The new MLB line will feature plush bears that can be outfitted in authentic MLB uniforms, ringer tees and caps in a number of select teams including the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers. The product will be available starting in late spring in select stores by team market and on the web at www.buildabear.com. The team tees are $6, caps are $5 and uniforms are $15.

The new merchandise is designed with authentic detail and the bear-size uniforms are made of pro-style materials including the genuine logos and patches featured on the each team's uniform.

The Make Your Own Phanatic! Store, which will be open during all Phillies home games, will allow fans to purchase an un-stuffed 19-inch Phanatic plush doll, get it stuffed and fluffed and then dress it in miniature clothes and accessories from the Phanatic's outfits worn on-field. Guests will also be able to print out a personalized birth certificate and take the items home in a unique carrying case, the Cub Condo®. Initially, the Phanatic outfits to be offered include the Phanatic's boxer, hip hop, chef, tuxedo, beach bum and disco costumes. The Build-A-Bear Workshop mascot "Bearemy®" will also be available for stuffing and can be dressed and accessorized with officially licensed apparel of the Phillies and other Major League Baseball® teams. The Phanatic is priced at $22 and the costumes range from $10-$12. The store is the first of its kind developed by Build-A-Bear Workshop in a Major League Baseball® venue.

Maxine Clark is founder and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshop and she expressed the company's enthusiasm, "We are thrilled to be a partner with Major League Baseball Properties (R) and to launch the baseball season the new MLB product line. The creation of the new Make Your Own Phanatic! Store with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, is a fantastic way to expose the great baseball fans of Philadelphia to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Baseball is a part of the American landscape as are stuffed animals. We think partnering Build-A-Bear Workshop with Major League Baseball Properties, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the ever popular Phanatic is a great combination for fun, smiles and an unbearably exciting entertainment experience."

"We are very excited to partner with Build-A-Bear Workshop to create this exclusive new line of products," said Howard Smith, Senior Vice President, Licensing, Major League Baseball Properties. "We are always looking to partner with innovative companies that will add another dimension to our licensed product roster, especially in the youth market. This relationship with Build-A-Bear Workshop will provide an exiting new product line that will give our younger fans a fun and interactive way to connect with Major League Baseball."

Joe Giles, the Phillies Director of Business Development, said "The Make Your Own Phanatic! store will be something really special for our young fans and those who know young fans. We've been working with the people at Build-A-Bear Workshop for some time to develop this concept. It will truly be a unique experience - the only one of its kind in Major League Baseball."

Build-A-Bear Workshop is an interactive, entertainment mall-based retailer that invites Guests of all ages to create their own customized stuffed animals through an exciting bear-making process. The company was named "Retail Innovator of the Year in 2001" from the National Retail Federation a distinction presented annually to an outstanding retailer for their singular, innovative approach to the retail trade. The first Build-A-Bear Workshop store opened in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1997, and the company now operates over 150 locations in the USA with four stores in Canada as well as a store in Sheffield, England which opened in the fall of 2003 and stores in Japan and Korea which opened earlier this year. The company is on track to open more international stores this year including its first stores in France and Denmark, making it the global leader in the teddy bear business. For more information, call (888) 560-BEAR or visit the company's award-winning web site at www.buildabear.com.