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| MEANIE KEY CHAINS |
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| Detroit Free Press/Business...... Meanies are back, with a vengeance 7-Eleven will offer new key-chain line. May 9, l998 By CAROL TEEGARDIN Free Press Business Writer Meanies, the irreverent answer to those gushy, poem-carrying Beanie Babies, are now available at 7-Eleven stores as key chains. Called Teeny Weenie Meanies, the key chains are smaller versions of the first series of Meanies characters-plush beanbag toys with and edge. They include Splat the Road Kill Kat, a one-eyed cat with tire marks on its back, and Peter Gotta Peegull, a bird who has to use the bathroom, badly. The key chains sell for $2.49 and up. The larger Meanies sell for $5. "We expect them to sell out within one or two weeks," said Lance Kushner, vice president of sales at idea factory inc. which makes the Meanies. "We appeal to the Slurpee drinking crowd. We initially targeted young boys, but older people are collecting them. It's a backlash to the Beanie Babies rage." Veteran New Jersey marketing man Allen LeWinter came up with the concept of the Meanie characters. He took his vision to the New York-based idea factory..which expanded on it. A staff os six helped launch the Meanies las October. Some are now collectors' items. Splat the Road Kill Kat, for example, trades for $60. Since idea factory is marketing the key chains as collectibles, it released a limited edition of one million pieces nationwide. Zach Reid, managing editor of White's Guide to Collecting Figures, a monthly collector's magazine out of Richmond, Va, said that as a product line Meanies are doing very well. "About 700,000 of them have sold nationally so far," Reid said "The key chains should do even better....I think idea factory picked the right store to sell them in for exposure." |
_______________ MEANIE FACTS MADE BY: New York City-based idea factory inc. Debuted last October. DESCRIPTION: A mutant version of Beanie Babies. KEYCHAIN CHARACTERS: Dalmutation, Hurley the Pukin' Toucan, Peter Gotta Peagull, Mat the Fat Bat, Bart the Elephart, Boris the Mucusaurus, Armydillo Dan, Otis the Octapunk, Splat the Road Kill Kat. Each comes with an irreverent poem. AVAILABLE: At some 7-Eleven stores, about $2.49 each. INFORMATION: The idea factory Web site is www.meanies.com or call 1-212-564-7430 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. ORIGINATED: Founded as Southland Corp. in 1927 in Dallas, name changed in 1946. |
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| MEANIE KEY CHAINS |
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