The plot thickens..... There are 2 bears listed on this page. They are "related" by SKU and also by the shroud of mystery they bring with them. I have searched for years for another "Black Apron Malaysia Bear", but have been unable to find one. I wrote to Starbucks and they say they don't know the bear. Now this guy appears. The seller (as you will read below) bought the bear at a Starbucks, just like the Malaysia Owner. They are tagged, they have SKUs that match the Snowman Bearistas. BUT they are in these other costumes. If you have these bears, please send us your story and pictures. I will write Starbucks again, but I don't have high hopes for an informative response.

In the meantime, the bears will live here on the "Mystery Page"
and I will leave it up to you to decide.

The Seller and I are working to determine the origins of this bear and will also hopefully solve the mystery of the other bear... we are hopeful. In the meantime, the seller provided the following update....

"... I just called up the corporate office of Starbucks and found out that the bear is from an old series but has been re-costumed by Singapore Starbucks. When asked if this is licensed, the person replied yes and therefore this particular one can only be found in Singapore. Therefore essentially this is an old bear (probably Snowman) that has been cleverly re-designed by Starbucks Singapore to probably to promote sales." (1/15/03)

Should we find that there is a suite (we believe there is possibly now at least 2 versions) of officially licensed re-costumed country-specific Bearista Bears this will open a new door in the Bearista Bear collecting world. If this proves out, these mystery bears could be more rare than the Dragon. What a thought! We'll keep you posted. Also, if anyone has any information, please email me at bearistabears@hotmail.com - thanks.

Here is an update, from the seller of this bear:

"I had purchased the bear from Starbucks Singapore (whose franchise is owned by a publicly-listed company in Singapore). If the SKU number refers to Snowman, then the item must have been re-costumed as suggested by you. If the item is re-costumed by anyone else, yes, you could say it is not the real thing, but if it is done by Starbucks itself, it should not be categorised that way. As far as I know, I acquired this bear from Starbucks and have not tampered with it." (1/11/03)

This Jumbo Imposter gives new collectors (and old alike) a good lesson in collecting. This bear IS actually the Snowman Bearista Jumbo which has a music box, BUT (and this is the important part) he has been re-costumed.

 Yes, he has a Hang Tag, BUT the SKU (and the seller on eBay did list the SKU in the listing - SKU 153422) belongs to the Jumbo Snowman.

So, while the bear itself is a Bearista Bear, his costume is not the one that goes with the SKU listed.

 If you want to buy a bear because you think it is cute, that is fine (I have the GAC Reindeer) just know that it is NOT the real deal. If you want to take a risk and find out later (like with the Fireman Bear), that's great, too.

Now what? Well, it is up to you... did Starbucks re-costume this bear, did someone else, is it a newly discovered Bearista which will now start appearing on eBay? You make up your own mind. 

Black Apron Bear",
"Malaysia Bear"
or "Snowman Bear"

This Bearista was released in Malaysia. Thanks to another Bearista Fan in Japan, I am able to provide you with the pictures of this bear. Thanks!

I moved this bear here in light of the above bear. This bear was purchased in Malaysia from a Starbucks. It has all the tags, but Starbucks says they don't know the bear. Starbucks does not always know what they do around the world, so .... that doesn't help.

The SKU on this bear is 153423 and the above bear is 153422. The 153423 belongs to the standard sized Snowman.  Hummmmm.... more to ponder.