Rare Beanies Archives - Beaniepedia - Beanie Babies online database

Rare Beanies

The Top Rarest Beanie Babies in the World!

Tuesday, June 25th, 2024

If you’re a collector, one of the most important questions you’ll probably want to know the answer to is, “What are the rarest Beanie Babies?”.

Various claims (and a LOT of misinformation) are all over the internet about which Beanie Babies are rare. But what is the TRUTH? Let’s take a look below.

Chef Robuchon

A select group of guests received the Chef Robuchon bear at the opening of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York.

The guests also received a red invitation card with the bear to attend the private function before the grand opening of the restaurant.

Inside the menu in the bear’s paws is Chef Robuchon’s Potato Puree recipe.

Only 200 bears were ever produced, making him undoubtedly one of the top rarest Beanie Babies!

#1 Bear

The bright red #1 Bear is also considered one of the top rare Beanie Babies! It was handed out as a gift to Ty sales representatives on 12th December 1998.

Additionally, each special edition bear was signed and numbered with only 253 ever produced!

The bear was given out in appreciation for the sale of several billion dollars of Beanie Babies in 1998.

With such a limited amount of bears and each one numbered and signed, the #1 Bear is incredibly rare!

Peanut the Elephant (Royal Blue)

Peanut is a Beanie Baby that has been subject to a lot of misinformation.

I think this has come from the fact that there are two colour variations of Peanut, this Royal Blue version and a light blue version. However, there is also some confusion surrounding the poem on the Royal Blue Peanut Beanie Buddy, which reads as follows:

“Peanut the BEANIE BABY
made in this royal blue color
is extremely rare and very valuable!”

Consequently, this appears to cause some confusion, making people think the BEANIE BUDDY is rare and expensive.

Truthfully, the only rare version of Peanut is the Royal Blue Beanie Baby colour variation, as this was the first Peanut produced. Shortly after her release, the decision was made to change her to a light blue colour. The Royal Blue colour was quickly retired, making it one of the most valuable and sought after Beanie Babies.

Humphrey the Camel

Humphrey was the first officially retired Beanie Baby.

He was only available for under a year, but with around only 25,000 ever made, he is very sought after, especially authenticated with an early generation hang tag (see the Beanie Babies Hang Tag Guide for more information).

The Beanie Buddy and McDonald’s Teenie Beanie Baby versions of Humphrey are often mistakenly thought of as rare, but unfortunately these were mass-produced and can easily be picked up cheaply.

Billionaire Bears

Billionaire was only given to Ty employees as a “Thank You” for shipping over a billion dollars of Beanie Babies since January 1998.

There were only around 1400 ever produced, giving him a spot on this rare Beanie Baby list!

Each bear was hand signed by Ty Warner himself and started off a series of more rare Billionaire bears to follow!

The Dinosaur Trio – Bronty, Rex and Steg

The Rare Dinosaur Trio Beanie Babies - Bronty, Steg and Rex

On the wish list of most collectors are the so-called “Dinosaur Trio”!

The Dinosaur Trio consists of Bronty, Rex and Steg and are sought after by many collectors. To have all three would be an enviable position to be in!

All three dinosaurs were released at the same time in June 1995 and were retired a year later.

They all came with a 3rd generation hang tag, however, a 1st generation black and white tush tag would be the most desirable version of these little dinos!

There is a misconception that the larger Beanie Buddy and McDonald’s Teenie Beanie Baby versions are also valuable. However, only the dinosaur Beanie Babies are considered rare.

Shampoodle

Shampoodle technically should never have been released. There was an issue with her fur falling out so she was recalled and withdrawn before release. However, a few sneakily made their way on to the market.

Those that made their way in to circulation are considered rare because they were never officially available to the public.

Shampoodle should never be given to a child as she was a recalled item. The issue with her fur prove to be dangerous, so she should only ever be displayed.

Brownie

Brownie is one of the true Original Nine Beanie Babies. Those with the Brownie name were quickly retired and re-released under the name Cubbie.

Brownie is considered one of the rarest Beanies because of his quick retirement. He always has a first generation hang tag and tush tag. However, without the hang tag it is absolutely impossible to distinguish between him and a first generation Cubbie.

Punchers

Punchers is another true member of the Original Nine. He was quickly retired as Punchers and re-introduced as Pinchers. Those with a Punchers hang tag are considered one of the rarest Beanie Babies around!

Like with Brownie/Cubbie, it would be impossible to know whether you have a first generation Punchers or a first generation Pinchers without the hang tag.

Spot the Dog (without Spot)

Another member of the true Original Nine is Spot. Curiously, Spot was first released without a spot. However, he was quickly retired and re-released including the missing black spot on his back.

The very first spotless version is the rarest version of Spot and features a 1st generation hang tag and either a 1st or 2nd generation tush tag, the 1st generation tush tags being the most valuable.

Beanie Babies with 1st Generation Hang Tags

Beanie Babies with a 1st generation hang tag (see Hang Tag Guide for more info) are always going to be valuable.

Just make sure they are genuine.

Beanie Babies with a Pre-1st Generation UK Hang Tag

Pre-1st Generation UK Black and White Hang Tag

This is the rarest type of hang tag known in existence!

These pre-1st generation hang tags were only available on UK first generation Original Nine Beanie Babies before they were switched to the official 1st generation hang tags.

If you own a Beanie Baby with one of these ultra-rare hang tags on it, you are, indeed, a very lucky person.

There are probably only a handful, maybe even a couple, of Beanies of each type with this hang tag still attached as most were removed or replaced before they were shipped out.

They are hardly EVER seen.

Hopefully you have enjoyed this list of rare Beanie Babies. Do you own any of those above? Who is on your wish list? Leave a comment below!

Tags:

Category:

Rare Beanies

Top 10 Rare Beanie Boos 2020

Wednesday, December 9th, 2020

Hi everyone!

Today I’ve been filming for today’s Vlogmas video, which will be released a little bit later on. I have also been adding more of your Beanie requests, so look out for those!

For now, I’ve decided to show you what I think are my top 10 rare and hard to find Beanie Boos!

(These are in no particular order of rarity, or in order of who I like the best).

10. Slush

Slush is one of the original seven Beanie Boos.

Now Slush in himself isn’t actually that hard to find. However, I’m talking about the 1st variation of Slush.

Now the difference between this first edition version of Slush and the newer variations of Slush are the ears. Newer Slush Beanie Boos have blue inner ears and the first version’s inner ears are white. The underside of his tail is also white compared to the newer versions which have a blue tip.

2. Rasmus

Next up is the adorable moose Beanie Boo, Rasmus!

Now I had to pick a Beanie Boo here as there are actually five Country exclusive moose Beanie Boos and I didn’t want to list them all. The other four are Väinö, Harald, Birger and Egert. You can actually get hold of these guys but they are all upwards of $30 which is why I have included them. Aren’t they just so cute?!

3. Coconut

Another one of the original seven, Coconut again isn’t that hard to find, but the first version of Coconut is a lot rarer.

Earlier versions had peach coloured ears instead of the purple inner ears are the later version. The first Coconut Beanie Boos also had a solid brown tail, whereas the later versions had a purple tip. There is also a noticeable difference in the texture of the fur between the two.

4. Kiwi

Of course, I’m talking about Kiwi the frog, not the later Kiwi Beanie Boo, which is a kiwi bird.

All versions of Kiwi are hard to find, but the rarest is the very first version.

The first version had a yellow belly, chin and toes and blue button eyes. On later versions, his belly, chin and toes were light pink and his eyes were pink.

5. Bubblegum

When I’m talking about Bubblegum, I mean the original seven Koala, not Bubblegum the lemur.

Bubblegum was part of the very first UK release of Beanie Boos. He was later discontinued, redesigned slightly and renamed Kooky. Those with the original Bubblegum name are very rare.

6. Peanut

Peanut in general isn’t particularly rare, but the first variation is very hard to find.

Peanut was one of the original seven Beanie Boos that were released in the UK. All the original first release Beanie Boos were retired and replaced with eight redesigned Beanie Boos, which didn’t include Peanut. Instead, Bubblegum the Koala was renamed Kooky and a pink lemur appeared with the Bubblegum name alongside a Bush Baby called Cleo.

Later, another Peanut Beanie Boo elephant appeared, but he is not considered one of the original seven.

The first version of Peanut had pink inner ears, pink on the end of her trunk and pink toes.

7. Treasure

Treasure was one of the first Justice Stores exclusive Beanie Boos, who was released alongside Sapphire the zebra.

They were also the first Beanie Boos to feature the newer glittery Beanie Boo eyes!

Treasure is really hard to find as she was the first Justice Stores exclusive, and regularly sells for between $50-100!

(Ignore the really highly priced eBay listings. These are just the price people have listed them for, not what they have actually SOLD for. For more information on how to price Beanies, please see my What are My Beanies Worth guide).

8. T-Bone

I’m not sure whether I can actually consider T-Bone a “rare” Beanie Boo as such, but he is certainly harder to find than most, especially for a low price and in good condition.

T-Bone was actually a Trade Show exclusive that could only be obtained by Ty retailers that visited the Ty booths at one of the 2014 Winter Toy Fairs. The remaining Beanie Boos that weren’t collected, were made available for sale until they were out of stock.

I don’t know what it is but I love the chihuahua Beanie Boos! They are just co cute, so I had to include one! My favourite would have to be Nacho (because I loooove Nachos!), but I can’t really call him rare so couldn’t justify putting him on the list.

9. Waddles

Waddles was one of the original seven Beanie Boos. The later versions of Waddles were quite common, but the very first variation is really hard to get hold of.

The first version of Waddles had orange feet instead of the blue feet featured on later models. He also didn’t have blue under his wings. His fur was a slightly different texture too.

Waddles is very popular and has been released across many Ty lines, including Ty Puffies and Mini Boos.

10. Loy

Loy was a Japanese exclusive Beanie Boo. He isn’t “rare” as such, but as he was only released in Japan, he is a little harder to find in the West.

He is based on the Japanese Akita dog breed and featured a special Japanese swing tag.

I’m sorry if I missed anyone off the list! These were my personal top 10 rare/harder-to-find Beanie Boos.

Who would you put on this list?