TERENCE

Arrival Date: 2/23/24

Size: 17.5"

Year: 2023 

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: Artisanal Bears

Cost: $151 (Retail $161)

Thoughts: It took me a bit to find the perfect Terence for me, but I finally did! He was on my "will likely buy" list for this year. I like his blend of curly fur plus the super soft fur. I think Stef uses this same color. Sort of reminiscent of Stuart but a little more brown in the tipping. Terence is a pretty cuddly guy. With those big eyes and round ears, he's adorable. 

TREACLE TOFFEE

Arrival Date: 2/20/24

Size: 18.5"

Year: 2023 

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: ebay

Cost: About $207 shipped from Australia 

Thoughts: Treacle became my recent bear obsession after seeing some from Lovely Bears. I was planning on waiting until she hit the US, but then I decided why not now? I shopped around but missed out on another I liked. Then I checked ebay and found an Australian seller that had three to choose from. I've never seen one with this type of face so I ended up choosing her over the face I was actually expecting to pick. I'm absolutely in love with this bear. I can be picky about the long-haired ones, but she's perfect. I think her fur is the silkiest I've ever felt on a long pile CB. She's a little harder packed with stuffing, but she's quite cuddly anyway.  Definitely highly recommend. 

HUGH MONGOUS

Arrival Date: 2/13/24

Size: 15" (feels bigger)

Year: 2023 

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: Artisanal Bears

Cost: $99.75 (Retail $133)

Thoughts: I fell for this particular Hugh and then when the stockist had a sale, I could not resist bringing him home. Like most Bearhouse, he seems far larger than his listed height. His legs are quite long and he has a nice, thick dino tail. Definitely not a T-Rex though. I hate when they get animals mixed up. It happens oddly frequently. Kiri the cheetah was called a leopard. The ferrets were meerkats. Atlas the atlas bear looks more like a megatherium (giant ground sloth) than Tardy does. I'm not assigning any particular species to Hugh, but with three fingers, he's not a Tyrannosaur. He's super, super soft. Likely tyber. If this isn't the same fabric they used on Grumbleweed, it's something extremely close. He's quite cuddly, even though his teeth are a bit rough. 

MARDI GRAS

Arrival Date: 2/1/24

Size: 13"

Year: 2023 Secret Collection

Designer: Charlie

Purchased From: CB Direct

Cost: $81

Thoughts: Third time's the charm! I knew when I saw Mardi Gras that I had to add him to my collection. However, this was one of the first times I've gotten a bear from CB Direct that I wasn't satisfied with. Normally, I have really good luck, but not this time. When he turned up on QVC, I ordered two more. I opened the first one and he wasn't much different from my original, but then I opened this guy pictured here and finally, here was the Mardi Gras I was expecting. I'm returning the other two to QVC. (It has way easier returns than CB Direct.) Nothing against my original guy. I was growing fonder of him and he is cute, but this one is what I wanted. 

SMOG

Arrival Date: 12/30/23

Size: 14"

Year: 2023

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $121.95

Thoughts: I love this color! I'm not sure I have any other CBs quite these shades. Beautiful. Smog is a cute little bear that goes along with Foggy. Small but still cuddly. 

STOMPY

Arrival Date: 12/30/23

Size: 14.5" officially, but definitely bigger

Year: 2023

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $118.95

Thoughts: FINALLY. Stompy is a Quarter 1 character, which means we should have had him in the spring. However, the UK and Australia got him, and we were left in the cold AGAIN. I hate when they do this. They should always guarantee each of the three locations gets each character roughly around the same time. Shipping differences are understandable, because Australia is closest to the warehouses, etc., but the US should never be MONTHS later when the other locations are getting their second or even third batch. Anyway, he was worth waiting for, as he's absolutely gorgeous, but we never should have been waiting this long. He's humongous! Yet he's not actually that heavy. And what a face!

SEPTEMBER (Minimo)

Arrival Date: 12/18/23

Size: 7"

Year: 2023

Edition Size: 365 (Mine is #312.)

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $175

Thoughts: This one was unexpected! I mentioned being interested in him before any stockists had any idea of their allocations or really any details at all, so I totally forgot about him until my stockist told me I could pick mine and he could ride along with Tardy. I really wasn't planning on his level of expense, but I do like the design a lot. He reminds me of a very popular older mohair bear that I will never, ever own, so he's like my mini version of that bear, as well as representing my birth month. (My stockist included the "sapphire" necklace.) This one's face was just too cute. Honestly, if he wasn't there, I don't think I would have picked one of the others. But he's darling and a nice addition to my very small mohair collection. (I think I have 6 now.) 

TARDY

 Arrival Date: 12/18/23

Size: 13-15"

Year: 2023

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $119

Thoughts: FINALLY. Tardy was one of my faves from this year, but he's taken eternity to get home. I honestly kept changing my feelings about him. He's very popular and some people are downright obsessed with him, so that made me less excited for him. But now that I have him in person, I can properly enjoy his extreme cuddleability. He's fantastic. 

BONFIRE TOFFEE

Arrival Date: 11/28/23

Size: 17.5"

Year: 2023

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $168

Thoughts: THIS GUY. I was silly and did not have him on my initial preorder list, but quickly added him on with some others. So I was fourth in line to pick and really hoping people would be fast so I could get him before vacation. I'm very grateful to the three people in front of me for being way faster than people usually are. He is GORGEOUS. He's got kind of an upturned head, so he's very endearing, and his fur is lovely. He's a little on the skinny side, definitely not as big as I was expecting. He's coming along on vacation with me. 

HARVEST MOON

Arrival Date: 11/28/23

Size: 15"

Year: 2023

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $133

Thoughts: My stockist's husband has had some medical issues, so she's gotten behind in her latest deliveries. Thankfully, he seems to be on the mend and she was able to catch up enough that I got two of my three preorders before I left for vacation. I've been so eagerly awaiting these three. Harvest Moon here was one of my most wanted from the 2023 catalogue and she does not disappoint one bit. I love orange yet I don't have many orange bears. Pink, purple and blue are definitely the favored "different" colors in CB world. Harvest Moon is in the same style as Blue Moon, who I got a while back, and there's an upcoming pink one named Rose Moon. Harvest is obviously going to be my fave though. Her colors. Wow. They're absolutely stunning.