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puca bearsWell - the show has come and gone.........sadly, much depleted this year, in exhibitor numbers, but there DID seem to be more visitors. NEWS is that the show has been taken over by the Teddys Kreativ magazine, and will move back to Münster next year..........one can only hope that this helps to improve things. It's depressing to see a once HUGE showgoing down hill - but i guess with the world economic struggles, not so many peeps can afford life's little luxuries (like teddies):(
And good news for me - another Golden George! Very happy about that, but at the end of a long show day (10 till 6), and the Gala dinner and awards ceremony, there wasn't much energy left for happy dancing! Will post a piccie this evening - need himself to retrieve it from his very complicated (for the computer useless - ME) filing system.
huggies
near CologneHi Maria,
I was there on saturday - and it was so great! (Okay, can't compare, it was my first show^^)
I saw so much great bears, but had only the money to buy one - what a hard decision to take! My boyfriend bought me one that I had chosen in the end, but I wish I had had more money: There was an incredibly talented miniature bear artist and I fell in love with one of the wee ones..... Well, I won't see my new bear again until my next birthday as it is a present.... but that's okay, it's just two more months! 
Aaand I bought lots of new materials - couldn't resist the "20% off the mohair", and there was also a piece of wonderful white synthetic fur with blue tips that I got for 5€, and lots of fabrics for miniature bears.... Oh, I also found some steel shot to give my bears some weight.... 
Yeah, lots of bears will come!
My boyfriend was really fascinated by a bear with joints at the arms so that those could be spinned around - and he told me "please make me a bear with ellbow- and knee-joints". well, I thought about it all the night and just before waking up, I had an idea how to make it - so be prepared for a bear with 19 joints :dance:
Well, what else can I say? It was a great day and I'll come back again with pleasure!
Hugs, Ariane
P.S. Congratulations for your Golden George, you really deserve it!
LeftyBears by Natascha SaboMaria, these are great news!!!!
First of all, big, big congratulations for your Golden George!!! You've really deserved it. :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
And yes, Münster is great, simply because it is easier to reach by train!
I guess I'll have to think about exhibiting again
Boechout, AntwerpBig Congratulations to you Maria on your Golden George (and the other bear that was nominated)! :clap: :clap: :clap:
I am sorry I wasn't there, but it's a bit too soon after the Hugglets show (so I am still suffering from an acute lack of money 
).
I do hope that they can keep the show going, because I certainly plan to visit the larger German fairs pretty soon.
But maybe the organizers have to reconsider the concept: a smaller venue? one day only? I really don't know,
but in my opinion there is only one drawback to a big show like Hugglets in London : and that is exactly it: it is SO BIG !
As Ariane mentioned: you see so many lovely things you want to take home with you, sometimes it hurts to have to
make such difficult choices (maybe this sounds totally weird, but you know I am a bit crazy 
).
Hugs, :hug:
Peter & the bears
The Littlest ThistleCongrats on the Golden George Maria! Hope the new exhibitors help perk things up again for the fair too
bingle bearsCongratulations on the Golden George!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:
Posts: 751When I went to the Hugglets in September I felt disappointed with it - it was big yes, but somehow really lacking in atmosphere and no where near as many visitor.
The one in February on the other hand was buzzing and by 10.30 the que was heading towards Kensington High Street.
After the September one I was really concerned that the bear thing was dying a death - I have seen it happen in the doll world. The February Hugglets gave me a bit of hope though.
Sorry if I've hijacked this thread!!!!!!!!!!
MANY CONGRATULATIONS on your award.
:hug:
Karon
Past Time BearsYea, Maria . . . big huge congrats for your Golden Teddy! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
puca bearsHi all and many many thanks for the congrats :hug: :hug: Sorry I forgot about posting a piccie last night.I'm wallowing in the clutches of a stinking rotten cold - sigh......
yes - the show.........they are ALL getting smaller and smaller. I can remember the Teddybär Welt at Wiesbaden, 7-8 years ago..........so many exhibitors that the tables were crammed together, and so many visitors - same with the Teddybär Total. I do think their decision to move away from Münster was a very bad mistake - OK the new venue is nicer, but it isn't easy to get to without a car. Last year was disastrous - apparently there was a very bad autobahn crash, with dreaful hold-ups............looked as if the show visitors had just given up and gone home. Some of us exhibitors wondered if we could send out for a dart board or some skittles to play with and help pass the time! I think a lot of exhibitors decided there and then to give the show a miss this year - well , we shall see, next year!
Ariane - glad you had a good time (knew you would! )
and Peter - maybe you should venture over next year - start saving?!
big huggies to you all (from a safe distance)
puca bearsForgot to say - another TTer also got a Golden George - hopefully she will post too!
Hi Maria, 
Big congratulations to you dear friend on your Golden George, well done!! :dance: :dance:
Such a shame to hear the show wasn't up to par though but, as they say, the only way is up! Let's hope the show has more support next year from both artists and visitors.
Hope your cold is soon a thing of the past, take care.
Hugs :hug:
Marilyn x
desertmountainbearCongratulations on the Golden George Maria!
Joanne
puca bearsThanks again for the congrats, all of you - your kind words mean a lot to me :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
and here's a piccie of Midnight (with the baguette) and Stargazy with their trophies. The littel bearhead ones were introduced a couple of years back, for the nominees -nice!
Gresswell Forest Bearsoh they are adorable!!! Congratulations!
desertmountainbearThey really are wonderful Maria.
Joanne
SarchieThey are a wrok of art.
:clap: :clap: Congrats Maria and well done you! 
Love those 2 bears beautifully done
The Littlest Thistlelove those 2 guys, well deserved awards :clap:
congrats on your golden george!
re: Teddy Total. . . in my opinion, moving was indeed what caused the shows decline - but not the move from Munster - it was the move TO Munster that started its fall. the first time I attended Teddy Total (1997?), it was held at Hennif, which was fairly close to Franfurt (if I remember correctly) in any case, it was fairly simply to reach. I was impressed beyond measure by the huge crowd milling outside (no queue, just a monster mob) and by over 500 artists spanning 3 floors. it was said there were over 40,000 people through the doors over 2 days.
it was amazing - and it was easy to get to.
apparently, the convention center they used in Hennif was converted to another use, prompting the move to Munster.
if you are from the USA, Munster is horrible to reach - there is no direct flight and so it's either transfer flights or take the train. . . (I never take a flight to show that requires a plane transfer, it's the best way to vastly increase the chances that your lugge will be lost) and lugging 2 90lb suitcases, plus carry-on bags, ect. on and off trains and planes to get to Munster is/was exhausting. and in spite of the size of the city, it's not really set up for the business traveler - I spent an entire friday trying to convert $3000 USD into Euro before the show - not a single currency exchange in the city and in spite of visiting 8 banks, no one would touch my cash. I eneded up going to Western Union and paying huge fees - again - ironic in that the money had originally been sent to me via Western Union in a rush transaction before leaving on the trip - had I known, I would have just had the money wired to Munster instead of Narrowsburg. . .
but anyway, Munster has delined further every year since the move. I know part of this is the economy, but I think it's mostly location, location, location. . . put it closer to Frankfurt - Stuttgart would be wonderful, in my humble opinion ;-)
LeftyBears by Natascha SaboStuttgart would be great!!!!! That's what I wanted for years!!!!
Not only, that I live very close to it, it is also the "birthplace" of the teddybear as the brown bears in the local zoo inspired Richard Steiff to create the very first teddybear!!!
Meanwhile, the zoo has moved to a different location, but whenever I go there I like the idea that "our" brown bears are the closest relatives of the teddy bears.
Not to forget, Stuttgart has a great fair that is easy to reach from the airport, by train and by car. For most big events in Stuttgart, the ticket for the show already includes the fair for public transport to get to and from the fair, something that I really like!!
puca bearsMe again! And again, my thanks for the lovely comments about the bears :hug: :hug: :hug: The Golden George has alaways been THE special award to me..........I can remember seeing the odd one or two, proudly displayed at bear shows, and dreaming of being good enough one day to enter the competition............
As for the show - Hennef was before my time Kelly, tho I never stopped hearing (at Münster) -- "oh, you should have seen the show a few years back". But it's not only the Teddybär Total which has declined in size and visitor numbers - the same thing has happened to the Teddybär Welt, in Wiesbaden. I don't think moving the TT to Frankfurt would be a good idea tho........Teddy politics - the Wiesbaden show is in March, and a second show, a month later in the same area would not go down to well with the Teddybär Welt organisers.
Stuttgart tho, Natascha - now there's a thought! Maybe the Teddys Kreativ peeps would consider an new Autumn show there - remember the All Bears at Wallau? It was a nice show, but again, wrong venue - and edged out of existance............ Guess we have to see how the newTeddybär Total goes next April (OMG - wishing my life away!)
near CologneBy the way...is there website where I can see all winners of the Golden George? I couldn't find any yesterday?!
puca bearsAriane.....I think we might have to wait for the next issue of Teddys Kreativ
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)re: Teddy Total. . . in my opinion, moving was indeed what caused the shows decline - but not the move from Munster - it was the move TO Munster that started its fall.
Like Kelly, our first Teddybär Total was in Hennef too, which is near Cologne/Köln, in 1998.
Great show! We were there for about 2 years before it moved up to Muenster/Münster.
Germany is the only European country of all of those we've visited (most of them- even tiny Liechtenstein) that was either so detailed or so large that it isn't all on one map: we had to purchase 5 maps to cover all areas of it...
One year (Spring 2000?) we even were passing through Stuttgart over the weekend of a 2-day show and were allowed to exhibit for the first day only. The promotor was VERY accommodating!
Of course everything has changed in the collecting world in the past decade, over the whole world.
No one knows the answer - but at least many are searching for solutions.
(Berta Hesen-Minten won a Golden George, but she's too shy to toot her horn!)
Steampunked Clown - (not a very good image of it in the distance, on the screen!!)
Congrats, Well done!!!! love the bears :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
