McBears Page

What kind of creature is guaranteed to bring a smile to anyone's face, to spread love and happiness wherever he goes? ... The teddy bear, of course.

McBears is a worldwide online community, absolutely free, for people who are passionate about teddy bears. Its rapidly growing membership now numbers well over 200 and includes leading artists, collectors and fair organisers from all over the world - in fact everyone who loves teddy bears will get a very warm welcome.

If you become one of McBear's friends, you can make new friends all over the world, share stories and post photos of your favourite bears, set up your own beary blog, let everyone know about upcoming events, spread the word about all kinds of beary news and even add videos of new additions to your hug or a special teddy tale you want to tell.

No-one could love bears more than Jo Rothery, who decided she would like to introduce her beloved McBear and his friends to the world. A dedicated collector for almost 20 years, she has edited a teddy bear magazine and believes that collecting bears is the most enjoyable hobby you could possibly have, and that bears attract the nicest people.

"Not only are bears beautiful in their own right, but there's also the fascination of how they have evolved over the past century, surviving many other fads, to become the world's favourite toy," says Jo.

"Everyone can relate to a teddy bear - their faces are irresistible and they all have a personality of their own. Look at a row of supposedly identical bears on a shelf, and there will be one that you know is looking straight at you and willing you to take him home."

It's also possible to collect on so many different levels - vintage characters (or the golden oldies as I think of them), artist bears, sought-after manufacturers' limited editions or simply soft toys. You can have an enormously varied 'hug' where you mix all of these together, or you can choose to specialise; you can opt for bears by an individual manufacturer or artist; you can collect bears from a certain part of the world; you can buy bears which all have a particular theme; you can

concentrate on miniatures, especially if display space is limited, or you can go for the big, handsome hugsters.

"For me the older bears are like little pieces of history, while the artist bears are genuine works of art," Jo adds.

"Then there's the joy of finding out more about teddy bears across the decades - the more reading and research you do, the more enjoyment you get from your hobby, and this kind of knowledge may even help you to identify some real bargains at auctions, in bric a brac shops or at car boot sales.

Bear-hunting is great fun and the satisfaction of unexpectedly coming across the very character you have been seeking for ages is incredibly exciting for any collector.

"If you become a serious collector, you'll also find that your collecting habits change as time goes by - mine certainly have. I began almost twenty years ago when, as a journalist, I went to do a story on the opening of the Teddy Melrose Museum in the Scottish Borders. Talking to Felix Sear was

inspirational and I went home with two Steiff limited editions. Next week I went back for more, and the week after that… Within a couple of months I had already switched to artist bears and was totally hooked.

"As a child I had always loved soft toys, particularly teddies. Over the years I had bought the occasional soft toy bear, usually as a memento of a holiday or a weekend break somewhere. But once the bear bug bit, the hug escalated and I would make a fairly significant purchase each month. By then it was almost exclusively artist bears that came home with me, apart from Cheekys.

"Then I began to take a greater interest in vintage bears and they now make up almost half my hug - a few of them are classic British bears, others are somewhat battered, much-loved orphans I just had to adopt, but each one is just as precious."

Most bear collectors love to share news and views about their hobby, and McBears.com is the perfect place to do that - it's YOUR community and we hope you'll help us make it the world's best teddy bear network.

It's so easy to become part of McBears.

1. First, sign up at www.mcbears.com and create your profile

2. Second, invite your friends and start adding photos, videos, blogs and events!

3. Meet your friend's friends and introduce people to McBears!

4. Enjoy the community discussions, events and experiences!

Jo Rothery

McBears - connecting teddy bear lovers from around the world