Next, I'm sure we will hear a multitude of complaints about someone ordering 12 or more Mom-e bears. Retired after only 4 days, this is sure to be a rare one. Did we collectors know this would be retired so quickly? The answer to me was obviously YES. Why? Consider that it is a Mother's Day bear. In the US, that's on the 12th of May. Since it was introduced on the 12th of April and Ty would have to ship it quickly enough to be available on or before Mother's Day, it was a prime candidate for early retirement. So, as a someone who wishes to add other country exclusives to my own collection, should I be chastised for ordering "extras" for trade? NO! A resounding NO!! And yes, I did order extras of both the red America and Mom-e bears, several for friends who arranged with me to do so because they either don't have computers or a credit/debit card! Bob.

Biltmore Owner Seeks Lower Taxes
Ty Warner, whose popular Beanie Babies toys have made him a multi-billionaire, wants to slash hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from his property tax bill for the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel in Montecito. Click Here For Story

ELIZABETH GLASER PEDIATRIC AIDS FOUNDATION
On Live with Regis & Kelly this morning they had interviews with some very famous people that were volunteering for the Kids For Kids fundraiser. They raised over 1.5 million dollars for such a worthy cause. Many of the interviews took place with the background showing advertisements for companies that have done a LOT for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. The famous TY Heart was shown in many of those shots. 

TRADEE BUDDY INTRODUCED AT THE TY STORE
http://release.ty.com/Tradee_intro

MAY INTRODUCTIONS
http://releases.ty.com/mainlanding_may
Cheddar the Mouse
Groom the Bear
Bride the Bear
Side-Kick the Dog
http://releases.ty.com/BeanieBabies_2
Pounds the Elephant
Liberty the USA Exclusive Bear
http://releases.ty.com/BeanieBuddies_1
Purr the Cat 
Butch the Dog
USA the USA Exclusive
http://releases.ty.com/BeanieBoppers_3
Cute Candy
Jammin' Jenna
Lovely Lily
http://releases.ty.com/AtticTreasures_4
Revere the Bear
Karena the Bear
Winifred the Bear
Martina the Bear
Emma the Bear
Winona the Bear
BABY TY
Elephanthugs
Cutsiemoosie
PeekiePoo 
Huggyducky
Tygerhugs

More Celebrity Signed Americas
Additional celebrity signed America Beanie Baby auctions will be added to eBay sometime today. These Americas will be signed by Hector Elizondo, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Brian McKnight, Tim McGraw, Mandy Moore and Mike Piazza. We don't have the links to these auctions just yet but will add them this evening. Below are links to auctions still currently running.
Ty Warner White America Auction
(Olympic Skater) Sarah Hughes White America Auction
(Touched By An Angel) Roma Downey Blue America Auction
(Access Hollywood) Nancy O'Dell Blue America Auction
Actress Jane Seymore Blue America Auction
(Country Group) Lonestar Blue America Auction
(Boston Public) Chi McBride Blue America Auction
Actress Marlee Matlin White America Auction

USA EXCLUSIVES INTRODUCED
http://releases.ty.com/usaexclusive
USA Beanie Buddy & Liberty Beanie Baby
Run your mouse over the graphic. <grin> It says Mom-e.

MS. JANIE HAS PHOTOS OF THE NEW MAY RELEASES
The new releases are mixed in with other products already introduced. Look closely for the following Beanie Babies - Bride and Groom (Bears), Side-Kick (dog) Pounds (elephant), Cheddar (mouse with cheese), Liberty (Flag Bear)
http://www.msjanie.com/temp/may_2002.html

PHOTO OF MOM-e BEARS
http://www.msjanie.com/temp/mom_e_bears.html

BABY BOY TAG ON RED AMERICA
Ms. Janie received a note and photo from one of her readers that received a "Baby Boy" hang tag on RED America instead of the RED America hangtag. Looks like we may be in for a Baby Boy & Baby Girl Beanies. I've always thought this kind of Bear would be a great addition to the Ty family. View the photo and read the poem HERE

FrankenTeddy Trademark
Sly shares the following with Ms. Janie:
I found Ty's newest Trademark this morning!
On April 12, 2002 Ty applied to register a trademark on the word "FrankenTeddy" and Ty lists "plush toys" as the goods and services for this Trademark. I would have to venture a Guess that this will be a New Halloween bear!!

This is to confirm shipment of the following order. 
Order - *******A 
Ship date - 4/25/02 

Item(s) cost - $0.00 
Shipping & Handling - $0.00 
Sales Tax - $0.00 
Duty - $0.00 
Grand Total - $0.00

I wrote: "Hi.. I noticed there wasn't a charge listed for this order. Did you already receive a shipment of America WHITE?"

SHeL wrote: "Hi Lisa Yes I did and it was the same as the 1st order. So I requested authorization to return it. I got an answer in 3 hours with a return label to print out. It would not print. I wrote asking for them to mail me a label. It came Monday and I returned the order yesterday....... Prepaid I guess they realized that they goofed. Regards SHeL"

Online Auction Sales Analysis: 'Beanie Baby' Statistics
From: BeaneWonderland
Online Auction Sales Analysis is a regular feature that takes an in-depth look at product sales on online auction Sites. Today's Auction Sales Analysis focuses on Beanie Babies. The information was obtained by scanning 10,000 auctions in the "Ty:Beanie Babie" category on eBay, the largest consumer auction site. Statistics include total sell-through rate and average selling price. Analysis was conducted on April 23, 2002, using HammerTap's DeepAnalysis software program. Results - Sample Size: 10,000: Sell-Through Rate: 52.18%: Average selling price: $21.72 Full Article:

UK Update & Champion Rarity
From: BeaneWonderland
Jim writes: The following Champions are out of stock in the UK. Kenya, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, plus 2 others. Champion Buddies will be shipping next week. No back orders for Buddies will be filled, new orders will have to be put in. Celebrations will be sent in 12's when ordered. Those getting 6's didn't order them. They were the ones who put any new Beanie on their order form. Proper orders will be sent in 12's. Wales, Scotland and England will be sent to all stores who order them throughout the UK. JIM!

Mom Shipping & Reversed Ears
From: BeaneWonderland
Thank you to everyone who sent email confirmations of the Bean eMom shipping and also to Peggy Gallagher who sent us the following email and picture: "YES! I just received in the mail this morning direct from the Ty Store, 2 different America Bears with the reversed Ears! I have attached a photo for all of you to share with your Readers! It is 100% authentic and they truly do exist!! Which America is the rarest? Is it the right red ear or the left red ear America? I would have to say the rarest will be the right ear America...... Who will know for sure??? View Here:

Hey Randy,
This is what I know so far about the May intros -

Beanie Babies
Bride and Groom bears
Sidekick the dog
Pounds the elephant
Cheddar the mouse w/ cheese
Liberty the flag bear (no word yet if this is a USA exclusive)

Beanie Buddies
Butch the dog
Purr the cat
USA the bear

Beanie Boppers
Cute Candy
Lovely Lily
Jammin Jenna

Baby Ty
Elephanthugs (hit pink elephant)
Peekie Poo (purple & green turtle)

Ty Classic
Sugar (re-introduction of the long-haired white cat)

I'll let you know more as I do. Don't know about the Teenie Boppers, but I'm assuming we'll get to order them soon, especially since they will be listed in the May/June issue of Mary Beth's. ~T

Planet Beans Comments: Interesting.. so all of those people that ran to Ty Store to order what they thought was the NEW version of America WHITE will be quite disappointed. Has anyone received the new version of America WHITE? If you have.. please share a picture.

Consolation book wins honor
From: BeaneWonderland
Mandy Meyer, 12, of south Fort Myers, has turned the grief from losing her aunt to cancer into positive action. For her efforts in helping sick children and her new goal of creating condolence books for New York firefighters after Sept. 11, USA WEEKEND Magazine has chosen Meyer as its 2001 Make A Difference Day honoree within the circulation area of The News-Press.

After her aunt Marianne, nicknamed Hittie by Meyer, died at age 44 in 1998, Meyer wanted to honor her. For Make A Difference Day 1999, she held a Beanie Baby raffle and raised $200 for the American Cancer Society. She also gave out brochures for cancer awareness and collected toys and books for hospitalized children. Full Story:

Signed Beanie
From: BeaneWonderland
Sheila, one of our regular readers and someone who has become a very good friend writes: I have a Tim McGraw autographed Sunny the e Beanie. Tim McGraw, county music artist stays at the Guest House Inn and Suites when he is in Nashville and visits with the guests. The majority of the guests are families of patients at Vanderbilt Hospital (as well as the VA and other local hospitals), as was my husband. I was fortunate enough to have been able to obtain Tim McGraw's signature on this beanie and am now putting it up for auction as I am attempting to clean out all my dolls and beanies and be able to clean my home once again. To view the auction please Click Here:

Beanie Babies tycoon wants his privacy in Oak Brook
From: BeaneWonderland
Beanie Babies mogul Ty Warner is famously secretive - so much so that he virtually never speaks in public and his company doesn't even have a listed telephone number. But now Warner's desire for privacy has him in some trouble with officials in his hometown of Oak Brook.

The trouble started when Warner, owner of Ty Inc., had two gates installed to the entrances of his Ginger Creek subdivision home to keep fans and detractors off his property. But Warner built the gate without getting the proper permit from the village beforehand. The gate also encroaches onto neighboring property, village officials said, and wouldn't have been allowed in the first place under village ordinances.

At Tuesday's village board meeting, trustees informally decided to deny Warner a special exception so he could keep the gate. They're expected to formally vote May 14. Warner, who did not appear at the meeting, installed gates to protect himself and his property, his attorney Richard Cremieux said.

"He's had threats on his life and on his property," Cremieux said. "It's not a celebrity status he's ever sought. The real concern is people driving up the driveway. He's already been blocked in." Warner also failed to seek approval from his homeowner's association, though Cremieux said Ginger Creek's rules don't specifically mention driveway gates.

It's not the first time Warner has ignored proper procedure. The homeowners association filed a complaint against him in 1995 over an illegally installed fence that later was removed, village officials said. Full Story:

THERAPEUTIC BEARS
Adrienne shares the following with Ms. Janie
"Hi Ms. Janie I thought this may be of interest to your "adult" collectors. In the current issue of AARP Modern Maturity magazine, there is an article on America's Top Hospitals with the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York listed as number one and what makes it so great. Apparently the hospital's human touch has contributed to the successful recovery of their surgery patients. One such example was given as follows: "At North Shore, heart surgery patients (name of patient) are given teddy bears to hug. Along with its emotional benefits, hugging a bear also helps chest bones to knit properly." Finally, someone has published what I knew all along - these little bears are therapeutic and I'm not nuts!! LOL Adrienne in So. California"

Gift store a family affair
From: BeaneWonderland
The owner of Grand Coulee's new gift store has a simple motto when describing what type of merchandise customers can expect when coming to her store. "A little of a lot of different things," said Karyn Byam-Womer about her new store, Coulee Gifts, etc. The store opened Easter weekend, and she said there has been a lot of business ever since. The prices for the merchandise in the store range from $1 to $50, Byam-Womer said. There are only a couple of things over $50. It's also the only store in town that sells Beanie Babies. Full Story:

Red America Reversed Ears
From: BeaneWonderland
Pamela shares an interesting link to an eBay auction which claims to have 2 Red America beanies on the way to them, the description states: "This is a set including the original bear with the blue ear on the left side of the head and the white on the right aswell as the reversed eared version". Bean eWonderland is in no way associated with this auction, so when viewing the link, if you wish to place a bid please use your own judgement and ask any questions to the seller and not Bean eWonderland. View Here:

Where Have All The Attics Gone?
From: Beanieholics
Sal at Sal's Attic makes an interesting observation. She points out that more than half of the Attic line was retired on Wednesday leaving only 11 Attic Treasures consisting of 2 cats and 9 bears. Four of the nine bears left are country exclusives. Sal says, "No dogs, rabbits, mice, monkeys, etc. in the line makes us wonder what possibly could Ty have in mind for Attic Treasures in the near future." You do have to wonder. Click Here For Link To Sal's Attic

ASK TY
Q: Are there really 2 versions of white America? (submitted by busybuzzie) 
A: This question has received a lot of attention this past week. How about a very simple answer to this very popular question . . . . . yes! P.S. Double check your Red. http://www.tytrade.com/askty_home

FIRST PHOTOS OF RED AMERICA IN-HAND
Ms. Janie has the first photos. View HERE Keep an eye on your mailboxes. I bet lots of you will be receiving your America RED version today. 

-=April 23, 2002=-
Ty Does it again! Sly finds a great link on e-bay about Ty and White America
From: Ms. Janie
Ty Warner Autographed *America* Beanie Baby!
Item generously donated by Ty Warner
Item Description
Ty Warner, founder and inventor of the Beanie Baby, created the now-retired blue America bear in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy, generating $1.1 million for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund through a donation of 100 percent of profits. The generosity of Mr. Warner and Ty Inc. continues with their creation of a second America bear, this one designed to recognize the local efforts of Red Cross Chapters throughout the country who provide lifesaving services and education to our communities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. "Our first 'America' bear was such a success with customers, I knew they would want a second one," said Ty Warner, president of Ty. "The new 'America' bear is our way of saying thank you to Red Cross chapters that help people in communities every day. I hope both collectors and the public will join us in saying thank you for the great work of the Red Cross." Mr. Warner has autographed this white 'America' bear exclusively for the American Red Cross Virtual Auction and has signed on the tag. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1724987131  

CELEBRITY AUTOGRAPHED AMERICA BEARS
MS. JANIE RECEIVES THE FOLLOWING:
Hello Ms Janie,

This is Jon from the Red Cross.

Besides the Ty Warner signed America on ebay for the Annual Virtual Auction for the American Red Cross, there are several other Celebrity signed "Americas" up for grabs.

Auction # / Celebrity / which America Bear is signed as follows:

1725002067 / Olympic Ice Skater Sarah Hughes / White America
862110410 / Touched by an angel's  Roma Downey / Blue America
862126272   / Oscar Winning actress Marlee Matlin / White America
862145970 / Entertainment Reporter Nancy O'Dell / Blue America
862145978 / Actress Jane Seymour / Blue America
862110411 / Country Music Group Lonestar / Blue America
862126325 / Boston Public Actor Chi McBride / Blue America

Also starting on April 29 th the following auctions will be added to the celebrity auction.
No word yet on which America Bear these stars have signed:

Hector Elizondo (Actor)
Jennifer Love-Hewitt (Actress)
Brian McKnight (R & B Singer)
Tim McGraw (Country Music Singer)
Mandy Moore (Singer/Actress)
Mike Piazza (Baseball Player) 

Big UK News!!! 
From: Ms. Janie
AngelBears (02:34 pm. Apr 22, 2002 ) 
Message Id: 1048568 
AngelBears writes: My trading partner in England just got me a Celebrations beanie for RETAIL... but the BIG news is that all the stores there (Yorkshire) have been told by TY that they are not allowed to bundle anymore!!! Three shops that USED to bundle... suddenly aren't!!! http://www.ty.com/cyberboard/news/msg1048568.html

BEANIES, CHILDREN, AND ADULTS  
Donna shares her experience with Beanie wars. 
http://www.planetbeans.com/Beanies&Children.htm

APRIL RETIREMENT
http://retirement.ty.com/april_retirement1
BEANIES
February
Chickie

BUDDIES
Sunny
Periwinkle
Hopper
Hoppity
Eggbert
Eggs

BOPPERS
Pretty Patti

ATTICS
Baron
Mulligan
May
Suki
Caboose
April
Mei Li
Carlisle
Hutchins
Burrows
Fields
Fleecia

-=April 22, 2002=-
WIN A RARE CHUBBLEY BEAR AT CHUBBLEY CORNERS
Kathie shares the following:
"Chubbley Corners is going to be running our very first contest.  This is not just any contest the winner will win an extremely unique and rare Chubbley.  All participants must be registered members.  I am so excited to be able to offer this ( secret bear LOL) as a prize.  Details will be upcoming , so watch the boards."  http://communities.msn.ca/ChubbleyCorners/

CONTEST TIME AT DOODLE'S PAGE
Deb's annual 'Spring Has Sprung' Contest starts today. The prize in this contest ? ... a set of the Asia Pacific-Flower Beanies Babies (Sakura II, Bunga Raya, Ferny, Mugungwha, Vanda, and Wattlie). Doodle's 'Spring Has Sprung' Contest

-=April 21, 2002=-
CELEBRATIONS PRE-ORDER UPDATE 
From: Ryebypost
Just to inform you that we have started to received deliveries of the Celebrations bears over the weekend. Yes, our warehouse staff have been working over the weekend to receive deliveries, stock them and process orders ready for dispatch on Monday. Orders will be dispatched in the Date/Time order they were received, so the first to order will be the first to receive etc. Further orders are expected in daily from now on so the delivery process should be quite quick. We will endeavour to keep you updated. 
Many Thanks, 
The Team Ryebypost Ltd 
http://www.ryebypost.com/ 
0845 330 3310 Collins, Mountfield Road Ind. Estate, New Romney, Kent, TN28 8XU

"LET'S GO VISITING!" has started its journey. Will you see your site being visited? This is fun contest with five (5) pewter windmill tac pins produced by Kansas Brass & Pewter and for the Gents, a surprise Ty product, if they do not wish a tac pin.

Guidelines can be found: http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/kansaspewter/lgv.html.

With spring in the air (or is it summer) and Mother's Day coming up; "Let's Go Visiting!" ~~La Rue

-=April 20, 2002=-
UK Pops & Tie
From: BeaneWonderland
Caroline kindly sends us the first images of the UK version of Pops beanie bear sporting a Union Jack tie View Here:

Champion Buddies
From: BeaneWonderland
Marilyn writes: The material on the Champion buddy is super silky-soft. Ty calls it TySilk & that is a good name for it. The inside of the heart tag contains the same poem as the matching beanie baby....at least that's the case with the 3 buddies that I have. The Official Licensed Product tag is the same size as the one on the beanie so the baseball card protectors that I had cut to fit the OLP tag on the beanies, works just perfect on the buddies as well. Style number is 9501. View Here: Also Joy from the UK writes: I can confirm I walked into my local Athena at lunchtime and they had just received their Ty delivery. Celebrations and all 32 Champion beanies. I was lucky enough to pick up Celebrations for £5.99 and they where limiting to 1 per person, which I felt was very fair. Shame more retailers don't follow suit. JOY (East Yorkshire)

CHAMPION BUDDIES
Marilyn shares some great photos of Champion Buddies with their Beanie counterpart with Ms. Janie. Check out photos of England, Turkey and US along with others - HERE

CHARGES APPEAR FOR AMERICA - RED VERSION
A number of collectors have mentioned their credit cards are now being charged for America RED version. This must mean shipping will soon follow. Good luck!! I'm sorry I missed out on ordering this one. :o) I'd love to see pictures of the America RED version. Please send a picture(s) that you'd like to share to Lisa@planetbeans.com

SPELLING CORRECTED AT TY.COM ~ Mungungwha and Bunga-Raya
HJ shares the following:
"Good Morning Lisa-- I'm writing regarding the post on April 8 about the spellings of the Korean and Malaysian Pacific Flower bears.  It appears that Ty really DOES read our posts on various Beanie-related sites.  If you visit the Ty site and check out the current Beanie Baby list, the two bears in question are now spelled MuNgungwha (with an added "n") and Bunga-Raya (with hyphen), vs the original spellings of Mugungwha (only one "n") and Bunga Raya (without hyphen).  Unfortunately, Ty didn't do his homework before making these changes.  He had the spellings correct the first time with the small exception of MugungWHa which is really spelled MugungHWa.  Below are links to various sites which feature info on these two flowers.  It's probably MUCH more information than you really want/need, but I just thought I'd share anyway.  Happy Friday!!!" HJ  :-)

For info on both Mugunghwa and Bunga Raya which are both of the Hibiscus family goto: http://www.geobop.com/Symbols/plants/flowers/hibiscus/

MUGUNGHWA INFORMATION:
http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=korea+national+flower&geo=no&fs=web
http://welcome.korea.com/generalinfo/general_about03.asp
http://www.koreatips.net/english/generalinfo/general_about03.html
http://www.ksa.uwstout.edu/flower.htm
http://www.koreascope.org/english/sub/1/index1-h.htm
http://www.korea.net/koreanet/national/Mugunghwa.asp

BUNGA RAYA INFORMATION:
http://search.dogpile.com/texis/search?q=malaysian+national+flower&geo=no&fs=web
http://www.windowstomalaysia.com.my/nation/16_3.htm
http://www.almanak.com.my/mal_info/background/e_flower.html
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1268/Malaysia.html#flower

-=April 19, 2002=-
In Hand Celebration
From: BeaneWonderland
Both Tom, Pamela and Ellybeans have sent emails regarding an in hand auction for the Celebration Beanie Baby. We stated yesterday that the warehouse is stocked ready for deliveries next week, did these leak out or have deliveries started a few days early. View Auction:

Pops Tie
From: BeaneWonderland
Lynn writes: I just wanted to let you know that I indeed picked up a Pops Beanie from a Hallmark store today in Ontario with the Canadian Tie variation. I am not sure if this had been confirmed by anyone so thought I would let you know. I have included a picture of the tie View Here:

ASK Ty
Q: When can I expect to receive my Red America Bear? (submitted by Cheekymonkey) 
A: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds . . . . . next week ! http://www.tytrade.com/askty_home

-=April 18, 2002=-
STATELY BEARS:
Release Date for Thirteen Upcoming Bears

Spring release date is May 15th for thirteen Spring Releases. States to be released include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Kansas Brass & Pewter will be updating their site with photos of all the releases, as well as info about their designs. http://www.angelfire.com/ks2/kansaspewter/sb.html

In the meantime they may be seen at: http://www.statelybears.com

HEAVENLY BEARS:
Word was also received regarding the status of Heavenly Bears. At this time, undecided on what will be happening in the near future. The lawsuit with "Fruit of the Loom"  was unexpected and a great setback.

Have a great day!
La Rue/Kansas Brass & Pewter

Champion Orders
From: BeaneWonderland
Do you remember when TY first introduced Buckingham Buddy they didn't order enough and only half the retailers got them because everybody was supposed to get 3 and they sent them in 6's and ran out? Well TY UK certainly seem to have underestimated the demand for Champion and are not able to fulfil everybody's order. I have just heard from my local store that the TY Rep is not taking any orders for Champion Bears from anybody who has already ordered them. He will take no fresh orders until everybody has received their first delivery. It seems strange to me that quite a few stores got 108 of certain Countries, but others are not getting any. Surely that is a very big error. I have also heard that Celebrations will begin shipping in about 10 days from now. Regards, JIM!

Champion Buddies are Shipping (in Japan)
From: Doodle's Page
Martin had informed us last week that Champion Buddies would be shipping in Japan soon - at least the Japan and USA version anyway. Looks like he was correct. Kooler of Bean Book has just written us, stating the following:

Hi Deb ... ... The sales of Champion Buddies began in Japan.  I have not purchased it yet. However, please check it because there is the site where 'the image is published'. Your Friend, Kooler

Click here to visit Bottega Beanies and view Champion Buddy pics

-=April 17, 2002=-
Ty's Shipping Policy
Annie shares the following:
Lisa, I was looking over the TY site trying to get some confirmation on my order for Mom-e.  My checked showed "submitted".  While checking the site I found this link: http://www.ty.com/shipping.html

It states: "It is our desire to make available enough of our product for all consumers to purchase at a fair price. However, currently the demand for our product far exceeds our supply. For this reason, we will ship our product to accounts that are our most supportive first. Once we've done this - any remaining product will be shipped to our other accounts." 

Ok, does this mean that he will ship to the accounts that buy the most first, have been active the longest first or what?  What I think this says is even though you may have submitted your order and been say 100, if you haven't purchased from the TY store before or haven't in a long time, your order may actually end up being 10,001.  I think this policy should be somewhere on the Store Page if this is the case.  I would think a limit to the number allowed to be ordered would be a better solution if TY really wanted to be fair in the distribution of exclusive TY-Store Beanies.

There are already 3 pages of auctions on e-Bay for Mom-3 and the first page alone had almost 80 selling anywhere from $25 to $55 in presells.  Somehow, this just doesn't seem right to me.

Have a good day Lisa!
Granny Annie Muncy

Adrienne writes:
"Good Morning Lisa !! I was reading the newsletter about "Ty's shipping policy" and I read it a bit differently. I take it to mean the individual retailers and not the purchasers from the TY store. What do you think ???"

A BEAUTIFUL STORY ~ Easter Beanie Baskets for Homeless Children
Annie writes:
"Lisa, You and several other readers are aware of the Easter Beanie Baskets for Homeless children project I started 4 years ago. Every year, beanies and items for Easter Baskets are donated from all over the world via the Internet to give Easter Baskets to children in Domestic Abuse Shelters and Homeless shelters a bit of the Easter happiness most kids take for granted. Well, this project started as the results of my Granddaughter, Nicole Tippery Hogan, now age 10. To view the rest of this very touching story.. visit the Beanies & Children page at: http://www.planetbeans.com/Beanies&Children.htm

-=April 16, 2002=-
THANK YOU TO YOUR READERS:
Lisa and your readers of this newsletter, thank you for taking part in the Pick-A-Number Contest held at Kansas Brass & Pewter this past week. The final round was held last evening, and the winner was John/johnny9964 who chose Cameroon---Champion #117. Thank you, Lisa, for posting the contest as alot of your readers had stated they saw it on Planet Beans. Lisa hosted two rounds for me and an excellent job was done. All prizes are in the mail to you prior to and as of this morning (Monday). Watch for more upcoming Pick-A-Number Contests.

Thanking you, I am
La Rue/lash36
http://www.kansaspewter.com

ADORABLE PICTURE Lydia shares the cutest picture of her dog, Chico, with his Beanie friends. Do you see any resemblance?

AMERICA'S ESCAPADES
Stellar from Ms. Janie's guestbook is sending America around the world. Check out Americas Escapades at: http://www.itzmeagain.com/america.htm  Make sure to view the pictures. America has even visited Ground Zero.

Shipping Charges
From: BeaneWonderland
Ty Store explains why the shipping costs to countries outside the USA seem so high, I must admit, I still cannot see the high price is justified, View Here: (thanks Pamela).

TY RETIREMENT ~ http://retirement.ty.com/arl 
BEANIES: Eggs II, Carrots, Spring
BUDDIES: White Tiger, Bones, Ariel

INTRODUCTION: "Celebrations" Golden Jubilee Bear (UK Exclusive)
http://release.ty.com/BB_Celebrations

-=April 15, 2002=-
NEW CONTEST ~ WIN MUM & POPS: Mum & Pops Contest

Mom-e Retires
http://www.tytrade.com/store_5_retired
What a surprise this one was. If you go to the TyStore and try to order Mom-e you can't. I'm bummed since I didn't get to order any. I would have liked to get this one for my Mom and Step-Mom and one for myself. :o) Congrats to all of you that were able to order. :o)

-=April 14, 2002=-
PICK-A-NUMBER CONTEST
La Rue is having her famous pick-a-numbers contests again and this is the final round for this contest. Please stop by and visit her contest page HERE for details. Round 6 will begin this evening at 6pm EST. The prize for this round is YOUR choice from the following Champion Beanie Babies: USA, Brazil, Cameroon, England or France

NEW CONTEST STARTS TOMORROW
If you'd like to see what the prizes will be.. check the graphic I've posted on the CONTESTS page: http://www.planetbeans.com/Contests.htm

TY 2002 BEANIE & BUDDY PRICES
Due to requests, I have taken the time to create Ty 2002 Beanie & Buddy pages. I've also updated the Ty 2001 Beanie & Buddy pages. These pages are great if you want to keep up with the going rates for Beanies & Buddies released in either 2001 or 2002. Meta Exchange is usually right on with their current prices. If you want to purchase a Beanie or Buddy shown on these pages for the price shown.. just click on the Meta Exchange price tag shown. I will keep these pages updated as new releases come out. I've added a link for both of these pages on the Beanie Information Pages at: http://www.planetbeans.com/beanie_info.htm

CHAMPION CHECKLISTS ~ WITH OR WITHOUT CURRENT PRICES
I've now created a Champion Beanie and a Champion Buddy checklists which include the current prices from Meta Exchange. You can print those up easily on one page since I've separated the Beanies and Buddies. If you don't need or want the prices you can print the Champion checklist which includes BOTH Beanies and Buddies but without the prices.. printable on ONE page. I've added buttons on the Beanie Information pages to take you to all of the checklists.

Champion Beanie & Buddy Checklist without prices: http://www.planetbeans.com/ChampionChecklist.htm
Champion Beanie Checklist with current prices: http://www.planetbeans.com/ChampionBeanPrices.htm
Champion Buddy Checklist with current prices: http://www.planetbeans.com/ChampionBudPrices.htm

-=April 13, 2002=-
BEANIE CALENDAR UPDATED
http://www.planetbeans.com/BeanieCalendar.htm

ASK TY
Q: What do you do with the prototypes... Are any of them in your own collection? (submitted by ddhhorne2)
A: Many of the prototypes are kept under lock and key at my Corporate Headquarters and some are on loan to Tyriffic stores throughout the country. Those special 9 that started this fantastic journey . . . . . they are very comfortable in my office.

Auction Saturday to benefit Port Matilda Elementary School
From: BeaneWonderland
A football and photograph signed by Joe Paterno, a gift certificate for a bus trip to Atlantic City, wrought iron candleholders and beanie babies are some of the items that will be auctioned at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the Port Matilda Elementary School. Businesses and people made donations to the event, and students at the school wrote letters to celebrities, authors and athletes asking for autographs or items to auction. Full Story:

WANT TO BE A U.S. CHUBBLEY DISTRIBUTOR
Danita is new U.S. Chubbley Bear Distributor and she is seeking U.S. retailers.
Contact Danita at Porcase Distributing
Phone- 1-330-281-3011
Email- dporcase@yahoo.com
Website- http://www.porcasedistributing.com

ITZMEAGAIN APRIL MINI HUNT
The April Mini Hunt starts TODAY. http://www.itzmeagain.com/02aprilminihunt.htm
Lots of sites, lots of great prizes & lots of fun!! Be sure to participate.

-=April 12, 2002=-
BEANIES & CHILDREN
Brook shares the following:
"Lisa, I saw your story on beanie wonderland and just had to share a kids and beanies story of my own. My son Christopher is 4 and has always been fascinated by my beanie collection. Every once in awhile I will get him his own beanie or if i have an older one that the tag has come off of i will give one to him and one to his sister. recently a friend of his had been over and didnt understand that my beanies were not toys and tore the tags off two of my dizzy beanies.  I decided to give them to my son and his sister. Early one morning before school i came out of my bedroom with them in my hands, the first thing he said when he saw them was mommy are one of those for me? well of course i said yes and ever since then he has kept dizzy on his bed to sleep with him every night. he has his own small collection of a few beanies that he picked out such as osito, dizzy and rainbow the iguana. i love seeing the look on his face when we go to the store and i tell him he can pick a beanie out for himself. my daughter is only a year old and i hope one day that she will love beanies as much as her brother and i do. thanks for your time, brook"

Protecting the 2nd Tag...
Heather www.dailybean.net shares the following:
Hi, After seeing the tip on Smart Collecting, I stopped at a Baseball Card shop with my scissors & the nice gentleman let me experiment on a couple of different styles of tag to see what works best. The harder plastic one had more of a gap in the middle so I selected the one that fit tight. I cut the card length down to size & then cut a short slot for the tag linkage. I tried both ways....using a separate heart tag protector as well as sliding the heart tag & the license tag together inside the baseball card protector, leaving the rectangular plastic piece sticking out the front. I preferred the look of using both the heart protector tag & the baseball card protector. Here are a couple of pictures of what this looks like. I wish the new tag protectors fit the card better....I could cut down one side to trim the width but then it wouldn't have that snug fit & I'd prefer not to use tape. I cut the slot a bit off center because I look at my beanies from the front & I was trying to minimize the empty edge look....not sure if centering would be a better idea. What do you think? Marilyn Click Here for Photos 

Watch Out!
Heather www.dailybean.net shares the following:
Hi thought your readers might be like to see this, having won an auction, and receiving it I was shocked to see a bill with it. Contacting the seller he assured me the value was put at 10.00 upon closer inspection, it clearly showed that the 4 had been written in with a different color of pen, and much larger then he wrote. I was fortunate, I got my money back from the post office without having to fight customs and pay them a fee. It was very obvious that it had been tampered with. The Postal Angel told me to make sure that the first number either has a dollar sign in front of it are a big X and X out the rest of the line for your receivers protection. It can be a costly mistake for a buyer or seller, and can result in negative feedback when it is not justified. thanks for letting me vent. Julie Click Here for the Photo (I blurred the signature just incase you could understand it... ;))

Beans on TV
Heather www.dailybean.net shares the following:
Jen sends in the following via email:
While watching Super Surgery on Discover Health tonight (4/10/02) a woman going into Brain Surgery to clip an aneurysm at the base of her skull. The woman carried in Scaly with her! She had a long surgery and recovery, but made it home!

PICK-A-NUMBER CONTEST
La Rue is having her famous pick-a-numbers contests again. Please stop by and visit her contest page HERE for details. Round 4 will begin this evening at 6pm EST at Planet Beans on this page: http://www.planetbeans.com/PAN.htm. The prizes being offered are the NEW releases: Toothy, April, Champion. There will also be surprises so don't miss out on this one.

MYRTLEWOOD STABLES AT KID'S COLLECTION TOYS (ALL Ty is still 50% off!!)
Do you know someone that collects horse items? are great for kids and adults both. If you answered yes.. be sure to visit Kody's Myrtlewood Stables page at http://www.bkncmall.com/shop/ms.htm Kody has a great selection of today's most popular toys. Flat rate for shipping no matter the size of the package.. only $4.95. http://www.kidscollectiontoys.com 

Champion Protector Update
From: BeaneWonderland
Here is a modification of the card protector Marilyn sent in. Using a hole puncher, punch a hole through the protector approximately 1/2 inch from the top. Then cut a slot through the card to the top of the hole. This will allow the FIFA card to be slid into the protector and the red attacher slipped through the slot into the hole. This helps take the stress of the red attacher. Bob From the Colonies. View Here:

Mommy Attic
From: BeaneWonderland
Marilyn shares another great picture of her latest find, the Mommy Attic Treasure View Here:

NEW TY STORE EXCLUSIVE  
Mom-e can be ordered now at the Ty Store: http://release.ty.com/MOM-e

-=April 11, 2002=-
TY 2002 BEANIE & BUDDY PRICES
Due to requests, I have taken the time to create Ty 2002 Beanie & Buddy pages. I've also updated the Ty 2001 Beanie & Buddy pages. These pages are great if you want to keep up with the going rates for Beanies & Buddies released in either 2001 or 2002. Meta Exchange is usually right on with their current prices. If you want to purchase a Beanie or Buddy shown on these pages for the price shown.. just click on the Meta Exchange price tag shown. I will keep these pages updated as new releases come out. I've added a link for both of these pages on the Beanie Information Pages at: http://www.planetbeans.com/beanie_info.htm

Ducks quack the market
From: BeaneWonderland
Celebriducks" — rubber duckies featuring the faces of celebrities or athletes — appear poised to succeed Beanie Babies and bobblehead dolls in the evolution of giveaways gone wild, ESPN.com reported. They made their pro sports debut in Philadelphia on Jan. 11, when the 76ers gave away 5,500 Allen Iverson Celebriducks. Baseball players soon to be immortalized as ducks for giveaways include the Yankees' Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi. Looks like Ducky Schofield was born before his time, but Phillies pitcher Brandon Duckworth looks like The Natural. View article HERE 

NEW CHUBBLEY "MYSTERY" BEAR REVEALED
Becky shares the following:
"Hey, Lisa!!!  ;-)
I just found this info on http://www.beanzaddiction.com/
"I got the latest new-look issue of BeanBag Monthly today...YAY!! I can now reveal the mystery 8th Chubbley."

"There are not 4 card bears...There are 5! Jack the Chubbley bear comes either with a heart, diamond, club, spade on his foot and the mystery Chubbley is a Joker. He will be randomly mixed with the other Jacks in the packs. He has a black nose. Will he be harder to find than the other Jacks?"

Thanks for all your hard work of keeping us informed of any and all Beanie news... It's very much appreciated!!!" Rebecca Manteiga

Planet Beans Comments: I just checked the ChubbleyBears.com website and they have been able to update. The pictures of the new releases are posted now. http://www.chubbleybears.co.uk/chubbley_new_releases.html

BEAN BAG MONTHY NEWS
Daphne shares the following:
Hi folks! We have a couple of new pieces on our Bean Bag MONTHLY news now: clarification on UK ordering and a photo of all 32 Champion Beanies www.beanbagworld.info/news 

PICK-A-NUMBER CONTEST
La Rue is having her famous pick-a-numbers contests again. Please stop by and visit her contest page HERE for details. Round 3 will begin this evening at 6pm EST at Planet Beans on this page: http://www.planetbeans.com/pickanumber.htm. The prizes being offered are the NEW releases: Mattie, Toothy, April, Champion. There will also be surprises so don't miss out on this one.

	BEAN BAG MONTHLY It’ no longer called Bean Bag World, but the new Bean Bag MONTHLY magazine is set to hit the newsstands tomorrow, Thursday.  This issue has its usual 140 pages of news, views, advertisers, features and guides The main features this month are:
The Joker’s wild	Exciting news of the new Chubbley releases
Olympic pride and Joy	Joy Brisighella of Utah shares her story of Olympic ‘Glory’!
Collection Connection	Three UK collectors gather news and views from their own parts of the UK
Croeso I Gymru	A look at Wales – the Beanie and the country – some interesting facts and figures, too!
Amazing Dancing Bears	Six year old Clair Alex has a Beanie collection growing as fast as her dancing medal haul!
Let’s get creative	Sue Owen shows how to make your very own Beanie sweaters
Steps and a Sting	Some BIG names help CHhugs this month
They come and they go	WWWebster provides some fascinating facts and figures about Beanie retirement and introduction patterns
Jingle all the way	Guide to Jingle Beanies; facts and pics
And not forgetting all the regulars:
Collectors’ news	A round up of happenings
Chubbley Bears, a collectors guide	Tag info plus Chubbley pics
Beanie Babies guide	Pics, plus prices and some data
Revised Buddy guide	Updated guide, with tag generation information
Disney Dayz	Steff Wayne updates us on Disney happening s
Something Old, Something New	Portrait gallery from Steff Wayne lets us see some older Disney
Readers’ letters	Including Lauren’s strange Seamore tale!
Readers Gallery	Readers’ creativity on view
Not forgetting … this month’s competition offers you the chance to win the Red, White and Blue UK Beanie trio!

-=April 10, 2002=-
Community Kids Festival Saturday
From: BeaneWonderland
The third biennial Community Kids Festival will be held Saturday, April 13 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Harlan. More than 25 interactive booths and activities will provide education and awareness of health and safety issues to children from birth through fifth grade and their parents. Children attending the event are encouraged to bring a favorite Beanie Baby or teddy bear for a check-up at the Beanie Baby/teddy bear health clinic. Full Story:

Champion News
From: BeaneWonderland
Ty reps in the UK are informing their retailers that the 'rare' bags of Champion Beanies will only be shipped the once. Nobody knows which are going to be classed as the rare ones. As stated previously, the UK are allowed to order the various countries on the order forms, they can state which ones they would like (unlike the USA, Canada which are receiving mixed bags). The only reason I can see behind this move being, that the UK are into football in a bigger way. Remember Ty has also paid a lot of money for these beanies to be sold as official merchandise hopefully appealing to football fans and beanie collectors alike.

PICK-A-NUMBER CONTEST
La Rue is having her famous pick-a-numbers contests again. Please stop by and visit her contest page HERE for details. Round 2 will begin this afternoon. I will be hosting round 3 on my site tomorrow afternoon. I'll post details about this tomorrow so you'll know which page to visit for details. The prizes being offered are the NEW releases: Herder, Mattie, Toothy, April, Champion. There will also be surprises so don't miss out on this one.

STOP BY AND HAVE SOME FUN WITH MS. JANIE AND FRIENDS
From: Ms. Janie
Ms. Janie's Message Board had a very interesting LONG thread, which may interest you. The thread read as follows: Is anyone brave enough? I was just wondering what the "average" age of a beanie collector is. LOL! How many people are willing to give up their age so we can compile the data and find out? Hehehehe! -Sonya age: (I'll tell you only if you tell me!) For this topic click HERE

As of 10.36 PM this thread has generated over 55 post with the majority of my readers ranging between the ages of 30 and 60 - The Baby Boomers won with an average age of 43! Most surprising is we only had one post from a minor, she was 16. Many of the post are hysterical and certainly will take your mind off of anything that may be bothering you! This board has proved to be a great place to meet friends, engage in various topics, some Beanies related and some not so beanie related. Men join in on the fun and some of their post will leave you laughing. We had a man a couple of weeks ago that could not post until he did laundry. We have another man who loves Barney. And yet another one who claims that when he dies his hair it's only to add highlights. I think you get the picture. Many webmasters have joined in on the fun and have been most welcomed. We really are harmless, fun and offer a little bit of everything. Come join us! http://pub31.ezboard.com/fmsjanieandfriendsfrm1

BEANIES AND YOUNG CHILDREN
My son Brandon who turned 3 in January is so full of character. After giving him a bath last night I called after one of his favorite Beanies, Dinky. He asked me where Dinky was and I found him along with other toys in a big plastic bucket. I gave Dinky to Brandon and said, "Dinky is so happy to see you and he said he didn't like being in that BIG blue bucket with all those other toys". He gave him a big hug and started talking to him telling Dinky he was so glad to see him. I was getting Brandon dressed and told him that Dinky would love to go back into the living room with him to play and he said, "Mom you are the bestest girl in the whole entire world!". He was quite happy to have his Dinky back again. ;o) I just wanted to share this little story with my Beanie friends. I'm sure that most of you also have special stories like I just described. If you do.. please do share them. These are the type of stories that show us just how much happiness a simple Beanie Baby can bring to all of our lives and how PRICELESS they truly are. :o)

I shared this in some of my Beanie clubs last night just after it happened and received these comments that I wanted to share with you.

Jay writes:
"OH< That is wayyyyy too funny !!! Nicole came home from school today with POUNCE and upset, MOM,MOM, you gotta sew him up !!! so i looked and he had a rip just on the seam of the front left leg. Soooo, guess, who got a needle and thread out, and I JUST finished sewing up POUNCE as I am reading this.........lol"

Chrissy writes:
"How sweet Lisa! :o) What a cutie! Thanks for sharing that with us! When I went to Germany I brought a bunch of beanies with me as presents because my cousin had told me they were very hard to find in the town where all of my family lives and that the kids loved them. I gave all the kids beanies and I gave my one cousin Jasmine (my second-cousin actually lol) Mystic and she loved it sooo much! She carried it around with her everywhere for the entire week I was there and by the time I said goodbye it was so dirty, it almost looked like Derby instead of Mystic! lol But I was just so happy that she liked it so much and I was happy I was able to share my love of beanies with her. :o) Chrissy"

CHAMPION TAG WRITTEN IN JAPANESE
Ms. Janie received the following from one of her readers: I got Champion with Japanese Flag's nose at a retailer in Japan. And I noticed that poem is written by Japanese, the others are not. http://www.msjanie.com/temp/champion_japan.html

BENDOS AT KID'S COLLECTION TOYS (ALL Ty is still 50% off!!)
Bendos are great for kids and adults both. For a limited time you will receive a FREE Pride the Americana Bendo with ANY Bendos purchase. Pride is great and if you are patriotic.. he's one to add to your collection. http://www.bkncmall.com/shop/bendos.htm Be sure to visit Kid's Collection Toys for your toy needs. Kody has a great selection of today's most popular toys. Flat rate for shipping no matter the size of the package.. only $4.95. http://www.kidscollectiontoys.com 

-=April 9, 2002=-
2002 TUSH TAG
Ann shares the following:
"I was reading your newsletter today and saw the article about the Asian Floral beanies with the different spellings on their tags.... I was wondering if anyone had mentioned that the America White beanie is sporting a 2002 on it's tush tag....  It is the first and only 2002 I've seen so far.... Ann"

READERS COMMENTS
Dianna writes:
"I just wanted to tell you that your site is so helpful.  You are always up to date on everything!  I know it must be a job to keep it up but I wanted you to know that I appreciate all you do.  Have a great day and thanks for all the info you give us." Dianna

42-million-to-one chance as neighbor wins eBay auction 
From: Ms. Janie
A Lancashire couple selling a Beanie Baby on eBay were astounded to find it had been bought by their next-door neighbour. Around 42 million people are known to use eBay. Esther Gradwell and John Milton, from Accrington, have previously sold Beanie Babies to people across the UK and in America. They were shocked after sending a congratulations email to the winner of their last auction and discovering it was their neighbours Michael and Patricia Crook. Esther told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: "As soon as the auction for the Maple bear was over we sent an email to the successful bidder, asking for his address. "When we got the one next door we thought someone was pulling our leg. I still didn't believe it until they knocked on the door five minutes later to pay for the bear in person." John said: "We had never made any real contact with them before the auction and were gobsmacked to say the least. We were all totally amazed at the odds of this happening and wondered if it could be a record for a completed sale on eBay. "I have told everyone I know and still find it hard to believe myself as it seems to be just too far fetched." Michael said: "I just couldn't believe it. We had seem them a couple of times since they moved in and said hello but didn't even know their names. Now we have new friends and two new Beanies." A spokesperson for eBay said: "With more View HERE

MILKY GEAR AT KID'S COLLECTION TOYS
Milky Gear is great for kids and adults both. If you love gel pens you'll love Milky Gear items. http://www.bkncmall.com/shop/milky.htm Be sure to visit Kid's Collection Toys for your toy needs. Kody has a great selection of today's most popular toys. Flat rate for shipping no matter the size of the package.. only $4.95. http://www.kidscollectiontoys.com 

-=April 8, 2002=-
Bear fair raises funds for respite care 
From: Ms. Janie
A teddy bear is just finishing dinner when the waiter walks up and asks if he saved room for dessert. The teddy bear says, "No thanks. I'm stuffed." Cheesy bear humor went with the scenery Saturday at the "We Care Bear Fair," a community wide teddy bear festival to benefit Trinity Respite Care Inc. The fair also celebrated Trinity's 25th anniversary. More than 100 teddy bears, many decked out in themed outfits and accessories, filled tables at The Depot, 402 N. Second St. Some of them were silently auctioned; others will return for display to the individuals, businesses or organizations that decorated them. Proceeds from the fair will go to Trinity's Benevolent Fund, which helps the organization provide services to people who can't afford them. Organizers hope to make the festival an annual event. Trinity is a nonprofit United Way agency that aims to preserve the family unit by providing respite and attendant care to the elderly and people with disabilities. Ninety caregivers and four staff members provide close to 6,000 hours of care each month. The agency served more than 460 people last year. "It's a really good service, a much-needed service," said Teresa Martell, Trinity director. Before Saturday's fair, the organization already had raised about $2,000 by selling small and large bears to decorate for the fund-raiser, Martell said. Among the cuddly creations on display Saturday was a farmer teddy wearing overalls and a John Deere cap; a collection of 86 Beanie Baby bears; and a "Beary Potter" bear designed to look like the bespectacled child wizard Harry Potter. http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/88944

Champion Poems
From: BeaneWonderland
Three more poems have been added overnight, I have not seen these on any other site so far, they are of Sweden, Uruguay and Croatia, View Here: Whilst on the subject did you know Ty Inc. paid 20 Million for the rights to sell as official FIFA Products? (Thanks Jim).

Mungungwha or Mugungwha?
From: BeaneWonderland
Bob sends us the following observation: Here is an interesting observation a fellow collector mentioned to me today. I am surprised I didn't notice it myself nor have I read about it anywhere. Sal's Attic has a section on Ty catalogs and included is a Ty Australia flyer for the February 2002 Pacific Floral Collection ( link is http://www.salsattic.com/auspac0202.htm). Please note the spelling of the Korean exclusive in the flyer is Mungungwha but the swing tag, tush tag, and Ty website spell the name Mugungwha. Also, Bunga Raya (spelling on tags and Ty website) is shown hyphenated (Bunga-Raya). Oops! Looks like someone goofed. Was it Ty USA or Ty Australia?

Lugnuts trying to lure fans with bobbleheads
From: BeaneWonderland
Home-run-smashing Sammy Sosa will bobble his way into Oldsmobile Park today to help boost attendance for the Lansing Lugnuts' seventh home season opener. Not the real Chicago Cubs outfielder - a 7.5-inch ceramic lookalike bobblehead doll. The first 2,500 fans will receive the freebie at today's game against the West Michigan Whitecaps. The collectors' item has surpassed Beanie Babies in popularity and caused sports fans across the country to sleep outside stadiums to get them. Full Story:

NEW CHUBBLEY BEARS
Daphne shares the following:
Bean Bag World magazine, in conjunction with Chubbley Bears UK, announces the much awaited new introductions today! 

The until-now-unnamed additions, on view to retailers at the Birmingham Show, now have names.  All the card bears are to be known as Jack, although they carry different logos of the four suits; then there’s Sonny a sunshine bear; Great Bear, the second in the constellation series; Sleepy Head, the Wee Willie Winkie bedtime bear, complete with candle on his foot   

There’s also a mystery bear, too, but we can say no more at this stage – Chubbley Bears will reveal all in the next few days!  Suffice to say that there are EIGHT new releases   

Chubbleys are the cover stars for the May issue of the re-named Bean Bag Monthly magazine on newsstands on Thursday and there’s a feature plus photos of all of them inside 

More information:
www.beanbagworld.info
www.chubbleybears.com

Daphne

TY RETIREMENT
http://retirement.ty.com/april_retirement_list
BEANIES: Poopsie, Diddley, Cottonball
BUDDIES: Teddy, Happy, Pouch, Hornsly, Bushy  

-=April 7, 2002=-
COMPLETE CHAMPION BEANIE & BUDDY CHECKLIST 
(I hope you find this useful!!)
http://www.planetbeans.com/ChampionChecklist.htm

Champion Observations
From: BeaneWonderland
The following two emails were interesting observations for the Champion soccer beanie: Hi! Not sure if this is relevant or not after reading your site on the UK report though I am a bit skeptical of Ty allowing any retailer to order up to 3456 bears for each store (32 different countries x 108 (9 dozen)) especially since apparently US retailers are only getting 24 bears in the US per store.

Basically, I wanted to give a breakdown on what I have personally seen in Champion bears. I live in a tourist area with a few dozen authorized Ty retailers in a 5 mile radius and since we are still in the off season I have had a chance to look through (so far ) 11 stores Champions that have gotten them since Thursday afternoon when they started arriving (I missed 3 others entirely so I have not included them). As I have looked, I have done "tick marks" on my sheets marking the bears in the shipment just to try and see what is rare.

All stores are getting 2 bags (24 bears) per store. Each bag of 12 has had either 7 or 8 USA and 4 or 5 OTHER COUNTRIES. I have had a chance to see approximately 264 bears so far and gotten 19 different countries broken down as follows in how common I have found them. Read the breakdown HERE

More Champion Poems
From: BeaneWonderland
A few more Champion bears have been found and their poems added, we are no just looking for a handful to complete the full list View Here:

Special Request
From: BeaneWonderland
A special request has been sent to us by Mary Beth for the Mary Beth's Beanies and More magazine, they need your help! Have Beanies played a role in your birthday? We are looking for collectors who have used Beanies to help celebrate their special day. Have you used Beanies as party favors? Have you given certain ones as birthday gifts? Do you decorate your gifts with Beanies? Do you collect all of the 12 Birthday Bear Beanies? We'd love your input! You could be our next star! Please email us at beaniesandmore@imaginepub.com and tell us YOUR story.

HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR RED VERSION OF AMERICA?
So far, I know of not one person that has received a RED version of America. If you do have one.. please email a picture to share.

-=April 6, 2002=-
News on Sugarloaf Collectibles
Sherry shares the following in the Planet Beans Yahoo! Group
Bank asks judge to jail Beanie Baby purveyors accused of spending its $340,000
By Associated Press, 4/5/2002 02:17
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A North Carolina bank wants a judge to jail a Brunswick couple accused of spending $340,000 that was transferred to their account by mistake.

Lawyers for First Union National Bank argue that by moving their personal belongings to Georgia, Jeffrey W. and Kimberly J. Clark violated a court order that prohibits them from moving their assets out of Maine.

The bank sued the Clarks in federal court in January. It is seeking repayment of $340,000 that was accidentally deposited into the Clarks' account.

The bank accuses the Clarks, the former owners of the now-closed Sugarloaf Collectibles store, of using the money for a month-long shopping spree and to beef up their Beanie Baby inventory.

The Clarks deny that they spent that much of the money.

Court records depict Jeffrey Clark, 40, as a Beanie Baby retailer and trader with a penchant for gambling. In a sworn deposition that Clark gave on Feb. 14, he claims to have spent more than $400,000 last year on gambling ventures.

According to Clark's statements, the store had monthly gross sales of $60,000, and he supplemented his retail income by selling $60,000 worth of Beanie Babies over the Internet every month.

The bank wants a judge to find the Clarks in contempt for moving furniture and other personal belongings to their new home in Georgia.

A hearing on that motion has not yet been scheduled.

''Ours is a simple case. They have our money. And we want it back,'' said Peter Brann, a Lewiston attorney who represents First Union.

First Union is seeking repayment of the $340,000 plus an estimated $25,000 to cover attorneys' fees.

The Clarks' lawyer, Jack Barnicle, confirmed that they have moved back to Georgia and are selling their house in Brunswick. Barnicle insisted they are not trying to run away but are merely moving the items because of the pending sale.

Barnicle said his clients are cooperating with the bank and trying to reach an out-of-court settlement.

The Clarks' battle with the bank began last fall when First Union credited the couple's account for $377,750 when the check was actually for $37,750.

Barnicle said most of the money from the sale of the house, which is expected to fetch $320,000, will go to the bank. The couple also has agreed to leave behind paintings and Beanie Baby inventory worth approximately $86,000.

The bank's civil complaint has been scheduled for a jury trial in August.

April Shipments
From: BeaneWonderland
Bill our retailer friend writes: I received my April 1st shipment today. The fastest it has ever been delivered in 7 years. I received 24 of each item, even though I ordered 36 - The bag with the 12 Champions are numbered like the "Issy' bears were. The 1st bag had 8 U.S. noses and 4 other countries and the 2nd bag of 12 had 7 US noses and 5 from other countries. Of the 9 from other countries there was 1 from Germany in each bag. Maybe Germany will NOT be a short supply beanie.. I did not receive the champion buddy only Dizzy and Hero.

Bean eWonderlands comment - From other reports coming in, it would seem that most stores throughout the USA are receiving at least 50% of the American nosed version of Champion in a bag of 12. I have received one report from a UK retailer that NO mixed bags will be arriving in the UK. You order them from a separate TY Order Form and can choose which Countries you want. You can order up to 9 Dozen of each country and for the Buddies you can order 2 Dozen of Each.? Several readers have also asked us to list the poems and bears found so far so with the help of several readers we have compiled a list Click Here:

UGB REPORTS - READER RECEIVES WHITE INSTEAD OF RED VERSION AMERICA
http://undergroundbean.com/news.htm

-=April 5, 2002=-
ANOTHER ADORABLE PICTURE
"Hi, I gave my niece an America bear while visiting over Easter and she loved it, even posed for me with it here. I have given her other beanies but I think now that she is a grown up 4 years old she really seemed to appreciate this one more than any others. You have my permission to post this on a slow news day if you'd like to. I am a proud uncle of the newest little sweetie in the Cummings Family and I would love to share this picture. Take Care, Kevin"  http://www.planetbeans.com/KevinsNiece.htm

UPDATES 
ALL checklists and info pages have been updated to include the newest releases. For the links to all of the checklists and info pages go here: http://www.planetbeans.com/beanie_info.htm


ASK TY
Q: I heard that the money raised from the internet Americas goes towards the local Red Cross of the person who orders, based on the zip code. Where is the money raised by overseas collectors going to? (submitted by KillerTreeFrogGirl)

A: Before I answer your question let me say Thank You for your overwhelming support of our "America" series. Together, we raised over 1.5 Million Dollars for Red Cross services and programs. Now to answer your question, Our profits from overseas sales will be donated to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. One last thing . . . . . what do think of stripes and stars ?
http://www.tytrade.com/askty_home

Help Required 
From: BeaneWonderland
Bob from the colonies writes: I just acquired this poster from an individual in British Columbia, Canada. It is one that I have never seen before nor can I find any mention of it in any Beanie Baby reference book or magazine. It measure 20" by 28". Note the word ORIGINAL to the left and above BEANIE BABIES and the word ORIGINAUX below and to the right. I believe this confirms the poster as being from Ty Canada. Can any of your readers help date this? View Here:

SPECKLES BUDDY RETIRES
http://retirement.ty.com/speckles_retirement

-=April 4, 2002=-
ANOTHER ADORABLE PICTURE
"Hi Lisa, I just looked at the picture of the cat with Schweetheart. I'm sending you a simular picture. This is my Father-In-Law's dog Mazie who thought my Schweetheart, that I received from Beanie Fairy, was great place to snuggle down with the rest of the babies. Swivel Jane" http://www.planetbeans.com/Mazie.htm

You can get started with the "Group Shot" photo:
http://www.dailybean.net/extras/04-03-02-02.shtml

ALL 12 BIRTHDAY BEARS
From: Ms. Janie
Talk about a birthday party! Marilyn shares photos of Ty's 12 Birthday bears at the following link A special thanks to Marilyn for sharing her adorable photos of Ty's Birthday Bears and a special friend! View HERE

SPECKLES BUDDY SOLD OUT
There is now a SOLD OUT sign across the picture of Speckles Buddy at the Ty Store: http://www.tytrade.com/TyStore

Stick em' up
From: BeaneWonderland
No love for the Cabbage Patch Kids anymore; it came and went. True that for Beanie Babies, too. But teens and 'tweens are still stuck on stickers. Today, stickers are a $600 million a year industry, and those spending the most bucks on the clingy cutouts are girls ages 5 to 16. You'll find more kinds of stickers than flavors of jelly beans. From glittery to googly-eyed, from scratch-and- sniff to crazy phrases, there are thousands of stickers for the buying. Full Story:

Fake Alert
From: BeaneWonderland
Would you please alert your readers we have discovered another counterfeit
Buckingham this afternoon, April 3, 2002. We are very sad to inform you the latest counterfeit Buckingham serial number is: 42BBA9TJ. Thanks for your cooperation and helping keep the collectors informed. Thank you. Sincerely, Peggy Gallagher Enterprises, Inc.

NEW RELEASES ANNOUNCED
http://release.ty.com/Champion

-=April 3, 2002=-
A MOST ADORABLE PICTURE
"Hi Lisa, this is a picture of my 12-yr old cat Pische.  I bought this xtra large Schweetheart for my daughter Kristi and he decided it was his.  As you can see he is a very large cat weighing approx. 20 lbs.  He loves "his" TY animal.  Thought you would enjoy seeing him." Thanks, Carole Murphy, El Cajon, CA http://www.planetbeans.com/PischePic.htm

Pick up a set of the 5 newest Buddies for $39.99. Be sure to check out the new Beanies that Kody sells for only $5.99 EVERY day. Flat rate for shipping no matter the size of the package.. only $4.95. http://www.kidscollectiontoys.com

World Cup Beanies
From: BeaneWonderland
We have received confirmation that all the countries that currently have authorised Ty retailers will be receiving shipments of the world cup soccer beanies. They will be in mixed bags and follow along the same lines as Issy did.

NEW BEANIES - ACTUAL PICTURES
Fiona in Singapore shares pictures of new beanies with Ms. Janie http://www.msjanie.com/temp/CHAMPION_2002.html

AMERICA - RED VERSION RETIRES
http://retirement.ty.com/america_retirement

-=April 2, 2002=-
Counterfeit alert! 
Happy Spring! Please alert your readers! We are unhappy to inform you we have discovered a new counterfeit Buckingham serial number: 4MHT9UT3 Sincerely Peggy Gallagher http://www.peggyg.com

TODAY AT KID'S COLLECTION TOYS
Pick up a set of the 5 newest Buddies for $39.99. Be sure to check out the new Beanies that Kody sells for only $5.99 EVERY day. Flat rate for shipping no matter the size of the package.. only $4.95. http://www.kidscollectiontoys.com

From: Ms. Janie
This is the same newspaper that I got the information on about the World Cup Beanies. I'm not sure if this article relates too it or not or if this is another venture in the works! EXCLUSIVE: POMPEY SIGN SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH BIRDSEYE Ty Europe involved in another venture. If you can figure out what this article is saying I would appreciate a translation because I truly have no clue! I can not imagine Ty and fish sticks! LOL View HERE 

SOLD OUT - Means just that! 
From: Ms. Janie
Many seem to think the Ty is pulling a April Fools joke and that in fact RED America is not sold out!!! Well guys I hate to bust your bubble but it's gone, finished, out-of-here, goodbye RED AMERICA. Now for part two of this puzzle. Many seem to think that their retailers will have the opportunity to purchase RED AMERICA directly from Ty. NOPE, ain't going to happen! No way, not now NOT EVER! Ty made it very clear from the beginning that this would be an Internet exclusive and there it should stay! Sly shares the following link, which once again gives Ty's point of view on this topic. TY STORE RESPONSE Ty Store (01:33 pm. Apr 01, 2002 ) Message Id: 1037563 Ty Store writes: Thank you for your post. Rest assured that the red and white versions of the America Bear are Internet exclusives available only at Ty.com's Ty Store. The white version of America is currently still available. However, the red version of America is sold out. If a retailer is found to be selling any of these Beanie Babies, you can be sure that he or she is acting in a secondary market capacity. Thank you for your support, Ty Store View HERE 

Subliminal 'triggers' make us buy things we don't really need 
From: Ms. Janie
Savvy marketers know how to push our buttons I'm a sucker for almost any sales pitch, and my checkbook is ongoing testimony to my spendthrift ways: the suit I said yes to even though I didn't really like it, the unworn shoes in my closet I never should have bought, the food that rots in my refrigerator after an overeager grocery-shopping trip. We've all been there. But why? Shouldn't it be easy to say no to something you don't really want? Other factors have a similar effect: Reciprocity is our need to return a favor. After the salon staff had gone to so much trouble to take care of me, Cialdini says, I felt obligated to buy something. Likeability is another trigger: If someone you like makes a request of you, you're more inclined to say yes. That was the secret behind Tupperware parties. Authority works. If someone making a sales pitch seems like an expert (like my aesthetician in her white coat), you're more likely to buy. Then there's social validation: If lots of other people are buying something, you'll be more likely to want it as well. Finally, if something is scarce, a consumer's desire skyrockets. The manufacturer of Beanie Babies exploits this phenomenon by making each stuffed animal for only a limited time and sending limited quantities to stores. View HERE 

Oh baby doll! 
From: Ms. Janie
Beanies, bears, Barbies and babies galore at annual show From miniature bisque kewpies made almost a century ago in Germany to 21st century versions of Barbies, adorable dolls and the people who collect them filled the Elk Lodge on Durham Road this past Saturday. The sixth annual doll show and sale hosted by Sun-D-Over Dollar Doll Club of Dover and Sanford, Maine, took place from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., drawing hundreds of shoppers from all over the region. The event also marked the local doll club’s 10th anniversary. Holding in their arms bags full of dolls and figurine dresses they purchased, people browsed through from booth to booth, looking for specific items they had in mind. Judy Grenier, who came down from Portland, Maine, with her two cousins, found a little chair that would make a perfect stand for her doll for only several dollars. But she was a little too late to buy some dolls that were made in the 1950s, Grenier said. She saw some people walking around with dolls she would have wanted. "I felt envious," she said. Many doll collectors are interested in dolls made in the 1950s, which remind them of their childhood, according Patricia Aveni, representative of the doll club. Aveni owns the Dover Doll Clinic on Stark Avenue. View HERE 

The Beanie Babies usually retail for about £5 each but some of the rarer toys can fetch as much as £150. Now John's father William, who says his son has been devastated by the theft, is offering a £200 reward for the return of the toys. He said: "It has come as a bit of a shock to be honest. Basically he is in a daze at the moment. "I am offering £200 to get the stock back. John was getting ready for the Easter weekend and it is a busy weekend for any business, but it would have been one of John's busiest times. "He has been building this business up for 18 months and it was going really well. Now this has really set him back - it's shaken him to the core. Full Story

NEW PRODUCTS UNVEILED
From: Ms. Janie
Sue unveils Ty's new products 
A special thanks to Sue for sharing photos that a Ty retailer shared with her. Ty has sent out supplement flyers releasing photos of new product. Please enjoy them at the following links These are two separate pages. 
1. http://www.msjanie.com/temp/sue_april_releases.html 
2. http://www.msjanie.com/temp/Ty_april2002_releases.html 

I have also received many reports from Ty retailers that new product has been ordered and shipment is expected soon. Ms. Janie

-=April 1, 2002=-
RED AMERICA IS SOLD OUT!!
Diane shares the following:
Hello Lisa - I just visited the Ty Store (again - ha-ha) and saw that Red America has been sold out!!! Good thing that I ordered yesterday after receiving that email from 'my friends at Ty' telling me Red America would be sold out soon!!! http://www.tytrade.com/new_store/t2y4t6r8a0d2e 
Yours in Beanies - Diane

WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED
There were 3,684 entries in the Choose-a-Chubbley contest. 

Generally Accepted Accounting generally fuzzy 
From: Ms. Janie
In 1998, it was difficult to imagine that a Beanie Baby and a state-of-the-art fiber-optic telecommunications line would be worth about the same in just a few years. I, for one, would have thought that Beanie Babies would have eclipsed the total market capitalization of Nasdaq by now. But as it turns out, they made way too many Beanie Babies and they rolled out way too many phone lines. That's why today you can find both Beanie Babies and state-of-the-art fiber-optic cables that arguably have a net value of zero. Now if you were big into Beanie Babies and paid hundreds or even thousands of dollars for the plush, stuffed rags, you may have some explaining to do to. If you made this bet as an excitable child, you probably got teased. If you made it as a well-educated adult, ridicule is still following you and may for the rest of your days. View HERE 

Show me the bunny 
From: Ms. Janie
Taylor Meeks, 5, was sporting her new Easter outfit a few days early. Her mother, Dawn, had dressed her in the lilac sweater with appliqued eggs, mint green skirt, white tights and shiny new shoes for an annual tradition --- a picture with the Easter bunny. The pair from Fairburn were at Arbor Place mall on Thursday for the photo and last-minute shopping. "I got her doll an Easter outfit, too, from the American Girl catalog. It will be in the Easter basket," Meeks said out of Taylor's earshot. "And there will be candy and a Beanie Baby bear." Meeks estimated she's spent about $225 for the outfit, photos and presents. "When I was a kid, I just got candy. Now, the Easter bunny is like Santa Claus," she said. A sales tax-free weekend on certain items added a new reason to shop this Easter. In addition to the usual bonnets and dresses sold for the holiday, consumers could buy computers and school supplies without having to pay tax. One retailer compared Saturday to the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. View HERE 

PIERRE RETIRES
http://retirements.ty.com/pierre

NEWSFLASH - APRIL WALLPAPER
http://newsflash.ty.com/April_Wallpaper