CHEEKY (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 5/30/17

Size: 16"

Year: 2009

Edition Size: 2200

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: ebay

Cost: $31 (Retail $53.95)

Thoughts: I still can't believe I got this adorable guy for so cheap! He has the sweetest face and his fur is really soft. He's stuffed pretty loosely, so he feels a little more like a regular plush than my very heavy other Charlie Bears, but that works very well for a monkey character. I love the long tail, too!

WOZLEY

Arrival Date: 5/25/17

Size: 17"

Year: 2013

Edition Size: 2400

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: ebay (annesbearscrafts)

Cost: $65 (Retail $97.95)

Thoughts: I've had my eye on Wozley since I started collecting, because I'm a sucker for the green bears. I've been shopping around for some older bears and he was second on my want list. After confirming no US sellers had him, I bought him from the same awesome UK seller I got Kuma from. He arrived today and he's pretty fabulous grouchy. I wasn't expecting that from the photos, but it's undeniable! I think he's going to be one of my curmudgeons like Susan and Dipsy, which is great, because he shares a display shelf with them.

LOULABELLE (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 5/23/17 (Rehomed 6/16/17)

Size: 17"

Year: 2014

Edition Size: 2500

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Features: Plumo

Purchased From: Private collector (with help from BAMS)

Cost: $84 (Retail $104.95)

Thoughts: I bought Loulabelle from a lovely older collector who was downsizing her collection. I've wanted Loula, along with Befuddle and Bambooozle, for awhile. Having got the other two, I was thrilled to buy her from another US collector. Her plumo touches are really pretty and go nicely with her color scheme. She's a little more subdued than the other two, but they all look gorgeous on the same shelf.

I decided to rehome Loula due to some vet bills. I'll miss her a little, but I knew when I opened her package that I probably wasn't going to bond with her. Sometimes you just know. That's why I never undid her key necklace.

MYSTERY

Arrival Date: 5/23/17

Size: 19.5"

Year: 2014

Edition Size: 2700

Designer: Heather Lyell

Purchased From: ebay

Cost: $33.76 (Retail $87.95)

Thoughts: I've wanted Mystery since I first got into collecting, but I bought Chocoholic, who is one of the Magical Snugglies like Mystery and never bonded with him, so I crossed her and Patience off my list. However, recently the UK ebay sellers have started getting some of these bears in for really low prices and I couldn't resist the seller that had both a good price and several bears to choose from with photographs wisely placed in the listing. Mystery is skinny like Chocoholic, not more padded like Scrummy. I can feel her armature, but it doesn't bother me with her like it did with Choco. I think he was simply too big. Mystery is full of sass and since she's a lovely dark color scheme with much purple, she's going to live on my bed. She has one of the best necklaces of my collection, too!

AUTUMN

Arrival Date: 5/13/17

Size: 15.5"

Year: 2014

Edition Size: 1800

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: Bears Against MS

Cost: $49.95 (Retail $79.95)

Thoughts: I have had my eye on this particular Autumn for months, but none of the ones available ever seemed to sell, so I let others take priority. BAMS recently started putting more bears on ebay and I saw that one of them was this particular Autumn! So I asked about her and was told that she could be pulled off there so I could buy her the normal way, but then another buyer had asked about her first. I spent a day wondering if I'd get to adopt my Autumn, since the others looked more sad and this one just looks sweet and a bit quizzical with her tilted face. But I got the good news and Autumn arrived along with Sergio today. She's so soft and I can't wait for bedtime snuggles. Poor Sergio got chosen first, but he's not getting first cuddles. Autumn's claimed a place next to Pumpkin Pie, who has a similar type of fur and color scheme, although Autumn's much more subdued. I've been planning on seating those two together for ages and I'm happy to finally do it.

SERGIO (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 5/13/17 (Rehomed 8/17/17)

Size: 14"

Year: 2016

Designer: Heather Lyell

Purchased From: Bears Against MS

Cost: $84.95

Thoughts: Sergio looked rather somber in his picture when I bought him, but in person, he doesn't look much that way. His colors are unusual and not captured well in photos. There's a lot more blue in the steel blue bits than pictures tend to show, although my shot of him here isn't far off. I think he's going to be fun to get to know, because my personality read of him wasn't accurate! Although actually, going way back to my first sight of him in the catalog, I thought he'd be a bit dapper and that I think might be right.

SCRUMMY

Arrival Date: 5/8/17

Size: 16"

Year: 2016

Edition Size: 2000

Designer: Heather Lyell

Purchased From: Bears Against MS

Cost: $79.95 after $5 coupon

Thoughts: Scrummy and his twin sister Yummy both caught my eye when I first saw the 2016 catalogue, but when I learned they were 16", I decided to skip them. At the time, I was trying to stick to smaller bears, but we know how that turned out. At 16", Scrummy fits right in with Chuck, Clancy and Red Liquorice. He's skinny, but still pleasantly stuffed enough for hugs. I love the colors of his fur, which remind me of non-American licorice. Yummy is similar, only she's got a white face and white fur surrounding dark paw pads on her feet. She'll be purchased eventually, but my stockist has 5, so I'm not in a hurry. I needed a bear to spend my expiring $5 gift certificate on and I was going to order Sergio, but Scrummy is right before him in the photos and I took a look at the two available and fell in love with this guy. You can't tell from this photo, because his face is so dark, but he's got the biggest smile.