February
27, 2007
FEBRUARY
RETIREMENTS
http://www.ty.com/Feb2007Ret
BEANIES:
Casanova, Cheek to Cheek, Dooley, Houston, Punxsutawney Phil 2007
(retail & CoC versions), You're A Sweetie
BUDDIES: Coop
SILENT
RETIREMENTS
Thank
you to Daniel from Beanie
Universe for sharing the following:
Baby Ty: 2
Bunny Hop-Blue
Bunny Hop-Pink
Ty Classics: 6
Blushed
Crush
Cyrano (American Greetings Exclusive)
Cyrano (Carlton Cards Exclusive)
Harewood
Sugarbeary (Walgreens Exclusive)
GARFIELD
KEY-CLIP
Thank
you to Jenni for sharing her photos: http://www.planetbeans.com/JennisPhotos&Info.htm
February
26, 2007
MESSAGE
FROM JEN
Jen writes:
"Being cheeky as I am, I was just wondering if it would be
possible to let your readers know that as of Tuesday evening ( UK time !
LOL ) I will be on Holiday/Vacation!!!! I am desperatley
trying too tie up all loose ends before I go so that everyone that has
ordered with us knows that their packages of fun will be on their way
too them, I have therefore asked that if there is anything that anyone
would like ( except Enigma! sorry ), if they could email me too let me
know, I can sort everything out by Tuesday as I will not be back in the
shop until Monday 26th March.
There is currently no news on the release date of the new Beatrix Potters but if anything changes , I will ask Alex to email you and let you know the details :)
If I get the chance, I will try too check in with my emails, but I cannot promise anything, Alex will check the emails while I am away as often as she is able but please be aware that Alex will be in the store on her own so she will only be able to check them when she gets the chance.
Many thanks too you all, and maybe I may even bump into some of you on my travels!!! :) Here's hoping :)))
take good care and talk to you soon,
from Jen :)"
INTRODUCING APRIL
FOOL @ TY STORE
http://www.ty.com/April2007_intro
Oak Brook toy maker Ty is set to launch its new concept doll within the next month. The doll has been created with an interactive component utilizing the Internet.
The concept is similar to Webkinz — toy pets and a corresponding Web site. However, they’re specifically geared toward girls.
Each Ty Girlz comes with an individual scratch-off secret code, which enables the collector to unlock the online 3-D virtual world. Girls can chat, play games, listen to music and just “hang out” in a forum that’s both fun and safe for kids.
Webkinz, which have become popular over the last six months, have the same idea. Webkinz, which are sold out at many specialty gift stores, are all plush animals designed for girls and boys.
Ty said they have a similar concept, but a different audience.
“No one else has a doll with a secret code that’s linked to the Internet,” said Scott Wehrs, chief operating officer for Ty.
The dolls have soft, realistic hair that can be easily combed and made into many different styles, Wehrs said. Each new figure, which resembles Bratz dolls, has its own signature color. Their clothes, hair and makeup are coordinated in monochromatic hues that give them a distinctive look and singular appeal.
The dolls, geared for girls ages 6 to 12, will retail for about $12. They will be sold in specialty gift stores, Wehrs added.
The six new dolls should hit toy stores next month. http://www.dailyherald.com/business/story.asp?id=285083
IRS Sniffing For eBay
Cash
Many sellers on
eBay likely report their gains for tax purposes as they are required to
do. Some people may not know they are supposed to do this, or actively
choose not to pay. The Internal Revenue Service wants to make eBay and
other auction sites part of the process that reports that income.
When it comes to the law, definitions can be changed to fit the times. The definition of the word "broker" as it pertains to the reporting of who earns what on an online marketplace like eBay doesn't include those sites today.
In the future, that could change. The San Francisco Chronicle noted the longing looks the federal government has cast at sites that aren't considered brokers by law.
Change the definition, and it could mean a windfall for the government as more people receive those Form 1099 mailings that eBay and others would be required to send. It would put a burden on eBay to track its sellers and their sales when people earn $5,000 or more, or if they are part of more than 100 transactions.
If they don't, the IRS will. They define that process as an "audit." And federal auditors are not nearly as cuddly as the Beanie Babies many people sold on eBay, either. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/02/26/irs-sniffing-for-ebay-cash
February
23, 2007
ADORABLE
PHOTO OF PADS
Thank
you to John for sending in another creative photo:
http://www.planetbeans.com/JohnsPictures.htm
ASK
TY
Q: On a
cold winter's day, would you rather sit in front of the fireplace or go
sledding? (submitted by jasminekittykat)
A: I like both. In fact, after a day of sledding at the park I
like to sit in front of the fireplace with a hot chocolate ! http://www.ty.com/askty_home
Beanie baby bandit
Norton Shores -
A Muskegon County man is being charged as the "beanie baby
bandit" after police say he stole almost 150 of the stuffed toys
this weekend.
Jay Jager Jr. is charged with second degree home invasion.
Police say he broke into a Norton Shores mobile home on Saturday and
took the beanie babies and other items.
While he was leaving, police say his truck got stuck in the snow and
that's when he was arrested.
Police say the break-in may be drug related. Jager faces 15 years in
prison if convicted. http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=71334
February
19, 2007
PHOTOS
OF ENIGMA
Thank
you to John for sharing some great photos. Enigma is gorgeous and my
favorite color! http://www.planetbeans.com/JohnsPictures.htm
A kid who worries
about kids in a war
The war in Iraq
began when Alison Goulder was in middle school. She now is a sophomore
in high school, and the war continues. She most likely will be in
college (or graduated) before our involvement in the conflict comes to
anything close to an end.
Alison, on the other hand, has been thinking about our soldiers in Iraq
and Afghanistan and the children impacted by war for nearly three years.
Back in 2004, she read about a program to send the little stuffed
animals called Beanie Babies to American troops in Iraq so that they
could hand them out to Iraqi children. Alison had quite a few of the
toys but had grown out of them. She decided to donate her collection to
the cause. She even got other kids in her grade school involved.
"Then it just kind of took off," she said.
Individuals and businesses offered to contribute. During the past couple
of years, with the help of her family and assistance from the
organizations like Glendale's Packages from Home, Alison has shipped
more than 50,000 Beanie Babies overseas. And she isn't finished.
Her last batch of Beanie Babies was sent to a National Guardsman serving
in Afghanistan, from whom Alison receives e-mail reports.
She says that she'll continue shipping toys as long as she can persuade
individuals and businesses to donate. (If you'd like to do so, contact
me at the address below.)
"When this is finished, I would like to work on other service
projects," she said. "I don't know that I would consider it a
career, but I would like to keep doing this kind of thing. The personal
satisfaction that you get is great. I've learned a lot, too. It helps
you to look beyond yourself to the bigger world."
She has been singled out for her efforts by the White House and others.
In a few years, Alison's volunteer work will help her get into Stanford
University, which she plans to attend.
She's hoping that there won't be a need to ship toys to Iraq or
Afghanistan when she's 18. But if there is, she says that she'll do it.
Not only for the children, but because kids her age will be eligible for
the military by then. She'd be shipping Beanie Babies to soldiers who,
like her, were playing with the toys when the war started. http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/0220montini0220.html
Not so warm and
fuzzy: Burglar nabs 145 Beanie Babies
The getaway car
-- loaded with 145 purloined Beanie Babies -- got stuck in the snow
early Saturday in Norton Shores.
Not willing to lose his loot, the alleged Beanie Baby burglar got a pickup truck from a friend's home, drove back to the intersection of Worden Street and Sunbury Avenue and tossed the stuffed critters into the truck bed.
What the 37-year-old suspect didn't know was that Norton Shores police were already on the way.
The burglary was in the 1300 block of Calgary Drive in nearby Norton Estates.
The victim, who works nights, was returning home on his bicycle just after 5:30 a.m. when he spotted the car stuck in the snow off the side of the road.
The trunk was open, and the victim noticed the Beanie Babies and an electric scooter inside. He also recognized the car as belonging to an acquaintance who had been to the victim's place of employment earlier.
The victim went home, discovered his door damaged, and Beanie Babies, guitar cases, disposable cameras and other items missing. He called police.
Officer Joe Hoeksema got the call and headed first to the spot where the car was stuck. He noticed an older model pickup truck parked by the car.
As Hoeksema approached, the truck fled at high speed. The officer caught up to the vehicle at Sherman Boulevard and Utah Street.
"As the officer walked up, he noticed Beanie Babies all over the rear bed of the truck," said Norton Shores Police Lt. Jon Gale.
It turns out the suspect had been transferring the stolen goods from the car to the truck when the officer arrived. The suspect at first said he went off the road and got stuck while trying to roll a cigarette, but police said there were a number of inconsistencies in the information he gave them.
Police aren't sure where the suspect thought he was going sell the Beanie Babies due to the fact the Beanie Babies collecting craze peaked some time ago. The suspect did, however, "make admissions that he committed the crime due to being a cocaine-user," Gale said.
The suspect was lodged in the Muskegon County Jail for breaking and entering. A warrant was pending this morning. http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1171899987194050.xml&coll=8
February
16, 2007
PADS
AVAILABLE TO ORDER
http://www.planetbeans.com/JennisPhotos&Info.htm
SWEETIEPAWS IS SOLD OUT
http://www.tytrade.com/tyshop_items
February
15, 2007
New Eps
of "Max & Ruby" Coming in April
Max
& Ruby will mark Easter with the debut of new episodes and the
release of new merchandise, producer Nelvana Enterprises announced
earlier this week.
In addition, the company says that a large-format traveling stage show
based on the series will begin touring in the fall of 2007.
New Max & Ruby episodes will begin airing on Nick Jr. on
April 6 and on Noggin on April 7. March 13 will see the release to DVD
of Max and the Easter Bunny in Canada and Easter with Max
& Ruby in the United States. March will also bring the release
of Max & Ruby Beanie Babies. http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=15166
Hallmark Moments
An in-depth look at the chaos of working in America's most popular
greeting card store on Valentine's Day
On an
average day, Cathy Kessel sees 100 people in her stores, whereas on
Valentine's Day she sees about 800 people wandering the aisles of a
place that supposedly fuels this mass-marketing holiday.
"It's insane; it's truly mass hysteria," said Kessel, who owns
a Hallmark store in Scripps Ranch and Imperial Beach. "There's no
other day like it. Valentine's Day has a personality all its own."
Last year, 853 cards were sold on Feb. 14, and 708 people were in her
Scripps Ranch store. The same location sold 1,246 cards on Feb. 13 and
793 people stopped by Cathy's Hallmark that day. In a typical day, the
store makes $700. Last Valentine's Day, it took in $7,000, and on Feb.
13, it made $8,000.
"We have months where we don't do $15,000," Kessel
said.Apparently, stuffed animals are still big sellers even though
collectors of Beanie Babies seem to have lost their aggressive edge in
the past decade. Sandlin says if you've really messed up things for your
girlfriend, there's always The Great Big Kiss. Because what says
"I'm sorry and I still love you" more than a $200 stuffed
bear? http://media.www.thedailyaztec.com/media/storage/paper741/news/2007/02/14/Tempo/Hallmark.Moments-2718955.shtml
an
interesting story I found when searching for Beanie news
Chilling Out
When my
house burned down while I was hiking on a glacier, it changed my outlook
and cooled my perfectionism.
The day my childhood house burned was the first time in my life that I felt lost. I was 12 years old, hitting puberty, and I had just graduated from the only school I’d ever known. I already felt like a rug had been pulled out from under me. I was an obsessive-compulsive kid who worried about everything from the germs in the swimming pool to the angle of the pillows on the futon in my mom’s family room. The prospect of attending junior high, where I’d start to take an active role in making decisions for my life, was a little frightening.
My mom and my stepdad are realtors. Late July marks the end of the busy real estate season for them, so we planned a trip to Alaska that summer.
A trip to the Last Frontier would earn me lots of bragging rights back in school, so I was excited. As we waited to board the plane, my mom made me try to use the restroom one last time. After washing my hands so long that I needed Vaseline to treat my chapped hands and getting yelled at by my stepdad for making us almost miss our flight, we headed on board one of the three planes that would take us to Anchorage.
We traveled through Alaska in a small motor home. One day after hiking on a glacier and exploring a copper mine in McCarthy, Alaska, we called my stepdad’s mother, my Oma, to check on everything back in Lawrence. The pay phone was literally a foot away from the banks of a rushing glacial river. When Oma found out who was on the phone, she started crying so loudly I could hear it a couple of feet away, over the rush of the river. She told us that our house had burned down two days before.
I began to cry. I thought about my dog, Katy Lee, first, but when I found out she had been safe outside in her pen, I quickly moved on to my own belongings: my yellow-wallpapered room, my more than 30 stuffed animals, my Beanie Baby tent I’d gotten for my birthday only three weeks before, and yes, my beloved clothes. I had lost everything I knew, and now we would probably have to go straight to the airport to fly home to sort things out, losing the last week of our vacation.
Later that evening, we walked to the only restaurant in McCarthy, a pizza parlor, and ate dinner. To my relief, my parents decided to stay and enjoy the rest of our vacation before facing the task ahead. They saw no reason to rush home because the house had already burned. http://www.kansan.com/stories/2007/feb/14/chilling_out/
Deadline Expires on
Coral Casino Lawsuit
In the space of seven years, the quest to renovate the Coral Casino has
endured more than 100 meetings, long periods of intense, often querulous
debate and a veritable gauntlet of review by government agencies and
legal panels. The renovation now appears to be in the clear.
Cynthia Ziegler, the key opponent of that renovation, has allowed the January 29 deadline to submit a petition to the California Supreme Court to pass, a definite sign that she would not extend her lawsuit to the next level.
Representatives of club owner Ty Warner responded with relief, but found it “hard to celebrate” given the amount of time it took to reach this point and the escalating costs of the project since its inception – from a reported $18 million to $60 million.
“It’s difficult to see this as a victory,” said Greg Rice, executive vice-president of acquisitions for Ty Warner Hotel & Resorts. “It just means that we survived.”
During a phone conversation Tuesday, Ziegler said her group, the Coral Casino Preservation Committee, was not taking any further legal action. She said she felt the group had not “accomplished our goal of preserving Coral Casino in its most authentic state” and was disappointed that boards and commissions hadn’t taken “preservation of important county landmarks” more seriously.
“I think the community was diminished by the controversy and the result,” Ziegler said.
With litigation out of the way, construction at the club continues to make progress as Warner spokespersons have predicted the renovation would end in time for a Fourth of July reopening.
Warner had taken an immense risk to perform construction during litigation. A verdict in Ziegler’s favor would have required the hotel tycoon to restore altered portions of the club. http://www.montecitojournal.net/archive/13/7/759/
ASK TY
Q: Do
you give your Valentine a Beanie Baby on that special day? (submitted by
impalaqueens)
A: What better way to show your Valentine they're Kissable than
by giving them something to Sweeten their day ! http://www.ty.com/askty_home
February
13, 2007
Workers: The
florist
Creating and
selling floral arrangements blooms means dealing with perishable
merchandise, customers' whims and the demands of Valentine's Day
THE INDUSTRY
Size: Exact figures on retail florists are hard to come by because the industry is fragmented, said Jennifer Sparks, vice president of marketing at the Society of American Florists. Nationally, there are more than 22,000 retail floral shops, not including large retailers like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods. New Mexico had 132 retail florists, according to a 2002 U.S. Census Bureau report. New industry figures come out in late 2007.
Necessary Skills: Tanya Cole, owner of Tiger Lily Floral Design, 2318 Central Ave. S.E., said working in a retail floral shop requires artistic ability and an eye for color. Enthusiasm for flowers and plants helps too, she said.
Blooming business
As one of the smaller retailers, Tiger Lily Floral Design only has three employees, including Cole. But with 20 years of experience in the floral industry, she knows how to keep her business from wilting.
It's all about customer service and compromise, she said.
"I swore I would never do balloons, no stuffed animals and never carnations," she said glancing up at a shelf packed with Beanie Babies and toy bears. "But people love it, and a lot of that stuff goes with flowers for some people."
In addition to negotiating balloons and bears into her business plan, Cole also draws upon her varied experience in the floral industry to support Tiger Lily Floral Design. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/feb/12/workers-florist/
Hot Toys Of Immediate
Future, And Now
Toy Tips'
Marianne Szymanski Highlights Some At International Toy Fair In NYC
(CBS) The biggest collection of toys outside Santa's workshop is in
New York this week.
Some 1,500 manufacturers from 30 countries are showing off the new toys
your kids will want in coming months. The four-day fun fest runs through
Wednesday.
Marianne Szymanski, publisher of Toy Tips and Parenting Hints magazine
and founder of Toy
Tips, showcased several at the fair on The Early Show Monday.
Toy Tips is an independent research and consulting firm that studies
toys for kids of all ages, focusing on those that stimulate
developmental growth. Toy Tips has tested more than 34,000 toys and
juvenile products from 900 manufacturers since its inception in 1991.
Among the toys at the fair that caught Szymanski's eye:
TY GIRLZ
We all remember Ty's
Beanie Babies, which were super popular. This is a line of six dolls,
just introduced and available now.
These sell for $12.99 and are for girls 6 and older. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/12/earlyshow/living/parenting/main2461340.shtml
Column: Sensibly
Skeptical
Valentine's Day
is what you make of it
The exact origin of Valentine's Day is disputed. According to
Encyclopedia Britannica, the holiday is named after a martyred priest
who was put to death in A.D. 270 by emperor Claudius II Gothicus. As the
story goes, St. Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer,
and prior to his execution wrote a letter to her signed, "Love,
Your Valentine." Others contest that modern-day Valentine's Day
stems from attempts to Christianize the mid-February fertility festivals
of ancient Rome.
Either way, the history is negligible; the truckloads of Whitman's
chocolates and cut flowers we dole out to those around us have nothing
to do with martyred saints or the hooliganism of ancient Rome. If
America were to pick a patron of the holiday it would probably be a
beanie baby, and the only Valentine's history we need be concerned with
is the 180 million Valentine's Day cards that are exchanged annually (as
determined by the United States Census Bureau). VIEW
FULL ARTICLE HERE (The link is too long to post so please click on
VIEW FULL ARTICLE HERE to view if you'd like.)
SHOW REPORT WITH
GREAT PHOTOS
http://www.msjanie.com/2007_News/Toy_Fair_Photos_Report.html
February
11, 2007
American
International Toy Fair News
Ty Presents Ty
Girlz(TM) at the American International Toy Fair
OAK BROOK, Ill.,
Ty Girlz are 14" soft-sculpt dolls that are dressed in the latest trend- setting fashions that can be mixed and matched, and each outfit is completed with complimentary earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Ty Girlz have soft realistic hair that can be easily combed and made into many different styles. Each doll has its own signature color. Their clothes, hair and makeup are coordinated in monochromatic hues that give them a distinctive look and singular appeal.
Each Ty Girl comes with an individual scratch-off secret code which enables the collector to unlock the 3-D virtual world. Here girls can chat, play games, listen to music and just "hang out" in a forum that's both fun and safe for kids.
"My goal was to create
an incomparable, one-of-a-kind doll without using plastic, vinyl or
injection molds. They're 100% handmade with super-soft fabric which
makes each doll special and unique," said
February
7, 2007
SNUGGINS
PHOTOS
Marilyn
shares photos of Snuggins. http://www.planetbeans.com/MarilynsPhotos2.htm
UK
SPRING FAIR REPORT & LOTS OF PHOTOS
Jenni
shares LOTS of great photos and her report of the Spring Fair. http://www.planetbeans.com/JennisPhotos&Info.htm
February
6, 2007
CHERISH
UPDATES FROM SUE
http://www.planetbeans.com/SuesCharityAuctions.htm
IN MEMORY OF BARBARO
The Kentucky
Derby store has items listed, which includes the Barbaro Ty Beanie. 'A
portion of the proceeds for these items will be donated to the Barbaro
Fund at the New Bolton Center'.
http://derby.zouire.com/start.asp
Also available -
285553 - Secretariat Ty Beanie
Secretariat Ty Beanie Now Available! This Limited Edition Ty Secretariat
Beanie is 7" tall, 8" long and wearing his No. 1A Black &
White saddle cloth and Blue and White Checked Blinders. Order yours
while supplies last. Imported. Color: Bay.
February
4, 2007
NUREMBURG
SHOW REPORT
http://www.msjanie.com/2007_News/Nuremburg_Toy_Fair.html
February
3, 2007
IN THE PROCESS OF UDATING...
I've managed to find a bit of time to do some updating to the Beanie Info Pages. Updates include the following sections: 2007 Beanie releases, 2007 Buddy releases, 2007 Beanie of the Month, Complete Beanie, Bears Only, Bow Wow Beanie, and Buddy checklists, Beanie Birthday calendar, and Pluffies pages. I will get to the other updates as time allows.
http://www.planetbeans.com/beanie_info.htm
CHERISH
UPDATES FROM SUE
http://www.planetbeans.com/SuesCharityAuctions.htm
Big Fella' showed
class from start to finish
photo
caption: Gus Coccia, of Crown Gifts in New
Castle, holds a Barbaro Beanie Baby. Coccia said that when Crown Gifts
started carrying the Beanie Babies at Christmas, he was ordering
shipments of five or six Barbaro Beanie Babies at a time. Now, he is
ordering shipments of 60.
It's time for me to bring out some of the emotions of Irish Jack in regard to champion racehorse Barbaro, who, sadly, had to be euthanized last Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa.
Barbaro was a hero to me. Sports reporters aren't supposed to show favoritism to any team, player or coach or, God forbid, have an animal as a hero.
Well, the "Big Fella," as I liked to refer to him, was different. To me, Barbaro was bigger than life -- and that's not because of his size, strength or the power he possessed on the racetrack.
Barbaro showed me something I wish we would see from more human athletes. He was a fighter, full of class and talent, from the time he first stepped on a racetrack at Delaware Park in October 2005 until the peaceful ending came for him five days ago.
During his short but impressive career, he won races on dirt and on the grass. He showed heart when he dug in to get past a gutsy Sharp Humor and win the Florida Derby from an outside post. He showed greatness when he ran away from the field in the 2006 Kentucky Derby, his most notable victory.
His owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, of West Grove, Pa., knew early on of his class, talent and heart. They wanted to save his life after that tragic breakdown in the Preakness because of their love for the horse and what he stood for.
Some people in this country will never figure out why people would spend that much money to try to save a horse. It's because they don't understand Barbaro's essence. http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070203/SPORTS11/702030348/1002/SPORTS
Groundhog capital
lives in shadow of 'day of fame'
PUNXSUTAWNEY,
Pa. - On Friday, just after sunrise on Groundhog Day, the 15 top hat and
tuxedo-clad members of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog
Club will do as they and their predecessors have done for more than 100
years: Pull Punxsutawney Phil from his burrow to check on his shadow.
If, as he usually does, the globe's most famous marmot sees his furry shadow, meaning winter should last six weeks longer despite global warming, a mighty "Boo!" will rise up from the 20,000 freezing people expected to be present - a crowd more than three times larger than this small, western Pennsylvanian town's population.
Leslie Larnino won't be one of them.
Though she lives in the borough and could easily go, Larnino, 49, an alternative education teacher, has never been to the ceremony on a hilltop on the town's edge known as Gobbler's Knob, and she has no plans to go this year.
It's crazy when they're here," she said, referring to the droves of tourists who flood the town to take part in marmot mania. "Locals like me tend to lay low and let them have their day. And in a couple of days, it's back to normal and we have our 'burg back."
Fourteen years since the movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray debuted, what was once an admittedly silly but quaint holiday gathering for a couple of thousand people has turned into a stadium-sized spectacle that strains the patience of Punxsutawnians, even as town leaders continue to promote its most famous resident in ways large and small.
"People always say, 'When is this going to go away and return to the way it was?"' said Tom Chapin, editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit daily newspaper. "But it doesn't. It just gets bigger every year."
How famous has Phil become? Last year the Department of Homeland Security included Phil's permanent homestead, the Groundhog Zoo, located in a nook in the town's library, as one of 77,069 sites in the National Asset Database of potential terror targets.
Before the movie, you rarely saw groundhog displays in downtown Punxsy, as residents refer to it, except for the week of Groundhog Day. Now, permanent murals featuring a smiling, cartoon-like Punxsutawney Phil stare from several buildings in town; plush toys and posters are hung in nearly every storefront, even in early January; and scattered around town are 32 six-foot-high, painted, fiberglass Phils on display year-round, a la Chicago's Cows on Parade exhibit in 1999.
Most prominently, this week in the town's old post office, the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center is debuting a permanent exhibit that traces the folklore of animal weather prognosticators like Phil.
It's all part of the "groundhogizing" of the town, said Marlene Lellock, director of the chamber of commerce, which now draws about half of its revenue from the sale of Phil-related memorabilia.
Phil is now a multimedia star, too. The sale of the Beanie Babies of the groundhog - Ty Inc.'s first-ever licensed product - generated enough revenue that the Inner Circle was able to buy Gobbler's Knob's 18 acres four years ago for $75,000 after decades of leasing it. The animal did 30 live TV news spots last year, has been featured in an Absolut Vodka ad, and will be on the side of an as-of-yet-unnamed cereal box this year. http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/16604753.htm
MARILYN'S PHOTOS
Marilyn shares
photos of the newest Happy Birthday Bear. Adorable! http://www.planetbeans.com/MarilynsPhotos2.htm
JOHN'S PHOTOS
John shares
photos of a UK version of Feder-Bear. This appears to be the 3rd version
of this Beanie. http://www.planetbeans.com/JohnsPictures.htm
February
2, 2007
O'LUCKY @ TY
STORE
http://www.ty.com/OLucky_intro
ASK TY
Q:
Ok Ty, everyone wants to know who's your pick to win next Sunday?
(submitted by tink1995)
A:
Well, I hate to play favorites, but you all know I've always been
partial to bears . . . http://www.ty.com/askty_home
February
1, 2007
FEBRUARY
BOTM
http://www.ty.com/Snuggins
BEANIE CALENDAR
UPDATED
http://www.planetbeans.com/BeanieCalendar.htm
FEBRUARY WALLPAPER
http://www.ty.com/Feb07_Wallpaper