==August 20, 2000==
PICTURES OF THE NEW ZODIAC BEANIES FROM MARY BETH'S BEANBAGWORLD! Mary Beth is attending the New York Gift show and has taken several pictures of the new Zodiac beanies! Click HERE to see the pictures!  These beanies look really different than what we've become accustomed to from Ty. Which one is YOUR favorite?  

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CHINESE ZODIAC! Do you know what animal of the Chinese zodiac represents you? Come visit our all new Chinese zodiac pages and see if any of these characteristics fit with your personality!  Click HERE to go to the zodiac pages. Have fun!

==August 19, 2000==
TY MAKES APPEARANCE AT NEW YORK GIFT FAIR: Mary Beth of Beanbagworld is attending the New York Gift Fair and reports that Ty was in attendance today as were all the new Zodiac beanies! Read the full story HERE. 

PLANET BEANS MEMBER SHARES HER DATABASE OF WHERE TO FIND ANYTHING ON BEANIES! Karen, (known to many as "Honks") has decided to share her database that she was previously keeping only on her own computer of where to find out anything about beanies. This is one of the most complete lists I've seen to date!  Karen says, "In the online Beanie World, both contests and information abound. In order to make finding information easier, I have organized some links to information." You can view this list by clicking on the link http://homepage.mac.com/kswenson/index.html 

==August 18, 2000==
WOMAN SUES TY FOR DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES: This story was brought to our attention by Mary Beth's Beanbag World, however, the link provided wasn't working properly, so we are including the whole story here. 

Angleton woman sues Beanie Baby manufacturer (Source: The Facts.com)
By Allison Pollan
The Facts
Published August 17, 2000

ANGLETON - An Angleton woman has sued the manufacturer of Beanie Baby collectible stuffed animals, alleging deceptive business practices by the company. The lawsuit against Beanie Baby manufacturer Ty Inc. was filed in Brazoria County district court last week on behalf of Angleton resident Jan Clute. The lawsuit essentially states that Ty Inc. engaged in deceptive business practices by announcing that certain stuffed animals would be "retired," supposedly ending their production, but then continued manufacturing the "retired" animals, thus jeopardizing their profit potential. "This retirement policy was specifically utilized by Ty to increase the public's perception that Beanie Babies were unique collectibles that were manufactured in limited quantities, were manufactured for limited periods of time and would increase in value," the lawsuit states. "Ty utilized its retirement policy to generate consumer excitement and demand for Beanie Babies. In fact, the retirement of and the retirement date of a particular Beanie Baby is one of the principal values in establishing the value and/or the potential value of the Beanie Baby as a collectible. "In making such periodic retirement announcements, (Ty) intended to and in fact did induce sales of the particular Beanie Babies represented to be retired," the lawsuit continues. "The retirement announcements made by Ty were in fact false, deceptive and misleading, because up to and after the announced retirement date, Ty continued to flood the market with the purportedly retired product." Clute declined comment on the lawsuit, but her Lake Jackson attorney, Vaughan Stewart, said his client believes Ty used its retirement scheme to artificially inflate consumer demands in order to reap greater profits. "It's just primarily a case of saying, 'If you're going to engage in the good, old American free enterprise system, at least be honest,'" Stewart said. "It's not a real high-dollar lawsuit, it's just a matter of somebody not playing by the rules, so we're just calling their hand on it." Stewart said a similar case has been filed in California, and information coming from the discovery process of that case indicates up to 5 million Beanie Babies were shipped to retailers up to and after the announced retirement date. "These announcements were obviously out and out lies designed to make folks go out and purchase a particular baby," Stewart said. "If Mr. Ty came with any sense of honesty and fairness, I'd have to say he was a cracker jack of a salesman. "Odds are that when he was saying that, the folks back there in his factory were working to crank out these retired babies," Stewart added. Ty officials did not return phone calls. Stewart said the amount the lawsuit is seeking will remain undetermined pending whether the lawsuit is certified as class action and how many affected Beanie Baby collectors would opt in to the suit if it's certified as such. Stewart said he currently is seeking to certify the lawsuit as class action "on behalf of all consumers that reside within the state of Texas that purchased Beanie Babies that were said to be on the list of retired." If the suit is certified as a class action during future court proceedings, the next step would be to inform anyone who might have a stake in the case, Stewart said.

==August 17, 2000==
TY WILL BE RELEASING A NEW OLYMPIC BEAR! According to BeanieWonderland, Ty will indeed be releasing a new Olympic Bear soon. No word yet on whether or not this new bear will be a USA exclusive.

CHINOOK SHIPPING SOONER THAN EXPECTED! Ryan at CollectibleZ received this little tidbit of information from someone who spoke to a Ty representative concerning the Canadian exclusive bear Chinook. Chinook is to be released to Canadian retailers in their Sept. orders, however, the Canadian exclusive does not appear on their order forms - it is to be added automatically to their orders, quantities unknown!

TY'S BOOTHS AT THE NEW YORK GIFT SHOW! If you are planning to be in the New York area from August 19-23, and you want to check out Ty's booths, you will need to visit booth numbers 2033,1932,1930,2031,1934,2035,L1,1936,2037.  For more information on the New York Gift Show, click HERE. 

NEW BEANIES SHOWING UP ON EBAY! According to several auctions on eBay, the 13 new beanies that were just introduced at the Atlanta Gift Show are showing up on ebay! See the list below:

Slayer the Salamander (orange and black with a gray head and eyes like Scaly)
Tricks the Retriever (brown dog)
Whiskers the Airdale Dog
Aruba the Fish (very colorful)
Prince the Frog (beige, orange, and lime)
Pellet the Hamster
Oats the Horse
Huggy the Bear (typical teddy that is light brown in color) 
Banana the Orangutan 
China the Panda
Lurkie the Turkey
Howl the Wolf
Buzzy the Vulture

There are also some "presell" auctions currently going on for the new "Zodiac Beanies" that are being introduced at the New York Gift Show beginning this Saturday, August 19th and going until Wednesday, August 23rd. As always, however, beware when you are buying beanies on presell. Make sure that the person you are dealing with has a good reputation and plenty of positive feedback.

The list of the 12 new Zodiac Beanies will include: (we will include more details as they become available)

The Rat
The Ox 
The Tiger
The Rabbit
The Dragon
The Snake
The Horse
The Goat/Sheep
The Monkey
The Rooster
The Dog
The Pig/Boar

==August 16, 2000==
SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total correct entries after Day 20: 1874 Win Speckles

TY NEWSFLASH! Ty has posted a newsflash this morning that says, "Have you seen them yet?" Then there's the list of the cities where the billboards are. At the bottom, it says, "Retailers can see them in person at the New York Gift Show August 19th – 23rd" Read the NEWSFLASH.

Looks like there's going to be some new Ty product announcements this weekend

PICTURES OF TWO OF THE NEW BILLBOARDS! Underground Bean has received a picture of one of the new billboards! The picture looks like a type of a monkey, but the billboard says, Beware of the Tiger!" 

Mary Beth's Beanbagworld also has posted a picture of a different billboard that looks to be some sort of bird but has the saying, "Beware of the Dog." 

Planet Beans is also giving away a "surprise" to the first person who sends in a photo of one of the new billboards. But be careful! Taking pictures on the side of the road can be dangerous!

==August 15, 2000==
TY'S BIG SURPRISE! Apparently, Ty's BIG surprise is billboards stating "Expect the Unexpected" in all the cities that were listed in a previous newsflash on the Ty site. According to Mary Beth's Beanbag World, it's "probably referring to the International Gift Show being staged for the retail trade in New York City's Jacob Javitt Center this weekend. The billboards can be seen in the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Harrisburg, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis, Union City, New York, Orlando and Washington DC. 

**If any of you out there can get a photo of one of the billboards and send it to us here at Planet Beans in the next day or two, that person will receive a special "Thank You" gift for your trouble.**  Please email the photos to webmaster@planetbeans.com

NEW PRODUCTS? In addition to this most recent surprise, Mary at Iluvcollectibles, sends out a list of some new Ty products that were supposedly on a Ty newsflash today. (the newflash is no longer there) This list was sent in by one of her club members and has not been verified yet, according to Mary. Hopefully, we will have some clarification in the coming days. 

Beanies:
Spirit the USA Olympic Bear
Hampton the Hamster
Jubilee the Humming Bird
Chinook the Canadian Bear
Macademia the bear
Clucker the hen
ClubbyIII the bear(goes with bronze club kit)

Beanie Kids:
Tootsie
Daisy
Princess
Buzz
and 2 others i cant remeber the names though

Beanie Buddies:
Bumble the Bee
KuKu the Cockatoo
Santa the santa
Inky the octopus
Large Employee Bear
XL Employee Bear
Jumbo Employee Bear
Ears the rabbit
Caw the crow
Magic the dragon

BabyTy:
Goatbaby
Horsebaby

Attics:
Beatrice the polar bear
Huntly the fox
Greyson the bear
Brich the bear

WEBMASTER LISA MOVING THIS WEEK!  Lisa and her family will be making their final move to Georgia this week, so she will not be "connected" until at least Friday, August 18th. During her absence, I will be maintaining the news and the contests here at Planet Beans. Please be patient with me, as I am not quite as efficient as Lisa always is.  Haha!  But I will do my best! 
Sincerely,
Robin (former webmaster of Planet Beans)

TODAY'S THE DAY!!
I know we are all waiting on the edge of our seats to see what Ty has up his sleeve for us today. Let's hope we won't have to wait much longer.

TY POSTING ON THE CYBERBOARD
Numerous people reported yesterday that Ty was posting responses to questions regarding today's announcement. Below is one such response. I'm sure we all wonder what he means by his statement.. we've all seen the list of stores. :o)

From Ty Warner
Did I say anything about stores?
http://web4.ty.com/cyberboard/news/msg678815.html

*-*To read other Ty Warner entries go to the Ty Talk Cyberboard

Rumour/Canadian Exclusive Update
From: Beanie Wonderland
I have read one sites claims to be the first with the Canadian exclusive picture described as 'Maple II' back in June. The truth is that this picture was sent to nearly every Beanie web site, some used it others didn't as it looked like a fake. Now that the description of Chinook fits this computer generated image everyone is wondering if this picture was indeed a prototype. Yesterday the very same person who sent this picture to all the web sites sends us the following email, which should be treated once again as a RUMOUR: "As you may or may not remember, I was the one who sent in the image of Maple 2 as "Retailer X" back in June.  To set the record straight, I have a VERY inside connection with Ty, though unfortunately I can not say what it is.  The picture of Maple 2 was indeed a prototype, though very close to what the finished product turned out to be, even with the flag staying off. (Apart from the name, obviously.  I personally don't care much for Chinook).  For your reference, I'm including a picture of the original Maple 2 prototype as well as a special item - ANOTHER prototype bear. There is no word on whether or not this one will see the light of day, but I would not be surprised to see it released in the not too near future.  Take that anyway you would like.  I would send more, but it could get dangerous for me, so this is all for now.  This letter is being sent ONLY to beaniewonderland.com and undergroundbean.com, as they just happen to be my favourite sites.  "Retailer X" Before you view this picture please remember that this IS the same person who supplied everyone with the Maple II picture and must be still treated as a rumour. View Here:

==August 14, 2000==
How Many Speckles?
From: Beanie Wonderland
It seems some people are receiving double shipments of the Speckles eBeanie, the following email was received from a reader regarding this subject: "I ordered 6 Speckles eBeanies through different emails so that I could get enough for friends who were unable to get them. It appears that they may have double shipped my first order and I have no idea how many more are going to arrive. Ty Trade doesn't have a clue what they are doing - limit of 2.  It's not by email and it's not by name and it's not by credit card, so what could they possibly be using - the TyTade login name I guess."

Beanie Kids Birthday Bash Contest
From: Beanieholics
Beanie Mom has started a new contest. The Grand Prize winner will win a complete set of the four new Beanie Kids - Cookie, Calypso, Princess and Buzz. There are lots of other great prizes as well including more Beanie Kids and Ty Gear clothing. Use the following link for all the contest details. Click Here For More Info

*-*HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. JANIE!!*-*

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 17: 1584 Win Speckles

MBBBW NEWS FLASH - http://www.beanbagworld.net/

Additional information in from the Canadian Connection at Maison D' Ours about the new Ty Inc. exclusive new Beanie Baby for Canada which we reported on last evening.  Lulu reports the following poem appears on the hang tag:

Birthdate:  May 24, 2000

From this great land I'll never roam
Beloved Canada is my home
Her Maple leaf I'll proudly wear
To show the world how much I care

Interesting to note the history of Victoria Day which was originally celebrated on May 24th in Canada which is linked here. 

Also reported on is the new material for the Ty Classic line, Tylux. "Tylux is the word describing the new multicolored and multi-layered fabric in the Ty classic line. Long off white fibers have short thick multicolored fibers underneath creating a very
fascinating look and feel." 

More details on the Canadian gift show may be found at the link below.
http://www.beanbagworld.net/new/news/index.html

Flood Waters Stop Sally Winey Appearance on Today Show
From: Handcrafted Beauties
Sally Winey reports that although she was up at 5:30AM Sunday to travel to the JMK Show at the Rothman Center, Hackensack, NJ, flood waters prevented her arrival at the show. She will let us know if they reschedule her appearance.
Lynette Davis
http://www.handcraftedbeauties.com


==August 13, 2000==
LEFTY2000 CONTEST WINNER
Total CORRECT entries: 938
Contests Winner announced!!

TOYSACK HAS A NEW DESIGN
The Toysack has under gone a new design layout which was designed for a more easy navigational system. 

Canadian Exclusive
From: Beanie Wonderland
One of our Canadian dealers writes: "I went to the Toronto Gift Show today & there was 'Chinook" the new Canadian beanie baby exclusive. It was white with maple leafs around her body & red ribbon. It was too plain & boring. A bit of disappointment for us. It can't compare to USA bear & Glory. Also, there was no new beanie babies on site except for the old ones. They only have the new Attics & Classic. And when we asked the sales rep if there was new beanies, they doesn't seemed to know. Beanie collecting here in Canada is dying unless Ty does something exciting. Also, unlike the USA we only got Maple (still current) buddy as exclusive. WE did not get Employee buddy & Runner with bad poem & Speckles. I am getting tired of this game Ty is playing! Maybe if a lot of collectors stop buying beanies then he will appreciate the value of us buyers. Enough is enough". Beanie Wonderlands Comment - Until officialy announced please regard as rumour although I have no reason to doubt this person.

MORE INFO ON THE NEW CANADIAN EXCLUSIVE
From: Cajun Connection Beanies
Here is more info on Chinook from one of our mailing list members who claims to be a Ty retailer who attended the show: Today at the CGTA Trade Show I saw Chinook the new Canadian exclusive. It is white with specks, small  red maple leaves on it and a red neck ribbon. They will be added to the September orders but only 12 for now. I do not know what the monthly limit will be later on. There has been no word of Employee buddy ever coming to Canada...as always, we seem to be left in the dark about things, but I am glad to have a Canadian exclusive.

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 16: 1496 Win Speckles

Buyers Beware
From: Beanie Wonderland
The following has been pointed out to us by one of our members: I was looking around on eBay just checking out how many people put Speckles auctions on (since Speckles was delivered in full force this week) Well, I checked out an auction for this one seller, backdoorstore2. He has A LOT of Beanies, for sale. Well, a day or 2 ago he didn't have any feedback. Today already he has 4. They all look suspiciously familiar, in the way they are punctuated, and the words used. Well, check out this ended auction: This auction ended on 8/10, and they posted feedback for the seller on 8/12? I don't think so! Been doing this way too long!
Here's another that only ended 3 days ago: Again, feedback posted already? I could see PAYMENT arriving in 2-3 days, but that does not allow for 2-5 days to ship the product AFTER receipt of payment. Seem strange to you? User's feedback profile: Strange, all of these users have 0 feedback, and the user, iwin56 has bid on NOBODY else's auctions EXCEPT... backdoorstore and backdoorstore2 (who happen to be the SAME user, but backdoorstore is no longer registered) And if iwin56 was such a GREAT customer, why hasn't either backdoorstore (2) posted any feedback for them whatsoever? (even though this iwin56 has bought over 25 items from this seller since 7/19??) Looks like some shill bidding and other not so good dealings going on there. (Beanie Wonderlands comment - This is an example why it is worth looking into a seller before you place a bid, this reader has certainly done their detective work and I know I would not purchase anything from this seller).

A MUST VIEW - I HAVE COMPILED A PAGE TO INCLUDE REAL AND FAKE SAKURA PHOTOS. 
From: Ms. Janie
I posted a note last week about fake Sakura's entering the market place, now I have placed them side by side for your protection.
http://www.msjanie.com/fakes/sakura_fakes.html

==August 12, 2000==
SPECKLES HAS SHIPPED!!
I finally received an email yesterday from TyTrade stating that my Speckles have shipped and they are due to arrive in 5-7 days. At this point I can only hope they arrive before I move next week. :o)

I received Speckles... I wonder why I receive it so quickly when the email that I received just yesterday stated I would receive Speckles in 5-7 days. 

SPECKLES CONFIRMATIONS
Rose and Mary from the Planet Beans Yahoo! Club stated yesterday that they have received confirmation of Speckles shipping. Normally that wouldn't be an odd thing.. but these two women had already received their orders. I wonder if they will receive another shipment. LOL

BEWARE OF FAKE BUBBLES
From: Ms. Janie
A very special thanks to Cheryl for sharing her photos of a FAKE Bubbles. I appreciate the time she took to scan the images to protect collectors. I was unable to use all of the photos she sent but what is posted surly is a definite indication of FAKE Bubbles on today's market. http://www.msjanie.com/fakes/bubbles.html

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 15: 1399 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE (last day for entries!!)
Total CORRECT entries to date: 914 Win Lefty


==August 11, 2000==
TY RETIRES CHIPPER THE BEANIE KID!!
http://www.ty.com/announcements/081100retire.html

SALLY WINEY WILL BE ON THE TODAY SHOW!!
Sally was just contacted by the Today Show! She will be live on the show Sunday, August 13,2000 at 8:30 am at the JMK Show at the Rothman Center, Hackensack, NJ.  The Show itself will be open to the public 10 am until 4pm.  For directions and information on the show please call 973-627-9271.

So folks mark your calendars and set those VCRs.

Lynette Davis
http://www.handcraftedbeauties.com

Speckles Auctions
From: Beanie Wonderland
Ramon writes to us: If Ty wanted "EVERYONE" to have a chance to buy speckles at "the price it is meant to be," how come they are allowing people to sell them on Ty trade for a profit and helping the price to go up by shutting the order link down and giving the impression that they have sold out (no double standards here?) Beanie Wonderlands Comment - Searching Ty Trade auctions there are a couple of dozen or so Speckles listed, one person has 10 auctions for Speckles and states "International Bids Only" very strange if you ask me. On searching eBay over 150 auctions are listed for Speckles, many in hand and at much higher prices than the listed price. It would seem that the problems of ordering Speckles at Ty Trade has helped the secondary market quite a bit. View Here

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTHENTIC LIBEARTY
SmartCollecting has information to help Libearty purchasers to know they if they are getting a REAL Libearty.

Ty® Takes Top Three
From: MBBBW
In the August 2000 issues of Playthings Magazine (a trade magazine for the toy industry) the monthly listing of "Specialty Stores' Best-Selling Toys" list the following:
# 1. Beanie Babies®
# 2. Beanie Buddies®
# 3. Beanie Kids™

A separate article in the magazine noted that "Ty's Beanie Kids were jumping, even outperforming the 2000 Beanies™."

TY TRADE MESSAGE ABOUT CONFIRMATION E-MAILS
From: Ms. Janie
Ty Trade (05:03 pm. Aug 10, 2000 )
Message Id: 673856
Ty Trade writes:

To all of our Ty Trade Users:

I know many of you are having difficulty receiving confirmation e-mails for your Speckles orders.

We are currently experiencing problems with several ISP (Internet Service Providers) not delivering e-mails correctly.

So, to help out all of our users, we have decided to increase our delivery speed to get Speckles to you faster! If you have successfully ordered Speckles, you should receive your order by the end of next week.

If you do not receive your Speckles within that time, please contact us immediately at contact@tytrade.com

Thanks for your patience.

TY TRADE  - http://web3-2.ty.com/cyberboard/news/msg673856.html

*-*RECAP*-*

WIN SPECKLES THE E-BEANIE BEAR contest ends at the end of this month.

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 14: 1322 Win Speckles

WIN LEFTY2000 contest ends at midnight Saturday

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE 
Total CORRECT entries to date: 886 Win Lefty

REAL KIDS DRESSING LIKE BEANIE KIDS (too cute!!) 
http://www.planetbeans.com/LookALikes.htm

SCHWEETHEART FAMILY PICTURE (simply adorable!!)
http://www.planetbeans.com/SchweetheartFamily.htm

PEACE ADDICT (if you love Peace Bears check this one out!!)
http://www.planetbeans.com/PeaceAddict.htm

NEW SITE
Steve Sims of the Beanie Soul asked if I would mention his new site. You can visit his site HERE

Hello,
I just wanted to tell you that CollectibleCentral.net is reporting that The Earth Bears company is making a book called Earth Bears "The Adventures". The book is now ready for print and will be released at the same time as the Globies and Timber. You can visit Earth Bears at http://www.earthbears.com.

The information was on Collectible Centrals news page at http://www.collectiblecentral.net/news.html. I would like you to add the news, because I'm an earth bears collector and you should post their news too. Thanks! - Jason

MBBBW NEWS FLASH - http://www.beanbagworld.net/

Many people have questioned who "Ty Trade" is posting on the Ty Talk Cyberboard and if they were truly associated with the Ty Trade Web site. They have been very helpful in answering questions regarding the Ty Trade site itself and in ordering the e-Beanie Speckles. Ty Trade has posted this message tonight:

Ty Trade writes
  Thank you all for your posts! I see that some of you are
  wondering who I am.
  I am absolutely a legitimate representative of Ty Trade.com and
  the only member who is allowed to respond to you under the
  name "Ty Trade".
  I hope to help you all become more comfortable with the
  Speckles process during the early stages of our website and
  trust that you will help me spread helpful information to others
  as well!
  Thank you again for your support.
  TY TRADE
http://web2-3.ty.com/cyberboard/news/msg675330.html


==August 10, 2000==
REAL KIDS DRESSING LIKE BEANIE KIDS (too cute!!) 
http://www.planetbeans.com/LookALikes.htm

FIRST BEANIE KID RETIREMENT!!
Ty has just retired Curly http://www.ty.com/announcements/081000retire.html

Info Beanie
From: Beanie Wonderland
Yesterdays Info beanie mentioned a party to be held this Friday, the following piece was taken from his entry: "Our friends at Ty told us that they had some surprises for us for our party, too, but they wouldn't tell us what the surprises are. They said that if they told us what the surprises are then they wouldn't be surprises. I wonder what the surprises could be. I love to try and guess what surprises are, don't you? It could be some candy or maybe some kind of special toys!".  View Here

How to tell if the Hang Tag is a Fake
SmartCollecting has a nice write up on this subject under today's news.

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 13: 1226 Win Speckles

BEANIE BABY ON SESAME STREET
Brandon (my 19 month old) was watching Sesame Street this morning and Jennifer (my 11 year old) noticed that Elmo was holding a Ewey Beanie Baby. Elmo gave Ewey to a cute little baby to play with. Tagless of course!! <giggle>

NEW SITE
Canadian Beans has just opened today. http://www.geocities.com/doboy1_99/

THE BEANIE ZOO REOPENS
The Beanie Zoo is back up, and that to kick things off, they are holding a contest called Turtle Run. The prize is a Speedy Beanie Buddy! Visit the site HERE
(looks great Nathan!!)

==August 9, 2000==
TIGER WOODS ARIEL OVER $50,000!!
Unbelievable!! It's hard to believe that someone has this much money to spend on a Beanie Baby. This particular auction keeps being extended each day. It's now set to end at 12 Noon CST today.

TIGER WOODS ARIEL SOLD FOR $50,505!!
A buyer by the name of MALIKA has purchased what is sure to go down in history as the most expensive beanie ever purchased/sold. 125 Bids!! Must be nice to have an extra 50 grand laying around to make such a purchase. LOL You can view the auction HERE

Fire Ruins Beanie Collection
From: Beanieholics
We have posted a letter in our Beanie Tales section about a house fire that led to the ruin of a Beanie Baby collection that belonged to a thirteen-year-old. A safety tip to be learned from this story, keep a fire extinguisher near the kitchen.
Click Here For Link To Beanie Tales

Mimicking Beanie Babies Success
From: Beanieholics
Obsession is big business these days - and no, we're not talking about the pungent Calvin Klein cologne. Such well-known companies as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, eBay, and Ty Inc. (maker of Beanie Babies) have cultivated a decidedly devoted, frenzied, and often downright rabid fan base - a significant competitive advantage. Click Here For More

Wanted: Compulsive consumers
From: Ms. Janie
Taking their cue from the Beanie Babies mania, some  start-ups hope to turn their products into a faddish fixation. NOW NUMEROUS start-ups are trying to copy the gotta-catch-'em-all strategy. "Since the success of Beanie Babies, everybody thinks that they might have the next big thing," says industry expert Kenn Viselman, chairman of New York Citybased Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Co., the company that imported the Teletubbies craze to the United States from Britain.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/441023.asp?cp1=1

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 12: 1183 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE (ONLY 4 days remaining in this contest!!)
Total CORRECT entries to date: 846 Win Lefty

CONTEST TO WIN A BUSHY BEANIE BUDDY
Another new contest at Jannette's Beanies! (http://www.jannettesbeanies.co.uk)
This one is a Scavenger Hunt which begins this Friday. The winner will receive a Bushy Buddy.

BEANIES FOR PREEMIES AND HOW YOU CAN  HELP!!
A "Beanies for Preemies" drive has begun at Jannette's Beanies. Ja, a regular at Jannette's, is a nurse in an intensive care preemie ward.  The beanies donated will go directly to the babies there.  If you would like to help a tiny miracle, you can find out more information about donating at  http://www.jannettesbeanies.co.uk/give_a_beanie.htm.

Ty Trade Postings Continue On Cyberboard
From: Beanieholics
More postings from Ty Trade have appeared on the Ty Talk Cyberboard in both the Daily Times and the Grins and Gripes sections. Ty Trade responded to several topics today including Canadians placing their orders for Speckles, what to do if you have never received a confirmation email, why they require a different email for each account and what to do if you have trouble registering.
Posting About Canadian Ordering
Posting On No Order Confirmation
Reasons For Different Email Addresses
Posting On Registration Problems

Kevin Bacon And Cindy Crawford Auctions Added
From: Beanieholics
Ty Trade has added two new celebrity auctions. to their page, an Ariel Beanie Baby signed by actor Kevin Bacon and another signed by model Cindy Crawford. Both auctions started late this afternoon. The Kevin Bacon auction is scheduled to end on August 17th. The Cindy Crawford auction ends the next day. 
Click Here For Kevin Bacon Auction
Click Here For Cindy Crawford Auction

==August 8, 2000==
TIGER WOODS ARIEL
Currently this auction is at an unbelievable $20,005 with just over 5 hours left for bidding!! You can view the auction HERE There have been 119 bids on this auction. Some people had reported that this auction went over the $31,000 mark last night. It's possible that some bids needed to be retracted or some false bids were placed. I do believe this is now the MOST expensive beanie ever sold.

MS. JANIE WANTS TO KNOW
Please stop by Ms. Janie's site to take a short survey on your thoughts about the 2000 beanies, the Ty site, and Beanie news. Take the survey HERE

13 ATLANTA BEANIES ON AUCTION
I did a search for the 13 beanies and found 118 presell auctions.

Authenticated ODDITY Signature 200 missing 0
From: SmartCollecting
This rare oddity is currently on auction at eBay. You still have over 7.5 days remaining to bid. 10 bids to date with a high bid of $103.51

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 11: 1090 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 819 Win Lefty

CURRENT CHARITY AUCTION TOTALS
From: Collectiblez
Here is a current total of all the current and ended Charity auctions on TyTrade. Auction names with an asterisk (*) beside it, means that the auction is now ended:

TY POSTS MESSAGE ABOUT THE TIGER WOODS ARIEL AUCTION
From: Sherry at the PB Club
TY TRADE AUCTIONS
Ty Trade (07:58 am. Aug 08, 2000 )
Message Id: 670180

Ty Trade writes:

With all the excitement surrounding the Tiger Woods and other celbrity auctions for charity, I wanted to ask for your cooperation and support of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

All bids to these items shall be considered valid acceptance of legal offer. If you are found bidding on this site fraudulently, we will revoke your privileges at TyTrade.com and immediately suspend your participation on our site. The
auction will then revert back to the last authentic bid and continue until the closing date.

It is sad to think that there are individuals out there that would attempt to undermine such a worthy cause, but we do want you all to know that we are watching such activity closely!

Thanks again for your support of Ty Trade and the Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

TY TRADE
 
               
==August 7, 2000==
Ty Posts Message on Cyberboard
From: Ms. Janie
TY TRADE MESSAGE
Ty Trade (07:39 pm. Aug 06, 2000 )
Message Id: 668709
Ty Trade writes:

First, please notice the redesign to the registration process. It is short, easy and simple to complete. Second, if you are waiting for an e-mail response from us to confirm your registration, you should receive these within 72 hours. If you have not heard from us within 72 hours/3 days, you can contact us immediately at registration@tytrade.com for further assistance. Finally, we did experience some problems with our registration process during the volume overload suffered shortly after we first went up over the Internet. Therefore, some of you may experience problems with your original passwords and login User IDs. If this is the case, please contact us and allow us to resolve this issue for you.

We want to offer EVERYONE a chance to purchase an exclusive Ty product at the price it was meant to be. I trust you will support our cause.

Thanks for your continued support
http://web3-1.ty.com/cyberboard/news/msg668709.html
TY TRADE
http://www.tytrade.com

TIGER WOODS ARIEL
Currently this auction is at an unbelievable $15,605 with just over one day left for bidding!! You can view the auction HERE There have been 102 bids on this auction.

GEORGE CLOONEY ARIEL ADDED
There have been 5 bids since this Ariel was put up for auction yesterday. Total bids are up to $2,020 and I expect this one to be rather pricey. You can view the auction HERE

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 10: 990 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 793 Win Lefty


==August 6, 2000==
SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 9: 924 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 776 Win Lefty

CONTEST TO WIN OF TEAL TEDDY BUDDY
Collectiblez at http://www.collectiblez.net is currently having a contest where you have the chance of winning a Ty Old Faced Teal Teddy Beanie Buddy! Daily, a Ty-related question will be asked on the website, and when you answer the question correctly, you win one entry towards winning the Teddy! Enter today

Rumour
From: Beanie Wonderland
Sources in the US have informed us that Ty has relaxed his approach on the secondary market and web sites in an attempt to boost the Beanie Market. This would make sense and indeed we have not heard of any cease and desist cases of late. This is just a rumour and we are not suggesting for one minute that you are safe to go ahead and start selling secondary market beanies

==August 5, 2000==
ORDERING MULTIPLE SPECKLES
From: Deb
I was up the other night at about 3am and just decided to go to Ty trade to try to order the speckles that I never did get to order with my hubby's user name.  I had got mine ordered long time ago before site shut down....well check this out.

I got his ordered and just for giggles I thought---lets see if it will let me order 2 more with my user name.....and it did!

So then I went back to hubby's user name and it let me order 2 more, and then went back to my user name and let me order 2 more.

Well all in all I order 12 in one night---and got confirmations ON ALL OF THE ORDERS and even printed all of the little pages that shows up after the orders too.  And got confirmations in my mail box for all of the orders....so in actuality my hubby ordered 6 all with his one user name and one credit card, and I ordered 6 all with my same user name and same credit card!!!

Tiger Woods
From: Beanie Wonderland
The Tiger Woods signed Ariel Beanie Baby has reached a staggering $10,760.00 and it still has two days to go. To view the auctions please click the following link although you must be logged in to view the highest bidders. View Here

==August 4, 2000==
Razzmatazz
From: Beanie Wonderland
Hi, I love your site and finally have something to contribute.  When we were at a local Hallmark store this afternoon we picked up a blue razzmatazz.  When we got home we were looking at the Ty site and seen that ours was not like the one that is pictured there.  Ours has a purpleish ribbon on its right ear, and the one that is on the Ty site right now has a large multicolored ribbon around its neck.  We think  that a design change has been made already.  The original picture that Ty introduced can be found at the following address View Here.  We have also noticed that some of the pictures on the auctions on ebay show this to have an orange ribbon.  Could this be a good time to get one before many people realize the difference?  Thank You, Dana and Michelle,Ohio.

HELLO KITTY - More than Meets the Eye!
From: Daily Bean
     For more than 25 years, Hello Kitty(R) has been bringing smiles to the faces of young people from around the world. Now, for the first time, the beloved character will team up with Transformers(TM) Beast Machines(R) -- one of Hasbro's newest additions to its line of classic Transformers brand toys -- at McDonald's restaurants across North America when the company launches its special Hello Kitty/ Beast Machines Happy Meal promotion on August 4.
     "We're thrilled to bring Hello Kitty and her friends to McDonald's customers in the U.S. and Canada with this exciting event," said R. J. Milano, vice president, McDonald's U.S. Marketing. "This timeless character is the perfect addition to our roster of entertainment properties -- Hello Kitty appeals not only to our core Happy Meal customer but also twenty-somethings who loved her as a child and continue to love her. To add to the fun and excitement, we've paired Hello Kitty with Transformers toys to create a combination that's sure to spread smiles to our customers across North America."
     The 3-week promotion will run through August 24 and feature a total of 18 toys giving young people the chance to collect nine different Hello Kitty toy designs and nine Transformers Beast Machines figures.
FOR MORE: SOURCE: FULL STORY

Counterfeit Sakura
From: Ms. Janie
These have been showing up on auction sites and on the secondary market. Please tell collectors that they should be careful and Buyer beware! http://community-2.webtv.net/JIK95/CounterfeitSakura/

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 7: 803 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 743 Win Lefty


==August 3, 2000==
PLANET BEANS DONATION MAKES LOCAL PAPER
Children at Sumner Regional Medical Center are finding comfort with some small plush friends as over 200 beanie babies have been donated to the medical center in the memory of Mabel Scott. Click HERE to read the rest of the article and to see the picture of the donation being made.

NEWSFLASH AT TY.COM
Thanks to Sherry for the heads up 
Hi Lisa, I just wanted to let you know that Ty listed a bunch of cities today in a newsflash without any explanation! It also has an 8/1 date in the link! Very weird! You
can see it for yourself at: http://web3-2.ty.com/announcements/newsflash080100.html

Atlanta, GA
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Harrisburg, PA
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Memphis, TN
Minneapolis, MN
Union City, NJ
New York, NY
Orlando, FL
Washington DC

Beware . . . They’re coming ! . . . 8/15/00 (this was added several hours after the cities were listed on the newsflash)

Additional Speckles Ordering?
From: Beanieholics
So we were playing around on the Ty Trade site this morning and after logging on, noticed that there was not a message on the Speckles page saying that we had already ordered the maximum number of bears. So we went ahead and clicked on the ordering button and were surprised to find out that we could proceed through the ordering process to the point where we had a brand new ordering number on two additional Speckles Beanie Babies, again this is on an account we had already placed an order on. We did not finish the transaction but wondered whether this was a fluke or is Ty Trade letting collectors order more than one set of bears now? We wrote down the order number and will check later on to see if the bears are still in our shopping cart.Click Here For Link To Ty Trade

Glory No Flag
From: Beanie Wonderland
On searching eBay for anything a little different, we found a Glory with no flag, the sellers name is well known to us and many of you may well remember him. It is Chris (alias Cabray) the owner of the now closed beanies-uk.com web site. To view the auction and picture Click Here

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 6: 691 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 719 Win Lefty


==August 2, 2000==
HAVE YOU SEEN THESE PICTURES YET?!
The Peace Addict!! *-*-*-* Schweetheart Family

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 5: 622 Win Speckles

LEFTY2000 CONTEST UPDATE
Total CORRECT entries to date: 682 Win Lefty

Win A Mint Magenta Old-Face Teddy
From: Beanieholics
PJCC during the month of August will offer customers a chance to win a mint magenta old-face Teddy Beanie Baby. Every bean bag-related order will receive ONE (1) raffle ticket for every $50.00 worth of merchandise purchased. The raffle ticket is good for a chance on winning this bear. For more info, click on "Win an Old-face Teddy" after using the link below. Click Here For Link To PJCC

Retailer Report
From: Beanie Wonderland
I had my ty rep in today to place our monthly order and he told me that there will definitely be new products launched At the NEC trade fair in september. I also tried to order Birch and Greyson but he said that he had never heard of them. I thought this was a little strange as I received Birch on my last delivery.

Lefty Buddy Without a Flag Now on Auction
From: Smart Collecting
Smart Collecting member, James from California, has put his Lefty Beanie Buddy without a flag on auction on eBay. This no-reserve auction ends on August 5th. Current bid is at $54.  The seller, known as "warbucks64" on eBay has a perfect feedback rating of 116 comments from 52 unique users. Go to Auction

PEPSI GIRL COLLECTS BEANIES
From: Ms. Janie
Haley, the adorable Pepsi Girl collects Beanie Babies. To view her photo and short interview please visit the following link. http://www.msjanie.com/pix/haley.html

LEGS COMFORTS 9 YEAR OLD 
From: Ms. Janie
Michigan 9-year-old opens convention with national anthem Nine-year-old Olivia Lalewicz brought her favorite green frog Beanie Baby to calm any jitters she might feel Tuesday before singing the national anthem at the Republican National Convention.

The nerves were understandable. Not only did the girl from Sterling Heights, Mich., have to sing before thousands of party activists, but she and her elaborate costume almost didn't make it.

MORE TYTRADE BLUNDERS
While making my wish list for Beanie Buddies, I noticed there were pictures of the Beanie BABIES instead of the Beanie Buddies listed for quite a few. Here's a list of what I found to have Babies instead of Buddies: Britannia, Clubby, Flip, Germania, Goochy, Kicks, Pumkin. Jumbo Peace has a Large Peace pictured, Peace has the Jumbo Peace picture listed. Fuzz has the Large Fuzz pictured. None of the most recent buddies have even made the list yet!! It's hard to make a wish list when when the pictures say "photo coming soon". LOL

(I find it totally rediculous that the buddies are on the Ty site but the webmaster of TyTrade can't pop on over to get the CORRECT pictures. Do you think the webmaster of TyTrade will get his/her act together soon?!)


==August 1, 2000==
GARCIA CONTEST WINNER!!
Be sure to visit the Contest page to see if you were the winner. A total of 55 books were sold during this contest period. The recipients of this wonderful book will be lucky to receive such a heartwarming book. Enjoy!! I'd really love to know your comments about the book.

SPECKLES CONTEST UPDATE
Total entries after Day 4: 459 Win Speckles

WILL THE REAL PEACE ADDICT PLEASE STAND UP
Or as the case may be.. lay down. LOL This is quite a collection!! Have you ever wondered what a Peace symbol made from 40 Peace Bears would look like?! Deb also has quite a nice collection of 13 Peace Buddies. Believe it or not.. she has even more Peace Bears that aren't in the picture. There was no room for them. I want to thank my friend Deb for sharing this awesome picture with me. :o) The Peace Addict!!

NEW BEANIE LIST FROM UNDERGROUND BEAN
Info from a Ty retailer that I find to be very accurate and a trustworthy person sends this in ...

4305 OATS - horse
4306 HUGGY - bear
4307 SLAYER - dragon
4308 BUZZY - buzzard
4309 LURKEY - turkey
4310 HOWL - wolf
4311 TRICKS - retriever
4312 PRINCE - frog
4313 PELLET - hamster 
4314 ARUBA - fish
4315 CHINA - panda 
4316 BANANAS - monkey
4317 WHISKERS - terrier

These are item numbers and the names of the 13 Atlanta beanies ... retailers are reporting that they have been able to order these.