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Home > About Boyds - Boyds Bears
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Untitled Document
The Boyds Collection Ltd.® began back in 1979 as
an Antique Shop in the home of G.M. Lowenthal and his partner, now Wife,
Justina Unger. Refugees from the "Rat Race," they had been
working in Management at that "Mecca of Merchandising" known
as Bloomingdales... when they shucked it all and moved to rural Boyds,
Maryland, to start their Own Business.
Their great Love of Antiques outweighed their Ability
to Purchase... sounds familiar, doesn't it? So instead of "True
Antiques" with outrageously High Costs, G.M. and Tina began to
search out and sell "Antique Reproductions," with the look
and feel of those True Antiques but at more Affordable Prices. Their
retail venture proved to be so successful that by 1982 they began to
wholesale some of these top-selling Antique Reproductions.
Some of their most successful wholesale items were their
Antique Reproduction Duck Decoys that ranged from 9" Teal to a
giant 3' Whistling Swan. The wholesale part of The Boyds Bear Collection
began to flourish as G.M. designed, painted, antiqued, boxed and sold
the Duck Decoys (whew!) And Tina handled the customer service, billing,
shipping and accounting aspects of their business. Their expanding wholesale
product line soon grew to encompass wool Teddy Bears imported from China.
In 1984, G.M. - who was more than just a little tired
of painting 20,000 duck decoys until 3 a.m. - turned to Resin Sculpting
with "The Gnomes Homes," extremely detailed Miniature Houses
based on American architecture and his own imagination. About that same
time, G.M. designed a fully jointed 100% merino wool Teddy Bear named
for his latest "joint venture" with Tina... their newborn
son, Matthew. Thus the two partners began what was soon to become a
beloved part of The Boyds Collection Ltd. - the Plush designs known
far and wide simply as "Boyds Bears."
After
expanding beyond the Lowenthal's home in Boyds to an old Sunday School
building down the street, the still-growing company needed even More
room! In 1987, the Lowenthals relocated the firm to the Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania area. The Boyds Collection Ltd. continued to evolve and
to grow in Popularity by Leaps and Bounds. (Must have been all those
Bunnies they designed!) Today the Plush animals known as the "Bears
and Hares You Can Trust™" are sold by over a bazillion accounts
nationwide.
In 1992
G.M. Lowenthal returned to the medium of Cold Cast Resin which he had
used to design the earlier Gnomes Homes. Hmmm... Why not produce a resin
figurine group based on Sculptural Interpretations of the Boyds Bears
that had a certain Style and personality all their own? Thus began a
new design concept, and in 1993 The Boyds Bearstone Collection™
line of resin Teddy Bear figurines was introduced.
The
Folkstone Collection™ (a line of "pencil-style" Animals,
Santas, Snowpeople, Faeries and Angels) made its grand debut in 1994
and has since become so popular that The Head Bean decided to extend
it... it just keeps growing and growing and... well, you get the idea.
A sub-species of the Folkstones are The Wee Folkstones™ ("vertically-challenged"
Faeries, Angels and Snowpeople) including Ribbit & Co. (a group
of small yet distinguished Frogs), The Tuxedo Gang (Boyds penguins,
of course) and the newest line, The Garden Gang (bears and hares who
fancy the outdoors in springtime, and have a green thumb, too).
In February
1996, the world was introduced the newest Boyds Bear, Yesterdays' Child...
The Dollstone Collection™, a series of resin sculptures based
on Little Girls of different eras with their Dolls or Teddy Bears as
companions. In the fall of 1997, the first two Porcelain Dolls were
introduced. These 16" tall Limited Editions were poseable and dressed
in beautifully made Ensembles with a 6" Boyds Plush companion and
special Accessories to accompany each doll's "story." The
two styles immediately sold out and G.M. knew he had a winner.
First
of all you should know about the Boyds Bear Club. It's a doozy if your
interested in a whold bunch of stuff, get right on this. Then there's
yearly calendars, licensed products (you'll just love Coca Cola, M&M's
and Crayola) and a load of other gems and the good news is that they
are incredibly inexpensive.
The
introduction is 2006 of the Boyds Bear of the Month has also been a
real "eye opener" and not to mention a runaway best seller.
After all, who wouldn't just love getting a Bear of the Month as a fabulous
birthday present.
Oh yes,
we also have Garden Statues- made up of bears and hare who fancy the
outdoors in springtime and have a green thumb as well. As the days go
by, you'll find more and more delights in the wonderful world of Boyds
Bears.
Our
advice is to just keep it in your head that all of Boyds Bears products
are designed to first of all enjoy but also to offer a real value to
their new owners.
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