Who’s Who in the Bear World ?

Collectors frequently contact me asking for help in identifying bears, and the older naked bears,
both bean filled and fiber filled, seem to cause the most confusion.  I thought it might be helpful to
list some of the more common bears and their colors and sizes.  You can clip out this handy
guide and use it when you are shopping or browsing Ebay. 

Keep in mind these bears are handmade, and particularly with the early bears – pre-1994 – the
height can vary by an inch or so either smaller or larger.  Felt paw Pads may be different colors
from year to year on the same bear.  Paw pads of corduroy, velveteen, faux leather, etc are
significant to identification.  The faces have changed over the years on some of the very early
bears, hares and cats.

One important consideration is color.  The early bears were generally one of these colors –
White – pure stark bright white
Cream or butter – soft white
British tan – beige or tan with a gray undertone – all one color
Mocha – brown and tan and butter mixed fur
Rust/nutmeg – a cinnamon brown mixture
Brown – chocolate brown, all one color
Mink – very dark brown with black hairs mixed in with the brown

So from smallest to largest, here goes !

JB Bean Series – floppy bean filled jointed bears.

Ten inch bears

JB Bean – butter - made in both smooth fur and regular plush
Gordon B. Bean – British tan  - there are 4 or 5 variations on this bear, the smooth fur version is a cinnamon color
Bartholomew – mocha
Winston B. Bean –  brown - made in both smooth fur and regular plush

Fourteen inch bears

Otis – British tan
Elliott – rustAvery - chocolate brown, made in both smooth fur and regular plush
Ashley – dark gray and white mixed – very rare

Sixteen inch bears

Binkie B. Bear – white bear with white velveteen paw pads and black or gray nose
Binkie B. Bear II – soft white with gold velveteen paw pads
Dufus – British tan
Travis B. Bean – mocha
Louie B. Bear - rust
Daryl – brown
Rufus – mink

Archive Bears – fiber filled

5.5 inch bears

Thatcher – white
Baldwin – butter
Eden – British tan
Cecil – mocha
Neville – nutmeg
Disraeli – brown
Alec/Alex – mink

Eight inch bears

Macmillan- butter
Callaghan – British tan
Walpole - mocha
Wilson – nutmeg
Attlee – brown

Ten inch bears

Lloyd - white
Raleigh – mocha
Heath - nutmeg
Heath II - gold
Major II – brown

Twelve inch bears

Melbourne – butter
Churchill – nutmeg - variations in face
Gladstone – British tan
McMullen – taupe very short velvety smooth plush

Sixteen inch bears

Arthur – white
Clement – nutmeg retired 1992
Grenville – nutmeg issued 1992
Malcolm – brown issued 1992
Chamberlain – brown retired 1992

Twenty one inch bears

Aberdeen - brown/white/gold mixture - very rare

Buckingham - dark cinnamon

Cromwell - cinnamon - 22 inches with black paw pads

Lancelot – rust

Wellington – first year brown, then changed to mocha

So here is your “cheat sheet” that should help you in your bear hunts !