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?”
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I require a pattern or a toy of Orinoco Wombell
Hi, I have an old Womble but cant find one similar to it, could it be handmade?
I had a talking Orinoco in 1975 he said “we Wombles are very friendly” “gather up the rubbish, put it in the bin” I so wish I’d have kept him
‘Let’s all have a wonderful Womble Party’ and ‘I Womble by night and I Womble by day’s too
I have 4 Wombles in their original cardboard packaging. Have you any idea how much they would be worth
Mrs Kirstie Hardy-Butt
I have a 22″ bungo womble, when would he have been made and is he worth anything