Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Not only is he super cute but he knows it!  ;)

"Am I cute or what?"

Snowbathing.

Hey!  A Bear's got to stay in shape!  Doesn't he?

Bear-obics.

Pol-aeroebics.

Tickle attack!

I often forget that there are people who don't quite get the finer points of idioms, phrases and figures of speech.

We could probably make a game out of idioms in different languages. 

I'm just expressing my disgust for that kind of behavior.   

Just using words to make the point stronger.  Like a figure of speech.

If, by "professional," you mean that they are too lazy to get a legitimate job then the term is accurate but using that word to describe illegal means of making a living just legitimizes the behavior.

They should be treated like the miscreants that they are.

They're not "professional" anything.  They are criminal scumbags.  If they were professionals they would have jobs. 

Definitely the "Gulliver" treatment!

"Yes, my son?"

Artists like Picasso, Dali and Chagall certainly pushed the limits of what people thought was art but I don't think they set out to shock people.  French Fauvist painters whose styles derived from Neoimpressionism certainly got a lot of push-back in critical circles but neither did they produce grotesque and shocking works.

There is nothing wrong with experimentation and creativity but there is a difference between expansion and building on established concepts and extremism.

Fauvists built on and expanded from other painters like Picasso and Seurat.  They were accomplished painters in their own right who took what they knew as the norm and built it into something new.  Without this derivation of styles we wouldn't have had artists like Matisse.

I don't remember, exactly, but didn't some of these nuveau artists even collaborate with established guys like Picasso?  I'd have to look it up to be sure.

My point is that I don't think that taking an already-made product, tearing it apart and turning it into something grotesque should be considered as building or expanding on previous art.  I think it is pure iconoclasm for its own sake.  Had they built their own Bears from the start I think I would be less critical.

I am certainly willing to let others do as they wish.  Live and let live.  However, I draw the line at the suicide Bear.
I don't like the grotesque Bears but I can understand the idea but the concept of suicide shouldn't be associated with Teddy Bears.

We wouldn't accept the concept of a killer Santa Claus.  I don't see suicide as being different.

I'm not put off at all.  :)

No harm, no foul.  Right?

I just like to debate.  As long as people don't put each other down, a little, friendly jab in the ribs, doesn't bother me.

Okay, I get the joke but let me ask a question.
Where is the Christmas Tradition codified?  Can you quote a book or document that specifies we must have a Christmas Tree with presents underneath?

Christmas tradition is just something we all grew up with.  That tradition is laced with symbolism and meaning passed down from generation to generation.
What would you think about a Christmas tree decorated with dead kittens or a Santa Clause who wields a Samurai sword dripping with blood?  I bet a lot of people would be outraged.  There's nothing wrong with being iconoclastic but there is a line that ought not to be crossed in polite society and that would tramp all over the line.  Wouldn't it?

My gosh!  People got all bent out of shape when Elvis Presley released a Christmas album in 1957!  Of course, times change but, if people have the right to set limits on what should or should not be considered Christmas tradition, do we not have the right to set a Teddy Bear Code?  (Or better stated, "Teddy Bear Tradition?")

Teddy Bear Tradition started when Theodore Roosevelt refused to kill a bear cub.  People took that little nugget and built a tradition of love and caring out of it.  Through the years, Teddy Bears have become faithful, loving and steadfast companions who would never hurt anybody, just like Teddy Roosevelt refused to hurt the bear.

Roosevelt was a strong man.  He was President and he was a Rough Rider at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.  On the other hand, he showed compassion and caring for others.  Aren't those good symbols for Teddy Bears?

There is nothing wrong with updating tradition.  Where, once, "Blue Christmas" was considered sacrilege, it is considered a classic in many circles, today.  However, there are lines that don't get crossed and I think we would all agree that they shouldn't.  We don't see Christmas trees decorated with rotting flesh and we don't have killer Santas.

Why would killer Teddy Bears, covered in rotting flesh be any less sacrilegious?

I did not go to the website because I think those designs are tasteless so I did not see the suicide Bear.

I can deal with the merely tasteless.  I don't have to like it but jokes about suicide cross the line and stomp all over it.

What's worse, it tramps all over the symbolism in the Teddy Bear Code.  Bears are supposed to be steadfast, faithful companions no matter what.  In fact, one thing that might well help a person overcome suicidal thoughts would be a Teddy Bear.  The idea of a Bear who would think of taking his own life seems to remove the last vestige of hope that a depressed person might have.

We have a few Bears who are dressed in Halloween costumes like vampires but it is always clear that the costume is worn in fun.  We also have some Bears who are dressed up as pioneers or soldiers.  They have guns and weapons but they have them because those are things that soldiers use.  Again, it's all costume play and acting in fun.  It is clear that is the intent of the costume.

Everybody should know that Teddy Bears never hurt or kill.  That is completely against the reason why Teddy Bears got the name "Teddy" in the first place.  Right?  Isn't it because Teddy Roosevelt refused to hurt a bear cub?  Of course it is!

The idea of a Bear with a gun to his head is right up there with the idea of Santa Claus mowing down crowds of people with a machine gun.
I get it.  These "Undead Teds" are supposed to be iconoclastic.  All well and good.  I don't have to agree with all of it but some symbols shouldn't be messed with.

I know exactly what you mean! Every once in a while, I'll see a little, brown streak go zipping by, out of the corner of my eye.

"Que Sera" was a popular song in the late 1960s through the early 1970s.  (First featured in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Man Who Knew Too Much.")  Doris Day was a hot property, back then, and she was the one who helped popularize the song.  (She sang it in the movie.)

Lots of toy music boxes were produced which play that song.  I'm certain that I remember it played by a music box.

Given what you said about your Bear's approximate age, being born between 1967 and 1969, your guess seems to pretty accurate.

He knocked over his Bear brother.  How rude!
 

He's cute and I think the design is innovative but still in the Uncanny Valley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
This refers to a gap in credulity as mechanical things become more realistic and human-like.  Up to a point, we marvel at how real the animated Teddy Bear acts but, past a certain point, we are no longer amused and think he looks fake.  Basically the Bear is too real to be cute but not real enough to be believable.

I think his best moves are the "salute" and kicking the soccer ball.  His shuffling walk is kind of cute and Teddy Bear-like but still too mechanical looking.

I think this is a good start but it still needs work.
Probably some computer control to add a little artificial intelligence in his movement.  Possibly some inverse kinematics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_kinematics

Just because I believe in a Teddy Bear Code, that doesn't mean that people who don't uphold it should be punished.  That wouldn't be very Bearlike, would it?

How's that for Zen? 

Melanie's mom used to knit and crochet.  She often made outfits for bears like this.

I bet your Crafty Bear would love to have a nice sweater or a hat.
Better still, he could have a different costume for each holiday or season.
Red and green for Christmas.  Black and gold for Halloween.  Hearts for Vallentine's Day.

He could be one smart-dressed Bear. 

I think people just don't consider what things actually are before they post them on eBay, thinking they'll get a million dollars for whatever they want to sell.

Avanti are nice Bears.  They are better than the average but they are certainly not at the level of Steiff.  They are a nice, mid-level collectible.
They would be a good thing for a kid who wanted to start a collection to have.  Nice enough to be stand-outs in a collection but not so expensive as to break a kid's piggy bank.

About pricing...
I could have an original, mint condition Honus Wagner baseball card.  (That's the one that Wayne Gretzky paid $2,000,000 for.)  I could say that my card is worth $2 million.  Since a famous person like Gretzky paid $2M for his, mine ought to be worth at least that much.  Right?  Well, maybe so but, unless I can find some chump willing to part with 2 million clams, I'm stuck with just a piece of pasteboard.  Nothing more.

Bear collecting for value is just the same way.  A Bear is only worth what somebody is willing to pay.
That's why we collect because we love the Bear.  The money is only secondary.  Maybe not even third.

I'd say they are carnival Bears.
They would be the prizes you get when you knock over the milk bottles with a baseball or some such game.

Not particularly auspicious Bears on their own but important, none the less, because somebody had to win those Bears for their sweethearts.
Those carnival games aren't often easy to win.  Teddy Bears are usually one of the top prizes.  Sometimes you would have to "trade up" several wins to get the top prize.

Somebody probably had to put in quite a bit of effort to win, not just one but, two Teddy Bears for his girl!

What's more, those Bears look well worn.  A well worn Teddy Bear is a well loved Teddy Bear!  Some little boy or girl had to put a whole lot of love into a Teddy Bear for him to look like that.  It's a Teddy Bear's greatest badge of honor!  He wears his "love patches" with pride!

You might want to spiff them up a little bit.  Surface clean them and give them a nice, careful brushing.  Ask "Blacky" if he wants a new eye but respect his wishes if he says no.  Whatever you do, don't fix them up too much!  If his seams are splitting or if he needs a patching, fine, but remember!  His love patches are what makes him special!

Maybe they aren't specially rare Bears or valuable Bears but they are real prizes.
Both figuratively and literally! 

Soft, beige synthetic plush.
Brown, plastic eyes with black pupils.
Black, thread-sewn nose.
Firm, shredded cotton stuffing.
Five-way disk jointed.

Pacific Coast Craft Company
Made in China (Circa 1999)

If he had a tag it would be sewn into the seam near his left elbow.

He's a craft Bear.
The kind of Bear you find in a craft store for making craft projects with.

I wouldn't say he's vintage but he's certainly cute.
One of his brothers is sitting right here, next to me.

"Crafty" says hi!   

Kitten:  "You're a funny looking rabbit!"
Bunny:  "I'm not funny looking!  He's funny looking!"
Hamster: "Who?  Me?"
Puppy:  "Oy vey!"

I guess some people think that they have to stir the pot in order to get attention.