Hello! I'm Henry - Mark's favourite bear... I was given to him by his sister for his 21st birthday.
Incidentally, the nightclothes you see me wearing weren't bought for me - they are part of me, as are Rosie and Jim, my bunny slippers. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time dozing, or just flat out sleeping :)
But enough about me - here are some of my friends:
 Pumpkin, a cute likkle yellow Fruit Drops bear. He loves to use the Internet with Mark - and here's a picture of him peering into Mark's old webcam. Hello world! |
 Strawberry, a cute Valentine's bear. Sweet little horns, and carrying a big red heart. He's got very soft fur, too... |
 Humbug, a cool stripy cat from Debenhams. Unusual design, because he has no paws, but he does have a delightful tail which curls around his body. |
 Guy, a black guide dog puppy (Guy Dog, get it?). Mark won him from the Folkestone Carnival, probably in 1999. Unfortunately, with him being black, and having black eyes and facial features, you can't really see him very well - but I assure you that he's very cute! |
 Y2K, one of two "Millennium Bug"-type creatures bought for Mark for Christmas 1999. Blue, bug-eyed (naturally), and with "Y2K Bugzz" on his yellow belly. The other one is... |
 Bugger, and it's a wonder he survived through to Christmas - he was in a tin can! A little black bug (about 4 inches long), with an M on one wing, and a B on the other. Fortunately, Bugger and his "partner-in-crime" didn't really seem to get up to much when 2000 came around... |
 Charmin was a gift from Mark's mum - as the name might suggest, he was the featured promotion from Charmin toilet roll... if anything he's probably even softer than the paper product! |
 Val, a very colourful little elephant (and the picture doesn't really do him justice) was a Valentine's gift during 2000. |
 Tiger and Spock, two toys from the 2000 Canon/World Wide Fund for Nature promotion. In the case of Tiger, Mark was given him by a sales rep, while Spock was rescued from Staples Ashford, because the poor little fellow's eyes are uneven, and Mark thought no one would want him... Why Spock? Mark's lame joke, I'm afraid - the animal's full name is Leopard Nimoy! |
 Four of the dragons in the menagerie - from left to right, Scorch (originally intended for Mark's mum, but Mark kept it for himself - turned out his mum didn't like Scorch anyway), Flit, bought from a Barnardo's shop in Ashford, Flame and her daughter Flicker. |
 This happy puppy is Smiffy - Mark can't remember where he got him from (that's what age does for you, bear fans), but he's such an unusual - and large! - doggy, and just so cute! |
 Peter became available through a 1998 promotional offer by Thornton's, one of the UK's leading confectionery retailers. Peter usurped Alton (see below) as Mark's bedside bear, until his place was taken... by me! Although you can't really see it, the scarf - which came with Peter - says his name at each end. |
 Nipper is quite a mischievous little lobster - he does enjoy playfully nipping people... Bears don't escape, either - my poor little nose has been caught on more than one occasion! Although a little boisterous, he does behave when told... eventually... |
 The "place bears" - so called because their name is based on the places from which they were bought. From left to right, Alton from Alton Towers (Peter's predecessor as "bed bear"), Forrest from Leicester Forest East Services, and Ashford from Ashford, Kent - he has a little T-shirt with "ASHFORD The Garden of England" on it. |
 Monty and Hope, two cute little monkeys. Mark seems to recall that he got Monty from Folkestone (though he isn't certain), while Hope, with his little heart, was a gift. Mark chose the name Hope because he sits and looks up with a hopeful expression on his face. Awwww... |
 Mark loves getting hugs, especially from his mum, and so he called this cuddling duo Sandra (the larger bear) and Mark. |
 This cute bear, given to Mark by Michelle for Christmas 2001, is called Kane because of the candy cane on his woolly jumper! |
 Some of Mark's "Reindeer Brigade"... if Santa was a little short-handed (or short-hooved!) on Christmas Eve, then he knows where to come! From the left, we have Red Rudy (a Sainsbury's promo deer - the first incarnation didn't have a cute red nose); Mark can't recall what he called the second reindeer (but then he does have a lot of cuddly animals!); then there's Plum, who probably looks most like a real-life reindeer; and the big reindeer on the right is Wibba - his proper name is Wilbur, but Mark had a tendency to refer to him as Wibba, so it stuck! |
  Sherbet the crocodile was bought by Mark for just 20p from a car boot sale... He's quite unusual in that he's pink, with a yellow underside - in the right-hand picture, Sherbet's obligingly rolled over so you can see for yourself. |
 Maisy, a cute green mouse, was given to Mark for Christmas by his parents. |
  Gracee, a gift from Michelle for Christmas 2001, is quite a charming bear - not only does she carry a little parcel (which actually opens up so you can put something inside if you want to), but as you can see in the right-hand picture, you can see her angel wings... |
  Michelle gave these to Mark - a pair of Kiss Kiss bears that Mark decided to call Little Mark and Little Michelle! They're called Kiss Kiss Bears because they have little magnets in their noses - so when they get close enough, their magnets pull them into a kiss! |
 Flecks, one of Ty's range of "non-beanie" bears, given to Mark by Michelle by Christmas 2000. Unfortunately, you can't really see properly from the picture, but her name comes about from the little shiny gold and green flecks on her fur. |
 Footix was the mascot for the French soccer World Cup in 1998, and Mark thought he was especially cute, collecting all kinds of merchandise featuring the little cockerel. Here you can see no less than three cuddly Footix toys - there's a fourth, a beanie toy, which is a collector's item and was worth around £120 when Mark bought him from a Beanie Fair. |
 This is Flip, a sweet little froggy keyring bought for Mark by his sister Vicki. The picture's come out a little weird, though, because he's a much paler blue than that. Mind you, you can still see how cute he is... |
 Harty was bought from the British Heart Foundation shop in Sheffield... Mark wanted to get Michelle a Christmas present, and decided he wanted one for himself, too! He's got really soft fur, and in the middle of his tummy, he has a big red heart. |
 Three of the four McDonald's/Ty Teenie Beanie Babies that Mark owns. He knows that the worm at the back is called Inch but he can't remember the names of the other two... |
 The fourth Teenie Beanie Baby. Again, Mark's not sure of the name... |
 Margate, a coastal resort in Kent, England, was the place Magic came from. He doesn't come out of the top hat, but the whole thing tinkles when you rock it from side to side! |
 Miss You Bear, from the Forever Friends collection. Mark was given this as a gift. |
 Mark can't remember how he got Dolf - he seems to think he got it from his parents, though. |
 Bertie is another bear like me, permanently sporting pyjamas, but he's not as large, and doesn't have bunny slippers... Still a nice bear, once you get to know him... |
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 Lavender the lamb was found at Sainsbury's supermarket in Ashford, Kent, reduced to half price because her noise-maker didn't work. Mark reckoned she'd be left all alone without someone to care for her, so he rescued her for £2.50... The soppy bugger :) |
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