[NEWS 2000]

[NEWS 1998]

OK, so the BIG Christmas Eve announcement was that we shall all have a chance to VOTE on whether Beanies will continue or not! Never mind! This Chucky will NOT vote and be charged 50 cents, no matter where the $$ is supposed to be going. This will be my LAST entry in the Beanie News page, and I shall NOT continue it in 2000. I now shall only offer RETIRED 1900s Beanies, while they last, at reasonable prices on my site. A sincere THANK YOU to all of my loyal readers -- and may the NEW YEAR bring you Peace and Joy.

Although Ty seems to have officially announced that there will be NO MORE "Beanies" in 2000, they are still having a BIG rep meeting in Chicago next week and some reps have suggested that on 1 January the new order forms will be available! More PR work by his TYness! Seems as if now TY has been sued by the makers of beanie caps for using their name, which has been around for DECADES!! It's about time he is on the OTHER end of the table!

Info Beanie - 8 December 1999

"We just found out what the important news was that our friends at Ty had to tell us! We found out that when we all retire on December 31, there

will be no new Beanies to replace us! Can you believe it! I just can't

imagine the playroom without any Beanies in it! I asked our friends at

Ty what's going to happen to all of our toys and games."

My Present Thoughts on Beanies

RETIRED - October, November, December 1999

Beanies : ALL BEANIES RETIRED ON 23 DECEMBER 1999

 

Attic Collectibles : . Spruce, Tyra

Beanies in Kellogg's Cereals!

According to the Chicago tribune : Sometime in early 2000, Mini Beans, a downsized version of Beanie Babies, will appear in boxes of selected children's cereals of Kellogg Co., as the Battle Creek, Mich.-based firm bids to give its lineup a boost.Mini Beans as an added value in the purchase of cereals could result in a robust business for Kellogg, considering the fascination generated by these toys. Annual sales of Beanie Babies have been estimated in the $400 million to $700 million range.

Curiously, both Kellog and Ty denied this published report!

EUCALYPTUS' TAGEBUCH

<<Was ist der Beginn der Ewigkeit, die Mitte von Zeit, der Beginn des Endes und das Ende jeder Stelle? Der Buchstabe E! >> [Montag, 20. September 1999, 20:43:00 ]

From Euclapytus's German Tagebuch. It is curious, it seems as if now we can read the new diary entries BEFORE they arrive in the English version by going to the German site! There is a 5-6 hour time difference between Germany and the East Coast of the U.S., so it was posted in the German version of the diary at about 2-3 pm EDT.

I wonder IF this "Ratzel" by Ty2K is a clue to the NEW EBeanies to come out at the start of the year 2000??

It says, more or less: What is the beginning of Eternity (Ewigkeit), the middle of (zEit) time, the beginning of the end (Ende), and the end of every placE (stellE)? The letter E!!

CURIOUS!!

GERMAN NOW ON TY SITE !

On Saturday, 18 September, TY now has a link to a German version of his site-- although some parts of it are still in English. I was amazed at how well done the translations are! Even the BeanieOfTheMonth entries are in German! There is also a link to what will be the Japanese version, BUT it did NOT work when I tried it. NO German CyberBoard-- yet. So get ready to brush up on your foreign language skills!

 

OK, I did a little playing with the Japanese web address and found it! He seems to be having slight orthographic problems with the transliterations OR you need some special plug-in to read it correctly??

Ty - Japan

RARE BBOC COIN FOUND IN CANADA

The FIRST CLUBBY Platinum Kit COIN has been found in a kit bought on 11 September in an It Store in Barrie, Ontario, Canada! The kits have just appeared in Canada and the only French text is on the Clubby II Canadian tush tag..

Thanks Joanne for the scoop and the pic!

 

Jeremy, another friend from Canada told me that MOST of the Canadian coins are different-- he got a Peanut, Mooch and a Quackers. I wonder if these "newer" coins will appear in the American kits also?

This probably means that other different coins will be showing up as Canadians open their kits. Since I believe that both Canadian Beanies AND kits are produced in MUCH FEWER numbers, they will be HIGHLY collectible and hard to find!

 

The usual Canadian tush tag was attached with a HANG TAG attacher to the normal tush tag in Clubby and as the usual second sewn-in TUSH TAG in Clubby II.

You may contact the above at their email LINKS for info or kit/coin sales.

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT !!

NEW for September

[RATED by BEANS, based on the pictures I have seen on the Internet :

[1] = yuck, [6] = KEWL]

Beanies: "Chipper" - chipmunk [1]

"Scaly" - lizard [5]

"Slowpoke" - sloth [2]

"Sheets" - ghost [3]

"Honks" - goose [4]

"Wallace" - bear [4]

"Groovy" - bear [3]

"Ty 2K" - bear [3]

"1999 Holiday Teddy" - bear [4]

"The End" - black bear [2]

Attic Collectibles: "Tyra" - bear [3]

"Waddlesworth" - penguin [4]

"Spruce" - bear [4]

"Beargundy" - bear [5]

"Cheri" - poodle [4]

"Orion" - bear [4]

"Bearkhardt" - bear [3]

"Gwyndolyn" - bear [4]

[my Beanie CHECKLIST has been updated}

A N D

THE BIG "SURPRISE"

<<VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE:

On December 31, 1999 - 11:59p.m. (CST)

All Beanies will be retired...including the above!>>

[I may continue my Beanie NEWS page in 2000

B U T

shall continue to offer for adoption ONLY RETIRED Beanies

from my dwindling Collection of those made from 1994 to 1999]

 

beaniebabies.co.uk is a registered Ty domain name, BUT does NOT yet even have a server!!

 

OK, I was up until 3am of the 31st-- still a black screen-- so I went to bed! Got up at 10:45 and still a black screen!!

 

Can it mean that Beanies are NO MORE?? That Ty sold the guestbook to BoBidding.com??

 

Or just that he still has the same inept programmers working for him and it is taking their usual absurd time to completely chnnge the entire site-- which I could have done in half the time it is taking them!!

 

He has really reached the apex of his SLOWNESS and OUTRAGEOUSNESS this time though!! He wants the world to revolve around his whims and fancies! Some credit him with a VERY creative marketing talent-- I would rather NOT write my personal opinion!!

ALL BLACK SCREEN ON TY SITE

and

ALL MIRROR SITES!! at 1:04h EDT 31 August

WOW, will tomorrows announcement include the info that the old Ty Guestbook for buying/selling/whatever has been moved to

 

http://www.nobidding.com/guestbook/form.htm

 

So Ty got NoBidding.com in on the action?? You use the exact same login information and passwords as on the defunct Ty Guestbook. I know they couldn't buy him out-- GAWD, did he buy them out?? That would be a new twist in the ongoing saga!!

 

OK, so my little inquisitive mind wanted to know some info on the auction site that the TY Guestbook is now located on-- I got the following info--

 

nobidding.com

Ce nom de domaine est déja enregistré:

Pour lancer une nouvelle recherche, cliquez ici

 

Registrant:

NoBidding, Inc. (NOBIDDING-DOM)

4 Sudsbury Rd

So. xxxx xx xxxxx

US

Domain Name: NOBIDDING.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:

Orlando, Edward xxxxx

xxxxx

Billing Contact:

Orlando, Edward xxxxx

xxx xxx 0223 (FAX) xxxx

Record last updated on 09-Jun-99.

Record created on 11-Mar-99.

Database last updated on 30-Aug-99 04:05:23 EDT.

 

THEN, I called the number of the contact, and got the following message-- the number has been DISCONNECTED!!

 

I smell something cooking here-- TY and his sometimes stupid advisors may have come to the conclusion that online auctions are BIG, and they want a piece of the action?? So they bought the freekin company and it's site will be TY's main Guestbook provider now?? He really needed an entire new site to handle the 3 languages he says he will start in 2 days. And with NO auction charges, EVERYBODY will put their Beanies on there-- meaning a BIG drop for eBay listings!! VERY CLEVER!!

 

Remember, you heard it from Scoopy Sonny FIRST!!

Posted on the Cyberboard!!

<<On August 27, 1999 at 3:00 p.m. (CST) our guestbook will be retired. Beginning in October, Ty.com will be available in the German and Japanese languages. Ty Warner>>

According to Internet reports : <<Our source in the UK just informed us that Ty dealers in England just received a recall letter for Gordon the Attic Treasure as it has been found to be unsafe.>>

 

Apparently the word is that his yellow raingear has an excessively high lead content!! Do the Brits eat the Attic clothes??

RETIRED - July, August, September 1999

Beanies : Britannia, Canyon, Eggbert, Ewey, Fortune, Hippy, Loosy, Maple, Nibbler, Nibbly, Peace, Wiser

 

Attic Collectibles : Bugsy, Grant, Ivan, Peppermint, Whiskers

VARIATIONS

in

LAWRENCE, the Camel

Check out the blanket over his hump. In the original isue, it is MUCH lighter in color and the colors are MUCH brighter.

 

In the lighter version, the frills on the ends of the blanket are also NOTICEABLY longer and his reins are BLACK, whereas they are DARK BLUE on the second, darker rug, version.

Rug scans

Some people have told me that one fabric "feels" different than the other. Rub either rug in the direction of the yellow arrow (which corresponds to the "pointing direction" of the "horns" on the squares near the border). You note a sort of rougher "feel" on the dark rug, and it might also seem a tad thicker than the light rug.

 

I was even able to identify the two versions behind my back, based on the feel of the different rugs.

Tbbs in Germany

Teenie Beanies arrived in Germany in May, and quickly sold out. It was the same set we had in the USA last year (Series 2), but 2 names were changed:

 

Bongo was MITCH, and Happy is called PERCIVAL.

German bag insert and scanned Hang Tags (insets) from Percival and Mitch

S C O O P !!

After doing a check on the trademarks which Ty,inc has received or applied for ("Beanie" is NOT one of them!!), which you can also do at *Patent and Trademark Office Home Page, it seems as if Ty has some new ideas for the coming millennium!

How do Beanie credit card services sound?? Sporting goods?? What are "shelf talkers"?? A change in the name of the lines to "Bean E Babies", "Bean E Bear", "Bean E Buddy", "E Beanie", etc..??

Keeping up with the lucrative E-Market, an online ordering site for the new E critters, probably using the same Ty.com domain name (simply because all of the domains having E critter are taken-- but NONE by TY!! eg: EBeans.com, ETy.com, EBuddies.com, etc.)??

This e-commerce site may be connected with a chain of his own retail shops-- hmmmmmm-- does this mean that the official retail stores presently available will no longer sell his stuff and he will then rake in ALL the profits, in the same way as Disney and several museum and specialty shops do already?? What a solution to the "out the back door" scandals which have plagued him for years, and a virtual end to the greedy secondary market, at least of new releases!! No more "original unopened Ty bags" of newbys on eBay months before they appear in the shops!! The reasoning may be :

<<"Why should I make these critters for around 40 cents and sell them for $2.50 IF I can sell them myself for a new millennium price of $7-9 and MAKE ALL THE PROFIT?? I just keep buying real estate property (Hey, Donny T., can you find me any good deals?? I'll cut you in when we go public on the stock exchange.), such as that hotel in New York, setup the shops in them, pay substandard non-unionized wages-- and I can even start my own bank with the $$zillions$$ in profits!!!!">>

BBOC Series II Cards in Canada

The BBOC Series II cards have finally arrived to Canada (June). A friend told me that:

the boxes DO NOT have the 2-sided BBOC card poster in them.

 

plastic wrap says "Canadian Version", which is almost impossible to scan due to the silver foil wrap [SEE YELLOW ARROW, bottom center]

each card has a RED foil maple leaf on it [SEE YELLOW TRACE, top right]

there are NO Princess, Mac or Sammy cards

 

$2.98 pack.....$69.98 box

[thanks again Joanne]

NEW BEANIES - June 1999

[RATED by BEANS, based on the pictures I have seen on the Internet :

[1] = yuck, [6] = KEWL]

Birthday Bear - tie-dyed [3]

Flitter - the butterfly [6]

Lips - the fish [5]

NEW RETIREDS - MAY

Beanies:

Derby

Erin

Mystic

Stilts

 

Attic Collectibles:

Bluebeary

Camelia

Scruffy

Sara

Sterling

Strawbunny

NEW TY Cyber-Board

WOW, Ty now has a Cyber Message Board up and running (well, sort of)!! Some Observations:

 

OPENING DAY : 15 April. The first post was from the INFO BEANIE, timed at 12:32. The Board closed, for a much needed rest, I assume, at 23:31h. TOTAL messages : about 3,732.

 

On 16 April it opened again at 8:24h and had some 8,483 messages and replies posted by 18:18h, when it closed again (punch-out time?)!! Messages were sort of slow getting posted, probably because the list is "monitored" and they seem to be loading them in batches and probably taking breaks.

 

On the 17th they started appearing again at 9:48h and closed at about 10:00h-- short work day?-- I assume they "punched-in" at 9:00 local time??) I theorized (via email to a news group) that, at this rate, the new Board would NOT last very long because it seems that there is nobody there continuously, and the posts seem to stop for lunch and overnight.

 

Back up at 14:39, and the last post was timed at about 23:30 (NONE of this batch appeared until AFTER 1:30 am on the 18th!), with at least 23,445 listed!!-- IF you can tell by looking at the message number each is connected to on the LINK??

 

Shortly thereafter an announcement, nominally signed by TY, appeared saying that NO further new messages would be posted until further notice-- due to restructuring the site! WOW, I gave it a week BEFORE it would shut down/totally disappear!! It only took 2 days!!

 

Many of my NEW posts and REPLIES to other messages did appear, several with bits and pieces missing-- SOME did not, even though their tone and content were similar to those which were posted-- so the censoring is NOT really all that strict.

 

There seems to have been a gross lack of foresight on the part of that site programmers regarding the infrastructure, among other things, of a Board that could have been predicted to be VERY popular for many reasons.

 

Frequent topics included suggestions for new beanies AND complaints about dealer practices, overcharging and other obvious irregularities which have been going on for a LONG time already. Certain retailers appear to be operating outside of the oft-stated TY guidelines (according to the actual names and addresses of the shops included in the posts)-- and continue to do so.

PRINCESS IS RETIRED!!

NEW Beanies & Attics

[RATED by BEANS, based on the pictures I have seen on the Internet :

[1] = yuck, [6] = KEWL]

April 1999

Beanies:

Almond,the Beige Bear (OK, I sense a "new" model that will repeat in different colors!! I gave Pecan a 3 for somewhat original, but...) [2]

 

Amber, the Gold Tabby [1]

 

Cheeks, the Baboon [4]

 

Eucalyptus, the Koala [2]

 

Knuckles, the Piggy [2]

 

Neon, the Seahorse (VERY CUTE!) [6+]

 

Osito, el Oso Méxicano (Bueno! Lo que faltaba!) [2]

 

Paul, the Walrus (of Beatles fame?? Kukukacho!! Why another walrus??) [1]

 

Pecan, the Gold Bear [3]

 

Schweetheart, some kind of Bongo relative (named after SCHWartzeneger or Bogart?) [2]

 

Silver, the Grey Tabby Cat (HEY, and I like and raise cats!! These are way too many of the same design!!) [1]

 

Spangle, the Star-Studded American Bear [6]

 

Swirly, the Snail/Cupcake with horns(?) [6+]

 

Tiptoe, the cute Mouse (wait till my cats see this one! Named after Tiny Tim, with mousey voice? Seems as if TY is trying to get into the Celebrity Bear market?? The other ORIGINAL ones are WAY more creative and RETIRE after ONLY some 20k--

NOT the millions like Beanies!!) [5]

 

Wiser, the '99 Graduate Owl (GAWD, and next years will be called "Wisest"!! This is really getting to be too many owls!) [1]

 

Attic Collectibles:

Allura, the Beach Bear (announced on the anniversary of the Titanic?) [2]

 

Azure, the fluffy Azure Bear [4]

 

Breezy, the Sailor Bear [3]

 

Brisbane, the Koala {OK, let's do an Australian bear to perk up sales over there!) [3]

 

Catrina, the White Cat in (left over) Victorian Drapery [2]

 

Fairbanks, the Bear with Sweater (= Douglas Fairbanks, or that place in Alaska??) [2]

 

Lawrence, the Camel (WOW, another celebrity!! Lawrence of Arabia) [6+]

 

Malcolm, the Beefeater (GOSH, now he's doing international bears to keep up with the other guys! Looks VERY drab without buttons!!) [3]

 

Rafaella, the Moth Bear [3]

 

Rosalie, the Rose Bear (OK, so he comes out with a new head covering in Susannah, and now will redo it in every color he can and switch bears??) [3]

 

Salty, the Yacht Owning Playboy Bear [3]

 

Susannah, the Flower Bear [4]

 

William, the Formal Bear in a suit and tie (NOT Prince Wm. because he rarely wears a loud RED necktie-- his father does, though) [4]

 

Beanie Buddies:

NOT RATED because I DO NOT collect them. Sorry.

Fuzz, the Bear

Hope, the Prayer Bear

Jabber, the Parrot

Millennium, the Bear

P R I N C E S S

RETIRING ON 31 MARCH 1999

Beanies: Batty, Chip, Gobbles, Hissy, Iggy, Mel, Nanook, Pouch, Pounce, Prance, Pugsley, Rainbow, Smoochy, Spunky, Stretch, Strut

 

Attic Collectibles:Casanova, Skylar

 

Beanie Buddies:Beak

N E W S F L A S H

I added a new section on Beanie Trading Cards,

with lists of the rarest and

the most common cards.

Check it out!

A N D

another new section on where to find

"VALUES" for different Plush critters

SONNY'S

PREDICTIONS FOR 1999

as of 1 March 1999

Beanies : Tie dyed is IN-- a couple more of them, and different pastel colors too. More with that Mystic/Scorch fabric type. At least another prehistoric animal, more bears (of course!), some insects and other invertebrates including a mollusk, fish, other international (exclusives?), a EURO something (probably a bear), and a cat and dog or two, or three or more. More special day critters: Mothers Day, for example. As usual, more design changes, and probably a new tag to help confuse people yet more! Some of the new ones will have some kind of distinctive attire or NOT be just plain old beanies-- sort of like the hat or scarf of Snowball. Some totally different fabric. To keep the hype up, there will probably be 2 more retirements this year, and perhaps special retirements/new ones also. Princess will be finally be replaced with a Princess-type Buddy.

ATTIC COLLECTIBLES : more smaller news than large. More creative and colorful than in the past. A new national German exclusive, a bear to go with the Canadian and British ones-- it is easier -- and cheaper-- to make a different sweater than to design a new bear! Something celebrating the millennium.

The ones in RED did retire!!

The predictions in GREEN did appear!!

ATTIC COOL-ECTOR ALERT !!

If you have not yet checked out the TY Attic COOL-LECTIBLE line of the cutest jointed plush critters, the ATTIC COLLECTIBLES, check them out FAST!! They are going like hotcakes at a starving kiddies breakfast!!

Most have imaginative clothes, the small ones cost the same as Beanies and they are not yet limited to how many you can buy, nor do they hid them behind the counter like the new Beanies!!

Thank you for keeping this site in mind for the latest Beanie NEWS and retirement updates.

 

Remember REX has an Ask REX section (with answers to some really great Beanie questions).

 

We update the contents on a daily basis. Please BOOKMARK this site and return again soon.

1998 Retired Beanies A R C H I V E S and Additions to the Beanie Nursery