Me to You Bears (also known as Tatty Teddies) is the brand name of a collection ofteddy bears made by greeting cards company Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often sold inClinton Cards stores. 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 plush toys, figurines, greeting cards, mugs, clothing and wedding accessories.[1]
The beginnings of Me to You started in 1987 when Carte Blanche Greetings chairman and founder, Stephen Haines, approached Mike Payne to create a group of 'cute' characters to appear on a series of greeting cards. This led to the creation of various cartoon animals called the Miranda gang, which notably included a brown bear with patches.
Deciding it was time for a refresh, in 1995, Carte Blanche gave the bear a new look. Drawn in charcoal pencil turning the bear's fur from brown to grey, and with the addition of a bright blue nose, a few more patches and a backstory of his very own, 'Tatty Teddy' and 'Me to You' were born.
Me to You is now a global brand and Tatty Teddy now appears on a wide range of Me to You products including greeting cards, plush toys, clothing, gifts, figurines, personalised products and confectionery. Over 75 million Me to You plush bears have been sold since 2000.
Me to You Bears was initially available in the UK, but as of December 2011, the Douglas Company received a license to sell the brand in the US and Canada.[2]
The first generation of Tatty Teddy soft toys, produced in 2000, was based on the original greeting card design of 1995 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 right hand side. 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 right rear paw. The first Tatty Teddy 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.[3]
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, wooly 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'.[4] Due to this they are becoming collectors items, similar toSteiff andBeanie Babies toys. Indeed, there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events.[5]
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 asValentine's Day,Mother's Day and Christmas. The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000, but this can range from 1500 to in excess of 10,000.[6]
Regional variations of Tatty Teddy are also available, for exampleScottish dress and LondonBeefeater. Versions of Tatty Teddy have also been made for the tourist market, usually wearing a T-shirt with an expressive message, for example 'I LoveCornwall'.
The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned inwashing machines but instead should be hand washed.[7] This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colorfast.[8]
In the summer of 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.
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Limited Edition 1 – June 2009
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Limited Edition 6 – Christmas 2010
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Limited Edition 7 – Valentine's Day 2011
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Seven newMy Blue Nose Friends toys were released in September 2019. These included Toots, Konker, Legend, Blossom, Tiny, Milkshake and Twiggy.
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To celebrate the launch of their 100th My Blue Nose Friends character, Ramble the Centipede, Carte Blanche launched a free-to-enter competition in June 2012. 100 fans had the chance to win a rare and exclusive 4" My Blue Nose Friends character, Luna the Wolf. The character is not available to buy anywhere in the world.