Ty have posted this picture on their Facebook page just to tease us!
Apparently there are going to be some new releases coming soon! I can’t wait to see what they have in store!
There are some speculations around on the internet, and I possibly have a clue what the Beanie Boo in the picture will turn out to be. I won’t spoil the surprise, but all I can say is that if it is what I think it is, I HAVE to have it in my collection!
Can you guess what Ty has up their sleeves?
I would just like to wish you all a Happy New Year!
I hope you all have the best 2019 ever and that all your dreams come true!
What are your New Years Resolutions?
Ty are giving away a rare numbered Peek-a-Boo, exclusively signed by Ty Warner himself!
To enter, you will have to take a picture of a friend or yourself and your Peek-a-Boo holding something and fill in the entry form on their Facebook page.
There will only be 100 winners, so only a lucky few will be able to get their hands on these rare Peek-a-Boos.
The competition ends on 1st October 2015 so enter before it’s too late for a chance to win! The enter the competition, click here. And good luck!
Ty have announced that five Beanie Boos will soon be retiring!
The blue-eared Peanut the elephant, Zig-Zag the Zebra, Fetch the Dalmatian and both the black and purple variations of Crawly the Spider will all soon be off the shelves so keep your eye out for them as they’ll soon be unavailable.
The news that Peanut, Zig-Zag and Fetch didn’t come as a surprise as they have been available for some time, however, the two Crawly versions came as shock as they are only a year old!
Have you got any of the latest Beanie Boo retirements?
As I’m sure you have heard, Ty have released a new range of products called Peek-a-Boos. These cute little critters hold your smartphone or tablet for you while having a special screen cleaning material of the underside of each of them.
There are currently four different Peek-a-Boos available. The original four are a little brown dog called Pups, Uni the bright pink unicorn, Penni the penguin and Chimps the monkey.
Have you got your hands on any of the new Peek-a-Boos yet?
We are excited to announce two new releases from Ty this month!
If you love cats then you’ll love Tabitha, the latest Beanie Boo cat. This ginger and white tabby cat with her sparkly purple eyes is sure to please!
Ty have also announced a brand new Beanie Baby arrival!
Legend is a charming little bright red dragon with beautiful gold wings. He is not to be confused with the previous Legend the Dragon who was purple with gold wings.
What do you think of these latest two Beanies? Do you have Tabitha or Legend in your collection yet?
Since 4th July, McDonalds have been giving away one of a selection of eight Teenie Beanie Boos with every Happy Meal. There are now only 3 days left of this promotion, which ends on 31st July!
The eight Teenie Beanie Boos are each available in 2 different colours, which makes a total of 16 variations! They are as follows:
Each Teenie Beanie Boo is polybagged and comes free with the Happy Meal. They are also available to purchase from Mcdonalds restaurants for between $1 and $2 (the cost appears to vary on which location you are in) without the need to buy any food. This promotion is only available in the USA.
How many Teenie Beanie Boos have you collected?
Meet Rocco, one of the latest Beanie Boo releases for 2014!
Rocco is a gorgeous little grey and pink Raccoon and is a welcome new addition to the Beanie Boos collection. There hasn’t really been any brand new creatures up until now and this little guy has been well worth the wait!
Rocco is available in 6″ and 9″ sizes.
Have you found Rocco yet?
Tags are very important in the world of Beanie Babies. If a Beanie Baby is missing a tag it’s value can decrease by up to half!
As you may already know, Beanie Babies have two types of tag, a swing tag and a tush tag. A swing tag is the red heart-shaped tag that usually hangs from your Beanie Baby’s ear or wing. A tush tag is the fabric tag that is attached to the Beanie Baby’s rear end!
This post talks about swing tags. If you are looking for information on tush tags, please refer to my Tush Tag Identification article here.
There are currently 20 generations of swing tag, each with their own differences. There are also variations between different parts of the world, for example, a 17th generation swing tag in the UK and EU is different from a swing tag from the USA.
The most sought after swing tag generations are 1-3, the later generations were generally mass-produced (although there are exceptions) and more common than the first three.
This post will go on to explain each generation of swing tag and highlight any differences between countries.
This was the very first generation of swing tag appearing at the beginning of 1994. It was just a simple red heart with Ty written on the front in white. The original Ty logo consisted of very thin writing compared to the thicker logo of today. Surrounding the edge of the heart is a gold border.
This swing tag was the only generation of tag not to open like a book. Instead it was a simple tag that had the Beanie Baby’s name and style number on the back. Beanies coming to the UK with a 1st generation swing tag had a white sticker stuck to the rear side of the tag and the very first Beanie Babies to enter the UK were forced to have a white rectangular swing tag instead of the heart-shaped tag to conform to UK laws that required plush toys to have the “CE” mark present. Only the original nine had these tags.
1st generation Beanie Babies were either made in China or Korea.
The 2nd generation of swing tags were introduced in Spring 1994. the first to open like a book. These tags still had the skinny Ty logo and were sometimes called a “double tag”.
The inside of the tag is white and on the left hand side is written where the Beanie Baby was distributed from. This can either be the address for North America, Germany or the UK. On the right hand side is the name of the Beanie Baby followed by the style number. Underneath the name can either be a To/From section or copyright and care information. On the back is the barcode and the words “Retain tag for reference”.
These tags were only available on Beanies with 1st generation tush tags.
The 3rd generation of swing tags started using the newer thicker Ty logo, known as the “bubble font Ty logo”, which was white and outlined in gold. They started appearing in Spring 1995. This generation still opened like a book.
Inside the tag is very similar to the 2nd generation in that the name and style number of the Beanie Baby are still located on the right hand side, followed by a To/From section. Some versions of this generation have a trademark symbol after the word “Babies” in “The Beanie Babies Collection” and later versions of the tag have added Ty’s corporate addresses to the left hand side.
At the top of the rear of the tag it now says that you should remove the tag before giving it to a child. The CE mark has now appeared next to the barcode. Underneath the barcode it says “Retain Tag for Reference” followed by “Surface Wash”.
These swing tags appear on Beanie Babies with 1st and 2nd generation tush tags dated 1993 and 1995.
The 4th generation of swing tags started to appear in Spring 1996 and added a yellow star to the top right of the Ty logo with the words ‘ORIGINAL BEANIE BABY” inside the star written in black capital lettering. The gold outline has disappeared from the Ty logo, which has shrunk a little to fit the star on the tag.
The inside of the tag has had a bit of an overhaul. Next to the name of the Beanie Baby is a â„¢ symbol. The style number is still present, however, the To/From section has disappeared to make way for a short background poem about the Beanie Baby. Ty’s web address has also been added underneath the poem.
On the back of the tag, the words “For ages 3 and up” has appeared between “Retain Tag for Reference” and “Surface Wash”
There can be a 3rd, 4th or 5th generation tush tag present with the 4th generation swing tag, each dated either 1993, 1995 or 1996.
The 5th generation emerged at the start of 1998. In many ways they were like the 4th generation. The font inside and outside the tag has now been changed to Comic Sans.
At the top left of the inside of the swing tag, there is now an ® next to “The Beanie Babies Collection.
Ty UK and Ty Deutschland have now been taken off the corporate addresses and replaced with Ty Europe and Ty Canada. the Ty Europe address can either be Fareham, Hants or Gosport, Hampshire (sometimes misspelled Gasport).
The Beanie Baby’s birthday is now spelled out in full and the style number has vanished.
Some tags have misspelled “Surface Wash” as “Suface Wash”. Most of these have also misspelled “ORIGINAL” as “ORIGIINAL” on the yellow star on the front of the tag.
These swing tags should come with 6th, 7th or 8th generation tush tags.
The 6th generation appeared in 2000. The yellow star on the front of the 4th and 5th generation tags has been replaced with a holographic star with “2000” written across it in yellow.
These tags still feature the Beanie Baby’s name, birthday and poem on the left of the inside of the tag.
The corporate addresses have now been simplified to the just the locations, such as Ty Inc., Ty Canada, Ty Europe, and now, Ty Japan.
The barcode on the rear has reduced in size to make way for the words “safety precaution”.
The 6th generation also brought with it the Zodiac swing tag. This was reserved exclusively for the Zodiac range of Beanie Babies depicting animals from the Chinese Zodiac.
This tag replaces the holographic “2000” star with the word “Zodiac” in gold foil writing.
The rest of this tag is identical to the regular 6th generation swing tags.
This generation appeared in early 2000 and was only used for Beanie Babies shipped to the UK and Germany.
The 7th generation still uses the holographic star, but has replaced the “2000” with the word “Beanies” written in yellow across the star.
The corporate addresses have been changed to allow room for the full Ty Europe address in Gosport (sometimes misspelled as Gasport).
This swing tag was used on Ty Europe Beanie Babies right up until the 13th generation tag began to appear.
The 8th generation began to appear in January 2001. The holographic star has now shrunk to allow the word “Beanie” to appear over the top of it and “Baby” underneath, both written in yellow.
This tag was not available with Ty Europe Beanie Babies.
Inside the tag is absolutely identical to the 6th generation swing tags. The rear is also exactly the same.
The 9th generation of swing tags appeared in Summer 2001. They are almost identical to the 8th generation, except for where the words surrounding the holographic used to read “Beanie Baby”, it now reads “Beanie Babies” in yellow writing.
On the rear of the tag, the wording has slightly changed on the safety information.
These tags were issued to Beanie Babies distributed in the US and Canada only, and didn’t appear in Europe.
Birthday Bears began to appear in July 2001 with these swing tags. They appeared at the same time as the 9th generation.
The front of these swing tags differ to the 9th generation in that the holographic star has disappeared and been replaced with a yellow birthday cake with seven red and green candles on top. Inside the birthday cake, the month that the bear represents is written in multicoloured lettering.
The inside has also changed. On the left hand side, the month that the bear represents is written in capital lettering. Underneath, it either has a poem (earlier bears) or states who shares a birthday on that month (later bears). On the right hand side, HAPPY BIRTHDAY is written and underneath is a To/From section. The website address is located under the To/From section.
The 10th generation appeared in January 2002.
The holographic star has now changed to the words “Beanie Babies” written in yellow on two separate lines. Five tiny holographic stars sit above the writing.
The 10th generation was only attached to Beanie Babies distributed in the US and Canada.
The 11th generation appeared in December of 2002.
Further changes have been made to the front. Where the five stars on the top right of the previous tag were, there is now a holographic “10” above the yellow “Beanie Babies” followed by a small white star with “yrs” written inside it.
The inside of these tags remain identical to the 10th generation apart from now two locations have been added to Ty’s corporate address list. These are Ty Asia and Ty Australia.
The Beanie Baby of the Month swing tags started appeared in January 2003.
On these tags, the yellow “Beanie Babies” in the top right and the “10 yrs” have been replaced by a yellow “Beanie Baby of the Month” badge with white lines emanating from it.
The inside of the Beanie Baby of the Month swing tags are identical to the 11th generation tags. This is considered by some to be an offshoot of the 11th generation given it’s similarities.
The US version of the 12th generation swing tags replaced the “10 yrs” with the word “Original” in holographic writing above the yellow “Beanie Babies” writing and added a holographic splash underneath.
The inside of the 12th generation is the same as the 11th generation.
There are slight variations of this swing tag. The State exclusive bears have a slightly different tag from other Beanie Babies, replacing the poem inside the swing tag with facts about the State they are representing and a State flag replaces the corporate addresses and includes further information about the State, such as the State’s official web address.
This is the first change in the UK swing tags since the 7th generation.
The EU version of this swing tag is very similar to the US 12th generation, apart from the yellow “Beanie Babies” only says “Beanies”.
The inside of the tag is very similar to the US version, except that it now has the full Ty Europe address in Gosport.
An new white tag is now present just behind the swing tag because of safety regulations.
When Beanie Babies were first introduced to the public back in 1993, they weren’t considered a collectable. It wasn’t until 1999 that the real Beanie Baby collecting craze began. Even now the original craze has died down, Beanie Babies are still treasured by collectors, with some still fetching a considerable amount of money today.
Like with all collections, some factors determine the rarity and value of the Beanie Baby. Since most of the earlier Beanie Babies were given to children to play with, the condition of the Beanie plays a massive part in it’s value. Some of the older toys, before they became a collector’s piece, have been badly damaged through play and general wear and tear. A mint condition 1st generation Beanie Baby is a considerably rare find and very valuable.
A lot of the 1st generation Beanie Babies had their tags removed so children could play with them. Those without tags are worth considerably less than a Beanie Baby with it’s tag still attached. If the tag is in mint condition, this makes the Beanie Baby more collectable. A creased tag will significantly decrease it’s value, possibly even by half depending on the damage.
Some Beanie Babies were released with mistakes that were quickly corrected, such as misspelling of the name, it was produced in the wrong colour or the name was changed entirely. Because the Beanie Babies with production mistakes were only in limited supply, this increases their rarity.
A number of Beanie Babies were produced as limited editions which are sought after by collectors because of their limited production.
Below I have listed the top ten rare Beanie Babies. This list is in alphabetical order and not in order of rarity or value.
Brownie was one of the Original Nine beanie babies produced back in 1993.
He was made from a medium brown material with a tan coloured muzzle and had the signature Beanie Baby black button eyes.
Brownie was only released with a 1st generation tag, and as such has neither a birthdate or poem.
He was later renamed “Cubbie“ and those with the original Brownie tag are worth a considerable amount.
Derby was introduced on to the market on 6th March 1995.
The poem in his swing tag reads:
“All the other horses used to tattle
Because Derby never wore his saddle
He left the stables, and the horses too
Just so Derby can be with you!”
His birthday was on 16th September 1995.
Four versions were produced of the tan-coloured horse: a version with no star and a fine yarn mane, no star with a coarse yarn mane, a coarse yarn mane with a star and a fluffy mane version with a star.
The fine mane version made with twenty strands of fine yarn is by far the most sought after.
Later he was produced with only eight strands of a coarser yarn, which was on of the more common versions of Derby.
Humphrey the Camel was introduced on 25th June 1994.
He was a tan-coloured camel with black button eyes and black stitching for his nostrils.
Humphrey is considered to be incredibly rare with only 25,000 of him ever produced!
He was later made into one of the original nine Beanie Buddies in 1998 and a McDonald’s Teenie Beanie Baby in 2000.
Because he was only ever released with 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation swing tags, he does not have a birthday or a poem.
He was one of the first Beanie Babies to retire on 15th June 1995.
Nana the Monkey was introduced on 17th August 1995.
She is made from a medium brown coloured fabric with a tan-coloured face, ears, hands, feet and tail and features black button eyes and black stitching for her nostrils.
Nana was retired relatively quickly and re-introduced under the name “Bongo”, making the Beanie Babies with the original Nana tag highly valuable because of it’s limited production.
Nana was only released with a 3rd generation swing tag, and as such does not have either a birthday or poem. She was retired later in 1995 to make way for Bongo the Monkey’s release.
Peanut the Elephant was introduced on 3rd June 1995.
Her poem reads:
“Peanut the elephant walks on tip-toes
Quietly sneaking wherever she goes
She’ll sneak up on you and a hug
You will get
Peanut is a friend you won’t soon forget!”
She was first released in a Royal Blue colour, presumably as an error in production and was later re-released in a light blue colour instead.
The original Royal Blue colour Peanut the Elephant is considered one of the most rare and valuable Beanie Babies available and fetches a high price on the secondary market and at auction, if you can find her.
The Royal Blue version is a dark blue colour with light pink on the inside of her ears and features black button eyes.
Peanut the Royal Blue Elephant was later released as a Beanie Buddy in 1998 and a McDonald’s Teenie Beanie Baby in 2000.
Peking the Panda was introduced on 25th June 1994.
He is white on his main torso with black limbs, a black band over his body, black ears, black eye patches and a black tail.
He fetches a considerable price on the secondary market and at auction as he was only released with 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation swing tags and as such has no birthday or poem on his tag.
Peking was retired on 7th January 1996.
Punchers the Lobster was introduced on 6th January 1994.
The name “Punchers” is thought to have been a spelling error as those Beanie Babies with the name Punchers disappeared from the shelves and were replaced by the renamed Pinchers the Lobster.
Those with the Punchers swing tag are among the rarest and most valuable Beanie Babies in existence, selling for a considerable amount of money on the secondary market and at auction.
Punchers is made from a bright red material and features black button eyes and black thread antennae. He was retired later in 1994 to be replaced by Pinchers the Lobster.
Quackers the Duck was introduced on 25th June 1994. Originally he was shipped without wings but later re-introduced with the missing wings.
Around 780 of the wingless Quackers Beanie Babies were shipped making them incredibly rare and valuable. At auction and on the secondary market he sells for a substantial amount of money.
The version with the missing wings was only released with 1st and 2nd generation swing tags so they didn’t have a birthday or poem inside the tag.
Quackers is made from a bright yellow material with a bright orange bill and feet. He has black button eyes and black stitched eyebrows giving him a cute expression.
The wingless Quackers was retired on 7th January 1995.
Spot the Dog was released on 8th January 1994. Oddly, he was first introduced without a spot.
Later versions of Spot the Dog included the missing spot, making the earlier “spotless” versions highly valuable a auction and on the secondary market.
Spot is made from a white material with black ears, a black patch on the left hand side of his face and a black tail. He features the usual black button eyes and a black button nose.
Because the spotless Spot the Dog was only released with 1st and 2nd generation swing tags, he has no poem or birthday.
Spot the Dog without a spot was retired on 13th April 1994 and replaced with the version with the spot included.
And finally……
Teddy was introduced on 25th June 1994. The bear was released with two different styles of face (an old face and a new face) and was created in six different colours: brown, cranberry, jade, violet, teal and magenta.
The brown version with the old style face is the most sought after and fetches a hight amount at auction and on the secondary market.
It is made from a brown material and features black button eyes and a black button nose. It’s muzzle is more pointed in appearance and made to look like and older style teddy bear.
Teddy was released with no poem and no birthday.
It was retired on 7th January 1995.
There are 5,439 beanies in the database.
There are 20,929 members who have 218,904 beanies in their collections.
