It appears that every child in Northern Ireland has required hospitalisation over the last few weeks...
It appears that every child in Northern Ireland has required hospitalisation over the last few weeks - we've been run into the ground in work. Plus staff off sick = me doing extra shifts = no time to ciao!
Member since:10.03.2001
Reviews:64
Members who trust:25
I'm sure by now everyone has heard of beanies, almost everybody knows someone who collects them, or more importantly a child who treasures their favourite beanie, which has been put through the wash, and has that well loved look about it!
OK! I admit it! I collect beanies, and do you know what? I enjoy it! In fact it’s almost an addiction - there was one stage back there where I just had to say "Enough".
See, the thing is, I don’t collect just any old beanies, I collect the TY beanie baby bears, and if you have ever seen them for sale in the shops, you will know what I mean when I say "Ridiculous prices". Something which started off being toys for kids has now become a massive money making scheme for many adults, preying on those of us who just have to have that one for our collection.
So what makes these little things so valuable?
Well, the initial 9 beanies that were released are now worth an absolute fortune, as are the first 6 bears. This
is because TY only made a small number of them and released them in the USA, this was before they became so popular. Over time, people decided to collect beanies and as the popularity grew, so did the prices.
If you have a beanie, you will know that there are two tags - the hang tag and the tush tag. Both must be in "mint" condition for people to buy them, unless they are very hard to find beanies, and then people will accept them without hang tags. The tags can tell us a lot about the beanie - It's generation and consequently, it's worth. The older the beanie, the more you are likely to get for it.
The older tush tags were just plain with the bears name on it, the more recent ones have holograms on them to reduce the number of counterfeits that are currently flooding the market. The latest hologram is heat sensitive.
The hang tags are different for each generation, some have small stars in the corner, with different things wrote throught them, eg. beanie babies, 2000 etc.
The inside of the tag names the 3 main suppliers of beanies, and there will be a little poem specific to the bear, and a "birthday", making them ideal presents for anyone!
Ty also releases "exclusive bears" to each country that they are sold in. This usually means that they sell on the internet for large amounts of money, as they cannot get them in their own country.
Another thing that increases the price of these bears is if they are "retired". This means that the company will no longer make them to be sold, meaning that they are a lot harder to find. Sometimes they "retire" quickly, other times they are left on the shop shelves for months on end.
Every so often, Mr Ty will release a new set of beanies and the rush is on to get the new ones. Some people just have to be the first to have them - aren’t there people like this in every walk of life? Then there are people like myself who have learnt to wait. In the end, the prices drop. Let me give you an example.
Ty released a German exclusive bear called Germania. Now while Germans were meant to be able to buy this little thing for £5, many claimed that they could not find one for this price in the shops, but suddenly there was this lovely little bear sitting on e-bay, email trading lists and yahoo auctions for £60 +. I resigned myself to never getting germania - he was totally out of my reach, I would never pay that amount for a bear no matter how addicted I was. Gradually, ever so slowly his prices started to drop. People were stuck with Germanias that they couldn’t get rid of! In January of this year, I finally became the proud owner of a Germania bear for £10, so now I have a gorgeous bear, for 1/6th of the price some people paid for it.
See this highlights one point of beanies, a bad point. There are people out there who are willing to exploit others just to earn a quick buck. There have been many times that I have seen new releases in shops, rushed to the ATM to get some money to buy a special little bear, to come back to the shop and find one of three things has happened:-
1. There is a "buy six regular beanies to be allowed to buy the bear" offer on - this means £35 in total for a bear and six disgusting beanies that no one wants.
2. All of a sudden the bears have disappeared! Hmmm… out the back door most likely to the highest bidder.
3. The shop sells to the people that suck up to them enough, i.e. the people who have enough money to suck up!
It got to the stage that just out of pure amusement that I would go into particular shops to ask what they wanted for them.
I have found that it is much cheaper to buy from email lists where you can build up a good circle of friends who will help you find what you want for a decent enough price. Now, if I don’t get a bear, I don’t worry, there’s no way I will be able to afford them all, until people wise up and realise that they really are only pieces of material filled with little plastic balls. The most I will pay for a bear now is £20, and it would have to be a pretty impressive one at that!
I bet that there are some people sitting there reading this, thinking "she’s either very sad or very crazy!", well maybe I’m a little bit of both, but it is something that I enjoy and they are something that I can keep, and with the constant new releases we are going to be kept on our toes for a while yet!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I too colect benies, my room is over run with them. Some are a bit overpriced though. good op. Natasha
suziemurphy 27.03.2001 19:36
Excellent op,there.My favourite has to be Erin!Suze
bazza1603 20.03.2001 23:37
Im worried that so many people collect beanies!!!I collect Chinchillas and if you leave a male and female together long enough either she has babies which look like beanies(if you close your eyes a bit).Or she bites the males head off!!!.Lots of good opinions Hope you are enjoying Ciao Regards Bazza
Advantages: Beanie babies are affordable, small, understuffed, bean filled toys that are enjoyed by children and adults as a toy and/or collectible, that can bring great pleasure to the receiver. Disadvantages: Collecting can become addicting, but is that really so bad?
alcan 08.04.2001 ·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Beanie Babies
Mar 17th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
