A Deep Dive Into Build-a-Bear

As a poorer child growing up build a bear was a very sentimental part of my childhood. I got my first one at a girl scouts birthday party, and while we couldn't afford the insanely priced clothing we would get thrift shop doll clothing and even found an officially licensed baby carrier at one so I could carry my bear around too. My fondest memories wildly is the bearville MMO--I never had the cool items but the entire world was so cozy and filled with charm I spent a lot of hours there. The first and only time I ever went on a date with a guy was on there--he just asked me out, I said sure and we silently watched our bears play for like ten minutes. I thought for a bit that was just what all dates were like LOL

You didn’t mention the iconic giant cardboard houses you got to take your bears home in! My parents made it in into a closet for the clothes by attaching a wooden dowel and it was super cute 😋 You would sometimes see kids walking through the mall with the carriers and you would know they were lucky enough to have gotten a Build-a-Bear 🤪

As someone that worked as a Bear Builder during Pay Your Age, I can tell you it was absolute CHAOS. It was like Black Friday but basically on crack. Because it was ANY of our bears, we lost so much fucking money because we sold $50 for $1. And people brought FAMILIES of multiple people and we literally had to tell them we ran out of stuffing for the bears because we were so exhausted. The fire marshall literally had to cut the line at the mall I worked at. It was so bad. At least we got overtime 🤷🏼‍♀️

ex build a bear employee here!! it’s such an interesting job honestly i can’t tell you how bizarre it is. you’ll go from the sweetest little kids one moment, to absolute nightmares the next, to recording someone’s dying words for a memorial bear straight after. as fun as the job was i was always emotionally exhausted when i clocked out 😮‍💨

I had my 16th birthday party at build a bear this year. My friends said it was the best birthday party they’d been to, and the employees said we were a breath of fresh air from all the crazy little kids they’d had to deal with. Id brought in a prepaid vault pumpkin kitty shell id bought shortly after their rerelease, and because I’d already paid for it, I got to pick a second bear. I picked a mimikyu Pokémon plush. Afterwards, every kid who’d gone to the party brought their bears to school and showed them off. It was awesome. I named my pumpkin kitty Jonny, and he is my beautiful baby son.

bulid a bear employee here! This vids awesome just to clear some things up, Nintendo is incredibly anal about how we sell their bears, like we cannot recommend sense or sounds and some of the Pokémon come pre-stuffed ( it’s actually a sign of someone stole a bear if certain Pokémons are unstuffed) But build-A-Bear you own if it’s ripped or needs new stuffing, bring it to a store and we will fix it for you! I’m happy to answer any questions bab questions I’m really happy to see other fans online :3 ( little update thx 4 likes! id like to preface im speaking on behalf of my own experince at bab! it GREATLY varies person to person, but every employees experience is vaild and please repect them. bab is a franchised company so it differs store to store!)

As a kid, we couldn't afford build-a-bear (or my mom just didn't want to waste money on it) but I always wanted one. I'm just happy that the store near my house still is modeled after the original store design. I'm definitely going to go make one when I have the spare money.

I used to work at Friends 2B Made and had no idea it was originally a rival company. The store was physically connected to a build a bear, we shared employees, and I got a discount at both places.

As someone who learned how to sew plushies partially bc of the insane costs of these places I love being able to say "We got Build a Bear at home!"

I've been buying Build a Bears for 16 years and I absolutely love them <3 I remember playing Bearville and I've been in the Bearville Rewritten Discord for over a year! I still get giddy and excited every time I go into a BABW Your research was perfectly done

So my past two birthdays, when i turned 20 and 21, I went to build a bear. When I turned 20 i went with my boyfriend and it was incredible. It was early in the day in May so there was no one else in there but the two of us and an employee. She was the absolute sweetest person ever. I had gotten the frog and made it scented like strawberries and the employee was telling us stories about her late mother and how she used to collect anything frog related. My boyfriend also left a message in my frog telling me he loved me. It was such a wholesome and wonderful experience, my frogs name is Charlotte, she wears a pink dress with green leaves and I love her dearly. My second one was the opposite vibe I was in a large crowded store with my boyfriend and closest friends when I made Donnie. Donnie is an opossum. I am from New York and they have exclusive items so donnie is wearing timbs, a white tangtop, jeans, he got the snapback cap and shades, and a gold chain. He is scented like cotton candy because he smokes nicotine. He is overstuffed, hes huge. An absolute menace. i would die for donnie

I use to collect build a bears, I played bearville as kid, and I had my 8th birthday party at build a bear and they gave me a bear everyone at party had signed including my beloved Grandpa who passed in 2017. For that I’m forever grateful.

I had a build-a-bear from my Dad where he sang me a little song, and I friggin' got rid of it when I got rid of all my teddies. One of the few things I truly regret keeping 😢

I love seeing deep dives into silly toys and cute stuff!!! I remember having my own rainbow dinosaur build-a-bear toy when I was younger

I spent a pretty large part of my childhood on bearville. I didn't have a build a bear anywhere near me and I finally got one while on a family trip, and I took it everywhere. I would go over to my neighbor's house because her mom bought her clothes for them and we had fashion shows. I still remember all the little secrets you could find on the website, and I probably drove my family insane with how much I played those songs. I didn't know the website was being shut down until it already happened, unfortunately. I would love a full video on bearville, it gave me some great memories!

After watching your video about Strawberry Shortcake I revisited some nostalgic things, specifically Angelina Ballerina and Thomas and Friends, do you think you could make a deep dive video with these two? I would love to see!

I am SO happy to see someone mention Friends 2B Made! It was such an iconic part of my childhood along with Build-a-Bear, but I rarely hear people talk about it!

I remember being in first grade (around christmas) and having this one babysitter who would pick me up from school and take me to build-a-bear, she bought me a Celestia plushie that i would take with me to school and everywhere else i went It was iconic ngl

ive never seen anyone talk about build a bearville so this made me so happy. i LIVED on this site in elementary/middle school like i was obsessed

Oh man, I started sobbing when you brought out your childhood bears - that's so sweet. Unmatting Otis is possible, if you ever want to - I have a bear just like him, and i refluffed him using a wire pet brush (think one you'd get for cats). I brush him often to keep him fluffy because ngl he lives in my bed lmao. I am obsessed with thrifting build a bears - the whole process of getting them home for baths and restuffing included - so I'm pretty used to the upkeep of them. I replace the batteries in the sound boxes and am planning on throwing them all into the one pink one I got that inexplicably plays Uptown Funk lmao