COLLECTING TY BEANIES - SKANSEN BEARS ETC

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Skansen Beanie Kids Beanie Kids were introduced to Australia and New Zealand in September 1997 by Skansen Giftware. These attractive little teddies have rapidly become one of the most sort after collectables on the market today and have been dubbed by their makers as "Australia's Cutest Collectables". There are now in excess of 275 different Beanine Kids to the collection which is ever-growing.Generally each month, 4 new beanines are released but this can vary at Skansens discretion. Some of the original (firstly released) Beanie Kids are sort after more and more by the day due to their scarcity. Some of these bears are now valued at close to $500 Au each (from an original RRP of $5.95 Au each). The most reknown examples of these such Beanie Kids are "Goldy" and "Jade", two of the very first bears produced from Skansen. It is this popularity and scarcity of some of these toys that have lead Skansen to now limit the quantity of each bear that stores and stockists can order, hence aiding in the even distribution as well as the popularity and collectability of them. Many inclusions have now too been made exclusive to particular stores or stockists, giving them the sole "point of sale" to that particular toy. This method of distribution contributes to making the search for each inclusion both a little more difficult and intriguing. An extra "thrill of the chase" to collectors. So what are Beanie Kids exactly? Simply, Beanie Kids are small soft and cuddly plush toys (around 21 cm in size) in the form of teddy and animal characters which are filled with pvc pellets. They have a current RRP of $9.95 Au and are available throughout Australia and New Zealand. Each original Skansen beanie has attached a "swing-tag" or "hang tag" (generally fastened to the ear of the toy) which depicts each character's name, bithdate, starsign and personality. This swing-tag along with it's information forms part of the popularity and collectability of these toys in itself and it is important that these tags be kept in good condition to maintain the value of and demand for each toy. Swing Tag Protectors are now available for purchase from beanie stockists to aid in this as the tags otherwise are quite easily damaged. A "Tush Tag" is also located on each beanie (generally sewn into the leg seam). This tag depicts Skansen's details and the materials used in making the beanies. On the more recent beanies it again has the charaters name (additionally to the swing tag). Whilst the tush tag is not so important as the swing tag, it is necessary for it to also be intact for the toy to be considered a "mint collectible". Why are some Beanie Kids rarer and more highly valued than others? In the case of the earliest (1st generation) Beanie Kids, being new to the market the firstly released inclusions were "consumed" rather than "collected". Most of these early bears would have had their tags removed and been loved by children. As a result there are very few of these original beanie kids existing in "mint condition" as each inclusion has a "retirement date". Once each character is retired, no more of that design are produced no matter the demand for them (hence keeping them a rare collectible). More recently, as similarily mentioned above "Limited Edition" and "Exclusive" Beanie Kids are now produced. Limited Edition beanies are retired immediately keeping them significantly rarer than the other inclusions as their production run is very short. Exclusive beanies too can be somewhat more difficult to acquire given that they are available through particular stockists only and more often than not are more limited in quanities produced also. Where can I find more information on Beanie Kids? A complete checklist of both "current" and "retired" Beanie Kids with pictures can be found at www.beaniekids.com From this site you can also join the "Official Beanie Kids Fan Club", enter competitons and keep abreast of the latest releases and retirements. Beanie Kid Collector Guides are also available for purchase from most Beanie Kid Stockists. These booklets enable you to keep track of your collection at a glance with a complete pictured checklist of all the beanies released. Updated guides are available every few months which then include the very newest releases. The Beanie Kid Birthday list is also contained in this guide. It lists each bears name, birthdate and starsign under a month by month listing. For the more serious collector, the most current guides give a history on the Beanies Tush and Swing Tags depicting the changes and updates that have occurred to these over time. Some information on mutations (variations) is also included within but not extensively, as it shows only a select number of the differences known of in the beanies. What else? Following the success of these beanies, now available also are "Cuddly Kids" and "Great Big Kids". Cuddly Kids are a larger version of the beanies which measure around 42 cm and have a current RRP of $29.95 Au. Great Big Kids are larger again, coming in at a whopping 80 cm and a current RRP of $99.995 Au. A line of accessories to the beanies have also come into being. Items such as clothing and inflatable furniture have been produced for the beanies, in addition to slippers, back packs and scrunchies for fans and collectors. Many of these items are now also depicted in the collector guides and on web sites. Ty Beanie Babies Ty Beanie Babies were devised by the now infamous Ty Warner, the sole owner of Ty.Inc. He began his company in 1985 but didn't create the Beanie Baby until 1993. 1994 saw the introduction of the first 9 Beanie Babies to the USA. A year later (Jan 1995) was when Mr Warner began to "retire" his bears which saw the beginning of a new world wide reknown collectable and a very lucrative secondary market for these toys, despite the predictions of doom by critics that a half bean filled bear would be a sellable product. The following spate of similar or "copycat toys" too in future proved withut a doubt the success of this concept. The Beanie Baby had a slow beginning it seems and historically it appears the turning point for the toy was the fact that they would become retired and produced no longer. The idea of a bear that children could afford to purchase with their pocket money, suddenly became the bear that could be worth an unbeleivable monetry amount (ecspecially in comparison to the original purchase price), in a few years and in some cases just a month or so down the track. If you've read above and determined the Skansen Beanie Kids have a lucrative market, then in comparison they have nothing on Ty Beanies. These little fellows can sell for literally thousands of dollars when kept in mint condition. One such example which comes to mind is "Coral Casino". This bear sells regularily for around $4000 Au and yet is still nothing to many other still rarer pieces. As with the Skansen Bears (as outlined above), the same is true for the Ty Beanies, in that their "hang" and "tush tags" as well as the condition of the bear itself are of paramount factor in the collectablity of the toy. Inumerable publications exist for these Ty toys, however the same information can be found right at your fingertips. A complete guide to the Beanie Babies can be found within the official Ty website, www.ty.com along with the many other similar collections of beanie bears and kids which this company produces,eg: Attic Treasures, Baby Ty, Beanie Boppers, Beanie Kids (different to Skansens Beanie Kids as the two companies are not in any way affiliated), Beanie Buddies and Ty Classics. The phenomanal success of Ty Beanie Babies has now found them marketed throughout the world. Originally entirely exclusive to the USA, many countries now stock these addictive little stuffed toys and in turn have their very own exclusives. This trend has proven to further ignite the desire of those die hard collector's to find yet another inclusion to the collection. The search however is now Universal. General Links www.beaniekids.com www.ty.com Auction Site Links To be added

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