Back around 1970 or '71, I saw a WADE YOGI BEAR in the window of a shop called STANLEY'S STORES. It still bore the pre-decimal price of 1/11d, so it's possible it was 1969, but what's a year or two over a 45 year period? Anyway, long story short, I bought it, and that's the very one you see in the above photo. Yup, still got it after all this time.
In fact, I've now got three Yogis, as I bought another two of them on eBay a couple of years or so apart. It's usually listed as 'rare', but there's always loads of them on sale anytime I look, so I'd take that with a pinch of salt. Apparently, its catalogue price is around £80 (unboxed), but I got my second one for £25. The third one I did pay £80 for, but it had the box.
A few years ago, I decided I wanted the other two in the set - HUCK and Mr. JINKS - so I acquired them at a very nice price. I'm so chuffed with them, I thought I'd share them with you here. I've shown Yogi on his own before, but this is the first time with his two pals. These figures first came out around 1962 or '63, so regard any hugely differing years of origin you read as widely inaccurate. (Some uninformed sellers date them from the '50s.)
I had my original box for a couple of years after buying the item, but the corners had split after awhile and I'd repaired them with Sellotape. Huge mistake. The tape gradually yellowed and then shrank, and when I tried to remove it, I damaged the box and so discarded it. I recall it from the last year in my old house and the first year in my new one, which is strange for my memories of something to be equally divided between homes. You can imagine how happy I was to eventually replace it.
Anyway, that's far too much 'verbosity' for a mere two photos, so I'll shut up now. Enjoy the view of Yogi and his two HANNA BARBERA chums.
