie Bears have even created special teddy bears for their retailers including Bronte, Brook and Little D for QVC, the television shopping channel, Ollie for Danbury Mint and Goldie for Golden Valley Bears.

In December 2009 the first Charlie Bears 'Year Bear' was launched - a lovely plush bear with mohair nose and inner ears, named Charlie 2009 after Charlie Morris herself!

Beau
Benjamin
Georgie
Harry
Jack
Jake
Kai
Maximilliam
Samuel
Thomas
Timothy
Toby

Alfie
Bartholomew
Chi Chi
Connor
Daniel
Dylan
Edward
Ethan
Humphrey
Jack Golly
Jill Golly
Joseph
Joshua
Jude
Little Billy
Mia
Mr Bumbles
Mrs Bumbles
Mr Button
Mrs Button
Olivier
Tyler

Luke
Harriet
Tamsin
Bamboo
Boo Boo
James
Seb
Freddy
Louis
Olly
Bronte
Maisie
Lou Lou
Jacob
Emily

Sammi-Jo
Kyle
Jessica
Ryan
Jamie
Scarlet
Poppy
Owen
Oscar
Big Fred
Olivia
Megan
Liam
Anan
Lewis
Leo
Jonty
Jamie
Harvey
Fred and Ginger
Finley
Chloe
Lily
Cameron
Callum
Branwell
Jasper
Barnaby
Bailey
Archie
Andrew

Murphy
Alpha
Harrison
Love Angel
Marina
Michelle
Bruno
Dylan
Saimon
Casey
Abel
Henry
Teresa
Coco and Baby
Sommerwind
Dennis
Willy
Faith Angel
Allen
Georgia
Cinnamon
Neo, Barbara and Runa
Niki
Ruth
Logan
Roo
Springkle

Well that's one thing for a start...they each have their own, individual personality! Whichever Charlie Bears teddy bear artist a bear is designed by, Charlie herself will check and double check the design to make sure the bear feels good, cuddles well and has the right personality. Charlie has a passion for bear's bottoms and feet so you will see lots of well-rounded bottoms and delightfully-detailed feet & pads!

All Charlie Bears and Isabelle Collection are five-way jointed like traditional teddy bears. This means that their arms, legs and head all move with special joints. While some bears are firm and can be posed and even stand alone, others have 'wobble joints' making them very cuddly; when you hold them they snuggle in and look up at you with lots of love in their eyes!

Charlie and William name each of the bears themselves, but they listen to all of the suggestions that teddy bear collectors send to them. Big Dave is a great big teddy bear who stand nearly 2 and a half feet tall; he was named after Charlie received a letter from a Charlie Bears fan all about her wonderful husband called Big Dave. Now he's immortalised as a lovely large bear! Ade too was named after a collector's husband who needed a bear of his own. Other bears are named after collectors (like 'Debbie') or teddy bear shop owners and there are now two Williams - William and William II (the second) after Charlie's own husband.

Angus
Purdy
Kiera
Brook
Jo Jo
Christopher
Erin
Matthew
Kelsey
Gemma
Hershey
Romeo
Isabelle
Jai Jai
Biddles
Ronnie
Josie
William
Katie
Fletcher
Bramble
Lucas
Drew
Selwyn
Lucy
Waldo
Tabitha
Sophie
Jack Jr
Pippin
Anna
Richard
Jordan
Grayson
Rosie
Sam
Nathan
Slothy Joe
Jorja
Tetley
Willow

Jimmy
Marty
Bernie
Daisy
Macy
Freya
Pip
Holly
Jen
Jeremy
Benji
Jodie
Ellie May
Blake
Primrose
Josh
Woody
Dexter
Emma
Kirsten
Leia
Corey
Maddison
Jed
Edmund
Big Dave
Phoebe
Ewan
Joey
Ross
Scooter

Chrissie
Amy
Bertie
Bunty
Cookie
Monty
Crystal
Amelia
Zippy
Polina
Ruby
Ellie
Zac
Evie
Humphrey
Ralph
Li Li
Amber
Liquorice
Mollie
Chocolate Muffin
Petra
Rhea
Tarquin
Dion
Toby
Victoria
Zara

Mr Widget
Daja
Fenton
Patch
Finn
Giles
Simba
Tiramisu
Hartley
Jeeves
Tamara
Maurice
Easton
Miming
Betsy
Fudge
Nico
Taco
Tinkerbell
Pierre
Fergus
Poem
Rolo
Grace
Sara
Talia
Tutti Frutti
Justin
Kylie
Maggie

One of the best things about Charlie Bears is the fact that there are many affordable teddies - and lots to save up for too! Prices start at just over 20 pounds and go right up to £1499 for a life-size 6 foot tall bear. But there are plenty of bears to choose from that could be bought with saved-up pocket money.

Then there's the Isabelle Collection - these bears are a little more expensive for two good reasons. First of all they are all made from either mohair or from alpaca. These natural materials are dearer to purchase than man-made plush, and more difficult to work with so the bears take longer to make.

Secondly all of the Isabelle Collection teddy bears and animals are strictly limited editions so they are rare as soon as they are released to the public. There are some Isabelle Collection teddies limited to as few as 150 worldwide. This makes them highly sought after and very collectable bears indeed. Sometimes it doesn't even take a photograph for collectors to start scrambling for a particular bear - just a description!

Charlie Bears and special Isabelle Collection teddies make great gifts for people of all ages. Whether it's a present for a birthday, Christmas, an anniversary, graduation or Mother's Day and for a youngster or a grown-up a Charlie Bear makes a lovely surprise that will be treasured. Anyone who likes a cuddle will love a Charlie Bear!

Alice
Big Dav
Charlie 2009
Courtney
Daisy
Debbie
Dexter
Ellis
Reece
Felix
Paige
Gabriel
Alfie
Hannah
Ade
Alanna
Harley
Ashton
Bo Bo
Bradley
Joe
Morgan
Diesel
Noah
Digby
Corey
Elliot
Harvey
Matilda
Imogen
Tiff Toff
Isaac
James
Jasmine
Niamh
Jay
Reggie
Johnny
Joy
Frankie
Kit
Kojak
Emma
Evie
Honey
Liane
Martha
Sid
Talitha
Mason
Nelson
Odin
Gracie
Wellington
Peter
Ruby
Samara
Theo
Wallace

Morag
Cheesecake
Bluebell
Fern
Poppie
Pansy
Bonbon
Crispin
Doodle
Little Rascal
Little Tinker
Spangles
Lola
McKenzie
Milo
Ginger Nut
Digger
Binks
Mr Pickles
Mr Tubbs
Caramel
Pippa
Prescious
Sally
Wibble
Shadow
Toggle
Horrace
Jackson
Mortimer
Jet
Kendal
Shadow
Pippa
Wookey
Chocolate Pudding
Casper
Doughnut
Gizmo
Damson
Humbug

Charlie Bears are the fastest growing teddy bear collection worldwide right now. Orders this year are three times what they were at the same time last year.

A couple of times a year Charlie and William appear on QVC, the shopping television channel with a selection of the current teddy bear ranges. Rarely are there any bears that don't sell out during the day that they are featured and often they are sold out within minutes!

Every time the bears have a day out at QVC more people find out about them - after the last appearance the members of the 'I Love Charlie Bears' group on Facebook increased 6 fold!

If you look at how often Charlie Bears are searched for online you might not be surprised to find out that the volume of searches is increasing even faster than searches for Steiff Bears! The graph below shows the trend for searches for 'charlie bears' and for 'steiff bears' and you can see that while Steiff Bears shows a gradual reduction in searches, Charlie Bears is steadily increasing!

And you only need to take a quick look on ebay to see that 'retired' Charlie Bears (that are no longer being made and are sold out at all retailers) are selling for amazing prices. In August 2009 Cheesecake teddy bear from the Spring 2009 Isabelle Collection sold on ebay for £300 after an original recommended retail price of £110!. Blueberry Muffin is the latest highly-sought-after mohair bear, currently for sale on ebay from around £255 - more than double the stockist's price. It's rather sad but it seems that these teddy bears are fast becoming a commodity for profiteering out of collector's passions.

On the 1st of September 2009 the brand new Autumn 2009 Charlie Bears and Isabelle Collection will be revealed to the eager public. Charlie Bears stockists have already had an opportunity to meet the new bears and place their orders, but they are sworn to secrecy!

My guess is that Charlie Bears collectors and fans can expect another great mixture of traditional, colourful and character-filled teddy bears and animals. There will be a full range of Isabelle Collection mohair bears and lots of gorgeous plush Charlie Bears. I think there will be some surprises as well - previous collections have included an elephant, cats, dogs and some rabbits - what animals will there be this time?!

As you now know, demand will be sky high so it will be important for fans to make fast decisions and get their desired bears ordered, bought or laid-away as soon as possible.