Source: Seattle Times

Nation & World : Sunday, December 12, 1999

by The Associated Press

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Disproving skeptics' suspicions that it was a ploy to boost sales, the maker of Beanie Babies says the end really is near: Dec. 31 will be the last day the popular stuffed critters are made.

Oak Brook-based Ty posted a cryptic announcement on its Web site Thursday, saying production will stop Dec. 31 and warehouses will be cleared of surplus.

The company hinted at the move with a similar Web site announcement in August, saying it would "retire" all current Beanie Babies at the end of the year. Many collectors thought it was a ploy to boost beanie prices and were expecting a new line of the toys.

Ty spokeswoman Anne Nickels said she had no idea why the cuddly toys were being discontinued, adding that the decision to stop production was made by the company's owner, Ty Warner.

"We're just as much in the dark here as everybody else," she said.

One factor could be the growing interest in Pokemon cards, said Leonard Tannenbaum, president of Beanienation.com, an Internet auction site for the Beanies.

"Our Pokemon sales have flown, but Beanie sales haven't," Tannenbaum said.

Beanie Babies come in more than 100 animal forms. They all have distinctive heart-shaped Beanie name tags.

Ty began making Beanie Babies in 1993, starting a craze that made the company hundreds of millions of dollars and pushed prices for some of the collectible toys as high as $6,000.