Charlie Bears

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louise66

Registered Shopper
Joined
Jun 24, 2008
Messages
3,253
I am a visitor, to the fb page, because of my own collection, only two of which are from this range, rhubarb and crumble, bought as a pair from QVC. Because I was disappointed with the quality, a repeat purchase, has never been a possibility. As on a previous thread, about a certain presenter having followers, if anyone on this page, says anything negative about the couple, or the bears, they are shot down, by the fawning collectors.
My question is : how involved do you think Will and Charlie are, with the manufacture of the bears, from concept to production? Obviously, I don't expect them to sit with a needle and thread but, do they come up with the idea, for how they want the bear to look,by providing a drawing, or image? When a bear is designed by Isabelle Lee, do they have any input at all?
I suspect - and I respect them for having the guts to take a risk, and starting the business - they are the figureheads for the company, with designers being the brains, so to speak, behind the bears produced.
Just my opinion; I don't intend to cause any upset to CB fans.
 
I have never purchased any of these bears but have considered buying for my Great grandchildren but it sounds as if the quality is not up to scratch so won't be buying.
 
Awful things. Many of them are downright ugly and would give kids nightmares. As for the owners of the company, well I`d stick my hands up a bear`s back (side) and speak in a silly voice if I was making a fortune out of people buying them.
I was in a large secondhand shop a while ago, a kind of bricks and mortar Ebay where you could sell your goods and the store owner takes a commission. There was a cabinet full of bears, many of them priced at £20 to £25, and a number of CB`s amongst them. So much for being an investment !
I cringe when I see bear photos posted on Q`s facebook page and people talking about them as if they`re children or family and someone types under their bear pic " oh look here`s Pepperpod watching TV " so can you ask Charlie to give him a wave or somesuch twaddle. Sheesh !
 
Not my thing but I feel that Charlie's recent illness is the reason why people will be very defensive of any criticism much in the same way as Ali K

Whilst I have every wish that they come out on top of the battle against this terrible illness I also feel that it doesn't mean that they should be totally excluded from any criticism such as AK talking over everyone or CB not being of the quality expected.

I am of course getting prepared from the usual uproar that I have dared to air a negative view.
 
I am a visitor, to the fb page, because of my own collection, only two of which are from this range, rhubarb and crumble, bought as a pair from QVC. Because I was disappointed with the quality, a repeat purchase, has never been a possibility. As on a previous thread, about a certain presenter having followers, if anyone on this page, says anything negative about the couple, or the bears, they are shot down, by the fawning collectors.
My question is : how involved do you think Will and Charlie are, with the manufacture of the bears, from concept to production? Obviously, I don't expect them to sit with a needle and thread but, do they come up with the idea, for how they want the bear to look,by providing a drawing, or image? When a bear is designed by Isabelle Lee, do they have any input at all?
I suspect - and I respect them for having the guts to take a risk, and starting the business - they are the figureheads for the company, with designers being the brains, so to speak, behind the bears produced.
Just my opinion; I don't intend to cause any upset to CB fans.

I think you are right - figureheads for the company. It happens time and time again, an idea is borne and put into production and then some way down the line it gets taken out of their hands.

Can you imagine Victoria Beckham with needle and thread ??? no, there are a whole team of designers, production and PR people who do the job for her while she just gets photographed going to a 'meeting' - although she is wealthy enough to have absorbed any losses herself in the early days.
 
i bought a bear once but my grandaughter hated it. sold it on the bay for a £10 profit so i suppose they can appreciate. they have a cheapish home made quality about them. i have a mohair german bear and they are not worth a fig
 
i bought a bear once but my grandaughter hated it. sold it on the bay for a £10 profit so i suppose they can appreciate. they have a cheapish home made quality about them. i have a mohair german bear and they are not worth a fig

There's terrible cruelty in mohair production.
 
Claire was having a very unseemly carry on with one of the bears. After stroking it tenderly and tickling its ears and nose she cradled it like a baby, next to her bosom. You can imagine what I feared might happen next... These people need to get a grip.
 
I bought a few as presents in the early years of CB, a couple for friends who are bear collectors and some for nieces of 8,9 or so, and they were very well made. However, the last time I bought one from Q was about 3 years ago, and I was very disappointed in the quality of the bear when I got it, but my experience was similar to boffy's post - I sold the bear by putting a free advert in the local paper and made £12 - not a fortune, but it covered the cost, and I got several enquiries from other interested people, too. So they are (or were!) popular. After that, no more CB's for me. It's no surprise to me that it's the earlier bears that seem to have appreciated in value (not by a huge amount, and depends on which bear you are talking about) - I've seen them for sale on the internet and elsewhere and they have gone up, but nowhere near as much as implied with all this talk of a booming "secondary market" carp, that's rubbish IMO. Obviously, it also depends on the condition - if they've been pulled to pieces or damaged by someone then they will be worth virtually nowt. I agree that many of the recent ones I've seen on Q over the past 2 years or so are dire, they don't look at all well-made, some with peculiar colours and with cross-looking or ugly faces - they look more like giveaway prizes at a funfair to me. I can't understand anyone buying new CB's from Q unless they want one that is a Q Exclusive - they are often much cheaper to buy from online outlets, and frequently there's no p & p charges, either, unlike Q.
 
Never bought never had the urge. I do still have a teddy bear my Mum bought for me, used to sit on the bed until the cats came. I used come home from work to find it had been dragged round the floor had the hell kicked out of it, and no doubt attempted disembowelment:mysmilie_15: Its in a cupboard now.
 
I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the look of bears.....the oldies are still the best, and there's nothing to beat a childhood ted, IMO, battered or not!
Never bought never had the urge. I do still have a teddy bear my Mum bought for me, used to sit on the bed until the cats came. I used come home from work to find it had been dragged round the floor had the hell kicked out of it, and no doubt attempted disembowelment:mysmilie_15: Its in a cupboard now.
 
I don't see them as an investment. It's probable that people who have started to collect them more recently will be looking out for the earlier bears but won't pay much over the original price as they're not rare - seek and you shall find on EBay, charity shops etc.
 
I have one bear, he`s called Bruce and he`s a big ginger coloured bear. When my oldest son was born we took him to visit his Dad`s family in Scotland, my son was about 6 weeks old. Anyway his Great Aunt Helen had bought this big ginger bear, it was twice the size of the baby and she insisted it was called Bruce.
Bruce was never really played with, in fact even as my son grew older he never paid much attention to any soft toys and so Bruce was consigned to the loft where he lived for nigh on 40 years. I kept him, not because I like bears ( I don`t ) but because he was a gift to my first born from a lady who has since passed and poor old Bruce isn`t even liked by my grandchildren who also completely ignored him. Poor Bruce.
 
It was the same with Beany Babies. They were supposed to be worth money in the future but charity shops are selling them for 50p now.
 
I collected BBs and, contrary to predictions, they are not worth a small fortune! Mine, apart from a select few, are in a black bag!
 
I bought a few as presents in the early years of CB, a couple for friends who are bear collectors and some for nieces of 8,9 or so, and they were very well made. However, the last time I bought one from Q was about 3 years ago, and I was very disappointed in the quality of the bear when I got it, but my experience was similar to boffy's post - I sold the bear by putting a free advert in the local paper and made £12 - not a fortune, but it covered the cost, and I got several enquiries from other interested people, too. So they are (or were!) popular. After that, no more CB's for me. It's no surprise to me that it's the earlier bears that seem to have appreciated in value (not by a huge amount, and depends on which bear you are talking about) - I've seen them for sale on the internet and elsewhere and they have gone up, but nowhere near as much as implied with all this talk of a booming "secondary market" carp, that's rubbish IMO. Obviously, it also depends on the condition - if they've been pulled to pieces or damaged by someone then they will be worth virtually nowt. I agree that many of the recent ones I've seen on Q over the past 2 years or so are dire, they don't look at all well-made, some with peculiar colours and with cross-looking or ugly faces - they look more like giveaway prizes at a funfair to me. I can't understand anyone buying new CB's from Q unless they want one that is a Q Exclusive - they are often much cheaper to buy from online outlets, and frequently there's no p & p charges, either, unlike Q.

So agree with that ! Cant remember the last time I saw a pink/green/purple bear, so why create them ???

As for the 'secondary market', what hype ! On the back page of any magazine there is Franklins Mint, with a collection of wall plates with birds/engines/flowers/royalty/landmarks,; china dolls; pocket watches; clocks ; bracelets/pendants etc initially targeted at old people with plenty of wall space available - although I don't know any 'oldies' now who would be seen dead with all that crap - but this 'stuff' is marketed as a potential investment, and turns out to be tuppence a bucketful in the charity shops.
 
There's absolutely no monetary value in selling on Charlie Bears. Just because they only make X amount doesn't make them valuable, the only reason someone would pay more for it is if it's called a name that means something to them, or they like the look of it, that's all. To be honest save yourself a few bob and rename the teddy you've all ready got, I'm sure he won't mind.
 
I collected BBs and, contrary to predictions, they are not worth a small fortune! Mine, apart from a select few, are in a black bag!

My sons are in a black bin liner in the loft, soon to be carted off to a charity shop.
 
If you are collecting-minded there are all sorts of things you can collect. Some will have a value over and above what you paid for them, but most won't. I don't think it's wise to start a collection with the idea that it's an investment... unless your collection is something like Picassos, and even with QVC's delusions of the affluent seeking a luxe lifestyle as their core customer base that's not going to be something a QVC shopper can asspire to, I'm afraid.

My mum had Franklin Mint tea pots and other bits as well. I know people who collect Hummel figures... It's all stuff that needs dusting and adds clutter. I've already got enough of that without adding to it. But that's me and my opinion. I recognise that collecting things and then displaying them gives some people enormous pleasure, and good luck to them.

I still have (at age 50) the teddy bear my grandparents gave me when I was a tot of about 3. He's only got one eye these days, and snoozes in a drawer with my night things, but I wouldn't part with him. I also have a teddy I bought when my niece and nephew were very young, to settle them when they came to stay at mine... nothing like a teddy bear for that! I like the traditional style of teddy, so Charlie Bears really wouldn't ever be my cup of tea.

I do wish Will and Charlie well, though. They had the nous to make a good business out of the teddies, and they've given work to other people who make the bears, and designers to design them, and suppliers to provide the materiels.
 
I think collecting starts in childhood, it's a fun hobby. The stickers, the marbles, the fossils, the glittery ponies. As adults we go one of 4 ways. We stop collecting altogether, and just buy stuff that we intend to use, and flog or chuck what we don't. Or we collect "something", be it candles, bears, train sets, dolls, ceramic ornaments etc. Or we are like my mum, a child of the early fifties, brought up by parents who knew what it meant to have very little, so made-do-and-mended, don't throw it away cos it may come in handy for something. The parents have tons of stuff in their attics, my old doll's pram, sewing patterns off Prima or Womans Weekly. Knitting patterns. Yes she has kept them all. Or some become a problematic hoarder, the OCD illness with piles of newspaper and trash that covers every inch of floor space and reaches the ceiling.

Personally I have an aversion to clutter. My house gets messy but I have a tipping point. When I have too much make up I chuck it or sell it. I can't bring myself to collect. The only collections I own are my Nat West Pigs and my album of PG tips cards from the only one I managed to fill!

I think dolls are creepy unless my 4 year old is playing with it. I genuinely don't understand adults who collect things. But that is just me, with no disrespect intended. Those who have hundreds of Yankee Candles, on display in a Yankee Candle cabinet they paid £300 for, the candles costing many thousands of pounds if they added it up, I don't get that either. I love my smelly candles like the best of them but after all it is just wax. It is meant to be lit and enjoyed. I overheard a bloke walking past the Yankee Candle display with his girlfriend and she was interested in the candles. He said "you might as well set fire to a £20 note." I thought "what a controlling wanker" but part of me could see his point. Each to their own, but tempered with a heavy dose of common sense and moderation, would be my motto.
 

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