Teddy Bears

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 8 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #6,801 in Shopping, #83,042 overall

I love teddy bears.  I have probably over a hundred different bears in my collection - mostly stuffed teddy bears, but also cross stitch kits featuring bears, ceramic bears, and a couple of latch hooks sitting my closet waiting for me to do.

My love of bears began when I was a child, I always had stuffed animals in my room, and like many children had my favorites that I slept with.  As I got older, I never outgrew my love of teddy bears.

I even married a teddy bear of a man, Dave, who had a collection of his own - so we brought together quite the group of bears into our home. 

One of the cutest sets of Teddy Bears is the Care Bears - I have several Care Bears as part of my collection as well. I purchased a pattern book from Herrschners allowing me to crochet my own Care Bears, along with kits that gives me the yarn and accessories to make them. Here is the Funshine Bear that I made for my daughter, I also have a Bedtime Bear kit waiting to be done for myself.

Another collection of very good teddy bears come from the Build A Bear Workshop.  I have two bears of my own, and have been selling clothes designed for the 17-18 bears as well as the 14-inch cubs.  I have both of these sizes available for sale at my website.

So I thought I'd create a lens about the history of teddy bears, and my collection, and help you create a collection of your own by showing you some bears you could adopt.

This is the newest addition to my collection "Nora Knittinnothing.. Cheap Therapy".

I also collect teddy bear JPGs and GIFs 

Here are just a few of the current collection!










The History of the Teddy Bear 

Category: File - :Teddy bear 27.jpg|thumb|250px|A German teddy bear from around 1954

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of a stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of comforting children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become expensive collector's items. Teddy bear collectors are known as arctophiles from the Greek words arctos (bear) and philos (lover).

More about the Care Bears 

Care Bears are a set of characters created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards. The original artwork for the cards was painted by artist Elena Kucharik. In 1983, Kenner turned the Care Bears into plush teddy bears.

Each bear comes in a different color and has a specialized insignia on its belly that represents its duty and personality. This insignia was known as their "tummy symbol." However, the latest movie, Category: Care Bears - : Oopsy Does It!|Oopsy Does It!

(2007), renamed them "belly badges". Adding to the Care Bear family are the "Care Bear Cousins," which feature a lion, monkey, penguin, rabbit, and other such animals created in the same style as the teddy bears.

The Care Bears appeared in their own television series from 1985 to 1988, in addition to three feature films: The Care Bears Movie (1985), Category: Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation - (1986), and The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland (1987).

In 2002, the bears were reintroduced with new toys. Made by Play-Along Toys, the new toys offered features such as illuminated bellies upon touch, aerobic bears, and glow-in-the-dark bears. As part of this comeback, the Bears have appeared in two computer-animated movies: Category: Care Bears - : Journey to Joke-a-lot|Journey to Joke-a-lot (2004) and Big Wish Movie (2005).

In 2007, the bears were once again relaunched. The 25th anniversary of the toy line was commemorated in 2007, and the Oopsy Does It! movie was released in commemoration of the 25th anniversary. As of 2008, Care Bears are still being marketed.

The "Care Bears" icon and the copyrights in the character designs are currently owned by Those Characters from Cleveland, part of American Greetings.History of American Greetings at official site. Retrieved February 26, 2006. However, on July 23, 2008, American Greetings announced that the Care Bears (along with Strawberry Shortcake) would be sold to Cookie Jar Entertainment in an acquisition due to take place on September 30, 2008.American Greetings Corporate News. Retrieved July 23, 2008. As of April 2009, it was announced that Cookie Jar Entertainment had problems in financing the acquisition and that a French company called MoonScoop has also expressed interest in the franchise. Cookie Jar has expressed it's intentions to counter MoonScoop's bid and has until 30 April 2009 to counter the bid.Deal for Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears revived ? BusinessWeek

More about Build A Bear Workshop bears 

== History ==

The company was founded by Maxine Clark in 1997, and opened its first store in the Saint Louis Galleria. Ten years later, over 400 stores operate worldwide: in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States (including Puerto Rico). While the majority of Build-A-Bear stores are in shopping malls, as of August, 2008, the company has opened five stores in Major League Baseball stadiums.

Check out this little fellow 

in his Christmas clothes...

You can find more of my Build A Bear sized sweaters in my eBay Store 

Loading Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
eBay

Check out the teddy bears available on eBay! 

Loading Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Great books about Teddy Bears on Amazon 

Restoring Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals

Amazon Price: $23.96 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Teddy Bears & Stuffed Animals: Herman Teddy Original, 1913-1998 (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

Amazon Price: $30.36 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Restoring Teddy Bears and Stuffed Animals

Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Teddy Bears & Stuffed Animals Full Color Identification and Value Guide

Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

More great Care Bear stuff on Amazon 

Care Bears Glitter & Glow Cheer

Amazon Price: $23.99 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Care Bears 25th Anniversary Bear with DVD

Amazon Price: $24.99 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Care Bears 13" Plush w/ DVD Funshine

Amazon Price: $49.95 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Care Bears Heartsong Bear with Bonus DVD #10

Amazon Price: $8.89 (as of 07/06/2009) Buy Now

Check out these Flickr Photos 

69/365 Whimsical by lisadragon

69/365 Whimsical

teddy wreath by jcestnik

teddy wreath

Teddy Bear's Picnic by Allan Saw

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Paddington by Webb Zahn

Paddington

Oso con Camiseta! by CREEPETZ

Oso con Camiseta!

Santa's Toy Workshop by Franck Mahon

Santa's Toy Workshop

Aito-karhu by arcatan

Aito-karhu

Spencer by ColinD40

Spencer

Personalized Teddy Bears by srqpix

Personalized Teddy B...

Personalized Teddy Bears by srqpix

Personalized Teddy B...

New YouTube vids about Teddy Bears 

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 3:29 | 3375 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
GIANT 5 FEET TALL STUFFED TEDD...

Runtime: 1:40 | 1231 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:39 | 1546 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:16 | 1403 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:38 | 2765 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
CRAZY GUY SELLS 6-FOOT TEDDY B...

Runtime: 1:59 | 1991 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:50 | 2157 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:48 | 2307 views | Comments

YouTube thumbnail
How to Make a Reversible Teddy...

Runtime: 2:24 | 760 views | Comments

Do you love teddy bears too? Tell us about your bears, and leave a blurb... 

...and thanks for visiting!

walclan wrote...

Hi, I love teddy bears too. I love the crocheted Care Bear in the photo. I would love to buy the black Titantic memorial bear by Steiff. Great Lens!

ReplyPosted November 03, 2008

JJNW wrote...

Congrats on earning the Craftiest Creations Giant Squid Award! Great Job! I love all the Teddies! I used to sing to mine!

ReplyPosted October 03, 2008

A_RovingReporter wrote...

Bearly bearly good five-star lens.

ReplyPosted August 23, 2008

Frankster wrote...

Yes, I love teddy bears too. 5 stars and favorite. This lens is a nice addition to the Save Our Bears (SOB) Group. Bear hugs, Frankster

ReplyPosted June 10, 2008

awelldressedbullet wrote...

* raises both hands * I love Teddy Bears too! My favs are my Gunds! - Kathy

ReplyPosted September 10, 2007