Tea Time!!!

[Blondine Arc-En-Ciel]

I just got this from someone in the UK...

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0390414274

It's a ceramic tea set with four cups and saucers, teapot and lid, milk pitcher and sugar bowl. I'd never seen this item before. It was on Buy Now for GBP 25 and I didn't hesitate as someone had made an offer for it.

When I opened it, I gave it a once over. Everything was there and the box was not in good condition, as advertised. The contents were well protected and there was no shipping damage. The cover illustration placed this in the Gen 1 time period. A closer examination revealed the phrase "Made In GDR". That's the German Democratic Republic, also called East Germany. This is the first time I've ever seen or heard of a Rainbow Brite item that came from behind the Iron Curtain in Europe. This was not mentioned in the auction and the name of the company that made it is nowhere to be seen.

Has anyone else on here ever seen something like this?

[Tom-sprite]

Very cool RB-tea time set !
Honestly I can t imagine that this was really produced in east germany
cause I somehow doubt that they would ve produced a product with a american root ... don t you think GDR could also mean something else ...
in Germany it is known as "DDR" ... I dunno !

[Galacticatt]

Wow I have never seen that before! It is super cute- I don't think it is possible that it was produced in E. Germany- the seller must be wrong- but regardless, it is for sure an extremely rare and cool item !!

[Blondine Arc-En-Ciel]

The seller never mentioned it in the auction so I think she didn't realize what she had. "Made in GDR" was printed directly on the box. English was the only language on the box, so GDR is a better fit in this case than DDR.

And there was a brand name on the box. It was a name I've never seen before. I'll write it down and post it on here in the near future.

[stormberryfairy]

Congrats on your tea set!

[silverorangetears]

i've been looking for one of those for ages!

it's so sweet..

good find

i'm definately jealous

[Blondine Arc-En-Ciel]

Don't be jealous, no need. Be happy that someone on here found something out of the ordinary.

If you're in North America this particular version is either extremely rare or nonexistent. If you're in the UK or Ireland, you may have a chance but still very rare with all the items present and unbroken.

There may have been a different china tea set made for North America, so keep you eyes open. I've also got a plastic set from the USA and it's still in the very nice box in good condition.

Keep watching ebay UK...

[Blondine Arc-En-Ciel]

The seller never mentioned it in the auction so I think she didn't realize what she had. "Made in GDR" was printed directly on the box. English was the only language on the box, so GDR is a better fit in this case than DDR.

And there was a brand name on the box. It was a name I've never seen before. I'll write it down and post it on here in the near future.

It could be that a toy company in the UK had it made for them in East Germany to take advantage of low labor costs. Being in Europe, the shipping costs to the UK had to be much lower than from anywhere in Asia. The German manufacturer may have already had the item in his catalog, so it was just a matter of changing the decoration and the printing on the box to make it ready for the UK market. I do know that other East German toys (Piko trains, Anker cars...) were sold in western Europe back then.

[Blondine Arc-En-Ciel]

Congrats on your tea set!

Thank you!

I'm very pleased to have it.

[Tom-sprite]

And there was a brand name on the box

I d love to hear the name .. maybe I ve heared about the company ! ;-)