At Toy Street, we are incredibly passionate and proud of the diverse bears we have to offer. Our aim is to offer a teddy bear perfect for every single one of you out there. This week, in our Bear Blogs we have decided to take a step back from our own fluffy ones to look at world-famous, record-breaking, and history-making bears to celebrate the beloved teddy. After some exciting research, we have gathered five bear profiles that will amaze you! From the story of the first-ever bear to the record holder of the largest bear collection, this blog of world record bears will amaze you!

1. Worlds First Teddy Bear

Firstly, can you guess who the first Teddy Bear was invented in honor of? Did President Theodore Roosevelt pop into your head? Because he is the one which started the creation of our fluffy loved ones!

It all began on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi, 1902. Theordore had been invited on the hunt but was the only person who had not yet located a single bear. Later in the hunt, this progressed, and Roosevelt even refused to shoot a bear which led to articles and news stories being spread all about the shocking event! The public could not believe their eyes!

The teddy bear isn’t with us yet though! Next, a political cartoonist named Clifford Berryman, took a turn to read the article and satirised the event in the papers with a cartoon sketch. Finally, Morris Michtom, a sweet shop owner, saw the cartoon and had an idea. He and his wife also made stuffed animals, and Michtom decided to create a stuffed toy bear and dedicate it to the president who refused to shoot a bear. He called it ‘Teddy’s Bear’. After receiving Roosevelt’s permission to use his name, Michtom mass-produced the toy bears and soon founded the Ideal Toy Company as the bears were so popular.

2. Most Expensive Teddy BearFrom the most historic teddy bear, next, we give you one of the most luxurious bears. Meet the Louis Vuitton Stieff bear. Can you guess how much she is worth?

Louis Vuitton Bear –  €1,978,000

Competing against historic bears in commemoration of the titanic, to bears with pearl eyes, we find the Louis Vuitton Steiff bear scoring highly in the most expensive bears. This fuzzy fashionista is decked out in Louis Vuitton’s finest; we just NEED the LV purse to match! Her designer clothes and matching luggage made her price soar above the competition previously mentioned. She was purchased in 2000 for nearly 2 million euros at a charity auction in Monaco. In fact, you can pay her a visit at the teddy bear museum in JeJu, South Korea.

If she was yours, what would you call her?

3. Largest Teddy Bear

In contrast, the next plush toy we have to show you comes all the way from Mexico. Measuring at more than 6ft-long (19.41 metres), this bear earned the new world record in April 2019 for the Largest Teddy Bear. Named by the residents after their town, meet Xonita the bear. The 4.4-ton stuffed toy was measured at a soccer stadium in the town of Xonacatlan as a part of the town’s Children’s Day festivities where Guinness World Records were then able to confirm it was larger than the 55-foot teddy bear created by Kansas resident Dana Warren in 2008.  Three months of hard work and stitching and Xonita is officially the world’s largest teddy!

4. Smallest Teddy Bear

We have shown you the world’s largest teddy so, of course, we need to show you the world’s SMALLEST teddy bear! Meet Tiny Ted… The bear is sewn exactly like a bigger bear and is fully jointed with a moveable head, arms, and legs.

Name: Tiny Ted, 2006

Height: 4.5mm, 0.17inch

Creator: Cheryl Moss, South Africa

Residence: Teddy Bear Museum, Jeju Island, South Korea (living with the most expensive bear, the Louis Vuitton Steiff)

5. Largest Teddy Bear Collection

The largest collection of teddy bears is 20,367 items. This world record was achieved by Arnóczki Istvánné (Hungary) in Harsány, Hungary, on 27 April 2019.

So, what is the story behind her collection? How can we get our collection to grow like hers? Well… As a child, Arnóczki grew up in poverty and never owned a teddy bear. Of course, she was a young girl with a dream to have one that she could cuddle at night. Arnóczki’s collection was set off when she bought her first-ever teddy bear in 1978, in her twenties. Since then, she simply never stopped buying more!

Now, her personal collection made up of items she has purchased and received as donations are stored in the Teddy Museum her local village in Hungary.