The Teenie Beanies are miniature Beanie Babies that were offered as McDonald's promotions in Happy Meals from 1997 to 2000.
The Teenie Beanies were most in demand from McDonald's in the first year they were offered (1997), but demand steadily declined in popularity every year thereafter, even though more were produced each time.
During the peak of their popularity, which was in 1998, Teenie Beanies were the cause of many fights at various McDonald's locations, resulting in police calls, criminal charges, and injuries. [1] Among these incidents included a Miami area McDonald's employee, who was charged with the theft of the toys. [2] Though originally acquired through the purchase of a Happy Meal (and for around $2 additional charge for each release of specialty babies from 1999 onwards), they were often sold for much higher prices on the secondary market after the promotion. Some McDonald's locations exhausted their supplies of Teenie Beanies before the promotion was over. Teenie Beanies returned to McDonald's in July 2009, featuring Beanie Babies 2.0, the subseries of Ty Beanie Babies. Consumers could log onto ty.com and play online with their new Teenie Beanie as a marketing decision to raise public awareness and garner interest in the Beanie Babies 2.0 virtual pets. Originally, there was a 30-day trial period for playing with the toys online, but now the company has decided to allow consumers to keep their virtual pets for an undisclosed period of time (albeit indefinite).
An all-new line of Teenie Beanie Boos, a miniaturized version of the popular Beanie Baby spin-off with large eyes, were introduced to McDonald's in July 2014 and late May 2017. Another line, called Teenie Teeny Tys, was released in late March 2019.
The 1996 series included 10 Beanies. [3]
The 1998 series included 12 Beanies. [4]
The 1999 series, which consisted of 16 Beanies released from May 21 to June 3, [5] included four bears, which were known as the International Bears [6] One of those International Bears, Glory the Bear, was also given out (in different packaging from the one sold to customers) as an exclusive Teenie Beanie to McDonald's employees and Ty reps at the end of the promotion.
International Bears:
In 2000, there were 32 different Teenie Beanies produced in all. [7] The first 29 of them came out in the spring, and the final three, which were the Patriotic Trio of 1996, were released in the fall. Unlike in earlier years, the 2000 series was divided into several categories. One of those Beanies, Millennium the Bear, was also given out (in different packaging from the one sold to customers) as an exclusive Teenie Beanie to McDonald's employees and Ty reps at the end of the promotion.
Super Stars
Dinosaur Trio:
International Bears:
Legends:
Others:
U.S.A. Trio(released in Fall 2000):
Following a four-year hiatus, a set of Teenie Beanies was introduced in 2004. Unlike the earlier sets, the twelve that came out this time bore no resemblance to any regular Ty Beanie Babies, with the exception of the Ronald McDonald bear which was an exclusive Beanie Baby handed out to those who attended the Worldwide McDonald's Owner/Operator Convention. Rather, each one represented a different McDonald's product or character.
Following a five-year hiatus, the Teenie Beanies 2.0 promotion ran from July 17, 2009, through August 13, 2009. Unlike earlier sets, this release was heavily based on the Beanie Babies 2.0 line, a subseries of the original Beanie Babies that come with online virtual codes much akin to other popular toy product lines such as Webkinz. In addition, there were four Teenie Beanies which represented original Beanie Babies, some teddy bears made specifically for this promotion that do not having a matching Beanie counterpart, and some McDonaldland and McWorld characters including Ronald McDonald and Grimace. The set included 30 styles to celebrate the 30th anniversary since the advent of the Happy Meal.
Some of these toys contain a misprint where instead of saying "30 Years Of Happiness", they will say "15 Years Of Happiness". [8] It is unknown how many were like this, but it is safe to assume a very small amount existed, compared to the total amount produced. Currently only 3 are known to be like this on the internet, though more must have existed.
Following yet another five-year hiatus, the Teenie Beanie Boos were created for the 35th anniversary of the Happy Meal in 2014. They are smaller versions of the large-eyed Beanie Boos. Each is available in two color variations. Their promotion lasted from July 4 to July 31, 2014. The set includes 8 styles:
Teenie Boos returned in 2017 after a three-year hiatus. The promotion lasted from May to June 2017. The set includes 15 styles:
Teeny Tys were released in 2019 for Happy Meal's 40th anniversary. The promotion lasted throughout April 2019. The set includes 12 styles in three color variations: [9]
After another three-year hiatus, Teenie Boos were released in 2021. Their promotion lasted from May to June 2021. The set includes 14 styles:
Pongo, Louie, Kookoo and Ming were released in Singapore from February 16 to March 23, 2022. [10]
McDonaldland is a McDonald's media franchise and the fictional fantasy world inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his friends. Starting with the creation of Ronald McDonald in 1963, it is primarily developed and published by McDonald's. Initial attempts to expand the McDonaldland universe by marketing agency Needham, Harper & Steers were seemingly retconned due to legal issues, but ongoing aspects were expanded in McDonald's projects in collaboration with Data East, Virgin Interactive, Treasure, SEGA, and Klasky Csupo.
Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mostly animals.
A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys or cuddly toys. The stuffed toy originated from the Steiff company of Germany in the late 19th century and gained popularity following the creation of the teddy bear in the United States in 1903. At the same time, German toy inventor Richard Steiff designed a similar bear. In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. In 1921, Christopher Robin's stuffed toy, given to him by his father, A. A. Milne, would inspire the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1970s, London-based Hamleys, the world's oldest toy store, bought the rights to Paddington Bear stuffed toys. In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets that were popular as collector's items.
A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy or book is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley face and the McDonald's logo. The packaging and toy are frequently part of a marketing tie-in to an existing television series, film or toyline.
Ty is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to specialty markets worldwide.
H. Ty Warner is an American billionaire toy manufacturer, businessman, and convicted felon. He is the CEO, sole owner and co-founder of Ty Inc. which manufactures and distributes stuffed toys, including Beanie Babies and other lines. He is also the owner of Four Seasons Hotel New York, which he bought with profits earned selling Beanie Babies during a fad in the late 1990s. In 2020, he was No. 359 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, with a net worth of US$2.3 billion.
An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but darker chocolate-flavored and colorful frosted varieties are also sold. Although animal crackers tend to be sweet in flavor like cookies, they are made with a layered dough like crackers and are marketed as crackers and not cookies.
The retirement of a Beanie Baby or a product from any line of Ty Inc., the manufacturer of Beanie Babies and other lines of collectibles, is its withdrawal from production. This has occurred in varying amounts of time following its introduction, depending on Ty's goals for that particular item. Some Beanie Babies have remained in production for several years following their introduction. Others have been retired just days after being introduced. Occasionally, beanies that have been introduced for a single purpose have been retired on the day they have been distributed. More rarely, some beanies have had their production canceled prior to their shipment to retailers, but following their announcement to the public, thereby never becoming available.
Clubby was a Beanie Baby that was available in 1998 exclusively by mail order to those who joined the Beanie Babies Official Club by purchasing a kit. It was followed up in later years by other bears also named "Clubby" followed by a Roman numeral. In all, a total of ten styles of bears, named Clubby, Clubby II, Clubby III, Clubby IV, Clubby V, Clubby VI, Clubby VII and Clubby VIII. In addition, larger sized Beanie Buddies of Clubby, Clubby II, Clubby III, Clubby IV, Clubby V and Clubby VI were produced. A four pack box set of Jingle Beanies containing Clubby, Clubby II, Clubby III and Clubby IV was also released. Although the Clubby bears were not rare, they often proved elusive for people who weren't enrolled in the club, who were forced to search for them on the secondary market or through the Ty Store.
Me to You Bears is the brand name of a collection of teddy bears made by the Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd. They are often found in Clinton Cards. They were first created in 1987 and appeared in their current guise in 1995. A number of products are available related to Tatty Teddy including plush toys, figurines, cards, mugs, and wedding accessories.
Holidays were a common theme of Ty Beanie Babies. For some holidays, a special Beanie Baby has been produced every year.
Beanie Babies 2.0 were a brand of stuffed toys, a spin-off of the popular Beanie Babies line, announced by Ty Inc. on January 2, 2008. The group was introduced following the retirement of all retail Beanie Babies that had been produced prior to 2004.
Pillow Pals were a line of plush toys made by Ty, Inc. during the 1990s. The toys were given their name because they were soft like a pillow, and were made with children in mind. Though many of them resembled certain Beanie Babies, they did not share names with their Beanie Baby counterparts. Such Pillow Pals saw a decline in popularity in the late 1990s with the introduction of Beanie Buddies, which were also larger versions of various Beanie Babies. In January 1999, all Pillow Pals were redesigned, and their colors were changed. This line did not sell well, and was discontinued by Ty around the end of the year. Today, PillowPals LLC takes children's drawings and replicates them into 3D pillows.
Of the many themes and involvements of Beanie Babies produced by Ty, Inc., one of them has been professional sports. Beanies have been used both to represent and promote various sports.
Geographic Beanie Babies refers to Beanie Baby dolls that were made exclusively for retail sale in the country they represented. The collection consists of approximately 50 named dolls representing 10 countries on 4 continents. The dolls can now be found on the secondary market outside their original country.
Wissper is a CGI children's animated television series produced by Made 4 Entertainment (m4e), Telegael and Bastei Media. The first episode premiered in 2014. It is broadcast on UK TV channel Channel 5 on their Milkshake! block.
YooHoo & Friends is a South Korean line of stuffed toys released by Aurora World around July 2006.
Enchantimals is a media franchise-supported toy line launched on July 18, 2017, by American multinational toy company Mattel as a companion to Ever After High and the second spin-off to Monster High. The line consists of human–animal hybrids and their woodland creature pets who live in a fictional setting of Everwilde. The Enchantimals media include a web series, books, and a television special. The franchise development began in late 2015, it was announced in October 2016, and its toys were first released in June 2017.
Lina Trivedi is an American entrepreneur, author, educator and civil servant.
Krool Toys is an American indie game studio founded by Tia Chinai and Stefan Cohen. Some of their clients include McDonald's, Warner Music Group, and SubwayCreatures.