Any Care Bear experts here? Is this little guy a factory error?

[mimicsno1fan]

Hello

Before I pop this little guy on ebay I was wondering if he is a factory error. Reason I ask are the following reasons:

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No red button - on his rear

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Tush tag is very strange?

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No hearts on his feet.

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Any one have any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I dont want to price him wrong

Best wishes

Mimic x x x


[moving to Toy Box ~ Kiwi]

[sailorstitch]

That's strange....... I'm leaning towards prototype rather than error.

[mimicsno1fan]

He came in a joblot so unfortunately I don't have much information about where he came from. Would this affect his price? Im thinking about asking £8 or is that too low?

[Leave a Whisper]

could be a fakie

[banditpony]

That's strange....... I'm leaning towards prototype rather than error.

This is what I think too.

Maybe it is something pre-production where they were fine tuning the details for the final look. (so no need to do 100% details like heart on the feet if trying to get placement of the belly badge).

I could be wrong!

It's freckles are interesting to me. They seem to be little knots that stick out. Is that normal for this plush?

ETA: its also curious there is no info on the tag. Usually even fakes have something written on the tag, I think?

[LadyMoondancer]

Wow, that is interesting!  You might try finding a Care Bears forum to ask at.

Edit: Her name is Thanks-a-Lot Bear, if that helps.

[Dragonflitter]

Without the heart on the butt, my first inclination is fakie. I remember back in the 80's the little heart on the butt was said to prove it was an "authentic Care Bear," like a mark of certification or something lol. (Probably they just said that to tell a Care Bear from any other teddy bear out there, I'm sure, so that doesn't necessarily apply to the modern run of Care Bears.)

I think LadyMoondancer is right and best bet would be to find a Care Bear forum if one exists? Or try Facebook, there are a bunch of toy collector groups on there. I myself am part of 2 Zelf groups, 1 Monster High group, and 1 Ever After High group. So I'm sure there's a few out there for Care Bear collectors!

[Galactica]

Oh interesting-  my guess would also be fakie-  but maybe prototype?

Although the absence of hearts on the feet makes me inclined to believe fakie is way more likely.   

I don't think there are any active Care Bear forums but I'm SURE there are groups on facebook that could help you.

[mimicsno1fan]

Thanks for all the help guys! Yeah i thought fakie too but the symbol, eyes and nose are exactly the same as my other one??

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Yeah I think it's a Taobao or unofficial product - if it was a prototype, it's still going to have the copyright holder present somewhere on it... 

And yes, the "legitimate" marker for Care Bears is the little red heart.  Without it... I wouldn't assume it's a real Care Bear. 

Plus the lack of "footprints" is also directing me away from thinking it's real.

[Galactica]

Thanks for all the help guys! Yeah i thought fakie too but the symbol, eyes and nose are exactly the same as my other one??

That is easy enough to fake.  There are actually a lot of fakie MLP, Rainbow Brite, Care Bear toys that look VERY close because they can recast those things very easily.

My reasons for thinking it is is an unlicensed toy: 
If it were a prototype, it would not have any tag at all. That is not added until the design is complete.  The only prototypes with tags are factory samples, which are "perfect" samples of every single thing that a toy should have when complete. Usually it is very clearly labeled as such.  Like this:
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Since that bear is missing some VERY critical elements, it could not possibly be a factory standard.  So it shouldn't have a tag if it is a prototype.

Because prototypes used to be (and sometimes still are) hand made, they can actually be missing things like the nose, heart button and eyes if they were trying to provide samples of say fur color or shape.  But it does not make sense for the nose and eyes to be there and not the tush button.

Another reason-  the hearts on the feet are an essential design element of the care-bears that they reached before the tummy designs. So a sample/prototype wouldn't be missing the hearts on the feet unless it were a very early sample- and the fact that it has the belly design indicates it is not.

Also, I am remembering now that someone found some Rainbow Brite plush dolls that also had those partially hand numbered tags. They were made by a Chinese company to fill claw-machine/vending machines.  They were cute but not licensed.

[maycrestmom]

They were made by a Chinese company to fill claw-machine/vending machines.  They were cute but not licensed.

good memory!

I would lean this is the best clue... pokemon plush have a similar situation although in that case sometimes it's the claw machine version that becomes the "rare collectible"  = go figure  my daughter won a claw-version of "Bo" (obama's dog) and I've been debating about whether or not to rehome or stash that thing and wait until it's a bit of history for their kids...

I would agree with the find-a-facebook specialty group to get the carebear lovers input

cool find!

[Sweet_Stuff]

I think it's a fakie.. I'm not an expert by any means, but just from talking to experts and from what I've learned as a member of the FB group..Care Bears Forever in the Kingdom of Caring.." or something like that!

[mimicsno1fan]

Thank you for all the help guys I now think she may be a claw machine fakie but i suppose still cool