(Q) Question - Does mistakes on either the Hang Tag, or the Tush Tag make the beanie worth more?
(A) Answer - Yes and No. Mistakes on hang tags (mis-spellings, wrong names, etc.) are not worth any more than a correct version because anyone could switch a hang tag. But an exception to that is if the tush tag matches the mistake of the hang tag, then it could have a higher value. However this has not been known to happen currently, but there have been several occassions where a tush tag has been an error (i.e. Spinner with a "Creepy" tush tag). The beanie then has been known to be worth more in this occassion. But if the beanie is mass produced, then the beanie is not worth much in price. It does retain it's value in love to the true collector. Some collectors do include error beanies and misprints in their collection.
Q - Does the number 03 on Clubby mean anything?
A - There is a number located on the tush tag of Clubbie in the upper right side of the TY logo. The common one to see is 03. There are however 4 different numbers. The first 50 made carried 00. These were only shipped out to retailers that were hand picked by TY as what they say is the "prefered retailer". The display case given were special too. They were a special plexiglass that was clear when viewed from the front, but tinted a different color (blue, green, orange, red, and yellow) when viewed from the edge of each piece of plexiglass. It had room to place the club kit inside, and had a holding area for the gold card, placed right beside where the bear sits. There were also a group made with the 00 on the tag used for promotional purposes and the one you saw on TV. The best current count that is known is only 100 out on the collector market. 01 showed up as the regular promo retailer's beanie. It shipped with the regular case that everyone could order. As they were shipped to the people that ordered them, 02 was what was reported on the tush tag. Currently the number reported is 03. These are designation numbers of the lots they were shipped. It isn't seen yet in the market which is the most valuable, but we'd have to say the one the value follows the lot number. 00 being the most valuable, down to 03 the least. See prices for Clubby along with all other beanies on the price guide page.
Q - I see on the net all the time MWMT, MWBMT, Slightly Loved, MWCT, CHT, CTT, SCTT, and SCHT. What does this stand for?
MWMT - Mint with Mint Tag.
MWBMT - Mint with Both Mint Tags.
Slightly Loved - Small wear and tear to beanie. Usually no Hang Tag.
MWCT - Mint beanie with crease on the Hang Tag.
CHT - Creased Hang Tag.
CTT - Creased Tush Tag.
SCTT - A small, sometimes unnoticable crease on the Hang Tag.
HTF - Hard to Find.
Q - What is Tag Generation? Does it mean anything? Is there price differences?
A - Tag Generation is the series of hang tags that have been put on TY's Beanie Babies. There have been now six different generations.
The first generation tag was used until 1994. It was a single tag with just the beanie's name and style number.
The second generation tag was used from late 1994 til the middle of 1995. It had the beanie's name and style number and looked simular to the first on the front. It also was the first to use the folded book style tag with the "to and "from".
The third generation tag was issued in the middle of 1995 through early 1996. It is simular to the second generation. It was shaped more like the current tag we know now. The TY letters on the front were fatter than the other 2 generations. It also included the registered trademark for Germany and England inside the tag.
The fourth generation tag was used from early 1996 to fall of 1997. It had the addition of a gold star that had "Original Beanie Baby" on the front of the tag. This was the first time TY included a poem.
The fifth generation tag was released in fall of 1997 andused until summer of 1998. It was only lightly different. The birthdate is written out instead of abbreviated by number. The style number is no longer printed inside. It was changed to be included as the last four digits of the UPC code on the back of the hang tag.
The sixth generation tag was released in the summer of 1998. The only difference is narrower type style and slightly altered spacing on the front star as well as inside the tag.
For more information Click Here.
Q - What is a tush tag?
A - A Tush Tag is the small tag sewn into the fabric found usually on the back side of a TY Beanie Babies. Most of the other beanies have them too. Tush Tags, like the Heart Hang Tag, is used to indicate when and where a beanie is produced. They also list the materials used to make the beanie. There have been 7 generations on tush tags, and they are:
First - Black & White Tag with copyright date of either 1993 or 1995. Any Beanie with a first or second generation hang tag has this tag. Some may or may not have CE and some may have age 3 + up.
Second - Red & White, has large red heart with TY inside it. Also carries a registration mark in lower right of heart. Copyright dates are 1993, 1995, or 1996.
Third - Beanie Babies collection phrase added to the top of tush tag with a trademark added to the end. The TY heart is smaller but still carries the registration mark. The beanie's name also was added. Copyright dates range from 1993 - 1996.
Fourth - Two versions exist. One has a sticker over the TY heart that adds a small star to the upper left of the heart. The second version has the star printed dirrect. this is the only difference between the third and fourth
Fifth - Beanie Babies Collection phrase now has a registration after Beanie Babies and a trademark after the word collection. There is now an additional trademark after the name of the Beanie Baby. Copyright dates are 1993 - 1997.
Sixth - The Beanie Babies Collection phrase has a registration mark after the word collection. The heart stays the same as the Fifth. Some tag has P.V.C. and others has P.E.
Seventh - Front of tag has a hologram picture of the sixth generation tag. The hologram has the same look of the front of the sixth generation tush tag. The name of the beanie is below the hologram. The back has the same look except it has a heat sensitive TY heart logo. If heat is applied, the TY heart disappears.
Other - Canadian Tush Tags also exist. They have a double Tush Tag. One is the regular TY tag, the other conforms to Canadian Import Regulations. Information is printed in English on one side and French on the other.
Another is an embroidered Tush Tag. It is very rare and only found on a few beanies. All beanies with this tag have a second generation hang tag and a normal Canadian tush tag. The copyright date is 1994. The only beanies to have this tag are Chilly, Chocolate, Cubbie, Goldie, Pinchers, Quacker (no "s"), Spot, and White Belly Zip.
Recently the newer tush tags have had a Chinese marking on the inner part of the tush tag.
Q - The local store where I get my beanies raises the prices and sells to people, but I know they have a TY account. Is there a way to report this, or is this wrong?
A - Yes this is very wrong, and actually against the law. It's a white collar crime, so it's not something that is pursured by collectors due to the cost factor outweighs the outcome. This also is taking it to the extreme. However, TY did have a way to send information to report a store on their website not long ago. They have since taken it down. The best way we could say now to inform them is by going to their webpage and email them. From what we have seen, they are so busy they do not have time to email back, or they just out right ignore the email. It is still worth a try though.
Q - What does "selling out the backdoor" mean?
A - This means when a retailer gets a shipment in, and rather than selling the beanies to the general public, they sell the complete shipment, or all of the most high demand beanies for usually alot higher prices to a secondary market dealer. Some of the secondary market dealers that are not too nice of people send faxes and mail, or continuously call a store to offer prices for a store's shipment. They generally try to keep it as descrete as possible, and so does the store, so that the retailer can say they didn't get a shipment in while making considerably more money than if they sold them the right way, while also not chasing customers away that would obviously get mad to find this out. It takes some of the fun out of collecting, but until the collectors stop buying the beanies at the higher prices from a secondary dealer when it's a new release beanie, it's something that will continue.
Q - What is a secondary market?
A - The secondary market isn't all bad. It is a good place to find retired beanies. In the older days of collecting beanies, the secondary market was great when a new collector came in, a person was able to get the ones that nolonger were sold in stores. The prices weren't awful priced either. This however has changed. The secondary market now has changed. Some buy or obtain beanies from a store with a TY account and sell for a higher price than what you would have paid for if you had found it. This compounds the trouble of finding that beanie that you have been searching for. Not all secondary marketer is bad, but you are usually able to tell which are or not.
Q - Is there a difference between all the different Tags that Disney beanies have? Are there price variations?
A - There are 5 different tags on Disney Beanies. The tags are:
DST - Disney Store
WDW - Walt Disney World
ED - EuroDisney
CD - Club Disney
MKT - MouseKeyToy
There are price variations depending on the beanie. See prices for more detail.
Q - What is the Employee Bear, Billionaire Bear, and #1 Bear?
A - The Employee Bear was given to employees of TY during a 1997 Christmas party. It is the new face brown teddy with either red or green ribbon bow around it's neck. The Billionaire bear was a brown bear made of TYlon (Exclusive material manufactured for TY), and carries a Green embrodered dollar sign on his chest and signed by Ty Warner himself. The #1 bear was created for as a reward to the best TY sales reps. It is red with a #1 embrodered on his chest in yellowish gold. Also signed by Ty Warner.
We here at Beanie Shop feel split about the making of these bears. The Employee Bear was a nice gesture to the employees. But the Billionaire bear was to mark the Billionth dollar TY has made from the sales of beanies. This was tacky to do this, and there are many reports that each employee recieved 2. One to sell, and one to keep. Most ofcourse sold both. This totally goes against TY stating how they are against the secondary market and outrageous pricing. The bear has been selling for around $4,000 up to $8,000. The #1 bear was a nice gesture too, but TY knew exactly where that bear was heading. Again it went against what TY has stated many times about the secondary market.
Q - How can I keep myself safe on the net when I buy beanies through the mail? Are auctions safe?
A - We can not say that all people or stores selling beanies are 100% safe. We have had only good experiance so far through our cautiousness. It is always a risk to buy, but you have to use common sense when doing so. One way to be sure that we know is to send a post office money order for payment and if you do not recieve the beanie, the offending person has now commented a federal crime. You should also be covered to get your money back through a post office, and in return the offender will have legal matters to deal with. Also a transaction through the mail constitutes mail fraud. If it is a store you are dealing with, unless it's a reputable store, you are putting yourself at a risk, but again common sense will tell you. If you are selling a product and are unsure of the person you are sending to, sending the item registored mail is best since they will have to sign for the mailing before they recieve it and there is proof they recieved what you have sent. Most individuals selling or buying are fair, but yes there are a few people you have to watch for. A good rule is the old saying, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Q - Is there any particular beanie that is best to collect?
A - We like them all. It is a personal preferance to collect a particular line of beanies. If you like a product of any company, the fun is in the collecting. Dollar value means nothing when you have a collectable that you love and have fun collecting. If it's dollar value only you are concerned with, you should know that collectables fluxuate in value. A sought after beanie in today's collector field can be tommorrow's dust catcher on a store shelf. Currently TY rules the market and has for the past few years. In the old days of collecting TY, the prices you have read about were due to the less produced as compaired to what is shipped now. Ask yourself, can an item that there are well into the hundreds of thousands retain a value for a number of years? The answer to that as many collectors know is no. If you have something that everyone else has atleast one of, you have nobody to sell that item to and it becomes worthless in a value sense. But if you take an item like Limited Treasure's bears where they made only 32,000 of each, then you have alot fewer on the market, closer to the number that TY use to produce. That item has potential to climb in price. Another thing to keep in mind however is the fact that even if there are only 32,000 made, there has to be well over that number of people that want the item. It has to be a popular collectable. Dollar value is one vertibre of the backbone of a high demand item. Love for the collection is another. Scarcity is the largest.
Q - What is the difference between Beanie Babies and Beanie Buddies?
A - A Beanie Baby is the original idea that TY created and is what started the craze of beanie collecting. Beanie Buddies are about 3 times the size of a Beanie Baby and has more elabrate material, and more detail. When they were originally released it was thought, and many reported (including us) that TY was making the Buddies to create a companion to the Beabie Babies, as well as a way for a collector that can not afford the higher dollar beanie (i. e. Royal Blue Peanut - value: $4,200). It's your guess as good as ours what they have actually become other than just a larger sized beanie. A sort of "Hall-of-Fame" if you will for beanies. They are still fun collectables, but the scarcity of availability has many people second guessing wheather to get into this new collectable. Many are however.
Q - Beanie Shop, you seem to have knowledge of collecting, and the beanie market. Why is it so hard to buy beanies, and why does it seem that certain people I see can get or have even already have got the most sought after beanies?
A - Well Thanks for your comment! As to why it is so hard to get the beanies you are after. That is simple. There are so many collecting, and with the way beanies are shipped, there's not enough to go around. TY seems to release them on a fairly average basis, but with out the selling out the backdoor, and collectors buying more than the average, unless you are there when a shipment comes in, you just are left out of the loop. Even that doesn't insure you to get one. You could be the 25th person in line and a store only recieved 24 of a particular kind, then you'd be the person before the one to buy the last. It is very flustrating, but persistance pays off on the average. If the beanie is very high demand, in our oppinion, it is then better to find the best possible price on secondary market. It's better safe than sorry on retirement day. But that's just our oppinion.
Q - What is the best way to store my beanies?
A - Direct sunlight can fade your beanie. Keep them in an area away from direct sunlight. It is advised not to use ziplock storage bags for long term storage due to the breakdown of the plastic over time can damage the beanie. It also is not a good idea to keep a beanie in an air tight container. Condensation will build up and meldew will result. A person's hands are naturally oily, so avoid continous contact. To display a beanie on a self promotes dust particles. If the self is wooden or papered the acid that these have in them can react with the beanie's fabric.
In conclusion we recomend a good display box made spicifically for beanies, a tag protector, and a small silica gel packet placed in with the beanie to absorb humidity and placed away from direct sunlight. Our second choice is a curio cabinet with glass shelves. Again randomly place silica gel packets and away from direct sunlight. These are for displaying.
As for long time storage, we suggest going to a collector's store (coin, comic, doll, etc.) and asking for ACID FREE storage bags. Store the individual beanies in individual bags with tag protectors and a silica gel packet. Store the bags in an ACID FREE storage boxes you can get at collector/scrap book supply/photo supply shops. Every 3 years, remove the beanies, let them sit to air out for 48 hours, then re-bag them in new ACID FREE bags and place back in a new ACID FREE box.
Q - I've heard of Counterfeit Beanies. What is this, and how can you tell what beanies are counterfeit?
A - In alot of collectables, when dollar value pushes up to high levels, there tends to be others trying to cash in on the market. The scarcity of buying beanies makes those with a get rich quick idea go to desperate messures to make money off the innocent that collect just for the fun. A seller that has not found a way to get a TY authorized seller to sell them their shipments, go to the extreme of having counterfeits made in foreign countries. Some of the said counterfeit beanies are indeed not counterfeit. They are rejects from the actual production of beanies that was never meant to be released. A foreign dealer in unknown means, obtains these beanies and they find their way to America. See our counterfeit page for further detail.
Q - I'd like to know a great place to talk to others about beanies?
A - You can go to our message board for general beanie talk at: or our Rumor Board for an information you'd like to sahre with others at: Or to chat through email with many other collectors like yourself at:
There are many other places across the net. Any search engine can take you to them. There is also chat on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), a program you can also find through search engines. We have links to some of the sites we've visted here.
Q - My friend told me that special edition beanies in the lines like Warner Bros. Beanies, or Disney Beanies, were worth more than the average beanie of their line. Is this true?
A - The best value is wheather you like the beanie or not. You can't go wrong if you like the looks of a beanie that you buy and want to display it for all your friends to admire. As far as money value however, yes a speical edition beanie or holiday beanie is indeed worth more than the average ones. It is again a matter of if the beanie was heavily produced or if it was only a small amount made. Also if the beanie is in demand.