Build-A-Bear Stuffed Bear: Build a Memory.
Written: Jun 10 '00 (Updated Jan 05 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Entertaining, affordable, and adorable
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Entertaining for adults and children.
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| Mininut's Full Review: Build-A-Bear Stuffed Bear |
I originally heard of the "Build A Bear Workshop" while my family and I was on vacation. A family we met on a dolphin watch had told us of this remarkable place. The problem was that the closest store to us was 5 hours away. Taking advantage of a recent business trip my husband went on, Wayne (my 8-month-old son) and myself tagged along with him. I was so excited to learn that they had recently opened up a Build a bear Workshop in one of the local malls. So off we went.
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When you walk into the store you are immediately greeted by wonderful employees that explain to you how the process works. First you pick a bear or any of the animals available. The animals range from $10.00 - $25.00.
13" Lil Cub $10.00, Classic brown teddy, Baby’s first bear, and Kuddly koala $12.00, Curly bunny, Curly Bear and black Bear $15.00, Bearmy, Floppy Dalmatian, Floppy frog, Floppy cow, Floppy bear, Floppy pony, Floppy kitty, Vintage bear, Floppy monkey, Chubby cubby, and Shaggy dog $18.00, Bunny bigears $20.00, Roly Poly panda and Polar bear $25.00
And the limited edition bear in honor of the 100 year of Teddy’s $22.00 (I chose this one). They add new items every few moths so these will not always be available.
After you pick your bear you have the option to put a voice in him/her.
For $3.00 you get single sayings such as "I love you", "Happy Birthday", "Hold me", or songs like "Lullaby" or, "Happy Birthday".
For $5.00 you get the voice that has 5 sayings, "I love you, Will you play with me? Please take me home, Please pick me up, Will you be my friend?" (This is the one I chose). For $8.00 you can record your own message in your own voice!
After you decide on a voice you move on to pick a heart, your choices are red and white striped or solid red. You take your bear, heart and voice over to the employee sitting at the stuffing machine. The employee instructs you (or your child) how to push the pedal to make the stuffing shoot out and then they proceed to place the bear over the tube and you start pressing away. Once your bear is partially stuffed, you place the voice box where you want it and continue stuffing. They can insert the voice in the arm, leg, tummy or wherever you prefer it to be.
When you are ready to place the heart in the bear, you, your child or both, hold the heart between your hands. You rub the heart till it is nice and warm with love, then you make a wish, turn around three times, kiss the heart and then place it in your bear. Along with the heart a bar code is sewn into your bear and if he is ever lost the address to build a bear is on his tag, and if he is mailed back, Build a Bear will return him to his rightful owner.
After your bear is stuffed and sewn tight you head off to the fluff and brush tub. This is a table that is made to look like a tub, the faucet's shoot out air instead of water and you take the brush and brush and fluff your bear under the air.
Once your bear is fluffed he or she is ready to be dressed; clothing your bear is optional for an additional fee. They have outfits ranging from $8.00 - $15.00 such as wedding gowns, tuxedos, fishing outfits, prom dresses, cheerleading and football outfits, baseball, basketball, tennis, ballet, golf, soccer, pajamas, sweat suits, swim suits, dresses, pants anything you can imagine. They also have accessories such as glasses, canes, hats, panties, ties, shoes, if it is wearable, it is bearable!
Once you have dressed your bear you are off to the computers for naming your new friend. We chose Arthur. Once you name your bear you then scan the tag on your bear into the computer, put your child’s name, the bears name and who gave the child the bear and a birth certificate is then printed out for your new friend. You can also have a story printed out about the bear and who gave it to you for no additional charge.
The birth certificate lists your bears Date of birth, full name, height, weight, fur color, eye color, who he belongs to and who the bear was stuffed by if it was a gift.
When you are finished your new friend is put into a special bear house box and off you go with your buddy. This was a wonderful experience even though Wayne will not remember it, I will. Build A Bear also hosts birthday parties, to find the store nearest you go to http://www.buildabear.com Or you can call 1-877-789 BEAR (2327) this is a great place and I highly recommend it!
Big Smiles and Warm Hugs
Heather aka MiniNut
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Mininut
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Heather
Location: Leander, Texas
Reviews written: 88
Trusted by: 273 members
About Me:
Mother of 4 gorgeous children and survivor of Cervical Cancer.
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