Beanie News and Rumors Page 2
THE NEW RELEASES BEANIE POEMS!
Beak
February 3rd, 1998
Isn't this just the funniest bird?
When we saw her, we said "how absurd"
Looks aren't everything, this we know
Her love for you, she's sure to show!
Canyon
May 29, 1998
I climb rocks and run really fast,
Try to catch me, it's a blast,
Through the mountain I used to roam,
Now in your room, I'll call it home!!
Halo
August 31, 1998
When you sleep, I'm always there,
Don't be afraid, I am near,
Watching over you with lot's of love,
Your guardian angel from up above!!
1998 Holiday Teddy
December 25, 1998
Dressed in his PJ's and ready for bed,
Hugs given, good nights said,
This little Beanie will stay close at night,
Ready for a hug and first morning light!!
Loosy
March 29, 1998
A tale has been told,
Of a goose that laid gold,
Nut try as she might,
Loosy's eggs are just white!!
Pumkin
October 31, 1998
Ghosts and goblins are out tonight,
Witches try hard to cause fright,
This little pumpkin is very sweet,
He only wants to trick or treat!!
Roam
September 27, 1998
Once roaming wild on the American land,
Tall and strong, woolly and grand,
So rare and special is this guy,
Find him quickly, he is quite a buy!!
Santa
December 6, 1998
Known by all in his suit of red,
Piles of presents on his sled,
Generous and giving, he brings his joy,
Peace and love, plus a special toy!!
Scorch
July 31, 1998
A magical mystery with glowing wings,
Made by wizards and other things,
Known to breath fire with lots of smoke,
Scorch is really a friendly ol' bloke!!
Zero
January 2, 1998
Penguins love the ice and snow,
Playing in weather twenty below,
Antarctica is where I love to be,
Splashing in the cold, cold sea!!
10/16/98 Beanies Couldn't help the OILERS!
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Tennessee Oilers are still
having trouble selling out the smallest stadium in the NFL. This
time, not even free Beanie Babies could help. When Thursday's
deadline for a local television broadcast came, the Oilers were about
9,400 short of a sellout at 41,100-seat Vanderbilt Stadium for
Sunday's game with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Oilers (2-3) have sold
out only two games, their home opener Sept. 13 and Nov. 15 against
Pittsburgh. Don MacLachlan, the Oilers' executive vice president of
marketing, broadcasting and tickets, said giving away 7,500
``Chocolate the Moose'' Beanie Babies was more a reward for season
ticket holders than a major bid to fill seats. ``It will certainly
boost attendance. We were well over 10,000 for awhile, and we do
anticipate, based on the volume of calls, that we will have a big
walkup,'' he said. The Oilers, who had the NFL's worst attendance
last season in Memphis with an average 28,028 per game, are doing
better this year in their latest temporary stadium. The 34,656 who
watched them lose to Jacksonville on Sept. 27 was a bigger crowd than
at seven games in 1997. And they have sold more than 46,000 personal
seat licenses, the right to buy season tickets, for the 67,000-seat
stadium that opens in 1999. As for the Oilers troubles selling
tickets, MacLachlan said, ``Truthfully, it's a matter of us getting
established. We've always looked at this as a bonus year getting to
Middle Tennessee and getting to where our fan base is. And we're
trying to do the best we can each week.''
The Oilers are a little closer to a sellout for Oct. 25,
when they play the Chicago Bears. MacLachlan said tickets for that
game have been selling well recently and that about 6,000 tickets
remain.
10/14/98 Beanies in a Bull market still?
Tired of taking hard falls in the stock market? Want a
soft and cuddly asset that experts believe will keep appreciating in
value for at least four more years? Kathy Williams, of Negaunee,
Mich., says her collection of Beanie Babies stuffed toys, which she
began in late 1996, is now worth $125,000, after a total outlay of
just $10,000. She is hardly alone. Trading among the growing masses
of Beanie Baby collectors, who range from tots to grandmothers, is so
active that an exchange formed for that purpose on the Internet teems
with about 100 trades every day.
``Our goal is to be the source for pricing, a reference
guide to determine fair market value. There's such a broad range when
you go to stores and flea markets,'' said Lizabeth Stevens, president
of the exchange, EWBE, which she co-founded in May
(www:http://www.ewbe.com). '`People are starting to recognize the
value of collectibles now and are looking at them more as an
investment than in the past. The rate of return is phenomenal.''
Williams, a specialist at Beverly, Mass.-based EWBE, said the market
is evenly split between true collectors and investors. ''If you want
get one bear you want every bear. They're addicting. If you buy a
Beanie Baby for $5 and sell it for $300, it's better than Wall
Street,'' she said. While stores sell the toys for just $5 to $7,
overwhelming demand means collectors are willing to camp overnight to
get them, and fights to buy limited inventory are not unusual. By the
time certain of the animal characters are discontinued or
''retired,'' the secondary market price can be phenomenal.
Humphrey the Camel, one of the rarest Beanies, has been
sold for as much as $10,000. A royal blue Peanut the Elephant,
mistakenly manufactured in the wrong color in 1995, is worth $5,000
to $7,000. And Billionaire Bear, which Ty Inc. made only for its
employees last week to celebrate its billionth Beanie Baby, already
has a bid price of $7,000. Each employee at the Chicago-based company
was given two of the bears. Britannia and Princess bears, which are
sold only in Britain, are worth $400 to $500 in the United States.
Prices can be so high that the Insurance Information
Institute warned last week that Beanie Babies and other collectibles
may not be fully covered under standard homeowners insurance
policies, which pay up to $1,500 for each item. It wasn't always like
this. When Beanie Babies made their debut in 1993, they were popular
only as an affordable, cuddly toy for children. Each animal toy had a
cute name like Chilly the Polar Bear, Goldie the Goldfish and
Punchers the Lobster. In late 1996, as Ty launched its Web site amid
the growing popularity of the Internet, more and more collectors
discovered the pocket-sized toys and found another avenue to trade
them. As Beanies were retired for the first time in January 1997, the
clamor began among buyers who were willing to pay anything to
complete a collection. With a total of more than 200 Beanies,
two-thirds of them discontinued, a secondary market has erupted with
its own exchange, analysts, books, price guides, magazines, Web sites
(www.beaniemom.com), shows and the Beanie Babies Official Club
(www.beaniebabyofficialclub.com). While this may seem like just
another craze, Beanie-maniacs note that other hot toys like Cabbage
Patch dolls did not last because they appealed only to a certain age
group. ``Beanies have different characters -- cats, dogs, holiday
Beanies,'' said Beckie Phillips, a mother whose love for the toys led
her to become co-publisher of the bimonthly Beanie Mania magazine
(877-896-2997). ``It seems it's the first time (a toy) has captured
all age groups. It's really become a family affair. Companies are
introducing them for employees. We have an established new category
(of collectibles).'' Williams expects Beanie-mania to continue for at
least four more years. ``People who've spent $5,000 on one (Beanie)
can't afford to let it drop.'' Older Beanies from 1993-94, in
particular, will have staying power, since they are harder to find,
Stevens said.
But is Beanie-mania a speculative bubble waiting to burst?
``As in any kind of market, Beanies have gone through a
correction,'' said Phillips, who also co-authored the ``Beanie
Mania'' price guide. ``Prices went out of control in January through
March. It never crashed, it went up and leveled off.'' With Teenie
Beanies, a smaller version of the toys, coming on board, ``it seems
like they are capturing the attention of new collectors,'' she said.
``Signs for future seem very good.'' New larger Beanie Buddies, which
include replicas of retired originals, also help satisfy demand while
fueling it. When McDonald's gave away Teenie Beanie Babies with its
new Arch Deluxe hamburgers last year, some people bought the food and
threw it away just to get the toys. Police departments have
advertised Beanies for Guns in a bid to get gun owners to hand over
their weapons in return for the toys. Even drug dealers are asking
for payment in Beanies rather than cash, which is traceable. And
since Ty has strict controls on which countries the toys are sold,
U.S. Customs has been seizing forged or illegally imported Beanies at
the borders. With knockoffs becoming more common, buyers should check
each detail before paying up. Often, only an expert can tell if it's
the original eyes, tags, fabric, and embroidery, if any.
``Know your Beanies,'' Williams advised. With an
ever-growing number of experts in grade schools running off to street
corners with their moms for a cash transaction, it seems Beanie-mania
is headed for a bull run. But even if the market crashes, at least
you'll be left with a somewhat soft and fuzzy feeling.
10/13/98 Top 10 Beanie Costumes
Inspired by current characters from cartoons, movies, and
television shows, the Home Sewing Association predicts this year's
top Halloween costume choices for kids and adults:
Mulan(C)
Spice Girls
Zorro(R)
"South Park" characters
Teletubbies
Cinderella
Beanie Babies
"Titanic"-era dresses
Toy Soldiers/Military Men
Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head
I recently bought Derby with the spot at a very reputable
store in Ireland. It does not have any printing inside the tag; the
outside printing is fine. Do you know if this beanie has any value
other than as a toy?
Yesterday I went to PriceClub/Costco. I saw beanies in one
lady's shopping cart. I asked her if PriceClub was selling them, she
said 'Yes they're about a few aisles over'. So I rushed a few aisles
and saw a big crowd overlooking them. A sign read 'Beanie Babies
5.99'. There were recent retirees along with Hissy, Strut and
Stretch. So I purchased some. I don't know why ty is distrubuting
beanies to big department stores. That is so weird. And I think they
are primary market because I found stamps on the tush tags. I think
ty is crazy. I guess they wanted to fire it up a bit since furbies
came out. It's total Chaos here in CA with all the furbies and
beanies.
Hi there! I live in CA and we can't find the new beanies
anywhere! A ton of the fall releases have retired already and are
selling for a TON of $$$money$$$ I know I have no chance of getting
one. And I don't ever expect to get my Clubby either. I've waited
since June and now it's December! I personally like furbies better,
because beanies are too hard to find, and I think I might have
slipped out of the craze.
During the summer, McDonald's had T.B.'s in the Happy Meals. I work
at a career school and the admissions' department would buy about 15
(at least) happy meals to get the entire teenie collection. We would
set the meals out in the hall for the students and we would keep the
toys for ourselves (i.e. grandkids, kids, etc.) The students were so
disappointed when the beanies were over, because they didn't get any
more free lunches. However, that started me on Beanies for my
grandchildren and now I'm hooked, I've bought beanies for my mom, my
daughter and even myself!
Whenever my mother went out to visit my grandmother and
grandfather, she would take my grandmother out to lunch and then they
would pick out a new "beanie bag" for me. My grandmother really
enjoyed when I would call her and thank her for the new beanie baby.
My grandfather was bed-ridden so he would have to stay at home when
they went out. Just recently he had a stroke in the early morning,
had breakfast, and then went back to sleep, but he never woke up. My
grandmother was grief stricken so my mother went out to her house to
console her. I wasn't able to go, but I wanted my grandmother to know
how I had felt about Papa and how much I hoped she would be able to
recover from his death. I have a collection of over 60 beanie babies
at the time, including one mint Valentino, encased in glass,his tag
covered with a protector. Just as my mom was about to leave I shouted
out for her to wait. I ran into my room, took Valentino out of his
box, took off his tag protector, and gave him to my mom. I told her
to give him to my Granny along with my sympathy. The next day, I got
a call from my grandmother, thanking me for her first "beanie bag"
and telling me how muchit meant to her.
BEANIE BABY RIP-OFFS
by SARA PLAYER
Hello. I would like to tell you about a place where I live
that rips people off on their prices of Ty Products- mainly Beanies
and Pillow Pals. I live in Columbia, South Carolina. The mall that I
go to is Richland Fashion Mall. There are GOOD, RELIABLE, prices and
shipments. The Crate is the place I am talking about. I got my only
new Beanies there. Gigi and Stinger. Also when Iggy + etc. were new,
that's where I got MOST of those new ones. But further down the mall
is a little corner store called Ernie's Hallmark Store. They have
been selling such things (before they were not rare) Iggy, Rainbow,
Prance, Pounce, etc. for 25.00$! In early January. Then in March they
sold the Derby with a star for $45.00! They have many retireds, but
not any under 45.00! Now they don't even carry currents! I don't even
go there any more. So if any of you live near me, I would definitely
not incourage you to go there. Happy Hunting- :-) Sara
KICKED OUT FOR SELLING BEANIES?
From: [email protected] (Andy Palko)
On November 20-22 there was an Antiques and Collectibles
show held in Chantilly Virginia, the problem with this show? They
kicked a vendor out of the show for selling beanie babies, they said
that the contract stated that no beanies were aloud to be sold there.
The vendor read the contract over and over but did not see anything
about not being able to sell beanies at the show. I myself was
selling only about 6 beanies so I could have some shopping money, and
they came over to me (I'm only 16) and threatend to throw my parents
out of the show if I continued to sell them, needless to say I did
not sell any of them. Before they kicked her out of the show I
managed to buy Speedy, Early, Claude, Stripes, and Scottie all for
$50! The person who was running the show shouldn't have kicked her
out of there or banned Beanies from the show, because the last time I
was there they had Beanies and the show itself made quite a bit of
money because of people selling Beanies. Well thats all I wanted to
say, but my parents and I are never going to do that show again!
Beanie Buddy Story
From: SassyElmo7
About 2 weeks ago, i went to my local Spains and on the
self were sittin the new Beanie Buddy's. The only ones that weren't
there were Teddy and Peanut. My sister got the last Twigs and I got
the last Quackers. Spains were selling them for $10. The next day my
mom saw twigs and Quackers for 50 something. I would just like to say
i can't believe people are that greedy and trying to make $40 out of
it. I'm sorry for all the people that haven't found the beanie
buddies for the retail price. Keep looking!
In order to get some of the good eanies, all you have to do is ask
the clerk. At this one store in Colorado, All there was left was one
Blackie, so I decided to go for a long shot. I asked the clerk if she
had any more, and the clerk said, "Oh my goodness! The beanies are
sold out already! I'll get some more. Thanks, little girl."
So me and my sister waited patiently, until I got excited.
She got 3 Peaces, 10 Whispers, Fetches, and Kukus, and a couple other
currents. She also sold them all for only $6,00. I bought all 3
Peaces, and a couple others. Believe me, it pays to be patient, plus
you shouldn't be shy, speak out! Like my teacher said, "Patience is a
virtue."
Dissapointment!
Reply-to: [email protected]
I was at a flea market in Buffalo, NY on Sunday an they
had the new beanie babies. I was very disappointed. A few of them are
ugley - and I think very much so. I was a little disappointed in some
that I thought would be cute. The beak is really a disappointment,
the price I paid because I wanted one so bad, and this was the
cheapest of a few that the man sold for $25 , Halo was $100.00 they
had some for $40.00,
but, like I said, the lowest price he had to offer on some
were $25.00.
I hope the market does not go down. A few weeks ago I did
mention to my husband that it will happen, but I think the closer we
get to the holidays it will pick up strong. To me it seems it started
going down when the children returned to school. I believe that
because mothers had their children, and neighbor children purchase
beanies for them to sell. Also I think that the second dealers, and
third, will lose a lot if they do go down. I also think we should
hang in there at least until after the holidays and then predict the
future from there. It is sad that if it does happen soon the second
and third dealers will lose a lot of what they put into it, not just
money, but the time spent trying to search for a good deal and paying
the higher price , but not as bad as the third dealer paid to sell
them. There are many out there who had other items to sell, but
anyone without a TY account had to do something to attract people to
their store, and for this reason many got involved with the beanies.
[email protected]
I've finally found the new Beanies! I was talking to my
friend, Alexa, on the phone, and I said that some people had told me
that Langhor's Flowerland had a bunch of Canyons. Her family was
going into town, so they made a stop there. My family was just
leaving Hasting's when Alexa ran up to me and my sister, Alice.
"Guess what? Langhor's had all the new Beanie Babies except for
Halo!!!" Our eyes opened even wider when she said " I got you guys a
1998 Teddy!". We paid her $6 for it (that's how much they are at
Langhor's). We excitedly asked our mom if we could go to Langhor's
and she said yes. When we got there, at about 1:00, They still had
tons of the new ones! I wanted my own 1998 Teddy (My sister was going
to keep the one Alexa brought us.) I saw a whitish foot sticking out
of a pile of Santas and it turned out to be the last 1998 Teddy
there! In all I got the 1998 Teddy, Santa, Zero, Canyon, Scorch, and
Beak. (I didn't have enough money to get Loosy or Roam.)We also got a
Scorch for our friend, "Bug", a Princess and a Glory for our cousins,
and a Glory for my sister's friend, Kari. It was great! Also, Canyon
and Beak are incredibly Adorable, and Scorch is really cool. Just in
time for Christmas! -Cynthia
Beanie Baby Fad
From: [email protected]
The craze isn't dead for me! For others, well, maybe. Some
people just don't find beanies cute or exciting any more. The new
ones might not realy seem appealing to collectors. Possibly it's
beecause nearly everbody knows about them, and people don't care any
more. I still care about collecting them. Maybe it's just 'cause I'm
eleven. Still, I see no reason for age to make any difference. My
opinion is just that beanies are going to slump in popularity and
then skyrocket up in how many beanies people are buing!
New Beanies and Collecting Beanie Babies In General.
From: One discouraged collector
I am a newbie to your page but I would like to say that I
think Ty's marketing strategy is a little warped. I spent many hours
this summer looking for Glory, only to be told by every retailer I
visited that they had not received their shipment or they had just
received their monthly shipment of 2 Glorys. I finally gave up trying
to find Glory for "retail" and bought her for $25.00 from a friend of
a friend. The new beanies have been released since late September or
early October. No retailer I have visited has yet to receive their
shipment of new beanies. So much for Pumpkin! While I enjoy
collecting beanies, and yes, I am a bear collector, I am very tired
of running all over town, calling every retailer in a 100 mile radius
of my hometown, and asking my long distance friends to search for
beanies! I'm ready to give up collecting beanies altogether simply
because I have better things to do with my time than to stand for
hours on line waiting for a retailer to tell me I can only buy one
beanie.
Got a Great Deal
From: Sac207
I have been looking for retired beanie for quite a while
now. My daughter and I started collecting beanies over 2 years ago
but we were not avid collectors then. So we don't have many of the
retired beanies. I have been trying to buy them but don't want to
spend $75 for a beanie. I was reading through Mary Beth's Beanie
World and found they list web sites. I tried several and were still
unable to find reasonably priced beanies. Then found it -
BEANIENATION.com. It's an auction site. I was a little scared at
first. I didn't know how to bid or how I would get the beanies. I
watched for a while. Made a couple of bids (didn't get them). Then I
decided I would try one that my daughter wanted - Derby (without the
star). I waited until just before the auction was over and bid - I
got him and only for $19.00. This was so much fun I tried again. I
got Legs for $14.50 and Mystic (with the tan horn) for $20.50. The
seller are really great and send the beanies in a priority mail box
wrapped in a zip lock bag with a tag protector. I am really happy
with this site. Last night I would what I would call a really good
buy. Legs, Lizzy, Magic, Inky and Nip. I made a bid but was out bid.
Decided what I really thought they were worth (to me) and made my
final bid. That was almost 3 hours before the auction was over. Most
of the beanies I had purchased I was bidding on just as the auction
closed so I didn't think I would get them. I checked the site just as
the auction was closing and found I had the winning bid. I was soooo
happy. I had 5 retired beanies (2 of which I had been trying to get -
Magic & Lizzy) for just $80.00. Magic alone is worth more than
$40.00 (I had been bidding $37.00 and losing the bids). This site is
worth it. If anyone is looking for retired beanies this is the place
to shop. They even sell in bulk so if you want several of a kind to
trade you can usually get a real good price (i.e. 2 Lizzys sold for
$17.00). Try it. If anyone wants more information on this site they
can E-mail me at [email protected] for more information. As you can tell
I really love this site. I spend 2-3 hours a day just looking - it's
facinating. Try it.