Return to Womble Lovers' Front Door (site index) -- Womble illus. by Johanna Cormier

Collectables

All those fun things besides the books, albums, and TV/Videos.
Page Contents What we had.
Basic tips on where to look. 		Womble related sales, auctions, etc.
     --Books
     --Music
     --Videos
     --Miscellaneous

What we had (and now, what we are finding).

Nigel Mulvey

Mentioned that his brother's "bedroom was absolutely covered in posters."

Frederick Harrison

"Stuffed toys, Burbank Toys Ltd. of Wellingborough, England manufactured large (15") talking Wombles in several characters. There seemed to be no difference in the voice messages of the characters. Examples of messages when you pulled the string:
"We Wombles are really very friendly."
"Womble up your toys when you've finished playing."
"We Womble by night and we Womble by day."
(Unfortunately the voice boxes proved defective on the ones I purchased so they no longer work!)

"Another company, Pedigree, made smaller versions (10"), again in several characters, including the MacWomble.

"The largest Womble doll I have ever seen was just inside the entrance to Teddy's Place, the child sitting service at Waverly Station Mall in Edinburgh. It was Orinoco and he must have been at least 2 and 1/2 to three feet tall! He was placed at the doorway to attract children and parents, and I spotted him straight away as I entered the mall.
They even offered to sell him (they really wanted to buy a large teddy bear to go with the name of the service!) but the price was too much (100 Pounds!), plus I would have had to pay to ship him over to Canada (easily another 30 to 50 pounds!). I did get my picture taken with him, so that's some consolation.

"Fortunately McCalls offered a "make it yourself" pattern kit which you might be able to find somewhere. It was #4780 in the Carefree series and would allow you to sew a foot high Womble doll on your own. There was a lady near London, Ontario who used to make a generic Womble based on these patterns (her name was Madelaine Paris and I believe she sold her Wombles to a gift shop called The Country Mouse, also in London.) I might have more detailed information somewhere, but this was at least 15 years ago so it is quite possible that her work is no longer available.)

"I do not know if the authorized Womble dolls are still available. I do know that there was concern voiced by Wombles Ltd. over the number of "bootleg" Womble dolls sold in shops, not so much because of loss of a sale of authorized merchandise, but because the materials used were not up to safety standards as regarded flammability and small parts."

1997 Frederick remembered some more items.
"I had forgotten that there were Womble viewmaster slides."
"I noticed a reference to chocolate Wombles on the MUD section of the website. Did you know that Cadbury produced Womble chocolate bars in the late 70's? One of my friends in university had come over from Ireland to study. He knew about my interest in the Wombles and brought me back an *entire box* of Womble chocolate bars after returning home one Christmas. I still have the box and a complete set of wrappers (the chocolate is long gone). Each bar featured a different character on the wrapper and offered a recycling hint on the back. Unfortunately I didn't keep any more than one set of wrappers, and I suspect that the friends I shared the chocolate with didn't keep theirs. Not quite the same as collecting bubblegum cards, but then so much of the Wombles merchanising was on ephemeral products."

1998 "I've been trying to find out if there were figurines made back in the 70s as I recall someone telling me they had seen one. The closest I've come is a china piggy bank of Madame Cholet."

2000 "There has been lots of Womble stuff on eBay, much of it fetching prices beyond my reach. Yet I did manage to pick up fairly cheaply a Madame Cholet doll that was missing the apron and necklace - fortunately I had an apron from a homemade Madame Cholet which fit perfectly. The doll I bought was made by Rainbow Toys in the the UK (actually manufactured in China) in 1990. As I later found out, 1990 had been declared "Keep Britain Tidy" year, which, of course, resulted in reissues of the books, dolls, and videos. The dolls are a better quality than the Pedigree toys of the '70s, have softer bodies, detailed front paws (individual fingers), more expressive eyes, and a ring of black fur around the neck. The latter detail seems to have been added to the characters during the late 1970s - the Womble Annuals all show it, but Margaret Gordon's illustrations do not. A complete Tobermory by Rainbow came up for auction a week ago but the price quickly became too much for me to consider. There have also been a set of cloth patches and birthday cake ornaments come up for auction - all in original packaging. Highest prices go to Pelham Womble puppets and wind up walking Wombles."

Colin Epstein

"kids magazines and comics"

"There were tons of Womble toys made. The ones that found their way across the pond to our house in Hollywood included plush toys , little figurines, wind-ups, a friction powered car (alas, not a faithful reproduction of the Silver Womble), a beautiful series of marionettes by Pelham Puppets, tote bags, a child-sized umbrella, soap, shampoo, bubble bath, and other goodies I can't remember. In an odd turn of events, the US toy company KnickerBocker (the now defunct creators of all those Holly Hobbie dolls) licensed the Womble characters and briefly made a small assortment of plush toys. These were much more polished than the British equivalents. Unfortunately, we only ever found one of them, Wellington, and letters to the company only resulted in the news that all their stock was sold, and they wouldn't be making any more. I'd love to know the story behind those toys."

"On a more recent trip to England, I was delighted to stumble across some Womble refrigerator magnets in a cheesy gift store near Piccadilly Circus."

Jennifer Lewis

"When I went to Europe (aged5) with by brother (aged 3)and my parents (just aged in general) we 2 kids had Womble bags - HE had orinoco and I had tobermory. The bags have since worn out and disappeared into the ether but I'm hoping to go to London before the end of the year and get myself some more Womble merchandise and books if possible.

"It'd be great if we could find someone in Britain to tell me if this kind of thing still exists!"

Mark Dawson

"I've just recalled that I used to have a Wombles board game as a kid. I can't recall too much except that you had little Womble bags and I think it involved making a tiny jigsaw. I wonder if it's still at my parents house. I've still got my Wombles lamp shade in my bedroom - 9 individual pictures arranged around the lamp! "

Fracastor

"I had a Womble doll thing that talked when I was a kid and a Great Uncle Bulgaria mug. [The Doll] said things like "Womble up all all your rubbish". [It] was oroonoko or someone I think... is that the right name? [He] had a red hat that I used to wear. It was a big red felt hat. I have pictures of me as a child trundling about with it on... and one where I had induced my mother to wear it. ;)"

Anne-Marie "Mystic Green" Trace

"I noticed your memorabilia page and was delighted to discover I didn't image having a Wombles lampshade - but I don't know what happened to it. I did notice however a couple of things I have aren't on there. I have figurines, about 4 or 5 different characters that were available from petrol stations, each standing about an inch high. Badges about an inch and a half in diameter each with a different character on them, and a vinyl place mat about four or five inches square with Orinocco on it (they probably came in different characters too, but he's my favourite.) I've also seen a MacWomble squeaky toy at an antiques fair but didn't have enough money on me to get it."

Lee

Lee's sister is very into Wombles memorabilia. She saw a bendable Womble figure at an antique store, which she decided to pass up as they wanted 100 New Zealand dollars for it. She does have a pretty neat collection of items which Lee has sent a list of. Besides several of the regular books and albums she also has 8 colouring books, a mug (with picture of Wellington), a plastic hanging mobile, a set of curtains/drapes, a serving tray (tin) featuring all of the Wombles, a Wellington puffy sticker, 6 Womble hair clips, an Orinoco lamp that glows, an Uncle Bulgeria soft toy (large), a Wellington Womble soft toy (large), a Tobermory soft toy (small), 2 Orinoco rubber toothbrush holders, an Uncle Bulgeria rubber toothbrush holder, a Madam Cholette toothbrush holder, a Wellington toothbrush holder, a jigsaw puzzle featuring all of the Wombles, a Womble poster from the movie, and a leather Womble carry bag.

K.A. Williamson

"I am a persevering wombles fan and still have my 12" Orinocco (minus hat) and 5" Madame Cholet though one of my sisters gave away my Uncle Bulgaria which my mom made me when I was little from the pattern which I still have somewhere. I recently got hold of from an antiques fair an Uncle Bulgaria nightlight but it has no specs so if you know of anywhere I could get some more please let me know. Woolworths released two Wombles posters in 96 one was Orinocco on a psycadellic backround but I'm not sure about the other one. The original posters were just normal posters with the cartoon drawings on them. (I also still have these.)

"The videos are still available from BBC but beware they havn't been digitally remastered or anything so the sound goes a little fast, a little slow at times as they were taken from the original archaec format!!"

Alison Higgins

"I remeber a lot of Wombles things from my childhood packed in a cupboard somewhere. I have, 2" plastic figurines, 2" plush figurines, Wombles stickers featuring the Wombles logo and the phrase "Remeber You're a Womble", and a cunning Womble disguise kit comprising Wellingtons glasses and a Womble snout."

Neil Jeffery

"During leave for revision, I have dispensed with Revision and took search upon all things of a womble nature. So far I have found 2 items that have really been brilliant.

"1. Womble socks - fantastic things, and can be worn with Womble slippers.

"2. Womble biscuits - very nice toffee flavoured."

NEW William

"William has a warm comfortable Orinoco hot water bottle"
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Here are some basic tips on ideas of where to look.

Used bookstores. If you frequent a particular used bookstore you can sometimes ask them to put a hold on books by a certain author for you. There are also some bookstores that for a, $2 per title, fee will publish, in a trade magazine, a request for out of print books.

Your local and college libraries. If they don't have a book ask them about inter-library loans. Obviously, you can't keep these books but you can still get a chance to read them. Some libraries even have video and album loans.

Used record stores.

Anglophile shops. Hey, this is where Colin said his mom got a lot of Wombles stuff for him as a kid in Los Angeles.

TV theme shops. Cameron told me there was an ABC (I think that was the station) store in Australia that sold Wombles stuff.

Car boot sales, Flea Markets, Swap Meets, you get the idea.

Antique shops. Lee mentioned that his sister recently saw a bendable Womble figure in a New Zealand Antique shop.

The real answer is to get out there and look around and ask. I know, that's harder for some than others. :>
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Womble related sales, auctions, etc.

I am providing this space for places known to carry Wombles memorabilia. I myself have nothing to sell.

If you know of a store (any country) that is currently selling Wombles memorabilia of any kind, books, albums, toys etc. Email their address, phone number and/or any other information.

Are you searching for Wombles memorabilia but don't know where to look? Check out the list of ideas above.

I accept no resposibity for the truthfullness of sellers claims or their reliabilty. Caveat Emptor

Be sure to check the Womble Lover's - Womble News page. Shops, single items and web sales that I learn of are often listed there first.

Return to Womble Lovers' Front Door (site index) Return to Womble Lovers front door.
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Disclaimer: The Wombles are (TM) Elisabeth Beresford/Filmfair. I have done my best to keep these pages legal and within the guidelines of fair usage.

This Page Last Updated on December 04, 2021.


© Johanna & Daniel Cormier, 1996-2000
Please address email with 'Womble' included somewhere in the subject line to: johanna@designwest.com
Illustrations by Johanna Cormier, based on Illustrations by Margaret Gordon and Ivor Wood's Puppets