The Boyds Collection Ltd.® began back in 1979 as an Antique Shop in the home of G.M. Lowenthal and his partner, now Wife, Justina Unger. Refugees from the "Rat Race," they had been working in Management at that "Mecca of Merchandising" known as Bloomingdales... when they shucked it all and moved to rural Boyds, Maryland, to start their Own Business. Their great Love of Antiques outweighed their Ability to Purchase... sounds familiar, doesn't it? So instead of "True Antiques" with outrageously High Costs, G.M. and Tina began to search out and sell "Antique Reproductions," with the look and feel of those True Antiques but at more Affordable Prices. Their retail venture proved to be so successful that by 1982 they began to wholesale some of these top-selling Antique Reproductions. Some of their most successful wholesale items were their Antique Reproduction Duck Decoys that ranged from 9" Teal to a giant 3' Whistling Swan. The wholesale part of The Boyds Collection began to flourish as G.M. designed, painted, antiqued, boxed and sold the Duck Decoys (whew!) And Tina handled the customer service, billing, shipping and accounting aspects of their business. Their expanding wholesale product line soon grew to encompass wool Teddy Bears imported from China. In 1984, G.M. - who was more than just a little tired of painting 20,000 duck decoys until 3 a.m. - turned to Resin Sculpting with "The Gnomes Homes," extremely detailed Miniature Houses based on American architecture and his own imagination. About that same time, G.M. designed a fully jointed 100% merino wool Teddy Bear named for his latest "joint venture" with Tina... their newborn son, Matthew. Thus the two partners began what was soon to become a beloved part of The Boyds Collection Ltd. - the Plush designs known far and wide simply as "Boyds Bears."
 
LISTING WEEKLY some of the rarest of BOYDS BEARS COLLECTION
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