Hello question readers,

As a child my favorite toy was my teddy bear. It was soft and durable,
lasted roughly eight years as my pillow.

My sister is now expecting, and I'm looking to buy a similar toy. On previous
trips to toy stores, I cannot find what I'm looking for. In fact, the only dolls
for sale are creepy plastic props (think Child's Play).

Below are my constraints and slacks.

Constraints related to the toy:
 * The toy must be made of a soft material, which is not a common allergen.
 * I do not want to purchase some collectable (telling my sister and her husband
that the toy is some antique may influence them to "save" it for the Antique
Road Show).
 * As this will be a toy for a young child, let's say s/he will be allowed to
play with it when > six months old, so it cannot have choking hazards.
 * No wires.
 * Should be bigger than a newborn, but smaller than your average pillow.

Slacks related to the toy:
 * The toy does not need to be a teddy bear. It must be soft, like a pillow, and
have a face (two eyes separated by a nose above a mouth) with two arms & two
legs (or four limbs not counting the head). In otherwords, it can be a teddy
mammal/lizard, or whatever that is named/called.
 * Only two choking hazard exceptions: The eyes can be made of some
hard material, and the toy can come with a ribbon.

Constraints related to the purchase:
 * The toy should be union made or at least cannot be produced in sweat
shop-like conditions.
 * I feel uncomfortable giving an upper bound on the price, but I am willing to
go very high.
 * I refuse to shop in an auction environment for such an item.

Would be nice:
 * I would prefer if I could feel the toy before purchase.  I live in New
Jersey, and my travel range is ~100 miles.

I can't be sure that this stuffed critter meets all your requirements,
but I fell in love with him when I saw him in the FAO Schwarz catalog:

http://www.fao.com/catalog/ensemble.jsp?ensembleId=6

Also from FAO Schwarz, these nice "My First Teddy Bears" by Gund:

http://www.fao.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=535&categoryId=127&parentCategoryId=90

http://www.fao.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536&categoryId=127&parentCategoryId=90

Hi there,im in New brunswick ,Canada. I got the site for you. www.haresnhay.com

mccabe; You may want to check out Stuffing Town LLC in State College,
PA 16801. They are a company with a store front where you can make
your own bear. That way you know what is going into your bear and how
soft it is. Address is 1742 South Atherton Street State College, PA
16801. [State Route 322 business] Phone number is 814-272-7883 incase
you want to call before making a trip. Hope this gives you what you
are looking for.

If you are interested in making your own teddy bear, I highly
recommend "Build-a-Bear Workshop," a chain of stores which specialize
in custom construction of teddy bears and similar stuffed animals.
It's easy and fun, and the resulting toy is uniquely yours to give.

http://www.buildabear.com/

Build-a-Bear has several locations in New Jersey:

http://www.buildabear.com/aboutUs/contactUs/findastore/#NJ