Bears, bears and more bears!

I have recently been browsing Ebay and came upon an interesting auction. It was listed under teddy bears and had the very descriptive title "1895 Sylvanian Family"... 

While on the subject, I used to hate it when Ebay sellers would post a MIB (Mint in Box) Vintage 1985 Sylvanian Families item straight from the current line of Sylvanians. As collectors would know, all Sylvanian Families have a little white sticker on their feet with the date "1985". Older TOMY items have gold stickers, but that is about as much information as the stickers on the feet of Sylvanian critters can give. But, in the past year I have managed to find a few good 1985 Sylvanian auctions for some really nice items. 

Apart from the title not divulging much information about the actual item, the seller's photo was taken in bad light. Again, this happens and is just something that you have to live with. The description, however, was the selling point for me:

"1985 Grandfather Gray bear, box has tear down front plastic and is a tad worn but figure has not been removed. Comes with glasses and walking stick." 

So, obviously this is an Evergreen grandfather, right? Umm, not quite...

Upon dragging the photo into Photoshop and making it a bit lighter, I realized that this figure was actually a very scarce Huntington bear grandfather! @_@

Since I don't have any Huntingtons in my collection yet, and the seller had 100% positive feedback, I decided to place my bid and hope for the best.

As luck would have it though, I missed out on all three auctions that I was bidding on, including the scary interesting Pigglywink family and their babies because I have been without internet this whole weekend - That's telephone lines in South Africa for you... just go with it. :(

But, when I finally managed to get a few moments of stable, yet weak internet connection, I was ecstatic to find that this little guy will soon be coming over to live in Rooibosch Hill! I got him for a very good price, but the shipping is extremely high for a single figure with the struggling Rand/Pound exchange rate.

I don't care though, my first ever Huntington bear will soon be home and I can't wait to meet him. 

A little information on the Huntingtons:

The Huntington bears were released in the 1980's.They were originally also known as the Honey-bear family, and the family was available through the TOMY token scheme along with the Chestnut raccoons. They were originally in the big bear mold, but in 2009, they were re-released in the new smaller bear mold as the Honey-bear family, now including the beekeeper uncle.

The Huntington bear family is quite rare, but the grandparents are much rarer because they were only sold in the US as opposed to the family that was sold in many locations. I have heard that grandfather Humbert is more difficult to find than grandmother Hannah, so I am very glad to be able to start my Huntington family with him.