Me to You Bears

8" winter Tatty Teddy

Tatty Teddy (also known as Me to You Bears) is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clinton Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy including plush toys, figurines, cards, mugs and wedding accessories.[1]

Origin

The beginnings of Me to You started in 1987 when Carte Blanche Greetings Chairman and Founder, Stephen Haines approached Mike Payne to create a group of ‘cute’ characters to appear on a series of greeting cards. This led to the creation of various cartoon animals called the Miranda gang, which notably included a brown bear with patches.

Deciding it was time for a refresh, in 1995 Carte Blanche gave the bear a new look. Drawn in charcoal pencil turning the bear from brown to grey, and with the addition of a bright blue nose, a few more patches and a story of his very own ‘Tatty Teddy’ and 'Me to You' were born. Me to You is now a global brand and Tatty Teddy now appears on a wide range of Me to You products including greeting cards, plush, clothing, gifts, figurines, personalised products and confectionery. Over 75 million Me to You plush bears have been sold since 2000.

Availability

First only available in the UK, it was announced in December 2011 that the Douglas Company received a license to sell the brand in the US and Canada.[2]

Appearance

The first generation of Tatty Teddy soft toys, produced in 2000, was based on the original greeting card design of 1995 consisting of a teddy bear with short grey fur, small black eyes, an off-white snout and a blue nose with a white reflective spot on the right hand side. They also have patches of a light grey color which appear to have been sewn onto them, along with stitching repair work on the arms and head, hence the name 'tatty'. The words ‘Me to You’ are embroidered on the right rear paw. The very first Tatty Teddy was hand crafted by Linda Laverty of Worthing, West Sussex. The second generation Tatty Teddy, introduced in 2003, kept to the same overall design but with much finer fur. To coincide with the 2003 redesign, the ‘Me to You’ story was also published, describing how the teddy bear came to be in its current state. A third generation Tatty Teddy was introduced in May 2009. This bear has much longer fur in various shades of grey and a blue plastic nose, rather than the fabric nose on previous generations. The reflective spot has been removed since the new plastic nose has reflective qualities.[3]

The bears come in many different sizes, ranging from 5 cm to in excess of 80 cm, and often come with accessories such as hearts, roses, T-shirts, wooly hats and scarves. Some have personalized messages from a simple "I Love You" to longer seasonal and event related messages. It is even possible for customers to personalize their bears. The bears are particularly popular amongst females in the 10–30 age group although they are also designed to be romantic gifts for people of all ages as they can be considered 'cute'.[4] Due to this they are becoming collectors items, similar to Steiff and Beanie Baby toys. Indeed, there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events.[5]

Several special edition and limited edition bears have also been produced, enhancing the collectible nature of the toys, which see the bear dressed in different costumes including various animals and the four seasons (summer, winter etc.). Many of the limited and special edition releases are designed to tie in with events such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas. The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000, however this can range from 1500 to in excess of 10,000.[6]

Regional variations of Tatty Teddy are also available, for example Scottish dress and London Beefeater. Versions of Tatty Teddy have also been made for the tourist market, usually wearing a T-shirt with an expressive message, for example ‘I Love Cornwall’.

The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned in washing machines but instead should be hand washed. This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colorfast.[7]

My Blue Nose Friends

In the summer of 2008, "My Blue Nose Friends" were released – other animal toys in the same style as Tatty Teddy. The story given is that Tatty Teddy was lonely and dreamt of a wardrobe full of friends.

2008

Set 1 - June 2008

Set 2 - August 2008

Set 3 - October 2008

Set 4 - December 2008

2009

Set 5 - January 2009

Set 6 - May 2009

Limited Edition 1 - June 2009

Set 7 - August 2009

Limited Edition 2 - September 2009

Set 8 - November 2009

Limited Edition 3 - December 2009

2010

Set 9 - January 2010

Limited Edition 4 - January 2010

Set 10 - March 2010

Set 11 - June 2010

Limited Edition 5 - July 2010

Set 12 - August 2010

Set 13 - November 2010

Limited Edition 6 - Christmas 2010

2011

Set 14 - January 2011

Limited Edition 7 - Valentine's Day 2011

Set 15 - March 2011

Limited Edition 8 - June 2011

Set 16 - June 2011

Set 17 - August 2011

Limited Edition 9 - September 2011

Set 18 - November 2011

Limited Edition 10 - November 2011

2012

Set 19 - January 2012

Limited Edition 11 - January 2012

Set 20 - March 2012

Limited Edition 12 - April 2012

Set 21 - May 2012

Set 22 - August 2012

Limited Edition 13 - November 2012

2013

Set 23 - April 2013

Set 24 - June 2013

Set 25 - September 2013

Set 26 - November 2013

Set 27 - December 2013

2014

Set 28 - March 2014

Set 29 - May 2014

Set 30 - September 2014

Set 31 - November 2014

2015

Set 32 - January 2015

Set 33 - March 2015

Set 34 - June 2015

Set 35 - September 2015

Set 36 - November 2015

2016

Set 37 - January 2016

Set 38 - March 2016

Set 39 - June 2016

Set 40 - September 2016

Set 41 - November 2016

Luna the Wolf

To celebrate the launch of their 100th My Blue Nose Friends character, Ramble the Centipede, Carte Blanche launched a free-to-enter competition in June 2012. 100 fans had the chance to win a rare and exclusive 4" My Blue Nose Friends character, Luna the Wolf. The character is not available to buy anywhere in the world.

References

  1. ↑ "Carte Blanche's Me to You Bear website The bears even have their own fanlisting site where 'owners' can sign up for the latest news about them.".
  2. ↑ http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/douglas-debut-tatty-teddy-us
  3. ↑ "Carte Blache Me to You page". Carteblanchegreetings.com. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  4. ↑ Creative Connexions Me to You page Archived July 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Durham, Michael (2004-08-10). "''The Guardian'' feature on the bears in 2004". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  6. ↑ http://me-to-you.wikispaces.com/ List of Me To You Plushies
  7. ↑ Some FAQs about the bears Archived September 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
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