We’re very excited that Charlie and William of Charlie Bears will be visiting us on the 26th of May 2012 on the Great British Bear Trail for a Charlie Bears signing event! And they’re bringing with them a very special, limited edition signing event Charlie Bear called Farthing.

Harmans Cross Railway Station *

Our shop is very full up with bears, so to fit more collectors in we’re taking our Charlie Bears to the lovely village hall in Harmans Cross. It’s just a short trip by car from Swanage, with plenty of parking available OR we highly recommend you take the steam train! The journey from Swanage to Harman’s Cross takes you through the beautiful countryside of the Isle of Purbeck - and Harman’s Cross station is right next door to the village hall. If you enjoy the steam experience you could continue onto the village of Corfe Castle to visit the ruined castle which has protected Purbeck since the medieval era. (more…)

We are very excited to introduce some fantastic Steiff Limited Edition Bears who are brand new for 2011.  These bears are all due to arrive over the next few months, so you can pre-order to secure yours now and pay when they are ready to be dispatched to you.

Our first new additions are a pair of lovely brothers - Steiff Jakob and Josef Bear.  They are both classic bears related to the 1906 replica teddy bears with their lightly air-brushed features and their squeakers!  Steiff’s Vincent Bear is a ‘cone nose’ bear with that very prominent and distinctive muzzle.

Steiff’s Marmaduke bear is absolutely irresistible - he has such sparkling eyes and open arms just asking for a cuddle.  His friendly facial expression is similar to that of Steiff’s 1926 replica bear.  This bear is based on one that was given to loyal Steiff employees who had served the first 25 years of the company’s manufacturing.

There are three lovely ladies in the latest collection of limited editions.  The first, Steiff’s Pearl teddy bear is made from a beautiful soft ivory mohair; she wears a string of elegant faux pearls and has a special Swarovski crystal button in ear.

Steiff’s Wizard of Oz tribute, Dorothy, is a bear full of fantastic features - she wears a blue gingham dress just like the one worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film, sports Swarovski Elements crystals on her paw pad and is hiding a music box in her tummy which plays ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.

Anni Bear is a dainty bear with a very sweet face.  She has been made from vintage-look mohair complete with little stitched ‘repairs’ and she wears a pretty jacket of crochet lace-trimmed cashmere.

Finally we are introducing two special bears for winter.  Steiff Eskimo Bears have become a regular tradition and 2011 sees the finely-dressed eskimo accompanied by a cute polar bear cub made from alpaca.  Also very well-accessorised is Steiff’s Mistletoe Teddy Bear who is wearing a sprig of mistletoe made from green and white felt.  Both perfect bears for seasonal gifts or displays!

We will have more Steiff limited editions available for order very soon so watch this space!

It’s here!  Charlie Bears 2011 Collection Part 1 is now live for you to browse and pre-order the bears of your choice - or make a list to ‘accidentally’ leave lying around for someone to see!  There are some fantastic additions with limited editions, lovely pandas and some rather special bunny rabbits!

We are treated to three limited edition Charlie Bears in this collection - Charlie 2011 is a ‘plumo’ bear made from a clever combination of plush and mohair fur.  She will only be available during 2011 (and likely to sell out before the end of the year) and she is named after Charlotte Morris, founder of Charlie Bears.  William IV (the 4th) is of course named after Charlie’s husband William and is also a plumo bear, limited to just 4000.  Puddifoot is also a limited edition of 3000; he is made from exquisite Belgian Tyber plush fur which is unbelievably soft.

For the panda fans we have the gorgeous Yvette who is bound to be extremely popular, along with George who is the biggest of the pandas, Phoenix with his beautiful colours, wild Xena, dainty Tracy, the impressive Quentin, pretty Naomi and the lovely chocolatey Caleb.

Charlie Bears have used some new kinds of plush fur in this collection.  The first is warm and long and cuddly and a little bit wild!  You can see the new fur on Grant, Merlin and some of the pandas.  While Parkin and Torquil have a lovely curl to their fur.

There are some BIG Charlie Bears to choose from - Trevor is a grizzly bear with a wise face, Tony has gorgeous bright yellow paw pads, Michael is a ‘tickly toes’ bear, Hamish has thick, warm fur, as does Ballantyne and Lita is the largest lady bear.

The littler bears are not likely to take a back seat - Tess, Olly, and Molly; and you must have a look at Kitty and Shreddie’s beautiful, unusual fur.  Dolce and Philip maybe related with their lovely patchwork fur.  The smaller stars have to be Riley and Parker with their magnetic paws - they can be posed in all different postions including covering their eyes!

Charlie Bears fans are likely to see a family resemblance in Cody who has a similar look to the very popular Chocolate Fondue Isabelle Collection mohair Charlie Bear.

Finally the piece de resistance!  We have three gorgeous bunny rabbits joining the Charlie Bears family!  Thumper, Caitlin and Cotton Sox are fully jointed, plush bunnies with great long ears that are poseable!.

We’ll certainly have trouble choosing our bears from this Charlie Bears 2011 Collection, so we wish you the very best of luck too!  XX