#1264: Maximillian

Species: Bear

Sub-Species: Teddy

Date of Adoption: 19 April 2024

Today, on a whim, I decided to see if there were any more charity shops in the Doncaster area, and discovered there was The Hanger, a shop in aid of the Children’s Air Ambulance charity. So I caught the bus out to the place, and found there was another charity shop, in aid of Scope, that hadn’t shown up on Google Maps! I didn’t have any luck at the Scope shop this time around, but The Hanger came out swinging!

They were selling kids’ toys at 4 for £1 – not just plushies – and I found that, on the upper floor, there was a big bin full of plushies, of all kinds of sizes, and still only 25p each on average!

The first of my four adoptions is this rather resplendent bear with a bow tie, that I decided to call Maximillian – a fancy chap needs a fancy name, I fancy 😛 He’s originally from Marks & Spencer, and was part of their “Connoisseur Bear” collection; couldn’t find a copyright date, though, so I don’t know how old he is.

As well as the swanky-looking label on his lower right paw, he’s also got a button on his back:

I’m very inclined to wonder if the designer was trying to emulate the Steiff “button in ear” trademark, but also avoiding putting it in his ear, to avoid lawsuits 😆

Something that struck me about Maximillian is that his pose is very reminiscent of Captain America’s “So, you got detention” scene that became a meme 😆 “So, you got put on the naughty step…” 😛