User:Kanethavong/beanie babies

Sandbox for Project

Beanie Babies were first introduced in 1993 by Ty Warner at the World Toy Fair in New York City, New York (add ref). It was not until 1994 that the toys were put into factory production, first being sold in local stores located in Chicago, Illinois for around $5 U.S. Dollars (add ref). There were nine original Beanie Babies, which includes: Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed "Cubbie"), and Pinchers the Lobster (with some tag errors labeled "Punchers"). Since 1994, Beanie Babies cannot be found in larger chain stores, as they continue to only be found in small, specialty stores, such as gift stores and small toy stores. (add ref)

In 1995, Ty Warner announced that the company will restrict the amount of Beanie Babies that are produced and distributed by the company. This was done in two ways, the first way by limiting the amount of Beanies Babies a store could buy per month, which was 36 of each character. The second way was by "retiring," the characters after a certain period of time, meaning that production of those specific characters would then cease. As this created an idea of scarcity surrounding the toys, it in turn lead to a significant increase in sales and started the trend of people collecting and reselling Beanie Babies. (add ref)

(From original article)

Nine original Beanie Babies were launched in 1993: Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Dolphin, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed "Cubbie"), and Pinchers the Lobster (with some tag errors with "Punchers"). They were not in factory production until 1994. Sales were slow at first, to the point that by 1995 many retailers refused to buy the products in the bundles Ty offered them while others outright refused to buy them in any form. Their popularity soon grew however, first starting locally in Chicago before growing into a national craze in the US.