Me to You Bears (also known as Tatty Teddies) is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clinton Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy including plush toys, figurines, cards, mugs, and wedding accessories.[1]
The beginnings of Me to You started in 1987 when Carte Blanche Greetings chairman and Founder, Stephen Haines, approached Mike Payne to create a group of 'cute' characters to appear on a series of greeting cards. This led to the creation of various cartoon animals called the Miranda gang, which notably included a brown bear with patches.
Deciding it was time for a refresh, in 1995 Carte Blanche gave the bear a new look. Drawn in charcoal pencil turning the bear from brown to grey, and with the addition of a bright blue nose, a few more patches and a story of his very own 'Tatty Teddy' and 'Me to You' were born. Me to You is now a global brand and Tatty Teddy now appears on a wide range of Me to You products including greeting cards, plush, clothing, gifts, figurines, personalised products and confectionery. Over 75 million Me to You plush bears have been sold since 2000.
First only available in the UK, it was announced in December 2011 that the Douglas Company received a license to sell the brand in the US and Canada.[2]
The first generation of Tatty Teddy soft toys, produced in 2000, was based on the original greeting card design of 1995 consisting of a teddy bear with short grey fur, small black eyes, an off-white snout and a blue nose with a white reflective spot on the right hand side. They also have patches of a light grey colour which appear to have been sewn onto them, along with stitching repair work on the arms and head, hence the name 'tatty'. The words 'Me to You' are embroidered on the right rear paw. The very first Tatty Teddy was hand crafted by Linda Laverty of Worthing, West Sussex. The second generation Tatty Teddy, introduced in 2003, kept to the same overall design but with much finer fur. To coincide with the 2003 redesign, the 'Me to You' story was also published, describing how the teddy bear came to be in its current state. A third generation Tatty Teddy was introduced in May 2009. This bear has much longer fur in various shades of grey and a blue plastic nose, rather than the fabric nose on previous generations. The reflective spot has been removed since the new plastic nose has reflective qualities.[3]
The bears come in many different sizes, ranging from 5 cm to in excess of 80 cm, and often come with accessories such as hearts, roses, T-shirts, wooly hats and scarves. Some have personalised messages from a simple "I Love You" to longer seasonal and event related messages. It is even possible for customers to personalise their bears. The bears are particularly popular amongst females in the 10–30 age group although they are also designed to be romantic gifts for people of all ages as they can be considered 'cute'.[4] Due to this they are becoming collectors items, similar to Steiff and Beanie Baby toys. Indeed, there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events.[5]
Several special edition and limited edition bears have also been produced, enhancing the collectible nature of the toys, which see the bear dressed in different costumes including various animals and the four seasons (summer, winter etc.). Many of the limited and special edition releases are designed to tie in with events such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Christmas. The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000, however this can range from 1500 to in excess of 10,000.[6]
Regional variations of Tatty Teddy are also available, for example Scottish dress and London Beefeater. Versions of Tatty Teddy have also been made for the tourist market, usually wearing a T-shirt with an expressive message, for example 'I Love Cornwall'.
The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned in washing machines but instead should be hand washed.[7] This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colorfast.[8]
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In the summer of 2008, "My Blue Nose Friends" were released – other animal toys in the same style as Tatty Teddy. The story given is that Tatty Teddy was lonely and dreamt of a wardrobe full of friends.
Set 1 – June 2008
Set 2 – August 2008
Set 3 – October 2008
Set 4 – December 2008
Set 5 – January 2009
Set 6 – May 2009
Limited Edition 1 – June 2009
Set 7 – August 2009
Limited Edition 2 – September 2009
Set 8 – November 2009
Limited Edition 3 – December 2009
Set 9 – January 2010
Limited Edition 4 – January 2010
Set 10 – March 2010
Set 11 – June 2010
Limited Edition 5 – July 2010
Set 12 – August 2010
Set 13 – November 2010
Limited Edition 6 – Christmas 2010
Set 14 – January 2011
Limited Edition 7 – Valentine's Day 2011
Set 15 – March 2011
Limited Edition 8 – June 2011
Set 16 – June 2011
Set 17 – August 2011
Limited Edition 9 – September 2011
Set 18 – November 2011
Limited Edition 10 – November 2011
Set 19 – January 2012
Limited Edition 11 – January 2012
Set 20 – March 2012
Limited Edition 12 – April 2012
Set 21 – May 2012
Set 22 – August 2012
Limited Edition 13 – November 2012
Set 23 – April 2013
Set 24 – June 2013
Set 25 – September 2013
Set 26 – November 2013
Set 27 – December 2013
Set 28 – March 2014
Set 29 – May 2014
Set 30 – September 2014
Set 31 – November 2014
Set 32 – January 2015
Set 33 – March 2015
Set 34 – June 2015
Set 35 – September 2015
Set 36 – November 2015
Set 37 – January 2016
Set 38 – March 2016
Set 39 – June 2016
Set 40 – September 2016
Set 41 – November 2016
7 new blue nose friends were released in September 2019. These included Toots the Elephant, Konker the Hedgehog, Legend the Unicorn, Blossom the Rabbit, Tiny the Mouse, Milkshake the Cow and Twiggy the Giraffe.
Set 1
Others
A 10" snowdear with a blue nose, this character is listed on the my blue nose friends page, although it isn't stated if this is actually a Blue Nose Friend.
To celebrate the launch of their 100th My Blue Nose Friends character, Ramble the Centipede, Carte Blanche launched a free-to-enter competition in June 2012. 100 fans had the chance to win a rare and exclusive 4" My Blue Nose Friends character, Luna the Wolf. The character is not available to buy anywhere in the world.
