TWINKY

Arrival Date: 10/4/18

Size: 19"

Year: 2015

Edition Size: 1500

Designer: Charlie

Purchased From: ebay

Cost: $47

Thoughts: I cannot believe I got this bear for such a steal! I've bought from the seller many times before, most recently with Whisp, and she's had Twinky up several times for $112, I think. I saw a few days ago that she'd relisted her with a much lower price and I jumped on that $47 Buy It Now. Twinky is a large, weighty, lush bear that was originally $115 at retail. She came out with three friends (Twanky, Twoddle and Dink) and all of them were designed by Charlie. I always liked Twinky best, because she's got the same gorgeous deep blue fur with long light tufts as Luna. They're going to sit together on my shelf. I'm trying to cut back on big bears, but she was irresistible. 

DENALI

Arrival Date: 10/1/18

Size: 12"

Year: 2018 Secret Collection, QVC US Exclusive

Edition Size: 1500 (Mine is #14.)

Designer: Alison Mills

Purchased From: QVC

Cost: $63

Thoughts: Denali is McKinley's little cousin. McKinley was last year's QVC exclusive for the US so it made sense to bring the second exclusive out a year later. Denali is much smaller, lighter and squishier plush than McKinley and he lacks the super-soft paw pads, but he's just darling. His little face is adorable and he's very cuddly.

BEAR BERRY

Arrival Date: 10/1/18

Size: 12"

Year: 2017 Secret Collection

Edition Size: 2400

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: QVC

Cost: $49.98

Thoughts: Bear Berry wasn't high on my want list, but I knew I'd try her out if she came to QVC US. I love her rich deep red and the cream color complements it nicely. Her fur is very soft and a nice pile length. She's very floppy, light-weight and wobble-jointed, which makes her feel closer to a regular stuffed animal than a Charlie Bear, but it suits her really well. I'm really glad I got her!

BOTTICELLI

Arrival Date: 10/1/18

Size: 16"

Year: 2017 Isabelle Lee Collection

Edition Size: 500 (Mine is #299.)

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Features: Standing, 100% Mohair

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $360

Thoughts: I've been paying off Botticelli for 6 months. He's by far the most expensive bear in my collection and I highly doubt I will ever go for another mohair. I love him and he's very unique and definitely my style, but that's a lot of money for a single item! I could have bought so many other bears for the same price. He's pretty damn spectacular though.

MEDLEY

Arrival Date: 9/17/18

Size: 15"

Year: 2018

Edition Size: 1399

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $81.95

Thoughts: Medley was not initially on my pre-order list, but when I saw owner pics of him, I liked him. Since I was doing layaway on three bears, I figured why not make it four and added him to the batch. Hodge was my first paid off layaway and I had to bring Medley home second. His warm colors are a nice contrast to HodgePodge's blue and grays. Medley's colors don't show very well in photos. His left limbs are a pinkish-brown, while the right are more of a lavender/gray/brown. Then of course the regular brown and burgundy patches. Like Hodge, he's super soft and not stuffed as tightly, so he's very squeezable and cuddly.

HODGEPODGE

Arrival Date: 9/14/18

Size: 15"

Year: 2018

Edition Size: 1770

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: BAMS

Cost: $81.95

Thoughts: Hodge won me over early on, but when MishMash arrived first from QVC, I knew I'd end up with all four bears with this theme. MishMash and Caboodle (coming later this year) are bigger with longer fur on their heads and torsos, while Hodge and Medley (coming in a few days) are shorter with shorter fur. The advantage of the shorter fur is that Hodge is really, really soft all over, while Mish is only super soft on his arms and legs. I love both though.

CHATTERBOX

Arrival Date: 9/13/18

Size: 15.5"

Year: 2017 Secret Collection

Edition Size: 4720

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: QVC

Cost: $59.98

Thoughts: Chatterbox just arrived. He appeared on US QVC in late July/early August as a pre-order item. They said your bear would be made to order, but mine is dated April, so that was definitely not the case. I don't mind though, because I think that's why he shipped much earlier than expected. He's very cute, although I'm not normally a fan of the open-mouthed ones. He makes my second one after Biddles. I almost didn't get him, because I thought he was cute, but he's one of the most often posted bears on Facebook and you get tired of seeing him. You get REALLY tired of seeing him fake-eating things. Thankfully, Chatterbox fever has died down so I'm more enthusiastic about owning one now. He'll never be a huge favorite, but he is decidedly cute.

WHISP

Arrival Date: 9/13/18

Size: 15"-16"

Year: 2015 Secret Collection

Edition Size: 1200

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: ebay

Cost: $57

Thoughts: I've wanted Whisp since I first saw her, but unlike Wisteria, she wasn't on Charlie Bears Direct. I missed out on her a few times on ebay, especially recently, but then the perfect one finally appeared! From an American seller I've bought from before! She's the lovely grayish lavender shade of Wisteria and the same super soft tyber fur, but her arms and legs have a wispy (of course) longer fur on them that looks pretty wild. She's awesome.

MATTIE

Arrival Date: 9/10/18

Size: 12"

Year: 2017 Secret Collection

Edition Size: 2150

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: QVC

Cost: $65.62

Thoughts: Mattie is one of those random print bears that I liked some of, but not all of, so I didn't order her when she first appeared with the other newbies. I wanted one with the dark brown on a lot of the face. The lighter ones are cute, but not nearly as cute to me as the dark. But when the 6 Easy Pays offer came up recently, I decided to take a chance and have a look at her. I mean, for less than $11 a month, it seemed like the right time. So she arrived today and I was shocked for three reasons. First, UPS got here before 4PM, which is incredibly unusual. Typically, they're 4:30 at the very earliest. Second, I actually got a Mattie with a dark face! Even if it's not dark all the way, I like the half dark look and I love the little dark eyebrow on the light side. Third, she's tiny! She's 12", but she's one of those that's all height and nothing else. She's got to be one of my lightest bears. She's a nice, squishy, lightweight plush. So yeah, she's definitely sticking around. I believe the real Mattie is a guy, but mine seems to be a girl. I keep thinking "she" when I look at her.

ELSPETH II

Arrival Date: 8/30/18

Size: 13"

Year: 2018

Edition Size: 585 (Mine is #476.)

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Features: Standing

Purchased From: Charlie Bears Direct

Cost: $55

Thoughts: Elspeth got recalled earlier in the year, so I sent mine back, not wanting her to fall apart. (Honestly, only a complete idiot would not send back a defective bear.) Her replacement finally arrived today. She's definitely got more of a purple tone to her pink now and her lighter face is much more full. I love the new key and she's a lot softer than she was!