Call yourself a Google-Fu Master? Help me find this toy bear.
July 4, 2010 12:08 AM Subscribe
Very simple: help me find this stuffed toy bear. Fast. Very fast.
Our 3 year old son lost it at the movie theater today. After scouring the theater and asking all employees, we've given up all hope of finding it. He has a very difficult time functioning without it. Kids are resilient and he'll be OK, but I'd much rather just find a replacement.
It has to be the exact same bear. He will know the difference. For the life of us we can't remember where in the world we got this bear - could have been a store, a fair, a toy claw arcade game, a gift; we have no idea.
HELP!
Our 3 year old son lost it at the movie theater today. After scouring the theater and asking all employees, we've given up all hope of finding it. He has a very difficult time functioning without it. Kids are resilient and he'll be OK, but I'd much rather just find a replacement.
It has to be the exact same bear. He will know the difference. For the life of us we can't remember where in the world we got this bear - could have been a store, a fair, a toy claw arcade game, a gift; we have no idea.
HELP!
Response by poster: That is pretty close, knave - but still a bit different. Mainly, the Hallmark bear from your link is quite a bit larger than the little bear my son had (my son't was about 6-7 inches). And the face is pretty different, as well as small differences in the costume. But still, my hat is off to you knave because that is better than I've been able to do.
posted by Detuned Radio at 12:47 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by Detuned Radio at 12:47 AM on July 4, 2010
Best answer: My searches ended with a similar hallmark bear but the mouth is still different.
You might be able to commission someone on etsy to make a copy.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:59 AM on July 4, 2010
You might be able to commission someone on etsy to make a copy.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:59 AM on July 4, 2010
Could you get a very similar one and tell your son his bear's been away to hospital for cosmetic surgery?
Seriously, though, Etsy might be the best bet. to me, it looks like an arcade machine toy than a claw-grab one - do you remember whether the plush was shiny and kinda cheap feeling or more 'natural'?
posted by mippy at 1:15 AM on July 4, 2010
Seriously, though, Etsy might be the best bet. to me, it looks like an arcade machine toy than a claw-grab one - do you remember whether the plush was shiny and kinda cheap feeling or more 'natural'?
posted by mippy at 1:15 AM on July 4, 2010
I say get the Hallmark one and tell him he grew.
posted by lee at 1:24 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by lee at 1:24 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
He looks a lot like these bears
Maybe a different year? They do mention that colours will vary.
I didn't see him on eBay, just more of these two.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:53 AM on July 4, 2010
Maybe a different year? They do mention that colours will vary.
I didn't see him on eBay, just more of these two.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:53 AM on July 4, 2010
He sure looks "Beanie Baby" to me, but I couldn't do any better than Jane the Brown. I'm thinking perhaps a "promotional" "Boneses," a "Ty Halloweenie," and Googling...
posted by kmennie at 5:09 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by kmennie at 5:09 AM on July 4, 2010
An option: buy one of these white beanie babies.
and buy one of these for the skeleton costume...
Buy some orange felt material and have someone crafty sew onto ears and feet....
Or, go to etsy.com and have someone crafty make the skeleton costume and/or sew orange patches.
posted by avidreader at 5:48 AM on July 4, 2010
and buy one of these for the skeleton costume...
Buy some orange felt material and have someone crafty sew onto ears and feet....
Or, go to etsy.com and have someone crafty make the skeleton costume and/or sew orange patches.
posted by avidreader at 5:48 AM on July 4, 2010
Actually, I think I see the bear in question in this posting here on Ebay, try bidding
posted by avidreader at 5:53 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by avidreader at 5:53 AM on July 4, 2010
Best answer: I think he's here! Scroll down to the "Stuffed Animals" section, he is the first toy in the right column.
Looks like he was indeed from Hallmark, they did a "large" and "small" version of that bear--your son had the smaller one.
posted by castlebravo at 6:31 AM on July 4, 2010
Looks like he was indeed from Hallmark, they did a "large" and "small" version of that bear--your son had the smaller one.
posted by castlebravo at 6:31 AM on July 4, 2010
The Hallmark one has all the right colouring, but the bones are a bit different, and the eyes too far apart and it looks like his nose is sewn rather than plastic. Original Bear is super-beanie-looking, except for the mouth? This is quite the challenge.
posted by kmennie at 6:48 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by kmennie at 6:48 AM on July 4, 2010
Contact the owner of Beanie Kids. If it is not an official BK, these folks might be able to give you names of companies that make knockoff Ty.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:49 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:49 AM on July 4, 2010
This looks similar, but no manufacturer info, unfortunately. If it's close enough, you could contact the site owner for details.
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:01 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:01 AM on July 4, 2010
Buy 2 or 3.
Seriously. If you can find it (looks to me like a crossbred knockoff of both the Hallmark bear and a beanie baby, which makes for an extra challenge), grab a couple. Having three copies of one particular stuffed cat was the only way my parents could be reasonably sure my youngest brother would settle in at night. Sometimes he'd insist on having a particular one, and he could always tell the difference. So it's possible that even if you are able to find a copy, your son won't take to it for awhile (if at all) because he'll know it's not his bear. (Sorry - losing a special toy is no fun for anybody for awhile.)
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:05 AM on July 4, 2010
Seriously. If you can find it (looks to me like a crossbred knockoff of both the Hallmark bear and a beanie baby, which makes for an extra challenge), grab a couple. Having three copies of one particular stuffed cat was the only way my parents could be reasonably sure my youngest brother would settle in at night. Sometimes he'd insist on having a particular one, and he could always tell the difference. So it's possible that even if you are able to find a copy, your son won't take to it for awhile (if at all) because he'll know it's not his bear. (Sorry - losing a special toy is no fun for anybody for awhile.)
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:05 AM on July 4, 2010
Best answer: Not to dissuade you from finding your son is favorite toy (I've had the same "but I only love this ____ out of all of them!"), but perhaps talk to him about it (something like, "you lost your friend but that's the beauty of life - we can make more" - later this could relate to a 'what's death?' talk) and give him the decision of going on a special trip to find his new buddy, whether that be somewhere like Build-a-Bear (to make it slightly expensive but relatively easy and painless) or even a day at the amusement park, where he picks out a bear (or two, as EvaDestruction smartly recommended) to remember his awesome day.
posted by DisreputableDog at 10:26 AM on July 4, 2010
posted by DisreputableDog at 10:26 AM on July 4, 2010
I am with DisreputableDog on this. Why lie about a strangely new-looking and different-smelling bear? Better to discuss finding Bear's "brother".
posted by Idcoytco at 10:31 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Idcoytco at 10:31 AM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These links have helped a ton. I was anticipating - even wanting to - parley this into a kind of Full House moment where the sentimental violin music starts playing and I say, "Detuned Radio Jr., sometimes we all lose things. It's sad, but it's also important to find new things to bring us the same kind of happiness and comfort the old things did. Here's your stuffed bear's little brother - he'll be so happy to be your new friend."
posted by Detuned Radio at 3:19 PM on July 4, 2010
posted by Detuned Radio at 3:19 PM on July 4, 2010
Best answer: When I was three, I had this clown doll. His name was Clowny and my mother made him. I loved Clowny and carried him with me everywhere, until he got so disgusting that my mother decided he would just have to be washed. She didn't expect that the washing machine would rip him apart.
She made me another Clowny but I hated him. I was, apparently, traumatized and inconsolable. Then my grandparents came for a visit and brought me a tiny plush elephant. I fell in love and named him Effie and decided that plush elephants were my favorite toys ever, so my parents ended up getting me a bunch of various sizes and anthropomorphization that all got very similar sounding names. There was Effie himself and Ettie and Ettie Jr and Ellie ... you get the idea. Yes, I could tell them all apart.
My favorite film as a little kid was Dumbo, and eventually I started liking all plush (and not-so-plush) animals in general (which continues today on a piecemeal basis -- I like getting realistic and kind of obscure ones, like stingrays and water buffalo). I have absolutely zero memory of Clowny, though I find clowns a bit creepy, and I was more disturbed than anything when my mother dug up Clowny II when I was a teenager and the remains of Clowny I (twenty-plus years later!) a few years ago.
So ultimately losing Clowny got me an interest in animals and a lifelong hobby in exchange for a few days of toddlerhood trauma.
posted by bettafish at 3:50 PM on July 4, 2010
She made me another Clowny but I hated him. I was, apparently, traumatized and inconsolable. Then my grandparents came for a visit and brought me a tiny plush elephant. I fell in love and named him Effie and decided that plush elephants were my favorite toys ever, so my parents ended up getting me a bunch of various sizes and anthropomorphization that all got very similar sounding names. There was Effie himself and Ettie and Ettie Jr and Ellie ... you get the idea. Yes, I could tell them all apart.
My favorite film as a little kid was Dumbo, and eventually I started liking all plush (and not-so-plush) animals in general (which continues today on a piecemeal basis -- I like getting realistic and kind of obscure ones, like stingrays and water buffalo). I have absolutely zero memory of Clowny, though I find clowns a bit creepy, and I was more disturbed than anything when my mother dug up Clowny II when I was a teenager and the remains of Clowny I (twenty-plus years later!) a few years ago.
So ultimately losing Clowny got me an interest in animals and a lifelong hobby in exchange for a few days of toddlerhood trauma.
posted by bettafish at 3:50 PM on July 4, 2010
When Judy Blume was on her book tour for the latest "The Pain and The Great One", she related how her mother would come to visit the grandchildren before she went to the beauty parlor. If JB's daughter's stuffed dog was getting scrungy, Grandma would tell the girl that he had to go to the beauty parlor with her. Obviously what was brought back was completely different, but Grandma would explain that was because of the new hairdo.
posted by brujita at 12:31 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 12:31 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wait til your lost plushie is a Dumbo satin blankie from the Disneyland store, you've spent the entire afternoon retracing your steps, you live in a country without Disneyland stores, the US store has stopped making them anyways, and you happily pay US$50 to an eBay seller plus another US$50 for an express international courier only to have said Dumbo turn up at the pet store because somebody decided to actually check behind the counter.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:58 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:58 AM on July 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
For our fourth child we wised up and bought two of the cow and two of the blanket that she loves.
We have had success swapping in the backup cow when one gets dirty (who we refer to as "the deuce" until the exchange is made), but the back-up blanket was instantly rejected. It now lies, spurned, at the foot of her crib.
So getting a backup doesn't always work. :7(
posted by wenestvedt at 12:48 PM on July 6, 2010
We have had success swapping in the backup cow when one gets dirty (who we refer to as "the deuce" until the exchange is made), but the back-up blanket was instantly rejected. It now lies, spurned, at the foot of her crib.
So getting a backup doesn't always work. :7(
posted by wenestvedt at 12:48 PM on July 6, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by knave at 12:26 AM on July 4, 2010