What a joy it was at last to find ENGLAND the beanie bear. The thing that was most surprising was to find not just one, but another one with a "variation".

Firstly here are some pictures of the first bear I found. He has a beautiful face and the texture of his fur is not smooth as depicted in the TY pictures. It is a longer fur that is still quite smooth to the touch. I do however feel that it will catch dirt and dust easily so would advise this bear is placed into a display box as soon as it has been purchased as this fabric will soon lose it's sheen and whiteness.

The flag is beautifully embroidered, very close stitching, no gaps anywhere - absolutely perfect. If anyone tries to counterfeit this bear I feel main give away signs will be the stitching of this flag.

The ribbon is just over ¼" wide and isn't satin like many others. It feels a heavier cotton type but is still smooth to the touch, not like cord but does have a ribbed effect if you know what I mean. The edges of the ribbon are crisp and clean cut too.

The first bear I found had the ribbon the same as the TY picture blue, white and red in that order starting with blue at the top. However the second bear I found has the ribbon the other way, red, white and blue, starting with red at the top. As far as I can see there are no other variations on the bear apart from the ribbon. Of course the correct way should be red, white and blue. Is this just a TY error or is it a variation of the ENGLAND bear? - only TY knows and as usual we expect the unexpected!!!!!!!!!!!!!