Real Mom Review: The Best Bear

I have a bit of a secret. When I was little, I didn't really like stuffed animals. Probably a byproduct of being the baby of the family for so long and wanting to be as cool as my matchbox playing big brother or my curling iron wielding older sister, stuffed animals seemed like baby toys. I only ever had one, one little bear that was a present from my Aunt Adeline. His name was Snuffles and his pure white snowy plush, little impish smile, and button brown nose were so adorable. I snuggled the stuffing out of that little bear.

Gund's Snuffles teddy bear debuted in 1980, when I was just 4 years old. My little bear must have come from the first release. Snuffles and I cuddled together for more than 10 years, when he finally succumbed to wear and old age. That has to be at least 50 in teddy bear years. My 7 year old has stuffies from when he was a newborn and those things look ragged!

Fast Forward to my second son, who loves the soft snuggly cuddles of any and all stuffed animals... as long as they're panda bears. So, when my favorite local business owners at The Animal Kingdom told me that Snuffles was going to be released as a Panda, I knew that Mr. B had to have one. From the first moment he saw his new Snuffles Panda, this pre-schooler was in love. He shrieked with delight and said, "My baby panda bear is so soft and lovey!" And he's right. This 10" bear is the perfect size for cuddling and hugging. He's so soft and has such a sweet little smile on his perfect panda face. Mr. B hasn't put him down for a solid week, but there's more.

The next morning, when he was showing his newly named "Cookie" bear to his big brother, my 7 year old declared, "If you could maybe buy me a bear like this someday when you want to buy me a present..." he trailed off and then, "I love him!" We've got universal Snuffles love in our house! So, of course, I found the first excuse I could to buy the all white Snuffles for Finn. The first thing the boys did with their matching, but not matching bears? They hugged them together and Mr. B shouted, "Brother bears!" I'm so happy that Snuffles is back home with me and my boys.

The History of Snuffles

• In 1980, GUND®, the leading soft toy manufacturer in the United States, introduced Snuffles®, a unique bear whose shape was inspired by a beautiful crescent moon. 
• It all began with Rita Raiffe, who led GUND with her husband Herbert in 1980. Rita was inspired by the shape of a crescent moon and designed Snuffles to look up at the person hugging him. 
• The unique design has made it one of the most copied teddy bears, requiring GUND to defend the copyrighted design many times.
• Lending to its “huggability,” Snuffles was made with GUND’s now trademarked under-stuffing technique and the softest fabrics available.
• Since its introduction over thirty years ago, more than three million (3,000,000) Snuffles have been sold.

Real Mom Review: SPECIAL OFFER*

Purchase a Snuffles bear from The Animal Kingdom and save $2.00!

*Offer expires 3/15/2014. Offer can only be redeemed once per person. 

• In-store purchase, mention "Sara sent me" for a $2.00 discount on ANY size Snuffles. 
• Online purchase, enter promo code "SARASENTME14" at checkout for a $2.00 discount on ANY size Snuffles. 

Sara Spock is a Mom, Wife, Penn State Graduate, Freelance Writer, and Coffee Addict. When she's not sneaking away to cuddle with Snuffles, the best bear in the history of bears, Sara can be found playing in mountains of snow with her boys.