Please meet Zane, a very large Gund plush teddy bear

Please meet Zane, a very large Gund teddy bear.   He's unusual for me, because I didn't name him.   That's his family name, selected by the people at Gund somewhere in suburban New Jersey.   I'm sure there are many Zanes out there, but as we all know, each teddy bear is unique and has their own specific personality.  He is made out of a cuddly tan plush and has suede paw pads.   When he stands up, he's an impressive 21 inches tall.  He's not jointed, so he's nice and huggable.   He weighs almost two pounds, but for such a large bear, that's awfully light.  He has the sweetest face.

Zane was a gift to me from a dear friend.   She was actually the one who got me interested in bear collecting.   She's a major Steiff devotee.   When we moved far away from her, she and some other friends came to visit us for lunch after we settled into our new home.   She walked in with a huge tote bag, and Zane was peeking out at me.   It was such a wonderful surprise!

Zane was shy at first, but after a few days, he became really comfortable in his new surroundings.   He was a bit nervous when my friend took him off the shelf at the store.   He didn't know where life would take him.   Once he saw my bear hug though, he was very excited and fit right in with all the other teds.    I remember being woken up by their shenanigans on a hot summer night, and when I peeked around the corner into the bear room, there was Zane, telling the others one of his tall tales.   He has always been a very demonstrative bear.   Then one day he was lounging around watching TV, when he found a chess match on one of the higher cable channels.   He became obsessed!   He tried explaining chess to the other bears, but their brains are full of fluff and they just didn't see the point.   It's not that they didn't like Zane.   They did!   Some of the bears would set up a board and play with him, but since he always arrived at checkmate so easily, the others weren't so keen on participating.   It turns out the rest of the hug preferred checkers.


Zane ended up moving to Washington State a few years ago.   He lives in a small town, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else.  He loves it there.  No kidding, there's an amateur chess club that meets once a week at the local high school.   He lives with a young family now and entertains the two children with his exciting teddy bear stories.   He sent me a postcard about his new young friends just the other day.   He's teaching them both how to play chess.