Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Nancy, I agree with you about eBay.  I think if you're finding that eBay (or any one venue) isn't the best for you right now, you are wise to branch out, and I must admit I am doing similarly.  It really is a fishbowl, and not indicative of the entire world's opinions.

And now onto a different note... uh oh, you are two of my competitors in that particular category! (I'm not calling it the XXX category, which makes it look like I'm submitting teddy [INVALID].)  My mother is entering the same category as well, we happened to have two strong candidates that we had done individually, so off they went as separate submissions.  Tough competition!  (Not that I expected anything less.)

Hugs,
Kelly

Ah pricing, always a difficult subject!  I've both attended in-person shows and sold on the Internet (both eBay and off our web site) in the last year.  In all honesty, I have found the shows to be FAR more reliable sales venues than eBay is, to the extent that we're looking at doing almost 3x as many shows this year than we did last year and we're currently on hiatus from eBay.  We'll just have to see how it goes.  One of the things we all need to be careful of is to NOT let eBay drive down our prices.  We have had bears that we know are very good bears, and we know we have a good price on them.  eBay seems to look at us with a 'who do you think you are to ask that price?!' look, and it doesn't sell on eBay.  That same bear sells just fine directly off our web site, or at a show.  We will not drop the bottom out of our bear's prices to sell on eBay.  At some point I'm sure we'll be back on eBay to see how things are going, and if it's anything like our past experiences, some things will sell and some won't.  But we'll just keep moving forward, and if demand for our 'name' ever bumps up our eBay sales then fine, we'll be there more frequently.  All anybody can do is find what works best for them.

That having been said, it is interesting to have heard two streams of thought on this subject as someone who has sold at both shows and Internet venues in the recent past.  I won't kid you, there is a small level of grumbling at shows over sales made over the Internet (or more specifically, eBay).  It is common knowledge that many artists are selling their bears at discounted prices on eBay and NO it isn't helping anybody.  Bear artists that just do shows will say a number of collectors just stay home and buy online for cheaper prices.  This probably is true to some extent.  I know even some of the show producers have had similar thoughts expressed to them, and they have shown concern that even some of the artists that attend their shows are underselling THEMSELVES online with cheaper eBay prices.  Serious bear collectors aren't stupid, they understand why there is a price differential between novice and advanced bears, for example.  But I think the greatest problem occurs when the SAME artist tries to sell the SAME bears expensive at a show and then cheap on eBay!  Really, what would be the motive for collectors to attend shows if everybody did that?

To a degree, I find artists at shows to be more sensitive to the subject of pricing than artists online.  I made a general comment at one show this past year to another artist that such-and-such type of bears seemed to be selling really well.  Her reply was 'Of course they do! This artist and that artist always underprice and sell more than anybody else!'.  Alrighty then.  I have actually seen other artists sneak over the table to anyone that's selling a little TOO well and check out the prices.  We had that happen to us at the Schaumburg show in the fall, we sold several bears in a short amount of time when the show first opened.  What actually happened was that we had planned ahead and had some special bears ready for certain people... like koalas for a koala collector we knew would be there, and a couple interested in my Golden Teddy nominee bear knew they could come get him then, and so on. On top of those sales, we made some 'regular' sales of people just walking past and falling in love with something on the table.  So it looked like a small-scale business boom.  One very well-known artist waited until my mother's back was turned (I think my mother looks more like 'the artist' at the table than I do), then went up to our table and started flipping price tags to take a look for herself.  The first tag she flipped was on a bear priced over $400.  Apparently having convinced herself we weren't complete strangers coming in to undercut everyone else, she seemed perfectly happy about it at that point and was very nice to us.  I think there is an important point to make here.  I think bear artists are VERY supportive of each other and I do NOT see competition between artists as a rule.  Bear artists are perfectly happy when the people around them make sales, they are nice people and happy to see each other's successes.  But ANY business person is going to get sensitive if they think someone else's work is only selling due to, shall we say, anti-competitive practices such as drastic underpricing.  That happens in any business, unfortunately the bear industry is not immune to it.

Bear hugs,
Kelly

Hi Sandi,

You're in Illinois, visit the Schaumburg show in April!  I'll be there, and probably also Laura Lynn, Amy and Jared from this board.  Sue Ann, will you be there again?  Gail, how about you?  Anybody else?  At least you'll get to meet some of us and browse lots and lots and LOTS of bears!

To answer your questions... bear shows are all really different.  Some are very small and inexpensive, it's not impossible to find one of those for maybe $60-$80 entry fees, but DON'T necessarily expect a ton of bear collectors and sales at those shows.  Other shows are very large and elaborate.  Bright Star and ABC both produce series of shows around the country, and both have very good reputations and draw serious bear artists and collectors.  I think Bright Star shows tend to be 1-day and ABC shows usually multi-day events.  Bright Star shows are something like ~$150 a show, ABC runs into the hundreds.   Many people find the outlay of finances to get into the bigger shows worth it, as you really can get a steady stream of enthusiastic bear buyers in the room that a very small non-advertised local show could not provide.

You do not need to wait for invitations to arrive to get into a bear show.  Call the person running the show, explain your interest, and find out if there is even an opening first.  There are a handful of shows that are VERY hard to get into, essentially if you're not already an exhibitor there you're not likely to get in.  But it never hurts to ask.  Most shows are not like that however, you just need to ask and they'll send you the application packet as long as they have the room.  Some shows do require jurying by photo, these are not necessarily difficult to get into, they just want to make sure you are a serious level of bear maker and not someone that is going to undercut the entire room by selling $5 cloth garage sale bears.

The number of bears to take is up to you.  If you do small bears, you might want to bring more.  If you do large bears, bring less.    Some shows offer 6' tables, some offer 8'.  I think a general rule of thumb if you really don't know where to begin would be 12-24 bears on your table.  I think what is more important is the presentation at a show, don't just sit them all on the flat table in a group.  Visit shows and study how other people display theirs, so that each bear can be seen individually.  Many people use risers, stands, boxes, or whatever else it takes to rise the bear up taller off the table and closer to eye level with the buyers.  In my (limited) show experience, bears that are only table level are the most often overlooked.

Hope this helps!  When I started doing bear shows (almost 1 1/2 years ago), it helped most just to visit other shows and see how other artists did things.

Hugs,
Kelly

It is wonderful to see so much Christmas cheer on this board!  There's always room for one more card though, isn't there?  In addition to being a bear artist and fine artist, my mother also does digital paintings from time to time (start to finish all on the computer with no tricks or gadgetry).  Here is a brand new one from her, we are starting what we hope to be an annual tradition of mailing a teddy art image to our collectors and mailing list.  This little bear and his kitten friends was the first! 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and all the best good wishes to everyone around the globe from Margaret and Kelly in (surprisingly not snowy) upstate New York!

Bear hugs,
Kelly

LOL Shantell!  My mother had this problem with her early bears, she was using a taupe ultrasuede tag that she'd sign and sew into the lower back seam.  She sent one of these early bears to her sister in Canada, who showed it off to a group of her little old lady friends.  One little old lady looked at the bear, flipped it over, looked at the tag, looked shocked and said 'Tell your sister to move the tag!'  Obviously having similar thoughts to yours!

I think it was Laura Lynn that suggested shrinky dink tags a while back, and we've been using them ever since.  They are very subtle and people who have seen our tags at shows have greatly admired them, we even had some people say 'I love these!  I HATE sewn-in tags!'  To each their own.  Laura uses fishing line to tie them on, if I recall correctly.  I tried this initially but some of the knots would slip over time (some did, some didn't, never could figure out what I was doing differently on the ones that slipped).  I now use VERY thin jewelry wire to attach the shrinky dink, thin enough that it makes perfect tight knots but isn't going to poke the bear, and I haven't seen one slip yet.  Regular bears get one attached to their lower-to-mid back, all fours bears and other critters get it attached to the back or inside of one rear thigh, wherever it will be subtle and not poke them as they sit / stand.

Hope this helps!
Kelly

To anyone that is considering entering contests this year or at some point in the future, I say 'more power to you!'  I started making bears in June 2004, in December of that year I entered one bear in the TOBY and Golden Teddy contests.  He got nominated for a Golden Teddy, which made me infinitely happy (and knocked me cold for a week).  So, you never know.  Here are some thoughts on the contests:

Have realistic expectations.  There are an awful lot of good bears being entered, the competition is tough.  If you enter one bear, it's not a guarantee that you'll get in.  If you enter 10 bears, it's not a guarantee that you'll get in (though in theory, you have 10x the chance!).  Enter what you are confident in and to the degree that you can afford it.  Don't set yourself up to be devastated if you don't get a nomination, even the best artists in the world (and I mean that) don't get every bear they submit nominated.

Be ORIGINAL.  Don't submit bears that look exactly like someone else's bears.  Don't submit bears that are extremely similar to last year's nominees or winners.  I also think that they do like diversity within each category, I doubt you will ever find, for example, five black-and-white panda bears nominated in the same category.  You cannot control what other people in your category enter, but the more unique your creation is, the less likely it is to be similar to others.

Get a good photo.  It doesn't even have to be a great photo, bears that get nominated sometimes don't have great photos.  BUT those photos were good enough to see the quality of the bear, and the bear was unique enough that they were willing to nominate it past a less-than-100%-wonderful photo.  They really are judging the bear, not the quality of your photography skills.  However, if your photography is so bad that it makes your bear look bad, consider having somebody else take the photos for you.

I think it really, really helps to have a bear with either a very sweet or very expressive face.  I don't think I technically astounding bear with a plain or ugly face will be likely to be nominated.  However, it is entirely possible that a bear with a wonderfully interesting face could get nominated.

Be extremely careful to follow the rules and regulations when you submit your entry.  By my understanding, flawed or inaccurate entries are disqualified.  This could be... forgetting to sign something, forgetting to include entry fees for the correct amount, entering the bear in the wrong category (entering it as a mini when it's 22" tall) or some such.  Don't eliminate yourself before they even start the judging!  I wonder how many bear makers have had this happen to them, I certainly hope it's not many.

Best of luck to anyone who enters this year, and remember to HAVE FUN!
Hugs,
Kelly

A couple of thoughts:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using Paint Shop Pro.

If your original image is a JPG and you are doing numerous steps of image manipulation, keep in mind that EACH time you change a JPG image it loses some of the image's information and therefore decreases image quality.  JPG is considered a lossy file type for this reason. 

If at any point you UPsized your image (went from a smaller to a larger image), image quality would become lousy.

I have a slightly older version of PSP and if there's some sort of specialized tool you're using to achieve that border effect, I don't have it.  I might be suspicious of it, as it seems to be giving you a pixelated border effect, I would wonder if it was doing some pixelating within the image itself.  Can you resize the image without the border effect and maintain image quality?

Hope this helps,
Kelly

Thanks Sue Ann, had no idea and will search it out.  How can you tell I can't keep track of all the conversations in this delightfully busy place?

Hugs,
Kelly

Daphne, move over and let me have a piece, OK?  Never had grasshopper pie but that sounds REALLY good!

Part of my family has Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and Christmas means Shoo Fly Pie!  Sounds almost as bad as grasshopper pie, I know.  It is molasses based and crumbly and really good for breakfast!  When I was a little I used to sneak a piece (or more) out to the barn where I took lessons and share with my favorite horses, they went crazy for molasses.  Ah, memories.

The other side of my family has British heritage, and their thing is onion sauce. It is made with heavy cream and very, very good... it will kill the taste of just about anything you put it on, which is great if you're not too into veggies, or turkey, or whatever else is on your plate.

Personally, I've been trying to start some new traditions.  My current holiday favorite is lemon roasted chicken with tart cherry stuffing.  Yum!  I'm beginning to think we need to start swapping recipes, this thread sounds way too good.

Oh man, am I hungry now

Cheers,
Kelly

I had a debate with myself as to whether this belonged under bears for sale, showcase, shows, or general.  I'm still not sure, but I'll just stick it here.

Anyway, wanted to let people know that the Hurricane Katrina benefit auction bears are listed on ABC's web site now!  Wish we could go to San Diego in person for the show, but our bear will have to represent us instead.  http://www.abcunlimitedproductions.com/  These are a lot of fun to look at!  My mom and I have a bear there, and Sue Ann is not represented once, but twice with very lovely bears.  I saw Laure's name as well, though don't think she hangs around here so much anymore?  Anyone else here on this list that I missed (I'm sorry if I did, I am so bad with names)?

Our donation bear is Blue Belle, a very exciting result of some hand-dying experiments:

One of the things I like to tinker with is handmade ornaments, Blue Belle has one dripping in genuine Swarovski crystals (lucky bear).  I can only hope that at the live auction that ornament is flashing and sparkling from ALL the way across the room.  If anyone is going to be there in person, let me know!

Hugs,
Kelly

Oh, but I much prefer to start panicking WAY in advance!

Cheers,
Kelly

Is Asperger's a fairly new thing for people to be diagnosed with?  I never heard of it before last year, now I hear about it all the time.  Sounds unpleasant, though there aren't many syndromes or maladies that aren't

Hugs,
Kelly

Oh, interesting, I didn't know about the Golden George awards.  Not that I'll have anything ready that fast

Here's one more competition, the info is on Nancy Tillberg's site
http://www.kranbearys.com/aceawards/Ace … 0index.htm

Ace Awards
The 2006 theme is 'Friendship'
Photo submission based
Cost is $30 for the first entry, $10 each additional
Entry deadline: May 15th, 2006

Yup, my mom and I will be exhibitors again at TBAI.  I know their schedule for putting the show together this year is really different than it was last year... last year with Millie's ill health everything was thrown much later, and apparently there was even a point where they thought about cancelling it.  So this year everything is pretty much done already, which is more the norm for them.

But from what I saw last year (no expert though), they had several of their artists drop out as the show neared, for whatever reason, to be replaced by people on the waiting list.  Wasn't it Laure from this group that only got a month's notice to be an exhibitor last year?  They may even have been a few people short for the actual show last year, I didn't count 55 names present, though maybe I was missing something?  It may not be too late to submit an application and get on the waiting list, try contacting Cindy Malchoff if you're interested.  We did attend one year as visitors before even attempting to get into the show, it made it less of a scary unknown when we applied.  You could always plan a trip to come visit and check it out for exhibiting in the future, and then if you happen to get in off the waiting list... more power to you!  Besides, it really should be a pretty nice trip between there and Manhattan, if you like to visit the latter! 

I can't blame you for not wanting to do a cross-country trek with your cubs, I admit I'm too chicken to try that one.  We got invited to the January show in San Diego but haven't worked ourselves up to travelling with our bears by plane yet.  Too many horror stories!  One woman at the fall Schaumburg show had a bear with a growler in her suitcase, security didn't like the sound so they tore the bear to shreds and gave her back the head only.  AUGH!!!!!!  Though there are an awful lot of bears artists who fly safely with their bears all the time, it's just that if someone is going to have bad luck, it will be ME.  Supposedly the answer there is to SHIP the bears ahead of time, it costs a bit but at least they get there safely.  Aw heck, if anyone wanted to ship bears and supplies to us, we could even throw them in the back of our van and meet you at the show.  Or maybe we'll just keep any bears that are sent our way
:twisted:

And by the way Shelli, don't worry about fitting in, you silly goose!  They are super nice people there one and all, they seemed perfectly happy to see new faces.  The show organizers do a great job of getting everyone, both artists and collectors, together as part of a big happy family.  I really like the Schaumburg show as well, but TBAI really does have a different feel to it, it is very warm and familial (that is a word, isn't it?).  I remember seeing a photo of your table display at the show you did, and even if you lifted that exact setup bears and all, you would fit right in.  Every artist there is not the creme de la creme, remember I'M there

Hugs,
Kelly

I'll find out about the dates!  Must warn you all though, when I say small show, I mean small    I've only attended as an exhibitor once, there were only 3 or 4 bear artists and a room full of dolls.  I wound up watching doll people walk past us the entire day, that was about it.  And there weren't even that many of those!  (That was the experience that kind of soured me on mixed doll and bear shows, I'll be honest.)  It's more one of those shows where if you happen to be IN Rochester it's nice to visit.  There's certainly space to exhibit and it's REALLY inexpensive, but unless you bring a truckload of bear collectors with you, don't hold your breath for great sales (or, in our one experience there, any).  <sigh>  That having been said, it was our very first show and it was invaluable to us to meet the bear artists that were there.  We love 'em to bits, they were very kind to us as rank beginners and very supportive.  Actually, as a bear artist, the highlight of that show is that Peter Epolitto sets up several tables stocked with Edinburgh stuff.  You might not MAKE money, but you can always SPEND money

Incidentally, if everyone is going to congregate to a show in New York, what about TBAI in Binghamton?  Teddy bear extravaganza!  We've been there once as visitors and once as exhibitors and it really is fun for everybody.  The gallery is mindboggling to see in person, there are 55 bear ONLY artists there from all over the place, both magazines are represented, the banquet is great, the awards are fun.  It's not exactly in the same league as the Rochester show, you could actually stay all day at Binghamtom and still have bear stuff left to do.  You kind of run out of bear stuff after 1/2 a hour in Rochester.  Well, don't say I didn't warn you 

Eileen, if you're going to be back in Rochester in December, go to the JoAnn store in Greece (W Ridge Rd).  I LOVE Greece (hey, 21st safest town in the entire country according to a recent study!), I lived there for three years and still would if I hadn't run out of money this year     Anyway, that JoAnn store is BIG and it does have a ton of seasonal sales on right now.  And as an added bonus, a couple of hundred feet farther down the road is a gem of a place, the Craft Antique Co-op.  Huge building, two floors, hundreds of vendors.  They are currently doing their Dickens celebration, which is a very Christmasy thing to see!  All the vendors dress up as Dickens characters, and they have live choirs and bands doing Christmas music for the shoppers.  We went last week and they had two choirs and a brass band.  Lots of fun and a UNIQUE place to find Christmas gifts (and bear accessories)!  They are open Wednesday through Sunday this time of year, don't know if they have the music every day though.  Highly recommended!    Greece has some very neat stuff hidden away.  There's a Barnes and Noble at the mall that carries, for reasons I will never understand when every other place in town doesn't, BOTH TBR and TB&F AND the British mags Teddy Bear Scene and Teddy Bear Club International.  Go figure!  See why I like this place?  (Shelli, I looked for your article last time I was there but they still had the November issue and you must be in December!  They'll get it eventually!)

Shelli, Deb's right though I'm not exactly sure how long the drive is.  I remember it being 6 1/2 hours the one time I went between the two, but it was part of a school bus trip many moons ago, and those always go slower than everything else on the road.  Depends on how fast you drive, I suppose.  Binghamton would be MUCH closer to Manhattan, for the record, like 2 1/2 hours closer.  Hint, hint 

Hugs,
Kelly

Yup, I am in Rochester!  You don't have to rub it in    

I'm a grad student locally so I'm in and out all over the place constantly, maybe one day I'll even graduate (again).   Hey, you should arrange a visit during the Rochester doll and bear show, it's twice a year spring and fall.  Small show and mostly dolls, but there are a handful of really nice bear artists there as well.   I'd tell you exactly when they are, but I haven't gotten the 2006 information yet... I need to get that info to Deb as well, so hey, maybe we could all meet at one of those!

Cheers,
Kelly

OK, this conversation is moving way too fast for me to keep up with 

Daphne, if you plan to move to the Rochester region I'll have to insist on that you get your head examined first!  And not just because I'm here    Nah, parts of it aren't that bad.  Besides, they just added arches over the thruway that runs through the city.  So now we have... what... 300% more arches.  I knew you'd be impressed.  Every time I drive through them I think 'This is what my tax dollars went for?!?!?!'

Actually, I'm still stuck on the thought of 3 1/2 canoes in this conversation.  I would think that 1/2 a canoe would imply that it was on the bottom of the lake somewhere.

Cheers,
Kelly

Hi Jodi,

On the Teddies 4 Charity web site, there is a link on the upper menu to the 3 auction templates.  So they're all on the web if you can't find them elsewhere.  Just save to your computer with your browser's menu bar, File --> Save File As and it should save as an html file.

Hope this helps!
Kelly

Scary!  Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes... I'd much rather live without any of them!!!  We actually had an earthquake where I live in upstate NY, maybe 8 years ago?  It was very shallow and very small (and of course, very unusual), what a place to have an earthquake!  It was in the middle of the night and I actually woke bolt upright in bed BEFORE it hit... maybe 15 or 30 minutes before.  Couldn't figure out what woke me, and I didn't feel quite right.  Then the earthquake rattled everything just a little, and I felt fine.  I haven't felt that same way ever before or since, but that is the only earthquake I've experienced.  Apparently I predict them, but I'd rather not test that theory by moving to, say, California

Cheers,
Kelly

I feel so bad for those of you who are suffering with chronic conditions.  Take care of yourselves and remember to hug a teddy when you need to!  I always wish I could say something a lot more useful.
:cry:

To answer the original question... hmmm, let's see.  Here's something that isn't exactly common knowledge with a lot of people.  My first two majors in college in the late '90s were psychology and horse training.  (Yes, you can major in the latter.)  I intended to go into sports psychology, so it actually did make sense at the time.  Did just fine until I got handed a nutcase colt to break my sophomore year, that had ISSUES bigger than the schedule we had to work with him in.  I got put in a very stupid situation with him one day (not my stupid, either) and got to ride the bronc around the arena until he did a lovely spinning-rearing-bucking-ducking maneuver that landed me in the doorway flat on my back with a CRACK.  (Interestingly enough, the same horse also almost tore someone else's finger off while he was there and left it mangled.  When he was shipped back to his equally nutcase owner at the end of the semester, I heard through the grapevine that she had someone else ride him for her and he almost killed the woman.  Sheesh.)  So back to me on the floor, because this story gets better.  I had a friend take me to the local emergency room (over my protestations of 'NO drive me another 20 minutes to Bowling Green!').  Anyway, the backwater town's little emergency room basically said 'Yeah, you landed really hard.  You're urinating blood, so you hit your kidneys.  We had someone else in her earlier that fell off a horse.  We went to the trouble of doing x-rays on her and there wasn't anything wrong with her, so we're not going to do x-rays on you.  Go home and take Motrin.'  I reminded them 'I heard something crack when I hit the ground.' and they said 'uh huh.'  After having been knocked silly, I was woozy enough to say 'OK!' and went home.  Two weeks later, in excrutiating pain, I drove myself 7+ hours home on bad winter roads and my parents took me to a hospital in NY.  I had a broken back.  Fun, huh?  The doctor said 'if you had re-injured your back in those two weeks, the break probably would have gone the rest of the way through the vertebrae and affected your spinal cord.'  Ho hum.  So that's how I got into computers, when I was laid up with a broken back...

And now on to happier subjects,
Kelly

Hi Sandi,

Hmmm, interesting question.  It may be the case that the alignment is thrown off if some of the cards are removed before the sheet goes back through the printer.  I've never tried it that way.  I try to do multiple hang tags at once, but if I don't have enough to do a full sheet, I actually fill in the extra spaces with copies of my business cards.  I figure you can never have too many business cards!

Hope this helps?
Kelly

Those photos and the bear setups are super fun, Estelle!
:clap:

Cheers,
Kelly

Interestingly enough, your rank in search engine results isn't really affected by who YOU link to.  It is the reverse.  Your goal should be to increase the number of OTHER sites that link back to yours.  The more sites that link to you, the higher you will appear in search engine results.  That is why it is important to not just link to people on your site, but to EXCHANGE links with those people, so they list you on their site as well!  I was also just reading something interesting that search engines like plain text links instead of banner graphic links.  Search engines always prefer text to images.

Which reminds me, I have a bear site update to do and some new links to add.  A couple of people responded when I asked last week about exchanging links, I will add them in and anyone else who wants to swap links.

Hope this helps!
Kelly

Wow, the nerve of that lady.  I presume she's referring to dropshipping, though real dropshippers sign CONTRACTS with the people they do business with, by my understanding.  She has no legal ground to sell someone else's work and then expect the doll artist to ship it to a third party out of nowhere.  It takes all kinds...

:wacko:
Kelly

Sue Ann beat me to it, yes you can absolutely submit unjointed or non-mohair bears (and other animals) to both the TOBY and Golden Teddy awards.  Don't worry Daphne, I don't think they'd ever send anything back with a big DENIED stamped on it
:)

I have seen unjointed and partially jointed artist bears and other animals.  Look at Lisa Pay's dog patterns, many of them are only partially jointed, and she certainly gets acclaim and recognition for them.  Karen Lyons' cats and bears are sometimes unjointed or partially jointed.  I've seen several very good bear artists at shows that have a small unjointed 'beanie' bear type option for collectors with smaller budgets.  They are very sweet and well-made bears, they are generally smaller and squishy and an awful lot of fun (uh, the bears are small, squishy and fun, not the artists).  I have a bear pattern that is currently jointed that I would REALLY like to make unjointed (it's on my to-do list), this bear gives amazing hugs and the only way to make him an even better hugger would be to take the joints out and leave him 100% soft and huggy.  I will do this eventually.

As far as price goes... well... to me it would depend on whether the bear is unjointed and simple or unjointed and complex.  Lisa Pay's dogs are worth a lot of money.  A little beanie type bear is not.  I have an unjointed rearing horse pattern that I do that is very difficult to work with, way more difficult than almost all of my jointed animal patterns combined.  No way would I put a low price on those just because they are unjointed.  I also have a fully jointed horse pattern (not rearing), and while not simple, he is a lot easier to put together than the unjointed horse!  Anyway, just food for thought.  I got some locline to play with the other day, and I know that they really are designed to be used two ways... one is with regular discs and joints, the other is using the X and Y connectors in what could be an unjointed bear.  So, there are a lot of options out there.

Incidentally, I think the line for what is a 'craft' bear has more to do with the implementation than the concept.  This could be something along the lines of a badly machine sewn, mass-produced, fur-stuck-in-the-seams, lopsided critter that sells for $5.  I have nothing against those bears or the people who make them, but I don't think they quite qualify as artist bears.

Hope this helps!
Kelly