Teddy Bear Collecting

Almost since the very dawn of time, man has ‘collected’ things. Practically any and every item you can think of has been, or still is, collected by someone, somewhere.

At first teddy bear collectors were often regarded as mildly eccentric people who just collected worthless toys, possibly due simply to nostalgia, however, this idea somewhat changed dramatically when, the media started to report teddy bears selling at some of the major auction houses for enormous sums of money. For example, there was the famous blue Steiff teddy bear called Elliot who sold for £49,500, there was also Colonel Bob Henderson’s favourite teddy bear called Teddy Girl who sold at Christie’s for £110,000 and so on.

Today, therefore, there are not many people who would joke about collecting teddy bears. Unlike many other collectibles where only ‘old’ items are collected, with the teddy bear, you can actually mix old bears with new bears. Along with your teddy bear collection you can also add items of teddy bear ephemera such as books, badges, puzzles, china, postcards and numerous other teddy bear items, you could even say that by adding certain bear items, it makes your teddy bear collection look more interesting. The teddy bear collection is so flexible that teddies with labels such as Steiff, can be accompanied by teddy bears that may have cost the collector just a very small amount, as when you fall in love with a teddy bear, neither label or price matters at all. You see, teddy bears simply ‘call’ to you and no matter how hard you try you cannot ignore him – you just have to take him home with you regardless of his price or his manufacturer.

One of the great areas of teddy bear collecting, however, has to be old teddy bears, as having an old bear live with you is just like owning a little piece of history. We know that the price tags on these little friends can be rather high at times, but what price can you put on such a unique piece of history? Until you have held an old teddy bear in your arms, you could not possibly understand the way that an old bear makes you feel. History seems to flow out of his warm little body. To own an old teddy bear is certainly a very special and often very personal experience. A teddy bear’s patina may express the deep love of his previous owner, and this often awakens memories in the collector which, as a matter of fact, are responsible for his teddy bear collection. There are times too when only a new teddy bear is right, for example, as a gift of love from you to a new born baby or a young child or maybe even as a gift to a loved one/sweetheart.

Having a brand new teddy bear has many advantages but the greatest one, we believe, is that the teddy bear knows only one owner and so takes on that owners karma. You live and grow together and you become the greatest of friends. It is always worth keeping a diary of your times together, with photographs, if possible, which could one day give the teddy bear his greatest provenance.

At www.ginosbears.co.uk we have been collecting teddy bears for most of our lives. We love any and indeed every kind of teddy bear, wherever they come from but, we do have to put our hands on our hearts and say that on many occasions we have lost our hearts to old teddy bears. On our site, www.ginosbears.co.uk we specialise in supplying adorable old teddy bears whose emphasis is on their history but we also have lots of newer teddy bears too and some of these have provenance . For example, they have met and sometimes they have even been signed on a paw, by someone famous or just interesting.

We think such provenance gives a teddy bear a good start in life. We also have lots of very interesting, unusual and often unique teddy bear ephemera too, at prices to suit all pockets. Many of these items are so well prices that they make great gifts for you to give to a teddy loving friend. So, if you too love teddy bears, then please take a good look at our site where you never know, you just might find that teddy bear of your dreams. We look forward to meeting you there.