Wombles cuddly toys

There have been several ranges of Wombles soft toys over the past four decades. The classic BBC TV series spawned a wide selection of merchandise including cuddly toys – from Pedigree in the 1970s through to Rainbow Toys in 1990.

Then the Wombles were relaunched in 1998 for the new ITV series, with slightly different outfits and some additional characters, leading to a vast new range of spinoff products. More recent toys have continued to use these designs – for example, Orinoco now has a black band around his hat, Bungo and Wellington wear shirts, and Madame Cholet’s apron and hat are yellow instead of plain white.

This is my collection of Wombles cuddly toys. The older items are second-hand, while many from 1998 onwards were bought brand new.

Orinoco, 28cm (Pedigree, 1970s)

Orinoco glove puppet, 23cm (Pedigree, 1970s)

Giant Orinoco, 100cm (Pedigree, 1970s)

Talking Orinoco, 38cm (Burbank Toys, 1970s)

Talking Orinoco box (Burbank Toys, 1970s)

Orinoco pyjama case, 37cm (Boots, 1970s) – hollow plastic body with zipped bottom

Wellington, 29cm

Wellington, 30cm

Orinoco, 27cm

Jointed Orinoco, 34cm

Talking Orinoco, 35cm (Rainbow Toys, 1990)*

Talking Uncle Bulgaria, 35cm (Rainbow Toys, 1990)*

Uncle Bulgaria, 32cm (Rainbow Toys, 1990)

Tomsk, Tobermory, Orinoco and Wellington, 25cm (Rainbow Toys, 1990)

Singing Orinoco, 33cm (Golden Bear, 1998) – sings Remember You’re A Womble and wiggles his nose

Orinoco, 26cm (First Love, 1998)

Bungo, 26cm (Golden Bear, 1998)

Tomsk, 26cm (Golden Bear, 1998)

Alderney, 26cm (First Love, 1998)

Stepney, 26cm (First Love, 1998)

Uncle Bulgaria, 26cm (First Love, 1998)

Beanies, 15cm (Golden Bear, 1998) – Bungo, Orinoco, Tomsk, Wellington

Beanies, 15cm (Golden Bear, 1998) – Tobermory, Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet

Beanies, 15cm (Golden Bear, 1998) – Alderney, Shansi, Stepney

Orinoco finger puppet, 16cm (First Love, 1998)

Orinoco and Bungo backpacks, 36cm (Bluebird Character Concepts, 1998)

Orinoco slippers (BHS, 1998)

Orinoco hot water bottle (Boots, 1999)

Orinoco mobile phone cover (2the Max, 2001)

Orinoco, 14cm (McDonald’s, 2001)

Knitted Orinoco, 32cm

Uncle Bulgaria slippers

Stepney lookalike (Aminals by Playmakers) – note the upside-down W badge

Bungo, Orinoco and Wellington, 30cm (Ace, 2003) – ‘for travelling fun fair and amusement parks only’

Tobermory, Uncle Bulgaria and MacWomble, 30cm (Ace, 2003) – ‘for travelling fun fair and amusement parks only’

Orinoco, 30cm (Steiff, 2004)

Orinoco, Tobermory, Madame Cholet and Uncle Bulgaria, 20cm (Pentel, 2010)

Orinoco, Uncle Bulgaria and Madame Cholet, 20cm (Posh Paws, 2011)

Bungo, Alderney and Tobermory, 20cm (Posh Paws, 2011)

* Talking Orinoco (Rainbow Toys) says: “Is it teatime yet, Madame Cholet?” / “I’m not fast asleep!” / “Oh I am glad I worked so hard to tidy this up!” / “Do you know, I don’t feel very hungry any more.” / “Oh, Wellington, oh thank you!” / “Daisy buns, my favourites!”

* Talking Uncle Bulgaria (Rainbow Toys) says: “Tidy up this dreadful rubbish!” / “We Wombles do so much to keep everything clean.” / “I intend to take drastic action.” / “Jump to it, young Wombles!” / “Why don’t you lend us a paw?”