All Contents Copyright 1998,1999, 2000, 2001
Janie E. Daniels /Ms. Janie
Hi Ms. Janie,
Thanks for the article on the Patch Britannia. I was the first
one in the States to receive one, and before I got it, I did doubt
it's authenticity. After speaking with the original owner in the
UK, I decided to take a chance on bringing this interesting find
here. When it arrived, It was most carefully examined (having
been in the "beanie business" for so long, I made the
determination that it was indeed a real "oddity" I notified
Joe, Kim and Kevin, Sara, MaryBeth, Elaine Smith and you. I also
provided scans of the bear for each of the above to use. The picture
did appear on several sites and also in the magazine. At the time
of the discovery, I stayed with the "story" and the
bear never did appear in any other city in the UK at that time,
it seemed localized. The estimates at that time were somewhere
between 50 and 100 bears actually delivered to Ty retailers. There
was DEFINITELY a Ty recall. I remember that the retailers received
written communication asking them to return the wayward bear to
Ty at his expense. I do know that many store owners complied.
Remember, beanies were just hitting the UK at that time and the
store owners were doing everything that Ty requested of them.
I never contacted by source again for another bear to sell, I
only bought the first one out of beanie curiosity for the community
at large and it has been in a box somewhere in my house since
that time, but I sure do remember all of the hullabaloo that surrounded
the find!!
Hope this information helps!!
Blessings,
Linda
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Ms. Janie,
I enjoy your newsletter and the valuable information you share
with us readers. I have a question or comment to make on your
britannia article.
Do you realize that the authenticators' view differs on this bear?
I am wondering why you chose Peggy for your article? Personally
I knew the information you provided but it does bother me that
there are different ways of looking at a real britannia patch
bear. Now I'll ask you to please elaborate. I mean that in a nice
way.
Mark
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Hi Mark,
First off please know that I had very little information regarding these bears and that is why it was so important to me to find out everything I could.
Peggy had asked me to post a note a few weeks ago that she was now authenticating sewn on patch Britannia's and that's why I contacted her. I have heard rumors that the authenticators view differ on this bear but not knowing anything about it myself I had to rely on what Peggy shared with me.
I purposely did not ask Peggy to authentic a photo of the actual bear because in my opinion it would have been too difficult to determine its authenticity. In my experience I have found that holding a bear in my hand and being able to compare the material and other aspects allows me to give more of an opinion than just viewing a photo. I did feel confident in having her view scans of the tag as the lettering was clear and simply to view for an honest opinion.
The reason I asked ryebypost for tag scans is because I personally do not own a sewn on patch Britannia and knew that they sold them on their site. Although Peggy does own a sewn on patch Britannia she does not have a digital camera and therefore could not offer scans for the article.
I am NOT suggesting that you or anyone else run out and purchase this bear from any site. In my opinion there is still a lot that needs to be learned. My main purpose for writing the article was to at least open the eyes of the collector, inform them of this bear and allow them to view authentic tags. Other than that the jury is still out! Please know that as information becomes available I will continue to update my readers and they can determine for themselves what information they deem as reliable. For now, all I have is what I have shared and what few notes have come in through e-mail. Here's hoping we are able to dissect this bear in bits and pieces and finally end this controversy once and for all! LOL
Ms. Janie
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Hello,
I found after hearing of your quest, from Rye in an email, that
what I read must have been the most interesting read I`ve had
in a long time.
I myself collect beanies, I don`t sell, but then maybe I should,
it`s getting very crowded here now, I hope you will keep us all
posted on any new upcoming`s and I`ll be checking back frequently
so I don`t miss a thing.
I have been checking my collection and I appear to own one of
the Britannia`s and you are quite right they are ugly looking
thing`s compared to the newer version with a thinner head and
a double chin also one leg is longer than the other, while one
arm points east because it is stitched too low down under it`s
arm pit, there are numerous imperfections if you compare it to
embroidered version but at the same time it`s lovely, "one
of a kind".
Diane W (UK)
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I found it interesting that my two favorite sites yourself and Beanewonderland, have both recently picked up on the issue of fake sewn on patch Britannia Beanie Baby Bears. I wondered if you would care to elaborate a little further, I mean, is there any reason for this. You state that "I have recently encountered a situation", is this a situation you would care to share...
Do you feel it is possible to authenticate a beanie from a picture, if so then why is this not a service offerd by Peggy?
Graham
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Hi Graham,
It's rather pretty simple as to why I chose to write about sewn on patch Britannia's. I needed to educate myself because I was tired of having collectors ask questions and me not being able to find answers on this bear.
I asked ryebypost ONLY because I knew they sold the bear. Their shared scans were good enough for Peggy to be able to authenticate the tags. There are no photos posted of the bear itself because it would be too difficult to authentic a bear by a photo.
Thanks for your question,
Ms. Janie
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Ms. Janie,
I have a feeling that I have purchased a fake sewn on patch britannia
from a secondary seller. What do I do and how can you help me.
Marty
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Hi Marty,
I would contact the seller immediately and request an authenticated replacement or a full refund.
Good luck,
Ms. Janie
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Ms. Janie,
I have a situation that I would like your opinion on. I purchased
a sewn on patch britannia from ryrbypost because it was reasonably
priced. I had it authenticated by two different people who gave
two different opinions. How will I ever know which one is right?
Also I would like to make a comment if I may; ryebypost offered
a link into your article in their newsletter. It apears to me
that if they had sold fakes either knowingly or not they would
not have exposed themselves the way the did. The reason I say
this is because I know that some people question their pricing
on these bears and just assume that they are fakes, do you care
to comment on this.
Anonymous
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Dear Anonymous,
You bring up some rather good points and I'm not sure I can answer
them. I am not an authenticator and therefore can not speak on
their behalf. I will say that it has become public record that
not only are these bears ugly they do differ in appearance. This
may be the reason for all of the confusion. To be 100% honest
I simply do not know. I did receive a couple of notes from other
collectors asking the same question.
Ryebypost was generous enough to supply a contest winner with a sewn on patch Britannia. When I first viewed the bear I was a little uncomfortable BUT not knowing much about it I could not speculate. I did write to them about my concern and was told that in fact the bears are ugly but that it was real. I had no reason to doubt them and had no information to base an opinion or discussion on.
Many seem to be so infatuated with this bear so I will elaborate a little further what triggered this article other than educating others and myself.
When the contest winner received her bear she was very excited. It wasn't until recently that beaniewonderland posted a blurb about fake Britannia's and placed a link back into my page for their viewers to read that she became concerned.
She viewed that page and immediately contacted me. She claimed that the bear she had in her possession was not real and obviously was pretty upset.
Her e-mail sent me on a frantic
search for the truth! It wasn't until later that I realized she
had viewed a FAKE Britannia page and NOT a fake sewn on patch
Britannia page. When I informed her of my findings she admitted
that she did not even know there was a sewn on patch Britannia.
Unfortunately I could not shed much light on the subject because
I myself did not have any information on this bear.
It was then that I decided to finally do something about this.
Although I was aware of this bear and the controversy surrounding
it, I had very little information to share.
I immediately contacted Peggy and ryebypost for help and the rest is history. I am also happy to announce that the person who obtained this bear now understands that there are two versions and I have promised to have it authenticated to help ease her mind. In the mean time I have shipped her my Britannia to help keep her company until the authentication process takes place.
I can tell you that it's a horrible feeling when things go wrong and I feel helpless and unable to help others. I have viewed this as a valuable lesson and will to the best of my ability try to continue to learn everything possible on these little critters. I will also clearly be marking the Britannia page so that NOBODY else becomes confused in the future.
Ms. Janie