IF A BRUIN IS AT YOUR BACK, DOES THAT MEAN YOU'VE GOT A BEAR BEHIND?

Yes, yes - I'm quite sure you're fed up with seeing little YOGI on his scooter all over this blog, but he arrived home from his 'extended holiday' in Australia today and is settling in nicely.  Not cheap, but well worth the dosh to be reunited with an item from my earliest childhood and the memories associated with it.

A few years back, I read a newspaper article about a fella who ran a 'Teddy Bear Hospital' (or some such thing).  People would bring in (or send him) their old teddies when they were a bit the worse for wear and he would repair them, restoring them to pristine newness.  Why did he run such a venture, he was asked.  Turned out that, when he was a boy, his mother took his teddy bear away from him on the grounds that he was 'too old' for it.  That was the start.

He missed his ted so much that, over the years, he developed a kind of obsession with teddy bears and started collecting them to fill the void left by the forced removal of his little chum from boyhood.  One thing led to another and, eventually, he decided to combine business with pleasure, so that he could devote himself to the things he loved most in all the world.  (After his wife, of course.  Yes, I'm pretty sure he had a wife.  That's Trekkies you're thinking of.)

Similarly, the memory of this toy has haunted me for nigh-on 45 years.  Never seen one at toy fairs, swap-meets, memorabilia shows, or anywhere such collectables are usually found.  What's more, nobody to whom I mentioned it had any knowledge or recollection of it.  Then I do a post on my blog and, hey presto - about a month or so later someone responds, telling me they've got one.

Anyway, the photos shown on my previous posts on the subject were supplied by the seller - these ones were taken by myself only about half an hour ago, so I thought I'd share them with you here.  Don't lie - you're jealous, aren't you?  Oh, yes you are!