TerrorTeds Werebears Artwork

Beasty Bears

Werebears had been a successful toyline in the UK during the 1980s and moving into the 90s so Hasbro Toys in the USA decided to sub license the concept and re-brand it Beasty Bears for the American market.
The Beast Bears had slightly more simplified designs compared to the UK counterparts that all had unique features from each other. One Werebear had just one fang, one had no teeth and another wore a jumper. The Beasty Bears however all shared the same basic design, the only difference between them being the color scheme. All but one reused the names from the Werebears. Howler, Grizzler and Fang. Gums as a name would not make sense for a bear that still had all it's fangs so instead the final Beasty Bear was called Snarly.

Zodiac Toy Store Comics

In the late 60s a toy store emerged in the UK known as Zodiac. By the mid 80s it was one of the largest and most successful chain of toy stores in the UK. Unfortunately in 1990 the company closed down due to mismanagement.

During it's heyday in the 1980s the store started to produce it's own comic book and sticker albums featuring unique characters to spread brand awareness of the store and engage children more.

The comics featured such characters as the Miami Mice (a take on Miami Vice, but with mice) and the Star Bears, a team of teddy bears that each had a super power based on one of the signs of the zodiac.

One of note is the Scare Bears, created by Werebear creator George Nicholas and very similar to the Werebears but covering all classic monsters in the form of teddy bears.

After the success of the initial wave of Werebears, a group of enemies were released for the Werebears to battle. These Terror Teds did not share the ability to transform from normal teddy to werebear but were instead very unique looking monster teddy bears. Named Grunt, Snapper, Munch and Chomp, the story goes that they were created by a wicked witch to get revenge on the Werebears and their creator, Baron Egon Baconburger.
The Terror Teds are very hard to find now and rarely turn up on ebay.

 

 Interestingly, Munch seems to have two variants. One that featured in photographs in the comics and promotional material which had an open mouth and arms lower down the body. However the released version had a closed mouth and arms further up the body coming out of the side of Munch’s head.

Werebears

 Werebears was a line of cuddly toys created by George Nicholas in 1983 to give boys a more masculine alternative to Carebears. Each had the ability to transform from regular looking teddy bear to a monster by flipping the face and paws over. The line initially had four characters. Howler, Grizzler, Fang and Gums. Ear bear came with an audio cassette featuring a story about the character it came with. A few years later a fifth Werebear was released called Growler. This Werebear was larger to accommodate the electronics which gave it the ability to growl.

Four more characters were added to the line, this time as enemies of the Werebears. Called the Terrorteds, these bears did not have the transforming ability of the Werebears but were still monstrous looking. They were named Chomp, Munch, Snapper and Grunt.
A comic was also created by Nicholas and lasted 7 issues. Originally published by Clearmark for the first two issues, then London Editions for the last 5. It told the origins of the Werebears and Terrorteds.

In 2012 Werebears made a short lived come back, with new toys being sold exclusively in Farm Food stores The line consisted of Grizzler, Growler, Howler and Fang. All could not only transform but howl with flashing light up eyes. Gums was absent from the new line, probably due to being the worst selling character in the original line as kids didn't seem to like a Werebear with no teeth.