ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ Teddybears ʕ•ᴥ• ʔ

Hey!

It feels like ages since I've done a collection post. I was experiencing a little bit of a writers block and couldn't decide on what to blog about next. To solve the problem I decided to write about a topic that is very close to my heart and thereby very enjoyable to discuss. If you didn't skip the title you might have guessed that the topic of the day is, indeed, the wonderful Teddy in my Pocket series.

Picture from here

Like other in my pockets, the teddies are also a product of the toy company MEG. It's really hard to find any proper info about in my pockets online, but as I was a TIMP fan already as a child I'd say they came out mostly in the mid-90's. Probably around 1995 and 1996. A wonderful in my pocket checklist and collection website, 90's in my pocket, lists 71 different teddies so there's plenty to collect.

Like I said, I was well-acquainted with Teddy in my Pockets already in my early childhood, when the original in my pocket series were all the rage. In addition to the actual playsets, some teddy figures were available as Kellogg's cereal prizes in Rice Krispies, Coco Pops and Ricicles boxes. Oh how I miss the golden age of cereal toys...

I don't know if it's all just for the sake of nostalgia, but I feel like there is something about the vintage in my pocket series that makes them really nice toys. The figures aren't necessarily very cute, the sculpts can be a bit wonky at times and the same few paint shades are used repeatedly throughout the sets. But they're just so... playable I guess. And very nice to collect, of course. They are nicely sized so storage is not an issue and the vintage teddy bear -look is really unique in comparison to the popular cutsie-wootsie rounded bear style. Not that there's anything wrong with modern, cute teddies - the vintage look is just refreshing.

Rilakkuma, Vintage plush

Unlike with my love n sparkle Puppy in my Pockets, I was smart enough a child to cherish and hold on to my precious teddies. Thanks to that, I'm still a proud owner of the complete picnic set ʕ♡˙ᴥ˙♡ʔ !!! Definitely a grail of mine:

The picnic bears are from 1995 and include the father Gordon, the mother Amanda, the son Russell and the daughter Katie (holding a "kitie" ha ha!). I used to think that the stove top/ toaster/ grill on the blanket was a radio ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ. Anyways, I'm really glad I still have this set because it would probably be nearly impossible to find the "picnic area part" anywhere outside eBay.

Besides the picnic set, I owned one other teddy in the 90's. Grandad George (in the middle) is one of the Kellogg's cereal box teddies from 1996. Later I've found Sarah (honey jar) and Nicholas (sunglasses) to accompany him. These Kellogg's figures are slightly more cheaply made than the store bought teddies and even the plastic used is a little different. Whatever.

My final teddy figures are Harry, from the 1995 Bear Watch set, and the flower-holding Emily. I'm a little confused about her since in old promotion pictures she is one of the cereal box figures, but unlike the others she doesn't have a Kellogg's stamp on her back. Her included, I'm only missing the grandma Emma figure to complete the cereal set! Mwahaha! Besides Emma, I'm most interested in finding figures from the Wedding set, the Lullabear set and obviously the Love n Sparkle set.

It is downright impossible for me to decide what In my Pocket series is my favorite. I definitely like the vintage, hard plastic series more than the new flocked figures but the teddies, puppies, kitties and even ponies from the 90's are all equally amazing. Like everybody probably already knows, I'm a huge sucker for all things childhood so above all I'm interested in collecting the exact figures that me and my friends used to own.

Now make me jealous and tell me about your In my Pockets! I was about to ask you to tell me what you have in your pockets... but... that is... not what I mean ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ✿✿✿ Tuuli