|  |  | |  | |  In 1975, three years after Gabrielle Designs first started making their Paddingtons in the UK, Eden Toys acquired the North American rights to produce a Paddington Bear soft toy.
The original Eden Bears were noticeably different to their British counterparts. First of all, the bears themselves were much softer as they were designed to appeal to a younger market and secondly, the first Eden bears were all sold wearing a pale blue duffle coat, yellow hat and no boots.
In due course Eden Toys found that the appeal of Paddington spanned a far broader age range than they had originally anticipated and so they diversified their range accordingly, eventually  introducing a standing, booted version, red and blue colour combinations, a Paddington dressed in yellow slicker and sou’wester and others dressed in outfits such as a doctor, golfer, baseball, soccer and tennis player.
Eden, who manufactured their bears in the far East, were able to make them in much larger quantities than the ones made by Gabrielle Designs in the UK and so in due course they sold them throughout the World. However, not all Eden bears were made in large numbers and they also made a number of their designs in limited editions.
In 1998 Eden llc (formerly Eden Toys) ceased trading and so it is no longer possible to buy new versions of their bears. However a new plush licence was recently granted to the American company Yottoy who have introduced a delightful 10" version of Paddington to their range of plush. |
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Eden
