PANDORA (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 12/27/21

Size: 14"

Year: 2021 Secret Collection

Edition Size: 3000

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Features: Plumo

Purchased From: CB Direct 

Cost: $105

Thoughts: Pandora finally made her way to the US, too. I think a lot of people slept on this bear. Aside from the Greek myth name, which is always a draw for me, she's that lovely grayish dusty lavender I love. Along with gray itself, of course. I love the neck ruffle. Very cute. She's sitting nicely with Bossy Boots, Whisp, Wisteria and Kekezza on their shelf. All of them are similar colors. (Angel Cake, Fairy Cake, Logan, Nissa and Fey are there, too. It's my whimsical purple bear shelf.) Pandora is pretty small, but she's plumo so that explains the price. She's got soft arms and legs. Not sure if they're tyber but it's something like that. I love the longer gray fur on the tips of her paws. She's just a very pretty little bear.

LUKASZ

Arrival Date: 12/27/21

Size: 19"

Year: 2021 Secret Collection

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct 

Cost: $126

Thoughts: I love this name so when I saw him in Sneaky Peeks, I was drawn to him but not totally convinced. The lighter ruff of fur on the bottom half of his face is a little odd. But then I saw people's photos and I ended up caving on him. I thought stockists would be getting him, but he only went to CB Direct, so I grabbed him from there. He's sitting at the opposite end of the same shelf as Jason and they make a nice balanced pair with Snickerdoodle in the middle. Lukasz is definitely cute. I think he's a little cuter in person than how he photographs. Love the scarf, too.

DREAMY

Arrival Date: 12/23/21

Size: 16"

Year: 2021 Cuddle Time Collection

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct 

Cost: $115

Thoughts: I added Dreamy on a whim when the Turret pin released and I placed an order for that. I knew this guy was Tyber, which is the best fur, but I do have one in a similar color already. (I think I'm actually going to sell that one because I love Dreamy. We're coming up on my annual bear sale.) There's something about his face and the white accents that I really like. He's also nicely-jointed where he's not floppy but still moves really easily into cuddleable positions. 

AMBASSADOR

Arrival Date: 12/20/21

Size: 23" 

Year: 2021 Secret Collection

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct UK

Cost: About $143

Thoughts: What a big guy! I loved him in sneaky peeks but tried to resist because of his size, but when I saw he was available, I caved. He's such a unique character. He's not cute per se, more majestic and serious, but I love him.

TAFFY

Arrival Date: 12/20/21

Size: 14"

Year: 2021 Secret Collection

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct UK

Cost: About $77

Thoughts: This might be one of the cutest bears ever. I saw Taffy in the sneaky peeks and he was the one I really wanted from the Secret Collection this second half of the year. He's adorable and all those colors! But in person...oh, wow. His left side has a rich rusty base color while the right side is gray. Both of those fabrics have black patches. His left limbs are a warm reddish-brown and the right are black with strands of brown and either white or a light gray. I can't tell. Then his left paw pads are medium brown with cream toes while the right pads are dark brown with tan toes. All the colors are used together on his face. He's an absolute masterpiece.

RHEYA (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 11/15/21

Size: 14"

Year: 2021 Best Friends Club Exclusive

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct UK

Cost: About $70

Thoughts: Oh, Rheya. It's been an insane year for CBs and the Best Friends Club exclusive bears were no exception. They finally figured out they could offer us US members the chance to purchase our exclusives directly from the UK Bearhouse. Some opted to do so with Rheya, while others opted to wait and adopt her once she got to the US Cubhouse. I chose the UK, because I'm impatient that way. It's honestly not that much more and you get your order super fast. However, then the Rheyas were delayed getting to the UK! But they finally made it and I was able to order her and get her home before vacation. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about her, but I knew I wanted her. My plan was to keep her on hand to use as trade bait in case I wasn't selected for Turret or Chimney. However, I have Perky for that now if it comes to it or I can just suck it up and overpay. I'm hoping I get picked for both though! Anyway, my plan went out the window the second I got a look at Rheya's face. She's not going anywhere! She's gorgeous. Perfect little darker "makeup" lines on the outer edges of her eyes. Her colors are lovely, too, and she's cuddly. A lot of people love her and I'm now one of them for sure.

ANNIVERSARY RAGSY

Arrival Date: 10/25/21

Size: 13"

Year: 2021 QVC/CB Direct Exclusive 

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: CB Direct UK

Cost: About $92

Thoughts: Ragsy was featured on the last Sneaky Peeks magazine, so when it was revealed she would only be for sale on QVC UK, there were a lot of unhappy American collectors. I understand they were celebrating being with QVC for 15 years, but considering how behind the US is with deliveries (no matter how much it makes sense) seeing another thing the UK got and we didn't wasn't the best feeling. Thankfully, several people got help from wonderful UKers. I couldn't afford it, so I expected not to get one. Then CB Direct said they'd be getting some in and they ship internationally, so I put myself on the wishlist, got the email and bought her. I don't have the original Ragsy, though I do have Dolce, who's very similar. I prefer this 13" size to the original 10" honestly. I wish they'd do Dolce, too! Ragsy is very soft and lovely colors. 

BALLANTYNE (Rehomed)

Arrival Date: 10/23/21 (Rehomed 1/23)

Size: 19

Year: 2011 

Edition Size: 3000

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Purchased From: Fellow collector on Facebook

Cost: $70

Thoughts: Ballantyne is one of those older, wobbly-jointed, super floppy, wild-furred guys that I always like to see, though I don't own many. He's the kind of floppy I used to be really worried about, but now I've gotten used to it. I like his fur colors and his big starey eyes in the dark face.

PERKY

Arrival Date: 10/18/21

Size: 10"ish

Year: 2021 Best Friends Club Exclusive

Edition Size: 300 (Mine is #67.)

Designer: Isabelle Lee

Features: Mohair

Purchased From: CB Direct

Cost: FREE (Retail $264.60)

Thoughts: I am still absolutely floored by this. This year, the generous souls behind Charlie Bears are doing three free draws for each of their six Best Friends Club exclusive characters. One person in the US, one in Australia and one in the UK/Europe will be chosen to get a character for free. I somehow missed the posting of the free draw video for Perky and then suddenly, I had an email in my inbox. I was the winner of the US draw! I'm never that level of lucky. It's shocking. And I loved how they did the draw, too, but you'd have to watch the video to see it. (It involves archery!) Perky is absolutely darling. I love her! She's not one I would have chosen for myself, but only because I have to be incredibly choosy when it comes to mohair. She looks so cute next to my Clarabelle elephant, too. Thank you so much, Charlie Bears!

KALEIDOSCOPE #1

Arrival Date: 10/18/21

Size: 15" (He seems bigger though.)

Year: 2021

Designer: Charlie

Purchased From: CB Direct UK

Cost: About $51 ($62.95 US retail)

Thoughts: The main reason I went for Kingsley is because I also saw Kaleidoscope in stock. I've been a little obsessed with getting him ever since I got Blotch. Kaleidoscope is truly a crapshoot. With Kingsley, you're just hoping for a cute face but his patterns are far less variable otherwise. With Kaleidoscope, it was truly super random. I like this guy, but I've labelled him as #1 because I'm sure I'll be getting another once my pre-order finally comes in. I was hoping for brighter colors and they're all on his back. He's very cute and amazingly cuddly. He's soft and squishy, which I love. But I still want one with brighter colors on his face. I'm not sure when he'll make it over here, so I'm glad I have this guy. I may end up keeping both or selling this one on in the future.