H. Ty Warner's plush toy phenomenon has grown since 1993 and began to emerge as a popular collectible in 1995.
Their popularity has produced countless numbers of websites, books and magazines, television news stories, and newspaper articles that have been dedicated to Ty Beanie Babies.
“Beanie Babies” and “The Beanie Babies Collection” are owned trademarks of Ty.
In 1997, 1998 and 1999, Ty licensed the Beanie Babies trademark for use in McDonald's promotions.
At the height of the Beanie Baby secondary market, it is estimated that 10% of all eBay sales were made up of Beanies.
Their popularity has produced countless numbers of websites, books and magazines, television news stories, and newspaper articles that have been dedicated to Ty Beanie Babies.
“Beanie Babies” and “The Beanie Babies Collection” are owned trademarks of Ty.
In 1997, 1998 and 1999, Ty licensed the Beanie Babies trademark for use in McDonald's promotions.
At the height of the Beanie Baby secondary market, it is estimated that 10% of all eBay sales were made up of Beanies.
A Counterfeit Beanie is:
- One that was not manufactured by Ty Inc. and made to pass as an authentic Ty Beanie Baby. At the height of the Beanie Baby secondary market in the 1990s, thousands of well-made counterfeits were produced and sold all over the world. Many unsuspecting purchasers were fooled. Counterfeit hang tags were also forged and hung on Ty products. Replacing a hang tag with an earlier generation hang tag would increase the perceived value of the Beanie. A well-trained eye can spot these counterfeits, and authentication by a trusted authenticator is recommended for rare Beanies. Attempting to auction a counterfeit Beanie is forbidden within Ty Storage Wars “LOVE by Auction”. If you are not sure if your Beanie Baby is authentic, ask our Admin Team for advice.
- A Ty Beanie Baby that was manufactured in lower quantities. It is therefore not often seen for sale and accordingly, it can command a higher price. Special promotional Beanies, Ty Warner signed Beanies, and Beanies with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation hang tag are considered rare. 99% of the Beanie Babies manufactured are considered common and are not rare.
- A Ty Beanie Baby that has been inspected by an expert and has been determined to be authentic and not counterfeit. The authenticator issues the Beanie a numbered certificate of authentication and it is placed in a tamper-proof sealed acrylic case. A Beanie in a case with a damaged or missing seal cannot be trusted as authentic and should be sent for re-authentication. Authenticating your Beanie Baby is a means of determining value. It also increases the likelihood of a sale and the Beanie can be priced at a premium compared to an identical but non-authenticated Beanie.
- These are Ty Beanie Babies that were exclusively sold in Asia-Pacific countries. These countries are Australia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Beanie Baby of the Month (BBOM or BBOTM):
- Members could enter into a yearly subscription where every month they received a Ty Beanie Baby of the month. These Beanie Babies had a special button attached to them.
- Membership was offered inside Clubby Beanie Kits and Color Me Beanie Kits. People could subscribe and special Ty Beanie Babies could be purchased only by members.
- When the term bent tag is used to describe the hang tag of a Ty product this is a significant bend in the tag and therefore lowers the value.
- Ty Beanie Babies that have been distributed in Canada have an additional tag underneath the tush tag. This tag is required by law to meet Canadian toy import regulations.
Detached Hang Tag:
- This is a hang tag that is no longer attached to the Ty product and lowers the value.
- This term is designated for Ty Beanie Babies that were exclusively sold at a particular store, outlet, or in a specific country.
- This is the heart-shaped cardboard tag that is attached to Ty products. It is attached at the top of the item, usually at the ear. It is also called "swing tag" or "heart tag".
- This is an authentication grading term. It can mean different things for different authenticating services. You should check with authenticators to confirm their terms for grading MQ. In general, it means the item and its tags are in perfect, mint condition.
- Mint with Mint Tag
- In 1997 Ty Inc. moved to a new face bear style Beanie Baby that included a stitch across the nose changing their look from the old face bears prior.
Oddity:
- An oddity in a Ty Beanie Baby is a physical flaw in the Beanie made during the manufacturing process. It makes that Beanie unique or one of a kind. It does not refer to a print error on a hang tag. Oddities are mistakes made during the manufacturing of the Beanie itself, such as one arm longer than the other, a missing chest emblem on a bear, an upside-down button, or multiple buttons affixed to a Beanie. An oddity you might see is the wrong name on the Beanie Baby's tush tag. Although an interesting piece this type of oddity does nothing to increase the value as people have attempted to falsely remove the tush tag and switch it with another. There are even counterfeit Beanie Babies with tush tags with incorrect names.
- Ty Beanie Baby bears without the stitch across the nose are called “old face bears” or “old face teddies”. Since these bears are an earlier (older) style, few of these bears exist and they can command a high sale price.
- Ty Beanie Babies launched in 1993 and first appeared in a Chicago, Illinois gift store. The original 9 Beanies were Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear, and Pinchers the Lobster. These are extremely rare to find and have a white sewn-in tush tag with black lettering. Unlike today's book style hang tag seen on Beanie Babies these had a single double-sided hang tag with a small Ty on the front and the name and style number on the back. Poems had not yet been introduced.
- Refers to the tiny plastic pellets inside the Ty Beanie Baby. It stands for polyethylene. This information can be found on the tush tag. These pellets inside the Beanie make it possible to pose Beanie Babies in unique positions.
- Refers to the tiny pellets inside the Ty Beanie Baby. It stands for polyvinyl chloride. This information can be found on the tush tag. Due to the toxicity of pvc pellets, their use ended in 1997. Beanies have been manufactured using PE pellets only ever since.
Retired:
- This term is used to describe Ty products that are no longer in production. They can no longer be purchased from Ty Inc. and can only be bought through the secondary market.
- Most of the tag errors seen throughout the internet and posted for high prices were mass-produced and do nothing to increase the value of the Ty Beanie Baby. This means the errors do not influence the Beanies' value. Many sellers attempt to sell a common Beanie by saying they have an ultra-rare Beanie with many tag errors, you must be aware of this and do your research. Anything that is labeled ultra-rare or rare is worth getting authenticated. Sellers’ have the right to set any selling price they wish, but just because it's happening all the time on eBay doesn’t mean it is fact or ethical.
- Every year Ty made design changes to the Hang Tags and Tush Tags. Each year was known as a “generation”. The combination of the generations of the Hang Tag and the Tush Tag on your Ty product will tell you the year it was produced. The condition of these tags will affect the market value of the Ty product.
- This is a plastic heart-shaped protector for the hang tag or a plastic sleeve for the tush tag. These protect the tags from getting damaged.
- This is the fabric tag that is attached to the Ty product. There are many different tush tags and each has slight differences. A few rare Beanie Babies have embroidered tush tags. These embroidered tush tags were meant to be put on Ty Plush/Classic products but were mistakenly put on Beanie Babies.
- In 1998 and for approximately 2 years, Ty Beanie Babies were produced with a red stamp on their tush tag. These 3 digit stamps indicate which Chinese factory the Beanie was made in. They were used by Ty Inc. for quality control. All Beanie Babies produced in China during this time period received the red stamp and the only affected value is on Peace Bear with stamps 102 (TY INC variant), 108, and 113. There are many false rumors and fake eBay sales about Beanies with red stamps. These rumors are created as "click bait" where the main purpose is to attract and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular website. Remember the golden rule; Anything that is labeled ultra-rare or rare is worth getting authenticated!