Bears of the World

In 1992 I got the idea to design a bear which should not only look like a real one, but should be also able to show many different positions of real bears.
I had never seen such a bear before - no wonder it took me some years till I reached my aim in 1995.

These bears are no teddies. They show the proportions of real bears. They are able to stand on two legs as well as on four, to sit, lie or even climb trees (if you let them!)

The legs are jointed but are more pose able by armatures. Instead of a neck-joint the realistic bears have a "spine" from snout to tail, so they can move their head and neck and even bend the back.

	The polars Nanook and Polaris were made in 1995. Nanook was my first realistic bear that hit my aim. Standing on two legs Nanook is 11" (28 cm) tall, her baby Polaris is 4 1/2" (12 cm). Both are made of alpaca. In 1995 Nanook was nominated for the TOBY Award.
	This group of brown bears "Free bears!" were my donation for the Libearty auction in 1997. They are one-of-a-kind and were auctioneered on December 8th at Christie's in London. The bear mother is about 16" (40 cm) tall and her cubs are 8" (20 cm). They are made of alpaca.
	This is a meeting of Junior, the young brown bear and a raccoon. Junior is 6" (15 cm) tall and made of mohair. These animals are nominated for the Toby 2001 industry s choice.
	Bärchen is the name of my life sized newborn bear cub, which I designed in winter 2001 for the contest "We are having a baby" at Teddybär Total in April. The making of the unusual open mouth head design is documented in my CD-Rom.
	This brown bear mother carrying her tiny baby won the Golden George in April 2002 at Teddybear Total.
	My Bear Cub was made and designed for the International Teddybear Relief Fund (ITBRF) in 2005.
	I continued my series "Bears of the World" in 1995/96 with Baribal and Cinnamon, the American black bears. Baribal is 11" (28 cm) tall, Cinnamon and Pocahontas are 5" (12 cm). Both are made of alpaca. These bears got the first prize in the category "realistic bears" in TED-worldwide 2000.
	Each new species of bears needs a special design. It took me some time to get the right shape for the giant panda as I wanted them to be able to bend their back while sitting. This Panda became the high bidder in an internet-auction in May1997 Pixie, the mother panda, is made of wool and alpaca. She is 12" (30 cm) tall. Baby Mo is only 3 1/2" (9cm).
	Selena, the Asiatic black bear, was designed in May 1998 as donation for the Libearty auction, as these bears are the worlds most persecuted bears. Selena is made of alpaca, her paws are made of leather and have sewn toes and claws. Her shoulder height is 4" (10 cm). Standing on two feet Selena is 8" (20 cm) tall.
	Aswail and Jungle Joker, the sloth bears, were designed in 1999. Aswail is made of long piled mohair, her very special snout is made of miniplush. She is 8'' (20 cm) tall, Jungle Joker (who of course is able to walk on his own) is 4'' (10 cm) tall. These bears were nominated for Ted-worldwide 1999
	Ucumari, the spectacled bear, was designed and made in January 2001, the day of the earthquake in El Salvador. Therefore this prototype was auctioneered for the benefit of the earthquake victims. Ucumari is 8" tall (shoulder height 4") and made of alpaca.
	Hela, the sun bear, completes my series of bears of the world. The prototype was made some days before Easter 2001. Hela is 10" tall and made of short piled alpaca, baby Soni is 4" and made of upholstery plush. These bears are Nominated for the TITA-Award 2002.