Mr. Bear the Animated Storyteller

Mr. Bear is an animated cassette player from the 80s that was sold by multiple companies.
The company that originally created Mr.Bear and sold it is unknown. He was created and sold
due to the popularity of Teddy Ruxpin. The toy requires 4 C batteries.

Appearance

Mr. Bear resembles a brown teddy bear with brown eyes and a red and white
checkered bandanna around his neck. He also wears a brown vest with his name
on it. His muzzle, ear insides, and paws are a lighter shade of brown in contrast
to the rest of his body, and the inside of his mouth is pink. He also has a brown
plastic nose.

Functions

Mr. Bear comes with one cassette tape that has two stories, including Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and the Ugly Duckling.
Mr. Bear blinks his eyes and opens and closes his mouth while telling stories.
You can also use Mr. Bear to play other cassettes of your choice.

Different Names & Looks

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Bear was sold with different names. Some of
these bears will have a different name on their vest. Only what appears to
be a French version of the toy is known to have a completely different outfit.

Jabbee

This version was sold by Toyco America. A photo of one with an Italian translation on its
box for a speech bubble exists, but it's not known if Toyco actually sold an Italian version since
this is a toy that was sold by multiple companies. I have seen a Jabbee with a tag that says "Revco"
and a tag which also says "Toyco". I don't know if the two companies are the same.

Mr. Bear

This version was sold by AJF Toys. He has the words "Mr. Bear" on his vest.
Despite having the name "Mr. Bear", the back of his box still refers to him as "Jabbee".

Brummel

Brummel is the name given to the German and Italian version. The Italian version
can also come in a box that says "Jabbee". The Italian version which was sold as
"Brummel" was sold by Furga. I don't know what companies sold the German version as
"Brummel" or the Italian version as "Jabbee".

L'ours Jeremy

The French version of Jabbee Bear. There's not much information
on it, but it has been mentioned in a toy catalogue. Oddly, the Jabbee that appears in it
is missing a name on its vest. Could it be a prototype or a regular
Jabbee with a sample outfit?

"Ours Jeremy"

I can not confirm if this is the correct name for this version of
Jeremy since I found no photos of the box. The photos came from a listing
on toutvendre.fr. Jeremy wears a completely different outfit, including a red-and-white,
striped, long-sleeved shirt with dark blue overalls that have brown buttons.

The outfit is the same as the outfit a bear called "Bobby" wears in an anime called Maple Town Stories. The anime
did have a French dub, and another Teddy Ruxpin knockoff called Gabby Bear was promoted by the franchise
in France. I wonder if this version of Jabbee could have something to do with Bobby.

Brummel (Again)

Yes. AGAIN. An eBay Germany listing referred to this version as "Brummel" and said it
comes with a cassette called "es schneit ......" ("it's snowing ......"). The bear itself looks very different, yet
still similar to Mr. Bear's appearance. He still has his arms open like he's about to hug you, his checkered
bandanna, and his brown vest, but his head isn't as round as it should be, and his snout looks smoother.

Compartment

The compartment also looks different. Brummel has three buttons, two of which are a "stop" button
and a "play" button, what appears to be a switch for the volume, a compartment lid with a tab you need to
push to open it (possibly for the batteries?), and a port (possibly an alternative to using batteries?). Jabbee
does not have a port. Rather than a plastic tab, Jabbee's battery compartment has a small knob you twist to open it,
and a volume knob instead of a switch.

Trademark Information

Toyco America filed a trademark for Jabbee bear on the 22nd of November, 1985. But, another trademark was apparently
filed the same day: "Jabby Bear". A book containing info on trademarks, Official Gazette of the United States Patent
and Trademark Office: Trademarks, Volume 1065, Issue 3, with the trademark information states the trademarks
were first used in commerce on "9-0-1985". This doesn't sound like it makes sense and I don't know what they
mean by this date. Would it mean that the trademarks were first used somewhere in September, 1985?
The book states that BOTH trademarks were used. Does this mean there is a Jabbee which was actually
sold as "Jabby" instead? Or was this filed as a precautionary to prevent another company from trying to
make a copy of Jabbee using the name "Jabby"?

Videos

More Comments

If Toyco originally created Jabbee, then maybe other companies got permission from Toyco
to sell Jabbee in different countries. Or maybe it's just an OEM toy. Though we have Maku bear,
I do wonder if any Chinese-speaking Teddy Ruxpin bootlegs existed in the 80's.