Brief history

Sue Schoen was born and brought up in Grangetown, Cardiff, along with her four brothers - John, Andrew, Charlie and Richard. It was at these early stages of her life that the first sparks of creativity started to show.
         "Ever since I was seven or eight I used to cut the bottom of my fathers ties off to make dresses for my dolls. I thought that people couldn't see that bit of his tie so I used to cut it off."
         She was later married to her husband Peter, and they had three children, Rebecca, Thomas and Keith.

How Sue started making bears

It was a four year old Keith who finally re-kindled this creative spark, by asking for a teddy bear from a popular children's television program at the time. Instead of buying the toy from a shop, Sue decided that it might be cheaper to make one. She has been making them ever since! Although the first soft toy Sue made was in 1985, she did not start to make fully jointed bears until a few years later.
         "I was doing dolls and clowns and soft toys. The first bears I made were fairly simple un-jointed bears, then I made a jointed bear and after that first bear, I never made another un-jointed bear."
         The first jointed bear that Sue made was originally destined for the dustbin, but was rescued by a six year old Keith. The bear called Little Ted, was a bit of a mess, as you might expect with a first try. His eyes were not straight and his head was out of proportion. Sue was about to throw him when Keith saw Little Ted, and immediately took a shine to him. Sue finished Little Ted by giving him arms, legs and a body. Keith awoke the next day to a completed Little Ted, and he has kept him to this day.
         Many years on, Sue has stopped making dolls and other soft toys altogether, and now concentrates on making high quality collectors teddy bears. To see some of her creations, check out the Bocs Teganau product range.

The development of Bocs Teganau

The name 'Bocs Teganau' is Welsh for Toy Box, which is why a toy box is featured on the logo. The company was established in 1985 and made mostly soft toys, dolls and un-jointed bears. However once Sue started experimenting with jointed bears, she decided to stop making the soft toys, and to concentrate on making traditional bears.
         The first early shows were in a local craft fair in the village of Cowbridge near Cardiff, once a month, where mostly soft toys and dolls were sold. As the style of the bears developed, the shows got bigger and more extravagant.
         "The shows I do now are totally dedicated to teddy bears. They are in large venues, usually in or around London, and they are visited by people from all around the world. I also attend international shows - it's an opportunity to visit a new country and meet new collectors."
         Sue has received several awards for her bears including the Teddy Bear Times award for the readers favourite teddy bear artist in 1993, and again in 1994. One of her bears was nominated for a TOBY award in 1994.
         So far, Bocs Teganau's web site has seen four incarnations, this being the latest. Each incarnation has seen new innovations in design and ease of use. Sue's son Keith wrote each of the websites, created all of the graphical content, and wrote all of the back-end programs responsible for the easy updating of the current website.
         When asked what is her favourite bear, Sue's reply is always 'the one I just made'. The best-selling Bocs Teganau bear was called 'Taliesin Bach'. He was six and a half inches tall and made of gold mohair with brown pads. Around one and a half thousand of him were sold, and production of 'Taliesin' stopped around five years ago. This bear was responsible for the start of a lot of 'hugs' judging by the number of people who tell Sue about their first bear!