This year, Care Bears is celebrating their 40th anniversary! If you’re a woman in your mid 40’s, you were probably around the age of 5 when they first came out… and no doubt have fond memories of the cuddly joy they brought you. We chat to Nikki who is quite possibly Australia’s biggest Care Bears fan!
To celebrate 40 years of Care Bears, we’ve found Australia’s biggest Care Bear Super Fan. Her name is Nikki Rainbow, she’s 23 years old, she’s from Perth and she has over 120 Care Bears in her collection!
Nikki Rainbow with 1 of her 120 Care Bears
Q: How many Care Bears do you have in your collection?
Nikki: I’ve been wanting to count them all for a while now but as a rough estimate maybe between 120 to 150.
Q: Oh wow! How long have you been collecting for?
Nikki: I think since high school. I really liked Care Bears when I was younger and then rediscovered the love in high school. Now I’ve combined that love with my style and other things around my home.
Q: You can get anything now that you’ve got adult money!
Nikki: Haha, absolutely.
Q: So, you’ve got a lot of plush Care Bears. What else does your collection consist of?
Nikki: Most of it is, of course, plush toys and then I also have some smaller figures. And then the collection goes beyond that to shoes and slippers, clothing and pyjamas. I also have decor and bedding now too and I’ll be setting that up in my new house. So, yeah, odd bits and pieces, but mostly plush toys.
Q: What drew you towards Care Bears?
Nikki: I have a very particular aesthetic. I really liked cutesy things when I first was into them as a kid. As a little kid I got a Care Bears book from the school book club that came with a little plush toy. The one I had was Bedtime Bear and there was a little story that went with it, it was so cute. And ever since then Bedtime Bear has been my favourite.
Q: So your favourite is Bedtime Bear?
Nikki: Yeah, I relate to him because I also like to sleep!
Q: Do you collect anything else?
Nikki: I do collect other things just not as intensely, just general pop culture stuff. Other than Care Bears, I have some Steven Universe things, I really like Sonic and Pokemon too – those would make up my other collections at the moment.
Q: How do you keep your Care Bears collection?
Nikki: I’ve got one designated room in the house, but my Care Bears also reside between my bedroom and home office and a couple other spots. A lot of my collector’s items are still in their boxes as much as I want to take them out – I am such a fiend for taking things out of the box!
Q: What are the prized possessions from your Care Bears collection?
Nikki: Probably this one Bedtime Bear plush that is a classic remake from about two years ago. I bought him about an hour before I heard back from a job interview so I look at him as my lucky charm.
Q: Do you have any vintage Care Bears?
Nikki: I do have some from the 90s and 2000s although I’m not sure how old they are exactly! Sometimes they have the year on the tag so I might need to check all of them!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
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- Nikki Rainbow – Australia’s biggest Care Bears Super Fan!
