What to do with old teddy bears?

TangledMemories_2

Hi All,

Ok, the time has come for me to address the issue I have...the issue being the 10 boxes or so of teddy bears currently insulating my Grandparents' loft

I have a few that I definitely don't want to get rid of (ie my Gummi Bears) but as for the rest of them, I don't see any point in them staying in boxes instead of being enjoyed by a child out there.
So I guess the question is...what should I do with them?
They come from a clean, non-smoking home...don't want to just bin them because some of them are really nice. None of them are Steiff or anything.

Thanks for any guidance
Tang

CouponWoman

TangledMemories wrote: »

Hi All,

Ok, the time has come for me to address the issue I have...the issue being the 10 boxes or so of teddy bears currently insulating my Grandparents' loft

I have a few that I definitely don't want to get rid of (ie my Gummi Bears) but as for the rest of them, I don't see any point in them staying in boxes instead of being enjoyed by a child out there.
So I guess the question is...what should I do with them?
They come from a clean, non-smoking home...don't want to just bin them because some of them are really nice. None of them are Steiff or anything.

Thanks for any guidance
Tang

If there nothing very valuable give them to a charity shop. Or sell them at a car boot sale.

xx

emerald_starcat

Do they have labels on them saying they fit regulations or are they old with no labels?

olias

Hate to say this, but in my experience, most charity shops sell soft toys as dog toys, about 50p each for the mutt to rip apart.

olias

soolin

olias wrote: »

Hate to say this, but in my experience, most charity shops sell soft toys as dog toys, about 50p each for the mutt to rip apart.

olias

The one I used to frequent in the staff bit were worse, they tended to throw them out as rags as people prefer buying new soft toys now they are so cheap, rather than give a child a second hand one.

I gave a bag of my old ones to a charity shop even though I knew they would shred them. It was either that or throw them in the skip myself, and i just couldn't.

Little_Vics

just wondering if your local children's hospice or hospital would accept them as a donation? Or some charity like Operation Christmas Child who send packages to children overseas?

soolin

Little_Vics wrote: »

just wondering if your local children's hospice or hospital would accept them as a donation? Or some charity like Operation Christmas Child who send packages to children overseas?

Our local hospices won't take them for health and safety reasons, again it was cheaper to buy new knowing they fulfilled current safety regulations than get old ones checked.

SailorSam

Go down to the woods with them and have a picnic.

Crowqueen

Curious attitude.

I've bought old toys on eBay, if they are collectable and vintage you might find a market for them. I have a 'sixties Basil Brush which surely breaks every rule in the book but he was still sold there. I have a 1930s Polish rag doll and frequently see vintage toys at church fetes and suchlike.

I got a gorgeous Tesco horse five years ago at a Sue Ryder place in Wokingham for £5. Having split up with my boyfriend I needed something to cuddle at night. He's still there .

There are always soft toys at our local charity shops too. I can see why some H&S people would have problems with them, and am not trying to mock H&S in general, but this seems overly pessimistic.

soolin

Crowqueen, I think we have all assumed none of these are really collectable as OP says:

None of them are Steiff or anything.

If they are just old 'teddies' then they are worthless, if they are collectable then that is a whole new market and labelling would not be important as they would be bought by collectors not for babies/toddlers.

Crowqueen

Sure, yes.

Although something doesn't need to be top-notch to be collectable.

If all they are are generic teddy-bears, then they may not be worth much, but you never know what people are looking for.