I wanted to explain why I gave away an expensive bear to my new acquaintance. I know I’m pretty new on this tumblr and it seems like it could be a fishy situation, not to mention as a collector I can understand it might seem a little weird to give up something rare like that. I promise there are no ulterior motives or questionable things going on, and there is a reason why I occasionally give bears and other collectibles to people when I know they’re going to appreciate them. Feel free to read the story below if you want the background.
---
When I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s I had a very dearly beloved plush Figment from Epcot. He was one of my first stuffed animals, and from the first trip I ever went on to Florida. I didn’t have him long, but I remember the moment I realized he had disappeared...
My dear Figment plushie was lost or stolen, and there was absolutely no way to get him back. Nobody knew exactly what happened, he was just gone, and there was no way for me to get another one because there was no Ebay. I was a child, and my parents couldn’t contact anyone in Florida if they even wanted to, let alone even afford to pay someone to go to Disneyworld and buy one. I grew up in a fairly low income home, we only went on vacation a couple times for my entire childhood. Disneyworld was not going to happen again for many years and we all knew it!
I was distraught about this plushie for years, wondering what happened to my Figment all the way into adulthood. I retold the story countless times, and I wrote about it on Livejournal, which is where I kinda got my “Sea Legs” for internet collecting spaces. To my surprise, someone who was basically just a passerby on one of my posts - a plushie collector who i was only vaguely acquainted with, who owed me absolutely no time, energy, or item - happened to have the exact rare Figment plushie in his collection. He sent me a picture of it and asked if it was the one, and I was thrilled to have found the right one, thinking I’d finally be able to go find one on my own at some point.
You can probably guess what comes next in this story -- without missing a beat, this nice person offered to just... send him to me. Free. No strings attached. He was clean, in good condition despite being from years ago, and worth decent money... this guy could have made a quick buck on the plush if he desired to! But he was just giving him to me.
I was just... absolutely floored that someone from the internet would be so kind. I was so happy and thankful. and I remember how happy it made the other collector, too... it was just positivity all around.
That’s why I gave the Snow Monster Bear away. I just want to “pay it forward” and I want to help others feel happy in the little ways that I am capable of. ❤️