Having touched the hearts and minds of all kinds of people with his actions, manners and words that were outrageous, unbelievably impossible to believe and absolutely wonderful, Gary Lowenthal aka The Head Bean, established himself as THE connoisseur of fun, fun and more fun.

Gary grew up in Manhattan and then headed off to Alfred University in upstate New York to get a degree, in of all things, biology. After graduation, he joined the Peace Corps and with his personality and smarts, was shipped off to the island of Fiji to teach the islanders all sorts of lessons. When he returned, he went directly to Bloomingdales in Manhattan where he spent the next seven year honing his skills in purchasing, design and merchandising.

In 1979, Gary and his wife, Justina, found themselves, like many folks, longing for open spaces and a more peaceful way of life for their family. They moved to Boyds, Maryland and now you know the secret as to how the company came to be named Boyds Bears. Gary’s lifelong dream was to own an antique shop and so they did. Before long, his heart’s desire - creating hard-carved duck decoys and Gnome Homes overshadowed the antique business. They then moved on to Pennsylvania where he started working to create brand new plush bears that had personality and Boyds Bears were born then and there!

The demand for plush grew and grew and one day, Gary decided to experiment with an offshoot of the plush bears and eventually developed the new line called the Boyds Bearstone collection. Gary’s clever use of words and using famous and infamous poetry to describe each piece made for an instant hit.

On behalf of The Boyds Collection Ltd, Gary Lowenthal has been honored with a number of impressive awards through the years. He was named the “Central Pennsylvania Entrepreneur of the Year and“Artist of the Year” from the National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED). The company earned The Collectors’ Choice Award for “Best Manufactured Teddy Bears”as well as several others from NALED, Golden Teddy and TOBY awards.

Up to 2000, The Head Bean, Hisself, spent long hours at collectors’ shows parading in front of and providing loads of fun and entertainment as he got to know the folks who buy and enjoy Boyds Bears products. He even surprised some of them when he suggested maybe they should buy fewer pieces and focus more attention on family and friends. Nobody knows if anybody took his advice but it sure made collectors and visitors feel that this was a wonderful product produced by a wonderful man.

A number of years ago, the Boyds Collection, Ltd was so successful that the major interest was acquired by the Wall Street firm of Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts (KKR). However, Gary still retains personal control over the quality of all his company’s products, stepping in to change colors or production methods if a piece “just ain’t right”.

Through it all, Gary has remained the same down-to-earth, friendly, family oriented and slightly off-the-wall man he always was. His wife, Justina and children, Bailey and Matthew and Indy, the family dog, come first for Gary. In the Fall of 2000, The Head Bean, Hisself, retired from all public appearances to spend quality time with his family.