#1 Bear

Description

The #1 bear is a bright red bear Beanie Baby with black button eyes and a larger black nose. He has “#1” embroidered in white on his chest.

Poem

In appreciation of selling over
several Billion dollars during 1998
and achieving the industry ranking of
#1 in Gift sales, #1 in Collectable sales,
#1 in Cash register area sales
#1 in Markup %
I present to you
This signed and
Numbered Bear!

Collectors note

The #1 Bear was introduced on 12th December 1998 as a unique gift given solely to Ty sales representatives. Each bear was also hand-numbered and signed with only 253 ever made, undoubtedly making him very rare.

He was made as a special edition Beanie Baby after the sale of several billion dollars worth of Beanie Babies in 1998 and has sold for $7500.

The #1 Bear was retired on the same day as his release.

There was also a Beanie Buddy version of the #1 Bear.

Counterfeit Advice

Counterfeit versions of the #1 Bear have been reported. Please check the list below before purchasing a #1 Bear. A counterfeit #1 Bear Beanie Baby may have:

The registration symbol may follow the word “Babies” on a counterfeit hang tag, whereas it will follow “Collection” on a genuine tag.

A counterfeit may have a #1 that is too far to the left and also a face that is particularly “off”.

Underneath the words “The Beanie Babies Collection, an authentic hang tag will have nine lines of text. However, anything different indicates a counterfeit.

An authentic hang tag should state the employee party that was held at Fairmont hotel, December 11-14, 1998, but a counterfeit may have the wrong information.

The right side of a genuine hang tag should include a sequenced number, written by hand, followed by a printed “253”, the number of bears produced.

A counterfeit may also have the name of the bear on the tush tag separated into two lines of text, with the “#” on one line and “Bear” on the next. However, a genuine bear should have this all on one line, followed by the TM symbol.