Golden Bear Products Ltd. is a British toy manufacturing company that was formed in 1979 by John Hales and Christine Nicholls. Golden Bear operates from its headquarters in

Telford, Shropshire Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

and opened an office in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 2001.

Products

The company has sold a broad range of licensed and branded products including ''

Thomas and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'', My 1st JCB, ''

Charlie and Lola Charlie and Lola are fictional children created by the English writer and illustrator Lauren Child in 2000. They were introduced in a series of picture books and later adapted as animated television characters. Lola is an energetic and imagina ...

'', ''

Pingu ''Pingu'' is a stop-motion children's television series co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It was originally produced from 1990 to 2000 by Swiss company The Pygos Group (originally called Trickfilmstudio) for SF DRS in Switzerlan ...

'', '' Noddy'', ''

Peppa Pig ''Peppa Pig'' is a British preschool animated television series by Astley Baker Davies. The show follows Peppa, an anthropomorphic female piglet, and her family, as well as her peers portrayed as other animals. The show first aired on 31 Ma ...

'', '' Brum'', ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with hi ...

'', ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'', ''

Dora the Explorer ''Dora the Explorer'' is an American children's animated television series and multimedia franchise created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, went on hiatus on June 5, 20 ...

'', ''

Hana's Helpline Calon (Welsh for 'heart') is the trading name of Mount Stuart Media Ltd., a British animation television production company based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, which primarily produced animation series in Welsh language, Welsh for S4C. The ...

'', ''

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom ''Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom'' is a British preschool animated television series. The show was created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, and produced by Astley Baker Davies and Entertainment One (the companies responsible for ''Peppa Pig'' ...

'', ''

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

'' and ''

Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on th ...

''. They also produce new properties, like

Bush Baby World Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** G ...

. "My First Thomas & Friends" is a range of chunky plastic toys. The range started in c.1994, and was advertised for young infants who enjoyed the series. The models were safe for younger fans to play with, and included most of the major and minor characters from the TV Series. The company also acquired the rights to sell the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic mascots

Wenlock and Mandeville Wenlock is the official mascot for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and Mandeville is the official mascot for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, both held in London, England, United Kingdom. Named after Much Wenlock and Stoke Mandeville, they were creat ...

. In 2012 the company also launched a range of pre-school vehicles under the brand name Go MINI which was officially licensed by BMW MINI. They also launched a range of Something Special toys featuring the popular BBC character Mr Tumble.

Buying direct from Golden Bear

In 2008, Golden Bear launched a website
www.goldenbeartoys.com
where consumers can buy directly from Golden Bear online. This website features the whole catalogue, plus Special Offers, competitions and activities.

Current brands and products

* ''

Bing Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a varie ...

'' related products (2019–present) * ''

Hey Duggee ''Hey Duggee'' is a British animated educational preschool television series aimed at two to five year olds. Created by Grant Orchard, it is produced by Studio AKA, in association with BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide). The show is narrated b ...

'' related products (2015–present) * '' In the Night Garden...'' related products * '' JCB'' related products * '' Love Monster'' related products (2020–present) * '' Something Special'' Related Products * Sassimals *

* Windy Bums * ''

Twirlywoos Ragdoll Productions is a British television production company founded in 1984 by Anne Wood, who had previously worked for Yorkshire Television and TV-am. It is located in Stratford-upon-Avon, and has produced a number of children's program ...

'' related products (2015–present)

Historic brands and products

* '' Brum'' related products * ''

'' related products * ''

Chuggington ''Chuggington'' (also known as ''Chuggington: Tales from the Rails'' since series six) is a British computer-animated children's television series aimed at toddlers, produced by Ludorum PLC (Series 1–5) and Herschend Entertainment Studios ( ...

'' related products * ''

Driver Dan's Story Train ''Driver Dan's Story Train'' (Arabic: كابتن كريم وقطار الحكايات, ''Captain Karim Qitar Al Hekayat'' (''Captain Karim and the Story Train'')) is a children's series created and designed by Rebecca Elgar and is a co-producti ...

'' related products (2011) * ''

'' related products * ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' related products (now owned by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

) * ''

Woolly and Tig ''Woolly and Tig'' is a British series of 5-minute live action comedies about a five-year-old girl (Tig) and her toy spider called Woolly. Woolly and Tig is also available on BBC iPlayer for over a year. The character of Tig is played by three yea ...

'' related products

External links

Golden Bear Toys corporate website

References

Toy companies of the United Kingdom Toy companies established in 1979 Companies based in Shropshire 1979 establishments in England {{Toy-company-stub