eBay has been my source for many years since I live in Canada. I
bought my first dolls - the Burbank toys talking Wombles - at a toy
store in London, Ontario in the mid 1980s but have rarely seen any
other dolls for sale here. Hence eBay.

It helps to know what you are bidding on. Here's a quick synopsis of
what is potentially available:

Pedigree made the original Womble dolls in the UK. About 8"-9" in
height, generic eyes, fairly stiff and hard to find with complete set
of clothing and caps since they were removable. Glasses were fixed to
the nose, however.

Burbank Toys produced a large 15" and well detailed talking Womble,
again with removable clothing and accessories. The downside is that
their arms are held stiffly out in front of them, they are very
stiff, have generic eyes and the voice box breaks very easily.

Knickerbocker Toys in New Jersey USA produced a very nice set of
Wombles - better detailed than the Pedigrees, with clothing sewn on.
Problem is trying to find any for sale - they're very hard to get.
There may only be a few characters - I've got Wellington and Great
Uncle Bulgaria and the tag on one also shows Orinoco as being
available.

Homemade Wombles also abound - some of these are poor imitations. But
McCalls made two sets of patterns available (3 characters in each
packet) for sewing enthusiasts to make their own 10" Wombles. The
result reflects the skill of the maker and the materials at hand. My
first Womble doll - tan fur, slightly darker tan nose and face, blue
floppy hat and blue/green knitted scarf - was made by a lady using
these patterns. She had created a kind of cottage industry making
Wombles near London, Ontario and I was referred to her by an
executive from Penguin Books who were publishing the Wombles books in
Canada at the time - but that was in 1978!

In the early 80s Rainbow Toys produced a complete set of Womble
dolls. These are the ones to get of the vintage dolls. These have the
correct eye colour, reasonably detailed clothing, white backed with
brown ears, grey fur, fingers on their paws and came in large (12")
and small (8") sizes. Some of the large ones came with battery
operated removable voice boxes with what sounds very much like
Bernard Cribbins voice in character. But, best of all, they are
cuddly and pliable.

In 1998 First Love produced dolls to tie in with the new series.
Backpacks (Bungo and Orinoco) were also made available. Nice, soft,
cuddly, pliable, and well detailed but the eyes bulge out far too
much IMHO. New characters not in the original series also available.
You can also get an Orinoco that snores. Lots of these on eBay - some
still in the boxes!


There are also Womble Beanies, about 5" high, well detailed but
plump. These show up on eBay sometimes as sets.


Golden Bear produced an Orinoco doll that wiggles his nose as he
sings "Remember You're A Womble" - cover version, as opposed to the
original recording.

Boots Drugstores produced two 20" dolls - Orinoco and Great Uncle
Bulgaria - as hot water bottle covers. They are quite well detailed
with clothing sewn on. Also very soft and very cuddly - and a great
source of warmth when used with the hot water bottle (a must if you
don't have central heating or have a thermostat that allows the house
to get cool at night to save fuel). They are almost as big as the
average toddler which makes me think that these were intended not so
much for young children as for much older children and adults. These
crop up frequently on eBay.

There are also a new series of Wombles made as prizes for carnivals
and fairs - can't think of the maker at present. Not as nice and
detailed as the First Love Wombles.

And for the rich, there's a Steiff Orinoco, excellently crafted with
registration documents. I doubt you'll see these on Ebay but you may
still be able to obtain one from Steiff - at £300 or so.

There are also extremely large (about 3 feet high!) and chubby
display dolls. These are quite rare and expensive.

There's a Womble site that has pictures of most of these brands of
dolls. You should be able to google it.

Hope this helps...

Frederick Harrison