Beanie Babies: Current

A Beanie Baby is a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets, or "beans," rather than stuffing (see PVC). A Beanie Baby is thus a form of bean bag. more...

The original Beanie Babies were made by Ty Warner through his company Ty Inc.. Ty claimed rightful ownership of the name and of all of the designs of their various "beanies." Other companies marketed imitation beanbag-stuffed animals, as well as parodies such as the "Meanie Babies".

The official Beanie Babies were mostly in the shape of animals and were usually brightly colored. Each Baby came with his or her own name, a birthdate, and a bit of humorous poetry. For example, the poem of Bongo the monkey went:

Bongo the monkey lives in a tree

He's the happiest monkey you'll ever see

In his spare time he plays the guitar

One of these days he will be a big star!

This information was all contained on a red, heart-shaped hang tag usually affixed to the animal's ear. The condition of the hang tag is one of the main factors in determining a Beanie Baby's value, and hard plastic covers molded in a heart shape are available for its protection. In some tags, the letters "ty" actually are in a 3D form, slightly lifted as to create a more futuristic effect. Scroll down below to see more information on the tags; they are an important feature of your beanie baby.

Read more at Wikipedia.org