The brand new Series 3; Second Edition Collectors Cards are now arriving at retailers across the country. This series includes 157 different cards, which is more than either the Series 1 or Series 2 cards had. Since this series is still very new, make sure you learn about the different cards and color levels before you bid on any of these cards on auction sites. I've noticed that many people who still don't know enough about the cards are selling "gold" cards on ebay which are not really "gold". So, get your facts straight here and then you'll be prepared to make good decisions based on the cards you may want to get on auction. 

Odds of finding specific cards in each pack of cards you open:

Classic Commons 1-24 packs
Common Cards (which now include the newer beanies)
Artist Proof - (gold foil insignia) 1-1 pack
Wild Cards 1 - 3 packs
Beanies and Buddies Cards 1-12 packs
Retired or Autographed Cards 1 - 72 packs
Birthday/Rookie Cards 1 - 5 packs
Beanie Sticker cards (1 in each pack)

OVERVIEW

The six different types of chase cards in Series III are Autographed cards, (it was rumored that autographed cards would not be part of Series 3, but according to the wrapping that the cards come in, autographed cards will be available) Retired cards, Classic Common cards,  Beanies & Buddies cards, Birthday cards and Wild Cards. Like series 1 and 2, there are four different color levels of the Retired, Beanies and Buddies, Birthday/Rookie and Wild Cards.  The colors are teal (most common), magenta, silver and gold (least common). On the retired cards, the color level is determined by the background color of the card.  On the Beanies & Buddies and Birthday cards, the color level is determined by the name of the Beanie or Buddy. On the Wild Cards, the color level is determined by the color of the stars that surround the Beanie.

There are approximately 8 cards plus a "Beanie Sticker" card in each pack. One of the 8 cards included in a pack is an "Artist Proof" card. The suggested retail price of a pack of Series III cards is $1.99 or about $48 a box. 

In each sealed box of cards is a "Limited Edition Tear-A-Bear Card" which will feature a newer version of a particular bear on the front and an "old-timey" print of an older version of the same bear on the back.  

In each sealed case of cards is an "Issued Card" which is conveniently displayed in a four-screw acrylic case. 

There are 10 Retired Cards in Series 3: 
The Retired card is cut with scalloped edges and does not have the straight edges like the other cards.   Retired cards have a limited edition numbering on the back of the cards indicating which card it is from a total number of cards. The back of the cards are landscape (horizontal) oriented, whereas the front is portrait (vertical) oriented. The color level of these cards is determined by the background color of the card. For example, the Hippity card below would be a "Magenta" color level. (Odds: 1 in 72 packs)

There are 8 Classic Common Cards:
Classic Common cards look just like the common cards found in Series I and II but are stamped "Classic Common" in gold print on the front.  On the back of some of these cards are a limited edition number. (Odds: 1 in 24 packs)

12 Beanie Babies and Buddies Cards:
The Beanie Babies and Buddies cards are clear cards with one uneven edge and half a TY heart on that edge. When you get the beanie and the buddy matching cards, put them together to make one big card! The beanies and buddies featured in these cards are Erin-19/20, Humphrey-21/22, Jake-23/24, Quackers-25/26, Rover-27/28, and Squealer-29/30. (Odds: 1 in 12 packs)

There are 12 Birthday/Rookie Cards:
Birthday cards are metallic and have the name of the Beanie Baby printed vertically going down the right side of the card. The birthdate is printed in a gold star near the bottom of the card. Color level on these cards is determined by the name of the beanie. The beanies featured as birthday/rookie cards are 1998 Holiday Teddy-#31, 1999 Signature Bear-#32, Britannia-#33, Eggbert-#34, Flip-#35, Flutter-#36, Millennium-#37, Velvet-#38, Clubby II-#39, Eucalyptus-#40, Knuckles-#41, and Schweetheart-#42 (Odds: 1 in 5 packs)

There are 15 Wild Cards:
The wild cards are the shiny foil cards with "stars" encircling the beanie. These cards have "wild facts" on the back of the card that relay something about that particular animal in the wild. The color level on these cards is determined by the color of the stars. The beanies featured as "Wild Cards" are Batty-#43, Spooky-#44, Stinky-#45, Ally-#46, Freckles-#47, Twigs-#48, Spinner-#49, Stripes-#50, Ziggy-#51, Iggy-#52, Hippie-#53, Peace-#54, Bubbles-#55, Goochy-#56, and Neon-#57. The gold cards will have a limited edition numbering on the back of the card. There are only 100 gold cards made of each of these wild cards. (Odds: 1 in 3 packs)

There are 100 Artist's Proof Cards:
The "Artist's Proof" cards are exactly like the common cards, with the addition of a small foil stamp that says "Artist's Proof" surrounding a Ty heart on the front right side of the card in gold. There is no "color level" on these. (Odds: 1 in each pack of cards)

There are 100 Common Cards:
On Common Cards, the name of the Beanie is in big letters in an outline type print across the top of the card and the beanie is posed against a background scene that might represent the type of habitat the animal would live in. One very interesting thing to note about the common cards in Series 3 is that the style numbers on the lower right-hand corner of the card will be in the shape of either a "hoof print"-(brown/maroon/red), "bear print"-(brown/maroon/green/purple/blue), "dog print"-(bright red/blue/maroon), "horseshoe"-(dark green), "dragon print"-(dark green/purple), "cat print"-(purple/red/brown), "duck print"-(blue/brown), "shell"-(green), "bird print"-(dark green/purple/brown), or "heart"-(brown/red). Whether or not these "shapes" will mean anything in the future as to the value of the cards, we will just have to wait and see. More than likely, it's simply another way for collectors to classify the cards and "choose" the ones they want to collect most. 

There are 10 different shapes on the commons cards and the beanies featured with each shape are as follows: 

Hoof Print Chops Daisy Fleece Grunt Peanut Roam Snort Spike Whisper Dragon Print Bongo Cheeks Lizzy Rainbow Scorch Magic Mooch Rex Dog Print Bernie Bruno Dotty Doby Fetch Gigi Luke Nanook Pugsly Spunky Tracker Tuffy Weenie Wrinkles Scottie

Bear Print Ants Almond Billionaire Bucky Blackie Cubbie Curly Chilly Fortune Fuzz Germania Halo Kicks Libearty Maple Nuts Osito Pouch Ringo Seaweed Sly Spangle Teddy 145 Teddy 146 Valentina Cat Print Amber Canyon Chip Pounce Prance Tiptoe Scat Silver Snip Horseshoe Derby Mystic

Bird Print Baldy Caw Early Jabber Kuku Pinky Stretch Stilts Wiser Duck Print Gracie Patti Puffer Quackers Waddle Heart Lucky Pumkin Smoochy Speedy Hope Hissy Floppity Bumble Shell Claude Crunch Echo Jolly Legs Tusk Sting Slippery Swirly Waves

There are 21 Sticker Cards:
The beanie "sticker" cards are found in each pack of cards. There are 21 different sticker cards containing three beanies on each card. The beanie stickers are grouped together according to where those particular animals may live in the wild. The different variations of these cards are: Jake/Bucky/Legs; Goldie/Coral/Inky; Almond/Spangle/Millennium; Eggbert/Nibbler/Derby; Seamore/Tusk/Waddle; Mooch/Stripes/Kuku; Hippie/Fleece/Scat; Freckles/Hissy/Cheeks; Paul/Puffer/Bernie; Baldy/Canyon/Blackie; Neon/Digger/Echo; Swirly/Goochy/Bubbles; Bessie/Strut/Squealer; Osito/Ringo/Whisper; Slippery/Nanook/Chilly; Lizzy/Stinger/Cubbie; Gracie/Speedy/Quackers; Tiptoe/Kicks/Pecan; Schweetheart/Jabber/Eucalyptus; Stilts/Flutter/Smoochy; Fuzz/Batty/Roam

The "Issued Card"
Inside each "sealed" case of Series III cards is a special "Issued Card" already displayed in a four screw card holder.  Each has a picture of a group of Beanies on both sides. One card has a message that says, "ISSUED: 6-3-95."  This message is repeated on a clear background. The other card has a clear pink background that says, "ISSUED 6-25-94." The following Beanies are pictured on the front of this card: Teddy the old-face Teal bear , Teddy the old-face Cranberry bear, Teddy the old-face Violet bear, Blackie the black bear, Mystic the unicorn, Inky the tan octopus, Happy the gray hippo, Speedy the turtle, Bones the dog, Peking the panda and Web the spider. On the back of the cards are pictures of different Beanies. There is a third "Issued" card that says "ISSUED: 1-7-95" and this one features Jade Teddy, Magenta Teddy, Violet Teddy, Valentino, Tank, and Zip on the front. 

Limited Edition Tear-A-Bear Card
Inside each sealed box of Series III cards, is a card that measures 4" X 6" and says LIMITED EDITION TEAR-A-BEAR CARD. The front of the card will show the newer version of the bear and the back of the card will show the older version in an "old-timey" sepia toned print. When you tear off the top, there is a special limited edition bear card inside that measures the same size as all the rest of the collectors cards. These cards have "Limited Edition" written vertically along the left side of the card and the beanie's name in gold foil. On the back, there is just the poem of the featured beanie bear along with the issue date.