A Quick Look At Our Vintage Care Bears Collection

The Care Bears franchise was a massive business during the 1980s.  They were originally created by American Greetings in 1981 for use on greeting cards and in 1983 Kenner took the characters and transformed them into the first in a line of very successful teddy bears based on Elena Kucharik's illustrations.  A huge amount of merchandise was  produced to go along side the release of the toys, everything from magazines to party hats!  The franchise also appeared in their own TV specials, released three feature films and also had their own animated television series from 1985 to 1988.  Quite the repertoire for a bunch of fuzzy, overly loving bears sent down from the clouds.

My 1st Birthday, Care Bear Themed

Personally the vintage Care Bear stuff that we pick up tends to be my favorite.  I grew up watching the animated series, rerun after rerun and the first film was one of the two VHS tapes that my parents would rent for me on a regular basis (the other being The Land Before Time).  Out of all the 80s toys that we tend to keep an eye out for, I feel that the Care Bears have the biggest connection with my very early childhood.

The majority of our collection consists of the flagship plush bears, 15 in total thus far.

Bedtime Bear and Friend Bear were purchased as part of a lot being sold online.  Some things you just gotta buy on the Internet I guess.  Bedtime Bear is one of my favorite plushes from the group, the sleepy eyes adds a little charm.

Good Luck Bear and Tender Heart.  Not too much to say about these guys; I'm unsure if these guys were also in the lot mentioned previously or picked up at the second hand store.

Grumpy Bear is hands down my favorite.  Look at that face, so crabby!  Also pictured is his ceramic figure which we found hanging out at the second hand store - always nice to find these collectibles for a fraction of the price you would have to spend online for them.

We apparently have a Cheer Bear collection and didn't even know it.  Also included in the above picture is a wall plaque, ceramic and poseable figures.  All thrifted aside from the ceramic figure which I think we picked up online for a reasonable price.

Birthday Bear and Grams Bear.  Birthday Bear is sitting with her poseable figure which we found second hand.  Grams Bear came from the huge lot of plush I had mentioned earlier.  She is without her scarf so she may have to be upgraded in the future unless we find a scarf, which would be ideal.

 
Possibly the most valuable toy that we own, Loyal Heart Dog.  Loyal Heart is part of a line of Care Bear Cousins that were only released in the UK for a short period of time, making him a very sought after plush.  These UK exclusives have sold for thousands of dollars, I know, it's unbelievable.  This Treat Heart Pig plush sold for almost $7K!

We found this guy sitting on a shelf at a Salvation Army in the middle of nowhere for just over $1!  There is a Loyal Heart with a rubbed tush heart and faded tush tag listed on eBay at the moment for $370.

We found the Brave Heart Lion plush for a quarter, his mane is pretty haggard but he was our first Care Bear find so there is a lot of sentimental value personally.  Lotsa Heart Elephant was an online purchase.

Gentle Heart Lamb and Swift Heart Rabbit were gifts from Holly.  Gentle Heart's head is so soft!

Bright Heart Raccoon and Cozy Heart Penguin were also both gifts.  Cozy Heart was my favorite Care Bear member as a child and his vintage plush form looks fantastic.

That's the majority of our vintage Care Bears collection.  It's a growing one for sure.

Linking up with the Colorado Lady and Sir Thrift A Lot!