Café Beanie - A Virtual Coffeehouse for Beanie Baby Collectors

The name game

2010-04-16T15:36:00.001-05:00

Today, the Ty Inc. Facebook page asked collectors this question: Is there a word just begging to be the name of a future Beanie Baby? If so, what's the name and what kind of Beanie?

Do you have any bright ideas? Feel free to share!

We're still here!

2010-04-11T00:40:00.002-05:00

Beanie news has been a bit slow. BUT, we're working on some interesting information in regards to Hallmark exclusives, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, let's keep the conversation rolling: What was your first Beanie and how did you get started collecting?

What to expect

2010-04-03T00:08:00.003-05:00

It's disappointing that Thursday's monthly introduction was not an April Fools prank from Ty. By now it's old news that the only critter announced for this month is a Ty Classic dog named Nuzzle. This may have come as a surprise, considering all of the other Beanies, Boos, Licensed Beanies, etc. that we've been hearing about, which are all yet to be officially introduced.

But hopefully I can help clear up some confusion. A source with inside connections to Ty recently sent me some valuable, and credible, information about future catalog releases from Ty. The following list, which includes many of the toys that we've been looking forward to, is a schedule for what we can all expect throughout this summer.

APRIL:
Beanie Babies: Patches the guinea pig, Prickles the hedgehog, Yodel the St. Bernard
Licensesd Beanies: Scooby Doo Large
Beanie Boos: Safari the giraffe
Beanies Converted from 2.0: Vines the monkey, Husky the dog

MAY:
UK Exclusive: Dwynwen the purple dragon
Beanie Babies: Sequoia the bear, Tiny the mouse, Celebration the bear, Peace the bear
Licensed Beanies: Dora-Happy Birthday

JUNE:
Classic: Isabella
Beanie Boos: Blueberry, Lemonade (monkeys)
Licensed Beanies: Dora-Mermaid

SUMMERTIME RELEASES:
Beanie Boos UK Exclusives: Bananas and Sherbet monkeys
Licensed Beanies: Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Snoopy (All three play "Peanuts" theme music); Eleanor and Jeanette (Chipettes) Beanie Babies; Alvin and Brittany Beanie Buddies

2010-04-03T00:05:00.001-05:00

A Beanie Boo-boo?

2010-04-01T16:09:00.003-05:00

Some readers have already pointed out a striking similarity between the new Beanie Boos collection (watch this video, posted on the Ty Facebook page) and another line of plush toys. In fact, Aurora World, Inc., thought so, too. Aurora World has a collection of stuffed animals called YooHoo & Friends, and the similarity between some of the toys could be seen as too close for comfort.

Some collectors have been wondering (or complaining) why Beanie Boos Cleo and Bubblegum were announced as foreign exclusives: well, this is why. Take a look at this comparison:

This image (found on kidstodayonline.com) shows the Beanie Boo on the left and the Yoohoo toy on the right. Both Cleo and Bubblegum are so similar in design that Ty has "voluntarily" decided not to sell them inside the US. Actually, other Beanie Boos also have similar appearances.

Aurora World, Inc., filed a lawsuit late last month against Ty for violation of the Copyright Act, Lanham Act, California Business and Professions Code section 17200, common law misappropriation, and common law unfair competition. The court has set January 18, 2011, as the trial date in that lawsuit. A pretrial conference is scheduled to take place on December 20, 2010.

And away we go!

2010-04-01T00:42:00.000-05:00

Hello all, and welcome to Café Beanie! I hope you're all as excited as I am about this brand-new Beanie Baby fan/news website, and I hope you all brought your opinions, too. In the very near future I will begin to start posting news and other Beanie-related updates, and then you are all very welcome to add your own comments about these current events.

It seems to me that Ty is starting to release some items that might just be putting a bit of a spark back into collecting Beanies... And maybe a spark back into Ty, Inc., itself! With the addition of Beanie Boos and Li'l Ones we've had a lot to look forward to recently.

Check back soon (say, tomorrow) for more. I have a feeling that the April releases are right around the corner. Plus, I've already got lots more news to share with you!

In the mean time, let's get the conversation started: How do you feel about recent releases from Ty?