Ty Beanies

Ty Beanies have to be one of the biggest success stories in the toy world in the last 30 years. The craze for collecting beanie babies and beanie buddies has been phenomenal, with some collectors have hundreds of different bears in their collection. 

Beanie Bears

Ty Inc. Was established in 1986 by a man named Ty Warner, a experienced toy seller for many years. 

Early creations were 4 Himalayan cats called Ginger, Peaches, Smoke and Angel. These were followed by a range of bears called the "Annual Collectible Bears" in 1991. 

Beanie babies did not come about until 1993, these first beanies were not in fact all bears but included:  Legs the frog, Squealer the pig, Flash the dolphin, Splash the whale, Brownie the bear, Patti the Platypus, Chocolate the Moose Spot the dog Pinchers the Lobster

Brownie the bear

Although the company do make other animal toys the bear has to be the most collected and loved. 

Over the years thousands of different bears have been launched, many only in certain countries and others tied to specific brands such as McDonalds who gave away Teenie Beanies with their happy meals. 

The company continues to release and retire Ty beanies every year. 

Collecting Beanie Babies and Beanie Buddies

When I first became aware or beanie babies I was in my teens and thought of them as simply a soft toy. However little did I know that they were beginning to be considered collectors items and even worth money in the years to come. 

Why Were Ty Beanies Considered Collectible?

Basically because so many different types were made, some in very limited editions and some in some many variable colours like the Peace Beanie Buddy range. 

Of course when considering collecting beanie bears it is vitally important to make sure that the original tags remain on the bear. Without them the bear cannot be identified properly and is not considered valuable. 

Of course some bears are worth more than others and if you are collecting for possible future monetary gain then it is important to do your homework and find out which bears are the most valuable. 

One such beanie baby of high value were the bears which were issued to employees of Ty in 1998 called the #1 bear, these are extremely valuable and rare.  When collecting Ty Beanies consider the following:

1. Condition - bears which have not been played with have more value. 

2. Tags - Original tags should still be attached. 

3. Generation - first and second generation bears are the most valuable. 

4. Retired - Beanie bears which are no longer made new are more collectible. 

5. Desirability - Of course some bears have more appeal than others, especially those which were sold only in a certain country or area. This will also impact on where you decide to sell your bears too. Choose the best place i.e. a Canadian only sold beanie is worth more to Canadians. 

6. Limited editions - look out for bears which were only produced in small numbers.  

Types of Beanies

There are many different types of beanie created by Ty today but many of them are not bear related, so I will not concern myself with them here.  Although all the collections contain not only bears but other animals and creatures too it is difficult to say that just this range or that are all bears. However the main collections which do contain bears are of course:

Chinook - Rare Beanie Buddy

• Beanie Babies - Launched in 1993
• Beanie Buddies - Introduced in 1998. These are larger versions of many of the beanie babies.
• Teenie Beanies - McDonald's has been giving out these small bears and animals since 1997.

Back to the top of this Ty Beanies Page

Back to Teddy Bears Home Page