- Me to You Bears
-
9" winter Tatty Teddy
Tatty Teddy (also known as Me to You Bears) is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clinton Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy including teddies, figurines, cards, rugs, mugs and wedding accessories.[1]
Contents
Origin
In 1987 English cartoonist and illustrator Michael "Mike" Payne approached Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd with a sketch of his Tatty Teddy character, under the alias of Miranda. This was developed into the range formally known as the Me To You Bears.[2] Payne chose the alias Miranda as it was the name of a houseboat he had holidayed on with his family. The "Miranda" signature previously printed on all Tatty Teddy illustrations has now been replaced by "Tatty Teddy x", or simply "T x".
Since Mike Payne left Carte Blanche Greetings, Tatty Teddy has been further developed and illustrated by several different artists. He is now drawn by a team of four artists; Steve Mort-Hill, Ceri Lewis, Shane Smith and Tom Barnfield.[3]
Appearance
The first generation of Tatty Teddy, produced in 2000, was based on the original greeting card design of 1992 consisting of a teddy bear with short grey fur, small black eyes, an off-white snout and a blue nose with a white reflective spot on the left hand side. like leroy They also have patches of a light grey colour which appear to have been sewn onto them, along with stitching repair work on the arms and head, hence the name 'tatty'. The words ‘Me to You’ are embroidered on the left rear paw. The very first tatty teady was hand crafted by Linda Laverty of Worthing, West Sussex. The second generation Tatty Teddy, introduced in 2003, kept to the same overall design but with much finer fur. To coincide with the 2003 redesign, the ‘Me to You’ story was also published, describing how the teddy bear came to be in its current state. A third generation Tatty Teddy was introduced in May 2009. This bear has much longer fur in various shades of grey and a blue plastic nose, rather than the fabric nose on previous generations. The reflective spot has been removed since the new plastic nose has reflective qualities.[4]
The bears come in many different sizes, ranging from 5 cm to in excess of 80 cm, and often come with accessories such as hearts, roses, T-shirts, wooley hats and scarves. Some have personalised messages from a simple "I Love You" to longer seasonal and event related messages. It is even possible for customers to personalise their bears. The bears are particularly popular amongst females in the 10-30 age group although they are also designed to be romantic gifts for people of all ages as they can be considered 'cute'.[5] Due to this they are becoming collectors items, similar to Steiff and Beanie Baby toys. Indeed there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events.[6]
Several special edition and limited edition bears have also been produced, enhancing the collectible nature of the toys, which see the bear dressed in different costumes including various animals and the four seasons (summer, winter etc). Many of the limited and special edition releases are designed to tie in with events such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas. The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000, however this can range from 1500 to in excess of 10,000.[7]
Regional variations of Tatty Teddy are also available, for example Scottish dress and London Beefeater. Versions of Tatty Teddy have also been made for the tourist market, usually wearing a T-shirt with an expressive message, for example ‘I Love Cornwall’.
The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned in washing machines but instead should be hand washed. This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colourfast.[8]
Popularity and suite at Alton Towers
In 1999 the total UK sales figures for the Me to You range was £2,972,000. By 2003 this had risen to £33,021,500.[9] The most recent figures available from Brand Licensing Europe put world wide sales in 2006 at around the £400,200,000 mark.[10]
The official website launched in 2002 received 7,359,756 hits in 2003 and over 11,000,000 in 2004.[11] In July 2007, thanks to this growing popularity the UK theme park Alton Towers opened two Tatty Teddy theme bedrooms in its hotel.[12] Both of these rooms can sleep up to four people, one room designated primarily for families and one a romantic style room.
In December 2004, Carte Blanche Greeting Ltd took on a smaller company called Metoyou in court over the use of the domain name metoyou.com. Carte Blanche won the rights to the website.[13]
My Blue Nose Friends
In Summer 2008, 'My Blue Nose Friends' were released - other animal toys in the same style as Tatty Teddy. The story given is that Tatty Teddy was lonely and dreamt of a wardrobe full of friends. The friends consist of:
Set 1No. Name Breed 1 Patch Dog 2 Kittywink Cat 3 Blossom Rabbit 4 Dilly Duck 5 Toots Elephant 6 Binky Panda Set 2
No. Name Breed 7 Twiggy Giraffe 8 Chip Zebra 9 Rocky Lion 10 Buster Leopard Set 3
No. Name Breed 11 Truffles Pig 12 Cottonsocks Sheep 13 Coco Monkey 14 Konker Hedgehog Set 4
No. Name Breed 15 Chalky Bear 16 Wise Snowy Owl 17 Chilly Penguin 18 Jingle Reindeer Set 5
No. Name Breed 19 Mo Kangaroo 20 Gumgum Koala 21 Milkshake Cow 22 Bobbin Horse Set 6
No. Name Breed 23 Thomas Hippo 24 Digger Scottish Terrier 25 Bracken Badger 26 Dot Ladybird Limited Edition 1
No. Name Breed 27 Breeze Butterfly Set 7
No. Name Breed 28 Honey Bee 29 Splodge Dalmatian 30 Shelley Turtle 31 Lily Frog Limited Edition 2
No. Name Breed 32 Echo Bat Set 8
No. Name Breed 33 Bells Reindeer 34 Sugarcube Donkey 35 Tiny Mouse 36 Jock Moose Limited Edition 3
No. Name Breed 37 Ruby Robin Set 9
No. Name Breed 38 Peanut Hamster 39 Pearl Poodle 40 Fluffy Sheepdog 41 Snuffles Anteater 42 Melody Parrot 43 Snowdrop Rabbit Limited Edition 4
No. Name Breed 44 Legend Unicorn Set 10
No. Name Breed 45 Scoot Snail 46 Mack Otter 47 Zee Zee Goat 48 Wrinkles Boxer Dog 49 Cuddles Sun Bear Set 11
No. Name Breed 50 Giggles Baboon 51 Goldie Labrador 52 Webster Spider 53 Sue-Shee Pelican Limited Edition 5
No. Name Breed 54 Stilts Flamingo Set 12
No. Name Breed 55 Whisper Deer 56 Blubber Walrus 57 Jungle Orangutan 58 Essence Skunk Set 13
No. Name Breed 59 Wanda Goose 60 Alaska Husky 61 Whiskers Seal 62 Kozie Alpaca Limited Edition 6
No. Name Breed 63 Cranberry Turkey Set 14
No. Name Breed 64 Trotters Wild Boar 65 Cheddar Field Mouse 66 Rainbow Puffin 67 Kashmir Ram Limited Edition 7
No. Name Breed 68 Passion Love Bug Set 15
No. Name Breed 69 Splash Octopus 70 Peek-a-boo Mole 71 Chase Jack Russell 72 Midnight Nocturnal Owl Limited Edition 8
No. Name Breed 73 Tango Toucan Set 16
No. Name Breed 74 Oasis Camel 75 Gossip Lizard 76 Snugs Chinchilla 77 Peers Meerkat Set 17
No. Name Breed 78 Baffle Fox 79 Noo Wildebeast 80 Scuba Dolphin 81 Ivory Rhino Limited Edition 9
No. Name Breed 82 Flame Dragon Set 18
No. Name Breed 83 Needles Woolly Mammoth 84 Emperor Emperor Penguin 85 Bengal White Tiger 86 Alpine Bernese Mountain Dog The Blue Nose Friends range has been extended to incude figurines, pin badges, key chains and various other gifts. Selected Blue Nose Friends have also been released as larger plush.
References
- ^ "Carte Blanche's Me to You Bear website The bears even have their own fanlisting site where 'owners' can sign up for the latest news about them.". http://www.metoyou.co.uk.
- ^ What Happened To The Conventional Brown Teddy Bears Retrieved on 14 July 2009
- ^ Meet the Me to You artists!
- ^ "Carte Blache Me to You page". Carteblanchegreetings.com. http://carteblanchegreetings.com/metoyou/brand/. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ Creative Connexions Me to You page[dead link]
- ^ Durham, Michael (2004-08-10). "''The Guardian'' feature on the bears in 2004". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,2763,1279804,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ http://me-to-you.wikispaces.com/ List of Me To You Plushies
- ^ Some FAQs about the bears[dead link]
- ^ Arbitration and Mediation Center (2005-01-04). "Sales figures from the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center". Wipo.int. http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ Tatty Teddy Page on the Brand Licensing Europe site[dead link]
- ^ Arbitration and Mediation Center (2005-01-04). "Website figures from the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center". Wipo.int. http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ Tatty Teddy rooms at Alton Towers
- ^ Arbitration and Mediation Center (2005-01-04). "The full reports into the legal battle". Wipo.int. http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0946.html. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
External links
- Official website
- Template:Leading store - www.tatty-teddy.co.uk
- Template:Funky Bears
Categories:- British brands
- Teddy bears
- 1987 introductions
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
