Nylon plush Care Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear, made in Korea by Kenner in 1983

Soft toy bear with movable arms and legs designed to be placed in a seated position, primarily of pink nylon plush. The body front, nose and mouth area, inner ears and paw pads are of white nylon plush. There is a red and gold double heart stitched design in a panel on its front. The white foot paw pads are heart shaped. The mouth is a pink stitched line extending into a smile. The nose is a purple plastic heart shape. The eyes are brown, pink and white plastic. The eyebrows are two dark pink stitched lines. There is a tuft of pink nylon hair tied down at the top of the head. There is a short tail and a red plastic heart shape placed to the right of this with the Care Bears logo in white on it. There is a white label printed in red sewn into the right bottom seam.

Given by the Palitoy Company

Part of the Palitoy Archive

Historical significance: One of the very first Care Bears to be made. They were not commercially available in Britain until 1984

Reason For Production: Retail

Care Bears started life in 1981 as characters on greetings cards produced by the American Greetings Cards Corporation. They proved so popular that they were soon transformed into a television cartoon series with spin-off soft toys and miniatures. Initially there were ten bear characters which grew to eighteen (nine male and nine female). There are also eleven Care Bear Cousins (six male and five female). Other merchandise included nursery items such as rattles, clocks and toothbrushes. The Care Bears appeared in print in story books and annuals and could be heard on audio tapes and vinyl records.

B.1482-1999