REX'S EMAIL about PRINCESS |
PLEASE READ !
I have received several questions related to different "Versions" of Princess
Lighter Hue Stem of 3 different Beanies
Darker Color Stem of 3 different Beanies
In a message dated 23/5/98 17:05:14, you wrote: <<I recently acquired a Princess Diana Bear with no rose on her chest. I was referred to your web site. The bear was bought at a Hallmark in Michigan in May. The tag say's "Made in China." and has PE pellets. The color of the stem on the other ones bought on the same day are light green. I am not sure what version she is. If you could please e-mail me any information you have on this I would appreciate it very much. Thank You, Tara From Michigan>>
Hello Tara,
My friend Sonny has a lot of information and pics about the different issues and versions of Princess .
The lighter color stem color is second version. The issue would be either first or third, depending on whether there was a space in the donation language.
Because she has no rose, it would be a VERY rare mistake. Congratulations!!
REX
In a message dated 19/5/98 20:55:31, you wrote: <<Hi Rex! My name is Ashley and I am 14 and from North Carolina. I have 2 questions for you. My first question is why doesn't Princess have Diana's birthday? I have the same birthday as Diana but in a different year. We were born on July the first. I am sure that your good friend Princess would like to know this. My other question is where does Ty Warner get his ideas from? There are so many different animals out there and they are all unique. I would have to say that you are my favorite though, Rex! I love you and your 2 dino friends. Thanks so much for answering my questions!!!>>
Hello Ashley,
Princess told me that since Diana was born many years BEFORE Beanies were available for adoption, and because not only the birthDAY but also the birthYEAR refers more or less to the year they first appeared in the nursery. This way many children can have the same birth day AND year as a particular favorite critter.
Father Ty used to be employed by another well-known toy manufacturer and he liked the idea of making his own! Every company has a staff who makes designs for possible products. The head of the company then decides which ones will become reality. I assume it is the same with Beanies.
REX
In a message dated 15/5/98 09:06:52, you wrote: <<Hi Rex! I have a few questions for you. Is ALL of the money stores charge for Princess going to the memorial fund? A few stores charge well over a hundred dollars. Can I ask you a question about regular science? I don't understand parts of science. Like, why is water the color it is? Why did the earth form? These questions will probably be hard to answer but it could help me out. Thanks Rex!! Elizabeth California>>
Hello Elizabeth,
NOT! ALL of the "profit" above the actual $2.50 wholesale adoption fee, which is what the Official Adoption Agencies pay for ANY Beanie, goes right into the bank accounts of the sellers! And some of them MUST have LARGE account balances by now!!
The ONLY $$ that goes to the Princess Diana Trust is the "profit" that Father Ty makes, meaning what he wholesales them for minus his actual cloning cost-- and he has never said what it actually costs to clone any of his critters. They are made in China and Indonesia where DAILY wages to many YOUNG (= underage) workers is about $1-2 / DAY!! Unfortunately that is the way businesses operate and few people in the United States even think about it!!
Wouldn't it be nice IF ALL PROFITS would have gone to the Diana Trust?? It would have been hundreds of times greater than what Ty actually donated!!
Since you may only ask one question each month, you might send me another in June if you want.
REX
In a message dated 28/4/98 22:50:50, you wrote: <<Dear Rex, My name is Anna, and I am 14, from NYC, I would really like to find your friends Princess and Erin for a price that I can afford (under $25) but can't seem to find an honest retailer in Brooklyn where I live. Can you help me out?>>
Hello Anna,
If they charge more than $25 to adopt Princess and Erin they should be reported to Father Ty for abusing their contract.
You might print out Ty's pricing policy which is on the main TY website and take it to the scalpers' shops and suggest that if they don't sell them at the "normal" price, someone might report them and they would not be able to get any more.
REX
In a message dated 17/4/98 19:02:14, you wrote: <<Hi Rex, My Mom and I were curious about the Princess Bear with the red rose instead of the silverish-pink that was on the auction last week. Do you believe their is a real Princess with a Red rose or was it a conterfit like Peking and Grunt. Thanks, Mary from Texas>>
Hello Mary,
Although it is always possible that an error was made at the cloning lab, and red thread was used instead of the silver colored, I received an email saying that that particular Princess was probably a fake and that the color of the rose was probably altered using any good photo program.
I personally have not seen her in the fur so I can not really give you any definite answer.
REX
In a message dated 9/4/98 15:47:48, you wrote:<<Dear Rex, I love Beanie Baby's, but I have one problem. I do not know how many Beanies there are? I have searched the Internet but can't find a current list. I also want Princess but he is to expensive! The lowest price I can find him is at $260.00 and I to young to get a job. If you could help me please I would love it! Thanks a ton! Andrew of Massachusetts>>
Hello Andrew,
Well, if you look around you will find that my friend Princess can be found on the trading/selling boards for around $80 now!
Did you know that the new Beanie Club Kits include a poster with all my Beanie pals, and stickers for ALL of them?? It also includes all of their birthdates and retirement dates!!
REX
In a message dated 3/3/98 01:31:26, you wrote: <<Dear Rex, Many children have asked ?'s on Princess the bear. They is because they realy want one. I don't blame the she is very pretty. But some want it to remember Diana and what she for children did all over the world. They whant to hug Princess sence there will not be abull to do the same with the Diana. So why wouldn't ty make a lot of Princess the doll so the cost will go down. If ty does did this I think people would care about the children. So this is my ? WHY DONT THEY MAKE A LOT OF PRINCESSES DOLL? Your loving Friend, Katie Davis from Utah>>
Hello Katie,
The Beanie cloning labs are working very hard to make enough Princess to go around, BUT if dealers at Beanie shows are opening TY boxes filled with unopened plastic bags of Princess and asking (and getting!) very high adoption fees, the problem will never disappear.
Father Ty should go to several shows and actually catch these people doing this!
REX
In a message dated 1/3/98 15:44:47, you wrote: <<Hi Rex, My name is Emily . Why do some stores sell Erin for SO much? Are the people who aren't willing to pay that price ever be able to get an Erin? Thank You, Emily >>
Hi Emily,
Erin tells me that some people are just plain greedy. He has been to Beanie shows and has seen some of the "dealers" there opening boxes from the TY company and taking out still unopened bags of Erin AND Princess direct from the cloning labs! And they sold them ALL at way over the about $3 that they paid for them wholesale!
Right now you will notice that the prices on the Beanie trading boards are getting lower and many more people are finding both of my bear friends at the normal price.
IF people would totally stop adopting their Beanies at the places that ask such ridiculous adoption fees, the greedy store owners would soon learn that either they lower their fees or they will be stuck with store overflowing with the critters.
REX
In a message dated 22/2/98 02:02:50, you wrote: <<Dear Rex, I have this question that every one I ask tells me they do not know. hear it is: Is Princess's price going to down if and or when she comes back in April, and why give huge amounts of money if she might be the same. thanks Lindsay Taylor Alexandria Va.}>>
Hello Lindsay,
I asked Princess what she thinks and she said that she might even be less common in the near future because she has heard that Father Ty has cancelled the adoption orders to a lot of smaller Official Beanie Adoption Centers and they will no longer be able to obtain Beanies. That might have been a wise decision, even though it does not seem to make a lot of sense.
Although adoption fees have dropped a little since last year, they are still way too high for the average kid. I have a suspicion that things will change little over the next month or two, since shipments still appear to be erratic.
I have said before that when a "new" Beanie appears, they are always harder to find and their adoption fees are higher than "normal". Erin, who is VERY thrifty, said that he would never spend a lot of money but would rather wait for several weeks in the hope that more Beanie cousins would make it to the adoption centers. The big question is IF!
REX
In a message dated 21/2/98 19:17:49, you wrote: <<Rex, All the people that have princess claim they are not making a profit on princess. I look in all the stores and all the sale ads and everybody wants to charg so much for her. Why can't they sell them for the $5.00 that the other beanies sell for . I feel it is so unfair to the kids that would like to have her. Aliecia I am 10 years old I live in Georgia I love you REX>>
Hello Aliecia,
Princess is also upset at how things are going with the adoption of her sisters. There is already a second "issue" having "Handmade in Indonesia" on the tush and hang tags. The adoption fees are only slightly lower than they were last year!
My best Beanie friend, Peace, thinks that the decision to have new Beanie cloning labs in Indonesia, despite the low labor costs (and child labor!), was a very bad idea because there is a lot of political instability there now, and nobody can predict what the effect will be on international business and economy in the near future. Such things usually bring trouble inside the country which always affects the whole world.
Yes, it is really a shame that very few kids are able to add Princess to their own nursery simply because they don't have all that much allowance to spend! And just imagine when the third "Issue" arrives, how the first, original Issue from last year will increase even higher in their adoption fees!
Princess really wishes she would be able to retire soon to stop the madness.
REX
In a message dated 19/2/98 02:39:37, you wrote: <<Dear Rex, Hi! My name is Ashley and I live in Connecticut. My question is, do you think that the real Princess Diana would have liked the way the Beanie Babie Princess is being sold for so much money? I really didn't know too much about Princess Diana before she died, but from what I've heard, she sounded real nice and caring ( did Princess know her? ). Ever since I saw Princess, I've wanted her to love ( along w/ all my other Beanies ), but whenever I see her for sale, she's always 2 to 5 hundred dollars - way too much for a kid like me to buy! I don't think it's right for people to sell Princess for so much money - it's like making a profit over a death, which isn't very nice. I don't think the real Princess would have liked all this greed. Do you? Thank you for being such a great friend to me and a lot of other kids! :) Ashley P.S. Please say hi to all of your friends for me. I love your website - especially the picture of you at your computer! You're really cute! :)>>
Hello Ashley,
Princess says that she knew Diana, Princess of Wales, since she was a little girl and that she was the nicest human she ever met.
She is also very upset at how much they are asking at the secoondary adoption centers for her sisters. The same thing is happening to her pal Erin!
To us Beanies how much we are worth depends on how much the kids who adopt us Love us, BUT some humans have a different way of putting a "worth" on something. It's called dollars.
Let me try to explain how it works:
STEP 1: my Beanie friends are cloned at the Cloning Labs in foreign countries where wages are a lot lower than here in the U.S. and many times, young children "work" instead of going to school. Cost, around $1.
STEP 2: The new Beanies, after the long trip from the other side of the world, arrive at the nursery and have to get over the jet lag and all before they go to the Official Beanie Adoption Centers. That usually takes 6-8 weeks. Cost, about $2.50.
STEP 3: The Official Beanie Adoption Centers like to make money to pay for their store and the people who work there and all, so they affer my Beanie friends for adoption. Cost, from about $5 to $6.
STEP 4: Some unscrupulous Official Adoption Centers want to make even more money, and they know people who would give them $25 and even more for certain Beanies, so they sell them "out the back door" and make a BIG untaxable profit. Cost, about $25-50.
STEP 5: The people that bought the Beanies now act as "unofficial" clearinghouses or "runners" and resell the poor tired Beanies to "secondary market" adoption centers. Cost, like from $75 to 150!
STEP 6: now the poor dizzy Beanies are posted on the trading boards and auctions, and appear at flea markets for way over their original adoption fees. Cost, now over $150!
These steps do not include the Official Beanie Adoption Center greedys who skip Steps 4-6 and sell them themselves at auction or on the trading boards for over $100. That's a lot of profit, and Princess thinks it is a shame!
All my Beanie pals send you their Love. Steggy sure knows how to take pics!
REX
In a message dated 9/2/98 05:05:14, you wrote: <<Hey, I am inquiring about the fact that it has been said Princess is supposed to be "more available" starting February I believe? It is now February and I still have not seen her at all. I only know of one local toy shop near me that when they get their next twelve in, they are picking names so there is no fighting over the bears. A much fairer way to do it I think then people trying to raffle them off like a store in the mall here is doing...with the toy shop raffle you just have to put your name in and you dont have to pay anything unless you win a bear. and then the cost is normal retail price, $5. Must Princess always be this hard to get? People always fighting over her or charging ridiculous prices for her? Or WILL she be more available eventually? And what is the deal with Princess #1 and #2? Is there really a big variation difference in the Princess bear? I ask because I see many people auctioning off the "1st" Princess on the internet. Thanks for your time! Alicia >>
Hello Alicia,
A couple other kids asked me about Princess too. Their questions and my answers are below yours on this page.
Princess is a lot more "common" now then she was in December, BUT for some reason she is not being adopted at the "normal" adoption fee. It seems as if a lot of Official Adoption Centers are getting more money by letting secondary market greedys get them for $50, and then these grinches ask over $200!
Princess says that she likes that "raffle" deal, where you put your name in and then the person can adopt her sister for the normal adoption fee if your name is chosen. That is very fair!
NO, there are some of those grinches who think they can drum up more "business" by advertising what they call "Princess #1" and "Princess #2" ! That is totally off-the-wall. The only difference between their 2 different issues is a change in 2 or 3 letters on the tush tag. One says "P.V.C." and the other has "P.E".
BOTH "versions" are the ORIGINAL issue of December 1997!!
Princess is so upset at what is happening that she wishes she could reire in two or three months and put an end to what is happening. She hopes that the same thing doesn't occur with her friends Erin and Britannia, but the greedys are unfortunately always out there!
REX
In a message dated 2/2/98 23:47:33, you wrote: <<Why is Princess Purple? Katie >>
Hello Katie,
Well, the answer to your question goes back thousands of years.
Her color is not really "purple". The correct name would be "Royal Tyrian Purple". Cloth dyed this color is mentioned in the Bible, and It was used by the Minoans, Phoenicians and the ancient Romans and Greeks for royal robes and other clothes.
Those peoples along the border of the Mediterranean Sea discovered that certain sea snails contain small amounts of a liquid that would stain things a beautiful crimson color. Because it took so many snails to get enough dye to color a lot of material, it was very expensive, even in those days.
The Roman emperors used it for their robes, and many other cultures adopted it for their royal color.
So, Diana is a royal bear "BEARing" her royal colors!
REX
In a message dated 26/1/98 00:33:45, you wrote: << Hi Rex, My name is Ashley from Midway Utah. I have only one question to ask you. Why are the prices still high on Princess. I'm sick and tierd of people selling Princess for over 100.00$ Making it inposable for a kid to get. And that is my misson. To get my hands on Princess. Thanks, Ashley >>
Hi Ashley,
Princess is VERY upset that most adoption centers are charging such ridiculous foster adoption fees for her sisters! Even a lot of "Official" Beanie Adoption Centers are having what they call "raffles", charging $2 a ticket. That means that if 400 different people buy one of those raffle tickets, her sister will cost a whopping $800 to adopt!! That is not what was supposed to happen. At least that is what we Beanies were told by Father Ty!
REX
In a message dated 22/1/98 15:32:10, you wrote: <<Hi.....I heard that they are changing the tag on the Princess Bear...Is this true? Mike>>
Hi Mike,
The tags on all of my Beanie friends have changed many times over the years, so it would not be very surprising if some changes would be found on Princess' tags.
REX
In a message dated 10/1/98 01:55:57, you wrote: <<Hi Rex! my daughter and I have the option to get a beanie babie called Princess for $60 dollars. From what i've seen on internet web pages this is a very good deal. My question is, the Princess B.B. is it that hard to get and will it too, be retired like the others? Thank you! for any help you can give us.. Ken >>
Hello Ken,
Right now $60 is a good deal to adopt one of Princess' sisters on the NET. BUT, why not wait until they finally reach the Beanie Adoption Centers where the adoption fee should be less. As I said before, the price difference adds up to a lot of hamburgers!
All of us Beanies retire at some time in our lives, and only Father Ty knows when that will be.
REX
In a message dated 4/1/98 10:26:04, you wrote: << Dear Rex, Fairly recently I have started collecting beanies. I have quite the collection, however there is one I would especially like to have. Of course I would be talking about the ever so popular "Princess" beanie baby. This beautiful bear is quite popular as of right now, and I am beginning to show a bit of concern.... I am debating to pay the one hundred fifty to two hundred dollars just to acquire her. This beanie is a tribute to the princess Diana and is being auctioned by the TY company for donation. In your "Ever so wise" experience with all of your beanie friends, would this be a wise investment to pay one hundred fifty or so, or will the novelty wear off in time?? Curiously yours, Mike >>
Mike,
One of my other emails spoke of Princess-- check it out lower on this list.
Princess told me that she will be visiting all of the usual Beanie adoption centers in the next couple months, and she did a little calculating on her Beanie calculator and found that in about 7 weeks you would be able to adopt her about 33.3 times paying what a lot of secondary adoption brokers are asking now for only 1 adoption! WOW, she is much better at math than I ever was.
Peace is reminding me of what happened when he first started looking for a foster home. Can you remember that far back?
I personally would prefer spending less, even when I buy a burger-- which means that I can buy even more burgers with what I saved!
REX
In a message dated 2/1/98 00:54:33, you wrote: << Hi, my name is Ashley and i have a question about the princess bear. The princess beanie was made in honor of princess Di and all the profits go to charity. So why are people trying to sell her for 2 and 3 hundred dollars apiece? trying to make profit for themselves and not the charity? and how can people who really want to get a hold of one get one for much less than that? Also, how can you tell the difference between the old tags and the new tags? what generation has the stars on it with the poem inside? thanks. >>
Ashley,
Some people can be greedy. All my beanie friends are very mad about the high prices, especially Princess herself. BUT, don't worry, she said she will be in all the stores by next month at the normal prices-- so have patience.
The old tags do not have stars on them. The oldest one doesn't even have 2 sides and open up. Check out BeanieMoms news page-- she explains all the tag differences.
REX