Special Beanie Babies
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A number of the Beanie Baby stuffed animals produced by Ty, Inc. have gained special notability for various reasons, such as their rarity, representation, production errors, lawsuits, or a number of other reasons.
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[edit] Iggy/Rainbow misprint
Two beanies, Iggy the iguana and Rainbow the chameleon were mislabeled when they were first produced. While their bodies had the same shape, Iggy was intended to be made out of a blue/green tie-dyed fabric with a green spine, and Rainbow out of a mostly yellow/green tie-dyed fabric with no spine. But initially, Iggy was made in yellow/green, with a spine, and Rainbow in blue/green without. Additionally, some Iggys were made with and some without a tongue. By the time this error was corrected, a total of five combined versions had been produced, and though those with the misprints were rare, they were all sought out by collectors.
In 1999, a Teenie Beanie of Iggy was produced for distribution by McDonalds in the Happy Meal promotion, which had no spine or tongue
In 2000, a Rainbow Beanie Buddy was produced with the correct design, and its tag described that Iggy and Rainbow switched tags. It had a tongue and no spine.
Further reading on Iggy and Rainbow is available at this page
[edit] Royal Blue Peanut Elephant
Peanut is a Beanie Baby elephant produced by Ty, Inc. during the 1990s. A dark blue version that was only made accidentally in 1995 is one of the rarest Beanie Babies. The proper light blue color was used until Peanut retired in 1998.
In 1998, a royal blue Peanut Beanie Buddy was produced in large quantities, and was available for more than a year. In 2000, a light blue version that resembled the common beanie baby Peanut was made briefly, but soon retired.
During the McDonalds Teenie Beanies promotions, both versions of Peanut were included in different years. The light blue Peanut was no. 12 in the 1998 line, and the royal blue version of Peanut was a part of the 2000 "Legends" collection.
[edit] Wingless Quackers
Quackers is a Beanie Baby duck that was produced by Ty, Inc. during the 1990s. While the regular version was pretty common, a small percentage of them were produced without wings (known as Wingless Quackers to collectors), and are highly sought on the secondary market.
In 1998, a Quackers Beanie Buddy was introduced as one of The Original Nine Beanie Buddies. Slightly before the buddy's retirement, a small number of wingless Quackers Buddies were produced.
While the genuine Quackers was bright yellow, some counterfeit units were seen in mint green [1].
[edit] Harry the Hamster
Harry was created in 2001, in honor of September 11th when the World Trade Center went down. Each Harry has a patch on his foot that says "Never forget 9/11." and each is numbered 1/1500. Each family of a victim also received one.
[edit] Doodle the rooster
Doodle the rooster was made by Ty Inc in mid 1997. Doodle's name was changed shortly thereafter to Strut, reportedly in response to complaints from Chick-fil-A.
[edit] Sly the Fox
Sly is a Beanie that originally had a brown belly to match the rest of his body, but then Ty changed his stomach to white. There is speculation that the change was made to make Sly look more like a real fox. The brown-bellied Sly is rare, and worth more than his white-bellied counterpart.
[edit] Runner the mongoose
Runner the mongoose, released in 2000, originally had a poem in its ear tag that departed very dramatically from the usual style of poem:
I'm not so mean, I'm really shy,
But every cobra has to die
I grab them by their little head
And whack them till they're stone cold dead!
After protestation from the general public over the morbid nature of the poem, Runner was re-released with a new, nicer poem. The original version of Runner is worth two to three times as much as the new version, but both are still relatively common.
[edit] Name Changes
Several beanies have had their names changed throughout the years, and this has contributed to their value increases.
[edit] Beanies not offered to public
There were various beanies not offered to the public, but rather to an exlusive group.
[edit] Ty Employees
[edit] Employee Bear
The first Beanie to be offered exclusively to Ty employees was a version of Violet Teddy that did not have a hang tag, and was called "Employee Bear." It was issued on September 13, 1997, and 300 in all were distributed, 50% with a red ribbon, and 50% with a green ribbon. All had tush tags A Beanie Buddy version of it was introduced during the 2000s. This one had a hang tag, and was sold to the public like any other Beanie Buddy under the name "Employee Bear."
[edit] Billionaire Bears
Billionaire Bears have been made each year, numbered accordingly in the order they have been produced.
The first Billionaire bear, which was simply called "Billionaire," was introduced on September 26, 1998. It honored employees of Ty, Inc. for shipping over $1 billion worth of goods during the year 1998.
On September 12, 1999, a Billionaire II bear was introduced. It was offered at a Ty company picnic that was held on that day. Billionaire II celebrated Ty's sales having exceed those of Mattel and Hasbro. A total of 475 Billionaire II bears were made, and they were signed by Ty Warner himself[1].
[edit] #1 Bear
The #1 Bear was offered to an even more exclusive group - Ty Sales representatives. Only 253 were produced, and each one was signed and hand-numbered by Ty Warner himself. The #1 Bear has been considered to be the most valuable Beanie of all time.
[edit] Beanie Baby of the month
In 2003, Ty started the Beanie Baby of the month program. Customers would sign up for a 12-month period, and would receive one Beanie Baby in the mail each month during that period. These beanies were available only through this offer, and after that month was up, that beanie would retire.
| Name | Animal type | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Sparkles | Bear | January 2003 |
| Holmes | Dog | February 2003 |
| Dreamer | Bear | March 2003 |
| Buttercream | Bunny | April 2003 |
| Cappuccino | Cat | May 2003 |
| Virunga | Gorilla | June 2003 |
| Decade (pink) | Bear | July 2003 |
| Khufu | Camel | August 2003 |
| Kippy | Dog | September 2003 |
| Popcorn | Bear | October 2003 |
| Comet | Bear | November 2003 |
| Tinsel | Dog | December 2003 |
| Jersey | Cow | January 2004 |
| Heartthrob | Bear | February 2004 |
| Peepers | Chick | March 2004 |
| Thank You Bear | Bear | April 2004 |
| Sapphire | Bear | May 2004 |
| Countess | Ladybug | June 2004 |
| Alani | Bear | July 2004 |
| Chompers | Shark | August 2004 |
| Alps | Dog | September 2004 |
| Fire Plug | Dog | October 2004 |
| Astra | Bear | November 2004 |
| Greetings | Goose | December 2004 |
| Fiddler | Cat | January 2005 |
| Adonis | Dog | February 2005 |
| Fritters | Bunny | March 2005 |
| Serenade | Robin | April 2005 |
| Breadcrumbs | Mouse | May 2005 |
| Trident | Seahorse | June 2005 |
| Founders | Bear | July 2005 |
| Ramble | Dog | August 2005 |
| Frisky | Cat | September 2005 |
| Pocus | Bear | October 2005 |
| Stuffings | Turkey | November 2005 |
| Flicker | Mouse | December 2005 |
| Icecubes | Bear | January 2006 |
| Zoomer | Monkey | February 2006 |
| Billingham | Duck | March 2006 |
| Canters | Pegasus | April 2006 |
| Dabbles | Bear | May 2006 |
| Grumbles | Crab | June 2006 |
| Tortuga | Sea Turtle | July 2006 |
| Clucky | Chicken | August 2006 |
| Barklowe | Dog | September 2006 |
| Scares | Bear | October 2006 |
| Stuffed | Turkey | November 2006 |
| Merriment | Bear | December 2006 |
| Chillton | Polar Bear | January 2007 |
| Snuggins | Dog | February 2007 |
| Lots O' Luck | Bear | March 2007 |
| Palace | Unicorn | April 2007 |
| Marsh | Frog | May 2007 |
| Surfin' | Octopus | June 2007 |
| Fireworks | Dog | July 2007 |
| Picnic | Bear | August 2007 |
| Riggins | Dog | September 2007 |
| Jinxed | Cat | October 2007 |
| Feastings | Turkey | November 2007 |
| Puppy Claus | Dog | December 2007
[edit] References |
