They are a palm sized 8 inch collectible bean filled plush toy. Each bear comes with its own name, birthday and zodiac sign on its hang tag. All toys have a limited lifespan and are retired after several months. There are over 100 styles of Beanie Kids and they include bears and other animals such as dogs, gorilla, bee, panda, chimp and other fun designs. The announcements of retirements and new designs are posted on the official Beanie Kids website. There is also an on-line fan club that sends subscribers all the latest news.
In 2000, Beanie Kids retailed in Australia for about A$8.95 but the price went up in November 2000 to A$9.95, due to the weak state of the Aussie dollar.
Skansen's Beanie Kids are not in any way affiliated with any Ty Inc products or any of its affiliates, subsidaries, distributors or representatives. They just share the same name.
Beanie Kids are not generally sold in retail stores outside of Australia and New Zealand, but they are available from some on-line retailers and auction sites and may be found on the secondary market.
The Bean Bag Mates range consists of an exclusive selection of styles taken from the larger Beanie Kids range. The reason for the name change from 'Beanie Kids' to 'Bean Bag Mates' appears to have occurred due to copyright/licensing restrictions on the use of the name 'Beanie Kids'.
There is no difference in design between Beanie Kids and their Bean Bag Mates cousins. The only change is the name difference on the yellow hang tag. Bean Bag Mates are also apparently more superior in quality than current Beanie Kids because they were produced for export.
Click here to see pictures of Bean Bag Mates.
Where are Bean Bag Mates Sold???
Bean Bag Mates are sold in retail and on-line stores internationally, ie. in USA, UK, Germany and Japan.
In October 2000, a once off release of a limited number of Bean Bag Mates was introduced in stores in Australia. They have apparently become quite a hit as some of the popular styles such as Hippy, Star and Ozzy had not been seen in retail outlets for quite some time.
Bean Bag Mates were introduced to the USA in April 1999 by CONDELL GIFTWARE, a company especially appointed by Skansen to distrbute them in America. The exact quantities of each style sold in the USA is unknown but they are apparently limited in number.
Bean Bag Mates retail for about US$6.00 in USA.
BeansTalk was fortunate enough to be able to get an exclusive interview with Condell Giftware. Click Here.
Stonewall the Bean Bag Mate is different from the others because he is the only one available as a Bean Bag Mate only. He is also special because he was not designed by Skansen. He was designed exclusively for the American market by an individual in America who is also the only distributor!! Because of this, Stonewall is not easy to find and is considered quite rare.
Stonewall has a classic BK bear face and is white with black paw pads. He has a rainbow coloured embroidered flag on his front and his yellow tag reads "Stonewall, the Gay Freedom Bear".
(Last Updated November 2000)
Bean Bag Mates/Beanie Kids
Bean Bag Mates available in the USA!!
