Me to You Bears (also known as Tatty Teddies) is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by greeting cards company Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often sold in Clinton Cards stores. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy, including plush toys, figurines, greeting cards, mugs, clothing and wedding accessories.
Origin The beginnings of Me to You started in 1987 when Carte Blanche Greetings chairman and founder, Stephen Haines, approached Mike Payne to create a group of 'cute' characters to appear on a series of greeting cards. This led to the creation of various cartoon animals called the Miranda gang, which notably included a brown bear with patches.
Deciding it was time for a refresh, in 1995, Carte Blanche gave the bear a new look. Drawn in charcoal pencil turning the bear's fur from brown to grey, and with the addition of a bright blue nose, a few more patches and a backstory of his very own, 'Tatty Teddy' and 'Me to You' were born.
Me to You is now a global brand and Tatty Teddy now appears on a wide range of Me to You products including greeting cards, plush toys, clothing, gifts, figurines, personalised products and confectionery. Over 75 million Me to You plush bears have been sold since 2000.
Availability Me to You Bears was initially available in the UK, but as of December 2011, the Douglas Company received a license to sell the brand in the US and Canada.
Appearance The first generation of Tatty Teddy soft toys, produced in 2000, was based on the original greeting card design of 1995 consisting of a teddy bear with short grey fur, small black eyes, an off-white snout and a blue nose with a white reflective spot on the right hand side. They also have patches of a light grey colour which appear to have been sewn onto them, along with stitching repair work on the arms and head, hence the name 'tatty'. The words 'Me to You' are embroidered on the right rear paw. The first Tatty Teddy was hand crafted by Linda Laverty of Worthing, West Sussex. The second generation Tatty Teddy, introduced in 2003, kept to the same overall design but with much finer fur. To coincide with the 2003 redesign, the 'Me to You' story was also published, describing how the teddy bear came to be in its current state. A third generation Tatty Teddy was introduced in May 2009. This bear has much longer fur in various shades of grey and a blue plastic nose, rather than the fabric nose on previous generations. The reflective spot has been removed since the new plastic nose has reflective qualities.
The bears come in many different sizes, ranging from 5 cm to in excess of 80 cm, and often come with accessories such as hearts, roses, t-shirts, wooly hats and scarves. Some have personalised messages from a simple "I Love You", to longer seasonal and event related messages. It is even possible for customers to personalise their bears. The bears are particularly popular amongst females in the 10–30 age group although they are also designed to be romantic gifts for people of all ages as they can be considered 'cute'. Due to this they are becoming collector's items, similar to Steiff and Beanie Babies toys. Indeed, there are even annual Tatty Teddy national collectors events.
Several special edition and limited edition bears have also been produced, enhancing the collectible nature of the toys, which see the bear dressed in different costumes including various animals and the four seasons (summer, winter etc.). Many of the limited and special edition releases are designed to tie in with events such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Christmas. The number of these limited edition bears produced is usually 9000, but this can range from 1500 to in excess of 10,000.
Regional variations of Tatty Teddy are also available, for example Scottish dress and London Beefeater. Versions of Tatty Teddy have also been made for the tourist market, usually wearing a T-shirt with an expressive message, for example 'I Love Cornwall'.
The makers of the teddies do not recommend that they are cleaned in washing machines but instead should be hand washed. This is because the dye in the clothes of the bears has not been tested to see if they are colorfast.
My Blue Nose Friends: Series 1 In the summer of 2008, "My Blue Nose Friends" were released – other animal toys in the same style as Tatty Teddy. The story given is that Tatty Teddy was lonely and dreamt of a wardrobe full of friends.
2008 Set 1 – June 2008 1 Patch the Dog 2 Kittywink the Cat 3 Blossom the Rabbit 4 Dilly the Duck 5 Toots the Elephant 6 Binky the Panda
Set 2 – August 2008 7 Twiggy the Giraffe 8 Chip the Zebra 9 Rocky the Lion 10 Buster the Leopard
Set 3 – October 2008 11 Truffles the Pig 12 Cottonsocks the Sheep 13 Coco the Monkey 14 Konker the Hedgehog
Set 4 – December 2008 15 Chalky the Polar Bear 16 Wise the Owl 17 Chilly the Penguin 18 Jingle the Reindeer
2009 Set 5 – January 2009 19 Mo the Kangaroo 20 Gumgum the Koala 21 Milkshake the Cow 22 Bobbin the Horse
Set 6 – May 2009 23 Thomas the Hippopotamus 24 Digger the Terrier 25 Bracken the Badger 26 Dot the Ladybird
Limited Edition 1 – June 2009 27 Breeze the Butterfly
Set 7 – August 2009 28 Honey the Bee 29 Splodge the Dalmatian 30 Shelley the Turtle 31 Lily the Frog
Limited Edition 2 – September 2009 32 Echo the Bat
Set 8 – November 2009 33 Bells the Reindeer 34 Sugarcube the Donkey 35 Tiny the Mouse 36 Jock the Moose
Limited Edition 3 – December 2009 37 Ruby the Robin
2010 Set 9 – January 2010 38 Peanuts the Hamster 39 Pearl the Poodle 40 Fluffy the Old English Sheepdog 41 Snuffle the Anteater 42 Melody the Parrot 43 Snowdrop the White Rabbit
Limited Edition 4 – January 2010 44 Legend the Unicorn
Set 10 – March 2010 45 Scoot the Snail 46 Mack the Otter 47 Zee Zee the Goat 48 Wrinkles the Boxer Dog 49 Cuddles the Sun Bear
Set 11 – June 2010 50 Giggles the Baboon 51 Goldie the Golden Labrador 52 Webster the Spider 53 Sue-Shee the Pelican
Limited Edition 5 – July 2010 54 Stilts the Flamingo
Set 12 – August 2010 55 Whisper the Deer 56 Blubber the Walrus 57 Jungle the Orangutan 58 Essence the Skunk
Set 13 – November 2010 59 Wanda the Goose 60 Alaska the Husky 61 Whiskers the Seal 62 Kozie the Alpaca
Limited Edition 6 – Christmas 2010 63 Cranberry the Turkey
2011 Set 14 – January 2011 64 Trotters the Wild Boar 65 Cheddar the Field Mouse 66 Rainbow the Puffin 67 Kashmir the Ram
Limited Edition 7 – Valentine's Day 2011 68 Passion the Love Bug
Set 15 – March 2011 69 Splash the Octopus 70 Peek-a-boo the Mole 71 Chase the Jack Russell Terrier 72 Midnight the Owl
Limited Edition 8 – June 2011 73 Tango the Toucan
Set 16 – June 2011 74 Oasis the Camel 75 Gossip the Lizard 76 Snugs the Chinchilla 77 Peers the Meerkat
Set 17 – August 2011 78 Baffle the Fox 79 Noo the Wildebeest 80 Scuba the Dolphin 81 Ivory the Rhinoceros
Limited Edition 9 – September 2011 82 Flame the Dragon
Set 18 – November 2011 83 Needles the Woolly Mammoth 84 Quiver the Emperor Penguin 85 Bengal the White Tiger 86 Alpine the Bernese Mountain Dog
Limited Edition 10 – November 2011 87 Feathers the Peacock
2012 Set 19 – January 2012 88 Nutmeg the Squirrel 89 Buck the Beaver 90 Yabber the Platypus 91 Koodoo the Antelope
Limited Edition 11 – January 2012 92 Ripple the Swan
Set 20 – March 2012 93 Scraps the Rat 94 Runner the Ostrich 95 Foo the Pug 96 Float the Manatee
Limited Edition 12 – April 2012 97 Tropic the Seahorse
Set 21 – May 2012 98 Treetops the Gorilla 99 Ocean the Sea Turtle 100 Ramble the Centipede 101 Shelter the Woodlouse 102 Jewel the Corgi
Set 22 – August 2012 103 Shield the Armadillo 104 Squabble the Pigeon 105 Paws the Persian Cat 106 Pipsqueak the Chihuahua
Limited Edition 13 – November 2012 107 Culture the Chameleon
2013 Set 23 – April 2013 108 Smoo the Highland Cow 109 Comedy the Hyena 110 Spirit the Lemur 111 Twist the Snake
Set 24 – June 2013 112 Scuttle the Crab 113 Bixie the Cocker Spaniel 114 Flip the Gecko 115 Spangle the Starfish
Set 25 – September 2013 116 Glide the Pegasus 117 Crest the Pterosaur 118 Pout the Pufferfish 119 Abbey the British Cat
Set 26 – November 2013 120 Ziza the African elephant 121 Flash the Dragon 122 Tinsel the Arctic fox 123 Avery the Chick
Set 27 – December 2013 124 Aimee the Love Bird 125 Pudge the Triceratops 126 Leboo the Masai Lion 127 Deelish the Wombat
2014 Set 28 – March 2014 128 Eduardo the Axolotl 129 Frizzie the Lamb 130 Dash the Cheetah 131 Diva the Canary
Set 29 – May 2014 132 Pandora the Oyster 133 Tatty Puppy 134 Denzil the Komodo Dragon 135 Soprano the Shetland Pony
Set 30 – September 2014 136 Nelson the Narwhal 137 Spartacus the Labradoodle 138 China the Red Panda 139 Sahara the Scorpion
Set 31 – November 2014 140 Scamp the Gerbil 141 Hugo the Killer Whale 142 Sasha the Silk Moth 143 Blanche the Stoat
2015 Set 32 – January 2015 144 Tica the Tree Frog 145 Roger the Raccoon 146 Snoozi the Sloth 147 Stephen the Seagull
Set 33 – March 2015 148 Sebastian the Sabre Tooth Tiger 149 Rascal the Schnauzer 150 Twinkletoes the Floppy-Eared Rabbit 151 Pippa the Chipmunk
Set 34 – June 2015 152 Spike the Crocodile 153 Bobbi the German Shepherd 154 Perky the Pangolin 155 Claudia the Siamese Cat
Set 35 – September 2015 156 Chuck the Honey Badger 157 Pizazz the Appaloosa Horse 158 Tallulah the King Charles Spaniel 159 Ceecee the Shrimp
Set 36 – November 2015 160 Sandy the Hermit Crab 161 Fudge the Guinea Pig 162 Dougie the Markhor 163 Betsey the Basset Hound
2016 Set 37 – January 2016 164 Bubbles the Manta Ray 165 Felix the Ferret 166 Dolly the Staffordshire Bull Terrier 167 Erza the Llama
Set 38 – March 2016 168 Doris the Slow Loris 169 George the Silver Fox 170 Cluck the Chicken 171 Rollo the Sugar Glider
Set 39 – June 2016 172 Zippy the Road Runner 173 Synthia the Python 174 Bruce the Gayal 175 Zzzabella the Queen Bee
Set 40 – September 2016 177 Holly the Magpie 177 Snowball the Lion-haired Rabbit 178 Jack the Yak 179 Trixie the Shih Tzu
Set 41 – November 2016 180 Reggie the Rooster 181 Winston the British Bulldog 182 Willow the Wallaby 183 Annie the Aardvark
My Blue Nose Friends: Series 2 Seven new My Blue Nose Friends toys were released in September 2019. These included revamped versions of Toots, Konker, Legend, Blossom, Tiny, Milkshake and Twiggy.
2020 Set 1 1 Aurora the Caticorn (Cat/Unicorn hybrid) 2 Rezi the Raccoon 3 Blossom the Rabbit 4 Otto the Octopus 5 Toots the Elephant 6 Lightning the Sloth 7 Twiggy the Giraffe 8 Nala the Narwhal 9 Rufus the Dog 14 Konker the Hedgehog 17 Jester the Monkey 21 Milkshake the Cow 35 Tiny the Mouse 44 Legend the Unicorn
2024 Set 2 1 Queenie the Corgi 2 Casey the Dalmatian 3 Zig Zag the Zebra 4 Bray the Donkey 5 Maverick the Goat 6 Fizzy the Bee 7 Bolt the Squirrel 8 Karma the Llama 9 Blush the Flamingo 10 Denny the Fox 11 Splash the Elephant 12 Sonny the Sloth 13 Spirit the Cat 14 Cotton Tail the Bunny 15 Spike the Hedgehog 16 Snooks the Panda 17 Jester the Monkey 18 Skye the Giraffe 19 Abra the Unicorn 20 Chill the Triceratops 21 North the Husky 22 Rufus the Reindeer 23 Salty the Polar Bear 24 Cuddles the Penguin 25 Rosie the Robin 26 Dexter the Dachshund 27 Cosmos the Owl 28 McDuff the Highland Cow 29 Ruby the Ladybug (a.k.a. Ladybird) 30 Quackers the Duck 31 Cracker Jack the Mouse 32 Ember the Red Panda 33 Flit the Bat 34 Dancer the Shetland Pony 35 Blizzard the Snow Leopard 36 Gobbledygook the Turkey 37 Snowball the Arctic Hare 38 Verity the Labrador 39 Mary the Lamb 40 Leonardo the Lion 41 Clawdia the Lobster 42 Tumble the Brown Bear 43 Tickles the T-Rex 44 Sway the Fawn 45 Rosa the Poodle 46 Nibbles the Chipmunk