The hell that is Build-a-Bear.

[Orangeanddemons]

Because it is he'll.

A queue that doesn't move. At. All.
Just when the queue seems to get smaller you realise that the family in front has 3 children to do.
The yoofs who stuff them. Clearly on minimum wage
The joy of creating the birth certificate whilst a million other people are shoving and pushing round you.
The queue for the till. As above.
The joy of receiving the birth certificate and noting that it is signed by the founder. Who is raking it in. A charming touch.

Just....

[Jude89]

I very nearly got a job a tbabf but I failed their psychological assessment.

It asked questions such as "do you think people are always good" and had a scale of 1 to 5 for answering.

I think I probably had a lucky escape, although exploding bears sounds hilarious!

[NoComet]

Our bears (cat, rabbit and snowman) are amongst the most loved and played with toys in the house. I confess even I have a bear.

Unlike sodding Barbies - that went in the bin, they are cuddly, their hair doesn't fuzz, their clothes don't rip and best of all.

A child can dress and undress them themselves!

[DumSpiroSperHoHoHo]

I was very about BaB until DD got one just before her 7th birthday at a friend's party.

We've had 'Vanessa' for 2.5 years now and made umpteen visits to our local store (Brighton) who have always been nothing less than brilliant.

Our original bear was stolen whilst we were on holiday - called them to try and engineer surreptitious replacement for when we got home and they sorted out the correct bear and outfit ready for MIL to collect.

She's been restuffed and restitched free of charge and the staff regaled with endless tales of her exploits.

They also did everything they could to help us locate the matching Smallfry which DD had set her heart on just as it was discontinued.

We have pretty much exhausted the novelty value now and probably won't be visiting so much now but Vanessa is still DD's first port of call when she's tired, poorly or upset so all in all I guess it's been time and money well spent .

[YankNCock]

I swore I'd never go back there, but if you could guarantee me an exploding bear, I'd do it.

[Skrifa]

at exploding teddy.

My DFriend is an ex stuffer. One woman was buying a BaB as a teddy for her ex husband (yes, shelling out the cash for all that). She named it Bastard. And didn't rub the heart. (DFriend appeared more shocked by the not rubbing the heart then the name thing ). I mean, can't you just tell your ex that/email that/show that? Why shell out on a kid teddy bear?

[Panzee]

I just find the whole idea, I don't know, a bit ... Silence of the Lambs?

[Gladvent]

Crying proper tears at 'Bastard'. One of our bears is named Michael Jackson and I thought that was inappropriate but Bastard is a whole new level!

[Jenny70]

We had a lucky BaB escape on New Years Day - We went to fix a poorly reindeer, and my blood ran cold at the suggestion that I may need to replace it with another and join the queue of hell (some 20+ people long), but fortunately someone stitched it up and she looks as good as new.

But I was amazed at the number of people queuing for stuffings... and most with accessories to boot - maybe our economy will be revived on the backs of the build a bears!

[sashh]

Skrifa

Maybe she is going to torture it like Alan B'Stard in the new statesman

[FamiliesShareGerms]

DS loved his Build-a-Bear party when he was five, as did all the other friends. They were there at the very start of the day and were the only ones in the shop and they treated them all so well. Also great re keeping to the budget we set ahead.

Best bit of the party? No party bag needed...

[Spinkle]

We love Build a Bear. But we never go on busy days.

My DS (9) has ASD and never liked soft toys much. We took him in there and the staff were lovely with him (sometimes I have to have a quick word about his ASD but didn't on this occasion) He built a bear! Small thing to parents with average kids but meant the world to us. That bear is now very very important to him and he goes everywhere with him and is his good friend.

So to us Build a Bear is a very positive thing.

[LuciusMalfoyisSmokingHot]

That exploding bear has made laugh so much.

Put seriously, i hate build a bear, expensive, crowded and crap.

[oldgrandmama]

Oh, grrrrrr ... took two of the grandkids to a famous toy store. Said they could choose something each, price limit a tenner. Then grandkid one saw the Build a Bear concession and that was it ... both little girls were desperate for one of the bloody things. So I weakened (said it would be early Christmas present). Older girl chose a bear, sparkly shoes, roller skates (!), frock. Her little sister was taken with a sodding thing that was meant to be a unicorn. Of course she wanted the clothes, shoes, roller skates ...

By now I was worn out (I'm in my seventies, dodgy hips), so I asked the Build A Bear assistant to help select dress for the unicorn (she was a very nice girl, by the way). We grabbed one of the dresses she showed us, then queued up for stuffing, birth certificate, thing that makes the animal 'speak', god knows what else. Cost of the things eyewatering and I was toying with saying they were not just early Christmas presents, but birthday presents too (I didn't).

Got the kids and toys back. Older child dressed her bear, very happy with it. BUT there was NO way we could get the dress onto the unicorn - it just wouldn't work. I had to tell child that that's how unicorns wear clothes (I had to sort of lay dress on its back, with hoofs forced through two sleeves) and don't think she was convinced, even though she's only three.

I did think of taking unicorn and dress back to store but couldn't face it.

[MadeOfStarDust]

my girls were very sensible - "Bears don't wear clothes - how would they do the buttons up??"

So we have 2 bears that growl but don't wear clothes (other than the babygrows they had when little if "pretending")

[VikingVagine]

I remember a thread a while back discussing a site where you could order a package for birthday parties (a load of ready to stuff toys and accessories to do at home), a quick google search hasn't been fruitful, can anyone remember the name?

[VikingVagine]

Oh, found it!

[womblesofwestminster]

Yeah, the exploding bears are one thing, but WTF is up with the prices???!!!

I wanted a MLP but I'm not paying £40 for one.

[Tubemole1]

Exploding bear!

So sorry but that's an image which will stay with me a long time!

[TheNightIsDark]

DD has Pinkie Pie. It's lovely

Naked though. As a pony should be.

[GhostsInSnow]

We were in LA when DD discovered BAB. This presented us with a couple of issues. 1. She had lots of money she'd saved up 2. She loved the place.

Between LA, San Deigo and Vegas she cleaned out all the BAB's to the point we had to buy an additional suitcase to get the bloody stuff back. Katie the Panda had pirate outfits and mouse ears from Disneyland, Anaheim Angels baseball outfits and even a ruddy car.
She's 16 now, Katie still sits on the end of her bed and every now and again she'll change her outfit.

I spent more time in BAB USA than anywhere else so for that reason alone YANBU.

[Purplepoodle]

Went in one when it first opened near where we live with ds1,2 in tow, in buggy so must have been quite young.

Little creeped out by unstuffed toys, then looked at the prices for outfits ect, eyes watered and made a swift exit. No soft toy is worth that amount of money.

Sorry exploding bear made me laugh but probably so awful for your dd at the time.

Beating heart?!? Now I'm just creeped out.

[WireCatGlitteryBaubles]

Oh my god, Build a Bear is HELL.

I was in the Westfield Stratford branch at the end of November.

My ds2 loves Pudsey Bear so I decided to get him one for Christmas.

Joined the queue.

There was also a children's party going on. On the shop floor. Very noisy.

They then shut one of the 2 stuffing stations to use for the party. The people in front had loads of bears. And the stuffers did all the usual questions etc...

But the assistants were also going up & down the queue trying to add extras to the bears, like sounds and stuff. The woman in front was getting quite annoyed as she didn't want any extras but her boy was enticed.

By the time we left the shop, I was a sweaty lump & needed a drink.

Every time I go to the shop I say it's the last time I will ever go.

It was worth it though, ds2 loves his Pudsey.

[VoodooChimp]

6 yo DD loves her Build A Bear teddies but I agree the shop is hellish and the clothes are overpriced.

Top tip for BAB fans: you can get clothes and accessories from Argos that fit the Build a Bear teddies perfectly, and are loads cheaper especially in the sale. They're called design a bear.

[makemineabacardi]

FIL bought DD a build-a-bear for her birthday but without any clothes cheapskate. Now every time we walk past the bloody shop she starts pestering about her 'poor naked teddy'. I refuse to set foot in there even if secretly I'd love a My Little Pony .

And the bastard (bear, not FIL) has a small hole in it. How close it must have come to exploding...

[notallwhowander]

Tu