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WOW is all I can say about Stardust. He is a gorgeous bear, and what a great time we had at the launch! After getting up at 5am, we  were on the road at 6am, and then in Stanmore to get the tube into London about an hour and a half later.

We walked up the stairs out of the Underground, and rose up to the pavement through a snow storm left by the Harrods parade. It felt so Christmassy - sure the snow was really foam - but lights, Christmas trees and garlands made it feel like Christmas is closer than it is.

As we queued up outside door 10, the parade passed us - Cars, Costumes, and Bear from the Big Blue House passed us by, and then....last but not least, Santa's sleigh (horse drawn, but the reindeers weren't far behind) passed us by and who was there? None other than Stardust himself - full size, waving back at the queue! It was so exciting - not knowing what to expect, what Stardust would look like, and then seeing a cream and gold bear riding a carriage, and thinking 'Could that be him, is that Stardust?'. As the carriage passed, everyone started grinning as they saw the Ty heart tag on the distant ear.

Stardust passed as we waved him off, and then what seemed like ages later, we were allowed in the shop. It was so exciting - a whole rush of people running up escalators, not knowing which direction to go in. Finally we got to the 4th floor and ran to the soft toy department. The whole room was full of everything! There were shelves full of Beanies, and in the centre of the room, a gorgeous giant Stardust, matching the Stardust costumed man in the parade.

The whole room was full of chatter and it was so busy. People were queuing at tills and then getting given the bears to buy, which I think was a great idea considering how white the bear is, in a children's toy area. The bear was £12.95 (about $20) and we found that customers were being given a certificate with their beanie to commemorate them being there on the first day of this bear being available. 

Afterwards, it was still exciting. Ty Europe was attending, and I met Patricia Roche, who had individually signed each certificate. She told us that Ty may be arriving later, so we were all on the look out. Plus Press, and TV crews were there, interviewing Staff for their opinions on the bear.

It was quite funny, asking staff ourselves when Ty would be arriving. They were positive that if 'the T.Y, guy', as they called him, was to visit, there would be signs and posters up advertising that he would be in the store. We thought this was funny, as we knew that Ty wouldn't want it publicising that he would be coming. Ty likes to come and go as he pleases, unlike 'Barbie' and 'Angelina Ballerina' who would be in the department between certain times. Ty Warner just wouldn't do that! We were also on the lookout for Steve, who we met with Ty at the NEC Spring Fair in February. Some of the other staff told us that they had seen Ty  wandering the store, and he had watched the parade from the roadside earlier that morning.

We hung around in the Toy Kingdom for about 3 hours before decided that enough was enough. I was sure Ty would be popping in sometime during the day, but we decided to get some lunch and leave to see the rest of London.

We visited Hamley's, the biggest Toy shop in the world. It's a whopping 5 storeys, and takes ages on the escalators to get to the top floor. There were some beanies, but not as vast a selection as Harrods. The Steiff Shop was impressive though with a giant area dedicated to them, but unfortunately most of these were piled on selves, unlike Full of Beans (our everything retailer) who have glass cabinets and revolving cases!

Peace visited the Bear Factory and got two new T-shirts to add to his wardrobe. One is a cute blue shirt with 'Hug Me' embroidered on his stomach. Plus, a cute Christmas one, but you'll have to wait until December to see this new addition to the famous Peace range of clothing! LOL And what a gorgeous model too! Hehe!

Shopping in London was great. Even Peace had a good time being carried around from shop to shop. It was disappointing not to get to all the shops we were planning to. Maybe if we hadn't spent all morning waiting for Ty we'd have seen more.

We did visit, what must be one of the country's biggest Clinton Cards, where we saw 100's of Me to You products, not to mention a new line of Tipi Town products, plus the Creature Comforts Plush from the TV show. New Tatty products included the set of 3 candles, scented candles, framed prints, and a gorgeous £60 Tatty rug!

I wonder if Ty flew up to Manchester to see the Portsmouth game too? Sadly Pompey lost 3-0 to Manchester United, surely the toughest game of the season, but we heard on the radio on the way home that they didn't deserve to lose 3-0!

Ty, If you're reading...sorry we didn't see you this time - maybe in Birmingham this February?

THIS IS HARRODS! This building is the whole of Harrods - all along the bottom where you can see the green canopies, and the floors above...so you can understand how easy it was to get lost in this place LOL!

Here we are queuing outside door 10. This was early! The pavement was packed by 9am! You can see the famous Harrods guard outside, dressed in green just outside the doors.

The front Entrance to Harrods (under the balcony with the Christmas tree and presents). As you can see from the snowy ground, this is the Parade route!

A mini-float with Bear in the Big Blue House. It was amazing how similar the bear moved to the bear on the show. His head swung from side to side, and even his eyebrows moved - just like the real thing. Bear was so cute (I have to admit, I love the TV show!)

Here, is an old Harrods delivery truck.

The Pearly King and Queen.

And best of all - Stardust!

Here Peace and I met the star of the show!

This is gorgeous! We heard several different prices for the giant Stardust, and my Mum was very tempted, until she heard the REAL price. This giant bear will cost his owner a whopping £650 (about $1000)!!! Here you an see the actual size of the bear, when compared with little Peacie!

After the launch of Stardust - Peace went off for a spot of shopping. Here he is on the top floor of Hamleys looking over at the decorations, while getting ready to try on his new clothes!

How cute does he look! Don't want to spill coke down his new T-shirt!

The reason why so many people took a special trip to London! The things we do for beanies...!

With the special certificate given out to the first 500 purchases of Stardust! These are individually signed by Patricia Roche, who was in attendance. 

* I apologize for the 'Beanzaddiction' watermark on the photos. I don't normally include a watermark on my photos as I feel that spoils them, and visitors can't see clearly if it is in the centre, but I don't want to see these photos used on eBay being used to sell these bears.