In recent days I have had a wonderful time exploring the fairly new and rapidly expanding collectible line of plush toys, Chubbley Bears. These lovely little bears first hit the UK scene in August 2001 with the release of seven delightful bears. At just under 6 inches tall, the bears delightful features and trademark belly button are the creation of Charles Roger and Darren Barker from Chubbley UK Ltd. Since they first arrived on the collectable scene there has been a growing interest in the line. Chubbleys were the featured cover story written by Daphne Roberts in the February 2002 issue of the UK Bean Bag Monthly Magazine. In recent months the company has expanded into Canada and the United States and a new fever is growing here in the collectible scene. While still hard to find in North America this is soon to change with a steadily growing number of retail accounts. It is my good fortune to have one such account soon to stock the Chubbley bears in my area here in Manitoba, Canada.

      The first 7 Chubbleys are: First, Creamy, Moonbeam, Rusty, Snow Bear, Rollem, and Little Bear the first bear in the constellation series. Those were followed by another 10 bears over a period of time. I was excited to find that there are some new Chubbleys soon to arrive at retail. They are, Great Bear the second in the constellation series, Sonny first of the four seasons, Sleepy Head, Jack of Hearts, of Spades, of Diamonds and of Clubs. In the Jack series there is the addition of the Joker but this one is limited, randomly inserted into 'some' bags and will be highly sought after. I guess you could say, the Joker is Wild. Collectors will be scrambling to find all of these new additions and how many will find the elusive Joker? Pictures of all the bears can be found at the company's official site www.chubbleybears.com

      Chubbley bears also treat collectors to little slips, oddities and exclusives. The joy in any collection is finding something just a bit different. There are the exclusives: Sterling the UK exclusive. George the UK exclusive is retired and the newest Jubilee, commemorating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Anniversary, a Commonwealth exclusive. Snow Bear and Creamy were originally released with a brown and black nose respectively. Now Snow Bear has an Orange Nose and Creamy's nose is black. Doubloon originally shipped with a spelling error to his tag which read Doobloon. New shipments have a correctly spelt tag. There are the series bears for the constellations and seasons as well as surprises like the Joker randomly packaged amongst the Jack bears. Some feature embroidered work on their chests, maybe a button and most have some design work on the bottom of their right foot. All the makings of a collector's dream, not to mention......... a very nice little bear.

      For proof of the popularity of the Chubbley bears one needs only to pay a visit to Chubbley Corners. This wonderful site is hosted by Kathie Currie, the Canadian distributor of Chubbleys. This site is packed with news, pictures of all the bears including the 6 retired bears, coming events, message boards, a chat forum and links to other sites hosting Chubbley news. As well you will find information on retailers in North America on the site. The hostess Kathie is warm, charming and very proud of the product line. The membership is 82 members strong and growing. In fact one of the members is Darren Barker, co-founder of Chubbley UK Ltd. Chubbley Corners is gearing up for its first contest to be held in mid May with a firm date to be announced soon. The prize is a very rare Chubbley, almost one of a kind. I'm not privy to the name of that prize bear and like anyone else sit in anticipation of what it might be.

      Currently the Canadian distributor of Chubbley bears is looking for potential new retail accounts. Do you know of any shops in your area with the potential to add a new and exciting product line to their inventory? If you do contact Kathie Currie at: (403) 342-0471 or drop a note to her at [email protected] Better still, drop into Chubbley Corners and meet Kathie. If you are keen to collect Chubbley's and don't have a Chubbley retailer near you Kathie will be happy to help you out. Please feel free to contact her. Further Chubbley information on the location of retail accounts can be found at a host site DailyBean.Net As well the UK Bean Bag Monthly Magazine covers Chubbley news at BeanBagMonthly.Com

      In exploring the Chubbley line I must confess that they have an appeal is steadily growing on me. They are a sweet pudgy little fellow of top quality workmanship. The creators of Chubbley have no intention of huge new release numbers which overwhelm collectors. They intend to remain affordably collectable with carefully selected releases and retirements. In Canada the bears range in retail from $12.99 to $13.99 and in the US they range from $8.00 to $8.50. No question that there is more and more talk of this new collectable and I predict that they will soon be all the rage.

      For now, this collector is off to decide which Chubbleys she most wants to own first......... the beginning of a wonderful new collection. Hope to see you folks one day soon over at Chubbley Corners so we can compare notes and forge new friendships.

      Heather Softley
      Canadian Perspectives
      www.dailybean.net
      [email protected]

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