Vintage Boyds Bears HB Teabearie Figurine – Happy Birthday Teacup Bear, Party Hat Confetti Saucer, TBC 24307, Collectible Gift, 2002

If Cherished Teddies are the gentle, church-going bears of the collectible world, Boyds Bears are the ones caught with a paw in the honey jar. Gary Lowenthal — self-styled "The Head Bean" — built The Boyds Collection on stitched grins and folksy mischief, and in 2002 launched the Teabearies: a miniature line of bears living in teacups, every one named with a punning abbreviation. This is H.B. — Happy Birthday — bursting out of his cup with both arms flung up, wearing a mint star-spangled party hat and a lavender lace bow, pure jack-in-the-box joy frozen in resin.

The cup says it in hand-lettered script — Happy Birthday To You! — under a sprinkle of gold stars, while the saucer carries the aftermath: pastel confetti, party crackers, a curled purple rose of ribbon. Underneath, the label reads "H.B." Teabearie, ©2002 TBC, #24307, with the impressed TBC 2002 stamp and Boyds' little gold teapot-and-pawprint mark.

We confess a special fondness for this one: a shop full of antique teacups was always going to keep a soft spot for the bear who lives in one. Give him as the birthday card that never gets thrown away, add him to a Boyds shelf, or perch him beside a real cup and saucer — the kind he clearly aspires to.