BEARRIVAL (and more)

 

I'm so bad about remembering to do these posts! 

So this is Sukhi. She's the last bear I was waiting on from my stockist's sale that I mentioned last Bearrival. I've had my eye on this particular cranky one for a while. 

Then we have little Bea from this year's collection. I'm always a sucker for green. 

Sydney the echidna is from 2022's Bearhouse collection. The Bearhouse line has a bad tendency to get delayed, which sucks for me, as it's one of my favorite sets every year. 

Beautiful blue Sirius is my favorite tyber plush. SO SOFT.

And this little guy is Tree Elf. He pairs with Meadow Troll from my last post. 

My picture is horrible, but he has lovely leaf detailing on all his paws. 

Here he is making friends with another new arrival. This is Juniper. She's an artist plush by The Dusty Tailor and she's 28" tall! She's described as a "vampire goat girl" by her maker. She has a tail in the back that curls up and there's a more yellowy-green fabric there. The same color is on the underside of her ears. She's utterly amazing and I adore her. 

Last and a bit random, but here's an awesome G3 Cleo plush I got from ebay. I saw someone with a Lagoona on IG and had to go look for Cleo. These are made by Toy Factory if you want to look them up. The set is Frankie, Clawdeen, Laura, Lagoona and Cleo. I'm not sure if I want any of the others yet, though they are all pretty cute. I thought Cleo was by far the best one. Of course I did. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine. 

BEARRIVAL

I meant to do a Bearrival post for June, but hey, suddenly it's July. I just opened a box from my stockist, so now is the perfect time to catch up. 

Starburst! Lots of little bears in bright colors in this year's collection, but red and yellow Starburst is my favorite of the bunch. 

I fell in love with some Michals from Australia and the UK, but opted to wait to see what American stockists got in. I ended up finally finding the one I wanted and he was worth waiting for. There are two types of face I like on this bear. One is the more standard cute face. The other is what you see here. I think of it as the Trifle face. The eyes are closer together and the face looks rather small in a larger head. I find it endearing. Michal is very soft. His arms are bent a bit by the paws so they curve for a nice hug. Not one I had planned on getting, but owner/stockist pics are the best advertisements. 

I've seen Clemens Spieltiere bears before, but never bought any. No one really spoke to me until I saw pictures of the two Baptistes one of my stockists had for sale. I fell in love with this particular one. Baptiste is a good size and his different types of plush are very soft. He has good joints and nice movement. I think bears like him would be an excellent alternative if CBs are a little too high-priced for anyone. He's wonderfully cuddly and I absolutely adore him.

I loved little Meadow Troll when they were teasing her before the Cuddle Time show. Thankfully, I was home on break when she became available and I got one. She's an adorable floof, and I love her giant ears and the flower and leaf accents. My only wish is that they'd given her a long, skinny tail with a puff on the end. 

This truly is the year of Alison Mills CBs. Her designs are the best for the more fanciful characters. 

I love Hogwash. I think most people went for his pink counterpart, but I only had eyes for him. Hogwash is part of the Monsterology series this year as a representative of when pigs fly. I love his very short pile fur and the detailing on his wings. 

Wing detail. 

He does have a little sproingy tail that's just peeking out from under the tags. 

I was one of the few who really loved last year's Birthday Bear. He reminds me of Damon, only in colors I like better. I always meant to get a box, so when my stockist had a sale and he was part of it, I grabbed one. And managed to get possibly the best one I've ever seen. I love how dark he is and his face is perfect. Super soft, too!

Orange bears, am I right? I almost always pick up any orange ones they make. I didn't have Honeycomb on preorder last year, but she was on my "will likely purchase eventually" list. Tiny, cute, fluffy, orange. An adorable little bear that can perch on the palm of my hand.  

MY BABY IS HOME. 

Saved the best for last.

So this is the Beast of Bodmin. I'm not sure if it was Charlie's or Alison's imagination who came up with this, as the actual Beast of Bodmin is supposed to be your typical black panther type of cryptid. But I'm forever grateful for whoever was the mastermind. (I'm guessing Charlie.)

They like to shorten his name to Bob, but I call mine Bod. 

Bod is 20" tall. He has flat feet so he can easily stand. 

His face is glorious. There are so many separate pieces going on here. The eyelids, the sculpted darker gray parts around his eyes, the nostrils made from a satiny material, the fangs. He has little gray pointed ears. 

I'm so utterly thrilled that he was 1st quarter so I didn't have to agonize for too many months waiting for him to come home. 

I'll be back later this month with another post. I've got one more coming from my stockist's sale, as well as two more that were in the same shipment as Bod and Hogwash but I've yet to choose faces.

BEARRIVAL

E Normous was one of the last three preorders from 2023 that I've been waiting for and he is GORGEOUS.

He's big, super soft, cuddly, and wonderful. 

THIS FACE. 

Avalon is one of those unusual designs that I could see people disliking, but I love. Giant poofy ears! 

His long pile fur is incredibly soft, much softer than that length usually is. 

I love his colors and his shorter fur might be tyber. It's that soft. I did not think he'd be a very cuddly one, but he really is! 

Avalon was a preorder, but JD was on my "maybe" list. I wasn't into any of the ones I'd seen from other stockists, but my stockist got this guy and it was love. 

JD is an unusual type of plush. It's textured, so the peachy parts are shorter pile than the rest.

From the front, it looks like his head is misshapen, but that's just a spot where the shorter plush is. 

I love him. My only nitpick is that his head is much harder than the rest of his body, so he's not as cuddly as he could be. Great face, softness, and colors though! 

BEARRIVAL

Gingerbread Cookie is a brown version of Kirsteen, who's one of my big favorites. He's soft and cuddly like she is. 

OMG, tiny little Piggledy! He's got the sweetest little face and might just be my favorite CB in this mini size. 

For someone that has pink pretty far down a list of fave colors, I have an awful lot of pink bears. I think I have at least 20. So it's no small thing for me to say Rose Moon is my new favorite pink bear. (Like the majority of her fur is pink. Otherwise, my fave would be Kirsteen.)

I've been looking forward to this guy ever since I saw him months ago. He's adorable. He reminds me a little bit of a modern Kuma, who's one of my fave older bears. 

I was lucky enough to grab Festoon when she popped up for sale. I love her bright pink more than I expected to. While I'll always prefer the darker dragons, she's going to be a lovely pop of color on my shelves.

The last of the planet bears is finally here! I fell hard for this Pluto and his wide eyes. He might even be cuter than Jupiter and Neptune. My stockist once again picked the perfect necklace for him. 

WHAT A FACE. I fell for this guy instantly and was thrilled that I ended up with him. (IIRC I had second pick.) I don't think there's a happier face on my CB shelves. He's big, but not heavily stuffed, so he's super cuddly. More like a regular plushie than a CB. Some of the Bearhouse are stuffed like this, while others are really sturdy. Highly recommend!

THIS FACE.

This stubby tail!

Definitely a good couple months for bears and I've got more to look forward to.

BEARRIVAL

I'm behind on Bearrivals. I didn't end up getting anyone in January, but I've had a few this month. 

It took me three times to get just the right Mardi Gras. I wasn't satisified with the face on the one I got from CB Direct, so I ordered two from QVC, and finally ended up with this little cutie. 

Mardi Gras is a little 13" bear. Very lovely colors with the deep blue and bright pink. He's supposed to pair with an older bear named Firework. 

Here's my Firework. I've had him for years. 

Mardi Gras is a lot brighter pink, but you can still see the resemblance. 

Then we've got Hugh Mongous, the first of the two Bearhouse dinos to come out. 

He's supposed to be a T-Rex, but not with those hands. Sigh. 

He's super soft. This might be the same fur Grumbleweed used. I think it's tyber. 

Adorable. I love him. 

Treacle Toffee is my current obsession. 

I really wanted this bear and ended up importing her from Australia. 

This one is unlike the other Treacles I've seen, who, dare I say, tend to run cuter. My girl here is not cutesy. She's more elegant and mature-looking. I almost went for one of the cute ones, as that's what I'd had in mind, but she demanded I adopt her. 

And she was right to do so. She's perfection. 

She's weighty, but still cuddly. I'm not always into the long-haired ones for cuddling, but her fur is the silkiest long pile fur I've come across yet. She's definitely one of my faves from the 2023 collection. 

And my most recent guy is Terence. 

He's got unusual curly fur paired with maybe-tyber on his limbs and ears. It's soft, but I'm not 100% that it's tyber. I'm pretty sure it's the same fur Stef uses. Almost like Stuart's but a little more brown on the tipping. 

Terence is a pretty good cuddler. I mean, look at those eyes and those big round ears. He's just asking to be picked up! 

That's it for now. Hopefully, I'll have a lot more soon. My stockist had a family emergency and is still catching up, so I have I think four pending adoptions with two more on their way to her now.   

TOP BEARRIVALS OF 2023

My sleep schedule is all screwy, so here I am awake after a failed attempt at sleep that turned into a mini nap instead. I thought I'd do a fun list of my favorite bears of the year. I tried for a Top 10, but blew past that pretty quickly. So no numbers involved. Only favorite cuddles. 

This list isn't in order of faves. It's chronological, as I'm using my bear blog as a reference. 

So first up is Newton. He was a 2022 bear, but I received him in January 2023. Not one from my preorder list, but I kept seeing him in my stockists sales albums and ended up bringing this guy home. He turned into a chunky cuddly favorite. 

I'm so happy I got this version of Mr. Twist with more red on his face. The random fabric bears are always so different.

He's a cuddly guy, too. 

Edgar the woolly mammoth was a huge fan favorite from the 2022 collection. He's adorable. Maybe not the most cuddly guy I own, but he makes up for it in uniqueness and cuteness. 

I've gotten a lot of the older bears on my want list, so I bought very few this past year. It took me a few years to finally get a Marzipan (he was from 2013) and he was worth the wait. That face! He's super soft, too. 

I do not cuddle Hayley enough and I need to work on that. It's harder to cuddle the big bears when I have two dogs that vie for my attention. I've bought big ones before, but they don't tend to stick around. I really love my Hayley though, so I'm glad I gave her a QVC-style audition. (I buy bears I'm unsure of from QVC, because they have the easiest return option.)

I LOVE HOUSTON. This enormous shoebill stork is one of the Bearhouse collection that permanently lives on my bed. He is glorious. 

Adorable baby mammoth Tusk just had to be included. 

 

My gorgeous and different Higgledys. I love them both. (Okay, the red-faced one a little bit more, but still, love them both.)

Carnival was one of my not-quite-preorders. These are bears that I like, but maybe I want to see owner pics or I'm not sure I can afford so many in one quarter. I fell in love with this one and was shocked when he was still remaining after the people who had preordered had chosen. So I snatched him right up. I think he's my sleeper fave from 2023, like Newton was for 2022. I love him more than several I actually preordered. 

The beautiful Yannie was a must have from the 2023 Secret Collection. Dana was my most wanted, but she ended up not looking much like her promo pics, so Yannie became my fave. Glorious, super soft tyber and lovely colors. And those big round ears!

Ugh, Night Owl is so sweet. I love him. 

OMG, Kevin. Yes, sometimes I hear his name in my head like the Home Alone Mom shouts it. Kevin didn't even make it to my maybe list, so I was surprised when I saw the ones my Australian stockist got in and decided I needed him. I added him to my preorders after that. Then when my stockist got hers in, I ended up choosing this guy over a more traditionally cute one. Kevin looks like a disgruntled professor or a mogwai or something. I know I just said Carnival was my 2023 sleeper, but I'm changing that. It's Kevin. 

Ah, orange. My favorite color that isn't black. Yeah, yeah, Halloween colors, so predictable. I don't care. There are barely any orange bears, so Harvest Moon was an instant fave from the 2023 collection. Well worth waiting most of the year for. She's stunning. Even though she's apparently grumpy about it. 

Oh, my baby! I adore Bonfire Toffee. If I had to pick a single favorite from 2023, it's him. He arrived just in time to go on vacation with me this year. Super cuddly. Great colors. Sweetest face. 

Tardy the sloth was very appropriately extremely tardy, considering we didn't get him until December and he was supposed to be out in spring. He was worth waiting for. December really had the best arrivals. 

We'll end with the beautiful Smog. I love these colors!

Annnnnnd I'm still not sleepy. Alas. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Mine.