Theft at the Musée du Jouet

One man's passion is another man's prize? Surely not?!

Eric Petit, passionate proprietor of the Musée du Jouet situated in the South of France, was targeted by thieves last night. I received this email from Eric earlier today and I hope he won't mind me sharing it with you here:

I wanted to post this message to let you know my toy museum received "visitors" last night....All my antiques dolls have been stolen, most of my trains (O gauge), and lots of little cars, truck and bus made between 1910 and 1935.Lucky I am they did not know teddy bear very well and they made not the choice choice !!!!Maybe, we never know, if some of you hear of a lot of french toys for sale, an unusual lot of french dolls, or of trains, please contact me.I dont' dream, I know it is going to be very diffocult to find a part of my heart that is gone but well as we say "Tant qu'il y a de la vie, il y a de l'espoir translated as "as long as there is life, there is hope still . Thank in advance for you help, Eric.

I have known Eric for several years and he is a most dedicated supporter of our bear world. He recently established a wonderful teddy bear show 'The Great Bear' in the South of France (now in its third year) and is often to be found chatting about all things bear, at our UK Hugglets' shows. Eric also writes regularly for 'Teddy Bear Club International' magazine. To hear that his collection has been callously ravaged in this way, absolutely sickens me.

So, my message to you is, please 'keep 'em peeled'! As Eric says in his message, if you see anything suspicious while you are browsing Ebay, antique shops, collectors' shows etc., please let him know.

These nasty thieves need catching.

This link will take you to Eric's website contact page:

http://www.jouetmusee.com/document.php?project=jouetmusee&locale=fr&doc=Contacts