Greetings Beanie collectors everywhere. Half a dozen new Beanie Babies should be appearing in our shops very shortly. These are;-

Cassie the Collie
Float the Butterfly
Hornsly the Triceratops
Mellow the ty-dye bear
Purr the Kitten

and hopefully the so far elusive Issy Bear. This bear has initially only been available from the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, but it may be making an appearance over here soon. The bear is named after Isodora Sharp, the founder of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and is in memory of  Christopher Sharp, who was only 18 when he died. All profits from the sale of  Issy  Bear will go to Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Centre in Manhattan, to aid paediatric cancer research.

      I have increased my collection of Ty bears since last writing. It took me a while to get Shamrock and Eggs. Smooch was even harder to find, and then  I had to pay £20 for him when I finally did track him down. They  were not generally available for very long, indeed they were retired before they had even come into stock in some shops.

      I have been back onto the internet to bid for a Sakura bear. I was lucky enough to be the only bidder, and so purchased it for the minimum bid! Now I am waiting for it to arrive so it can take it’s place in the growing Beanie family!

      The Buddy Bear collection has grown considerably too. I now  have 24, (25 if you count Peking the Panda!), the latest purchases being, Valentina, Birthday Bear, Beginning Bear and Buckingham. I was particularly pleased to get him, and at a regular price. One shop I went into I over-heard the shop-keeper telling a customer who had asked if they had got any, that he had 18 in and had sold them all in two days at £75 each! I bought mine at one of my favourite Beanie stockists- they had six in the day before I went in there, and they had got just two of them left. I considered myself very lucky. In fact that is probably all of my luck used up for the rest of the year!

      Thanks to all of you that have sent me e-mails- keep them coming. How about writing something about your collection or collections for the web-site? We would love to hear from you.

All for now. Happy Beanie collecting!

Love from Wendy.

E-mail wendy@villagenet.co.uk.