Meanies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Meanie is a small stuffed animal made by Topkat LLC, starting in 1997 and lasting until 2000. A Meanie is a type of bean bag in the form of a stuffed animal toy.
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[edit] Beanie Fad
Meanies were first released in 1997 with a 12 animal run, with a 13th available if you mailed away the tags from all the entire collection. They were an attempt by The Idea Factory Inc, now known as Topkat LLC, to capitalize on the Beanie Baby fad by providing a humorous and hipper alternative to collectors and a younger crowd. They were mildly successful for a short time, but came around at the tail end of the beanie fad, which ended around 1999. As with beanie babies, their value was much higher during their popular days with prices on eBay getting 5-8 dollars for the standard releases and much higher for the promotional giveaways. The most expensive and sought after Meanie was Pirate Jack, a pumpkin with an eye patch given away at Madison Square Garden on Halloween. There was a black and red eye-patched version, both fetching around 100 dollars in auctions during the beanie craze. As of July 2007, Meanies now sell for very little, with most going for around a dollar.
[edit] Standard Releases
There were 3 standard series releases of Meanies. Each was comprised of 12 animals, except for Series III, which had only 7.
- Series I
- Otis The Octopunk(Silver Ring-Marked Oi!)
- Otis The Octopunk(Silver Ring-Marked O!i)
- Otis The Octopunk(Gold Ring)
- Sledge The Hammered Head Shark(Five Gills)
- Sledge The Hammered Head Shark(Six Gills)
- Fi & Do the Dalmutation
- Boris The Mucousaurus(Dark Green)
- Boris The Mucousaurus(Light Green)
- Hurly The Pukin' Toucan
- Matt The Fat Bat
- Navy Seal
- Snake Eyes Jake
- Splat The Road Kill Kat
- Bart The Elephant
- Armydillo Dan
- Peter Gotta Peagull
There were two production runs of Series I, with the second eliminating the free mystery Meanie offer contained on the first tags. The first run plushes were typically a little more furry and of slightly different color than the second run.
- Series II
- Floaty The Fish
- Bare Bear(Pink Lips-Sans Nipples)
- Bare Bear(Red Lips-With Nipples)
- Velocicrapper
- Donnie Didn't Duck
- Lucky The Rabbit(Shiny Slick Nose)
- Lucky The Rabbit(Red Flocked Nose)
- Lucky the Rabbit(Peach not Tan)
- PreemieChickie
- Peeping Tom Cat(Without Pupils)
- Peeping Tom Cat(With Pupils)
- Chicken Pox
- Bessie Got Milked
- Burny The Bear
- Digger The Snottish Terrier
- Phlemingo
Like Series I, Series II did a second production run as well, although they are identical to the first except for a few subtle differences. The second run of the series added nipples to Bare Bear and pupils to the ends of the binoculars on Peeping Tom Cat.
- Series III
- Bad Hare Day
- Dog Eat Dog
- John Deer
- No Brainer
- The Grim Beaver
- Tied The Bear(White Rope)
- Tied The Bear(Black Rope, Limited To 15,000)
- Si & Mia The Siamese Cat
This series improved the quality and size of the plush dolls considerably. They were more detailed and featured more varied types of fabrics than the other runs.
[edit] Infamous Meanies
Infamous Meanies were funny takes on celebrities. These were arguably the most popular line, and they helped to bring awareness of the other lines to the masses. The first series mocked the Clinton affair and the Mike Tyson ear-biting incident. After the popularity of the first line, a second was released featuring a wider range of celebrities, and making fun of them individually instead of scandals they were associated with.
Series I featured a second production run that changed the color of Bull Clinton's tie from red to blue, and the color of Buddy The Dog from light brown to dark brown.
- Series I
- Bull Clinton(Red Tie)
- Bull Clinton(Blue Tie)
- Buddy The Dog(Light Brown)
- Buddy The Dog(Dark Brown)
- Donkeyng
- Mike Bison
- The Codfather
For Series II there was also a second run with a few variations on the characters. Dennis Rodmantis' shoes originally had dots on the sides, but this was changed to the Idea Factory logo in the second release. Also the feet and hands for Mallard Stern and Quack Nicholson went from orange to red in the second issue.
- Series II
- Dennis Rodmantis(Dots on shoes)
- Dennis Rodmantis(IF on shoes)
- Moodonna
- Mallard Stern(Red Feet)
- Mallard Stern(Orange Feet)
- Mick Jaguar
- Quack Nicholson(Red Feet)
- Quack Nicholson(Orange Feet)
- Jerry Stinger
[edit] Teeny Weeny Meanies
Keychain versions of 9 of the Series I Meanies were made available at 7-Eleven stores in 1998. They were small versions of the characters on a small chain with a standard keychain clasp.
- Armydillo Dan
- Bart The Elephant
- Boris The Mucousaurus
- Fi & Do The Dalmutation
- Hurley The Pukin' Toucan
- Matt The Fat Bat
- Otis The Octopunk
- Peter Gotta Peegul
- Splat The Road Kill Kat
[edit] Shocking Stuffers
During the holiday season for two years, they released a line called Shocking Stuffers that featured funny Christmas characters.
- Series I
- Cold Turkey
- Slushy The Snowman(red ribbon around brim of hat)
- Splat In The Hat
- Series II
- Insanity Claus
- Cat In Lights
- Missletoad
- Slushy The Snowman(Plaid ribbon around brim of hat, added a pipe in mouth and mistletoe on hat)
[edit] Farce Wars
In an attempt to capitalize on the hype surrounding Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Topkat put out a series of characters from the film as humorous animals. There were 6 characters in this series.
- Series I
- Queen Armadillo
- Slobba The Mutt
- Dark Mole
- Anteater Dirtwalker
- Goata
- Dark Gator
[edit] Scare Bears
During Halloween one year Topkat released a set of 3 bears dressed at famous movie monsters. This line was different from other Meanie releases in that they were not humorous or different animals.
- Scare Bears
- Dracubear
- Bearwitched
- Frankenbear
[edit] Meanies Valentines
During Valentine's Day one year there was a release of 3 Meanies with a love-related theme. There was a special limited edition Heartless Bear also made available in red instead of the normal white. It was limited to 7,500.
- Meanies Valentines
- Heartless Bear
- Heartless Bear(Red- Limited Edition)
- Stupid Cupig
- Got Lucky
[edit] Twisted Toys
In 1999, there was a small series of Meanies released to lampoon popular toys of the time. This run was short and similar to the Meanies Valentines, in that they put out a limited edition orange version of Teletushy limited to 15,000.
- Twisted Toys
- Teletushy(Purple)
- Teletushy(Orange- Limited Edition)
- Dopeymon
- No-Fur-Bee
[edit] Meanies "At Large"
A few of the Meanies were made in a larger version in the Meanies "At Large" Series.
- AT LARGE
- Bart the Elephart
- Lucky the Rabbit
- Splat the Roadkill Kat
- Burny the Bear
- Tied the Bear
[edit] Special Giveaways
Some special edition Meanies were given away as collectibles at arena events such as basketball games. They were animal versions of players for the home team, which was either the New Jersey Nets or Philadelphia 76ers. These stadium giveaways were the most valuable and sought after meanies due to their rarity.
- Basketball Meanies
- Matt Tiger
- Alien Iverson(All-Star Jersey)
- Alien Iverson(76ers Jersey)
- Keith Van Hornet
- Bison Williams
- Stephon Marbeary
- Madison Square Garden Halloween
- Pirate Jack(Red Eye-Patch, Limited To 1,250)
- Pirate Jack(Black Eye-Patch)
Other meanies were mail-away offers where you could send in tags or proofs of purchase to get a free mystery Meanie in the mail. This was done with Series I and Series II, as well as a special promotion through Cap'n Crunch.
- Series I Mystery Meanie
- Fangaroo
- Series II Mystery Meanie
- Chubby The Bear
- Cap'n Crunch
- Tiger Shark(Limited to 50,000)
