Dolls-and-Bears -> Bears -> Boyds

Boyds Bears are the creation of Gary Lowenthal and his wife, Justina Unger. Before they were married, they owned an antique shop together in 1979, and found that they couldn’t afford the types of antiques they wanted to carry. So in 1982 they started making and selling antique reproductions, beginning with their line of duck decoys. They began making miniature reproduction houses out of resin which they called Gnomes Homes. Business was good—they even sold wholesale to other retailers.

Then in 1984, they designed a 12” jointed bear, inspired by a line of Merino wool bears from China, and named it Matthew after their infant son. Boyds Bears were born. In 1993, they began making resign bear statues, as well as other items. Their catalogue of products is large with a variety of different things to choose from. But the soft bears are still one of their most popular items, with collectors clamoring to get them all.

Many of their products, including Boyds Bears, have won doll and toy industry awards, and their line is highly popular with teddy bear collectors. The bears can be found in chain and independent stores like Hallmark and other shops, and through many online stores, as well as eBay. They have a party plan that allows a party hostess to earn free merchandise by hosting a bear party to sell the plush bears, as well as a collector and fan club called the Loyal Order of Friends of Boyds, whose fee entitles you to special members-only versions of some items, as well as other perks.

As with most collector lines like Boyds Bears, the older and retired bears are more valuable and more difficult to find. When a bear is retired that means it’s no longer being manufactured, so the number is limited to how many have already been produced. These are hot items for collectors, so if you’re looking for a retired bear, you might have a lot of searching to do before you’re lucky enough to find it at a price you find acceptable.

Unless you just want every one of the Boyds Bears you can possibly find (and some people do!) then it’s best if you narrow down your idea of what your collection should be about. You can choose between plush bears and resin, or you can have a mixture. Even if you choose one or the other, you’ll want to further plan your collection, because there are so many, with new ones being produced all the time.

You can narrow your collection theme by holiday—there are several both plush and resin designs for every holiday you can think of. Just Christmas bears alone in both plush and resin could have you happily searching for new items for quite some time, but the other holidays are well-represented, too. You can choose ornaments, bears wearing different hats, bears made to represent the seasons, Boyds Bears themed Victorian or country, or almost any other kind of classification you can think of.

Originally posted 2008-12-29 14:00:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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