Love a Teddy Bear Bargain!
One of my favorite things to do is thrift shop scouting for bears. Sometimes I find things to sell on eBay, sometimes I just find more things for my own collection! I also love flea markets and estate sales, garage sales, any place that might yield a treasure or two! Recently I found some great miniatures by World of Miniature Bears, mint in their plastic boxes, for 5.00 each. I almost bought them all just because they were so cheap - but I have done that in the past and am trying to make better choices. I LOVE a bargain, but sometimes buying a bear just because the price is right means I have money spent on bears I don’t really LOVE. So to really make it a bargain, step back and think - am I buying this because the price is right, or do I really WANT and NEED this bear for my collection? Do I have a place to display the bear? Does it fit with the other bears in my collection? Is it too much like other bears I have?
I have mentioned in the past that I am an eclectic collector, meaning I have everything from antique and vintage bears to artist bears to manufactured bears. I am particularly fond of pandas, and Winnie the Pooh. I have thrift store Pooh bears from the 1960’s and 1980’s, along with Steiff and Hermann mohair Pooh bears. I have Gund pandas, Boyds pandas, mohair pandas, Steiff pandas; pandas in many color combinations. So last week was really special for me, when I found a very old Chinese made panda, of rayon silk plush, well worn and loved but adorable. The same store yielded a vintage Pooh bear, still with the paper hang tag, possibly a Japanese Disney Pooh. I feel like a treasure hunter when I find something for my collection at a bargain price!
I have been a Boyds collector for many years. I still love my Boyds bears, especially the older ones that look almost like folk art in their primitive design, like the old plush cats with flat faces and the old plush dogs with their little red felt tongues hanging out. My friends think I can smell a Boyds from quite a distance - I have an uncanny knack for spotting them in unlikely places. Recently I found an old plush Boyds bear in a bin. I could tell from his crinkled fur that he had been given a bath and then, horror of horrors, dried in a dryer! The shame!! Never dry a bear in the dryer!!! The poor guy had a very old white Boyds tush tag, tattered and frayed. He bore only a slight resemblance to his original self, with his frizzled fried plush. Definitely not worth anything to a collector. That of course meant he had to come home with me! I have such a soft spot in my heart for unwanted pets, so it comes as no surprise that I have the same soft spot for unwanted bears!
Every time I walk in the door of a new place I get that little twitch of excitement, wondering if I will find something special today. One day I found a plush head of broccoli - with ruffled sleeves and sunglasses! I had to do some research to learn it was a character from an Epcot animated show that closed many years ago. I even found on YouTube a video of the old animatronic show from Epcot! I am drawn to the quirky and unusual and the Internet helps me learn more about the things I discover. It’s so much fun for very little money!
I would love to hear about unusual things you have found - drop me a line at bethy56@comcast.net or leave a comment here!