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TY  BEARS
















TY  BEARS



To millions of Beanie Baby collectors, the bears from the 'Ty' range are their favourites.There are around forty different styles and colours of bear which makes them the most popular Beanies the'Ty'company has ever made and the most wanted by Beanie fans.




Of these styles the most prized of all has to be the 'flag' bears as they are mainly exclusive to the countries they represent making them very hard to get hold of unless you happen to live in that country.







There are presently six styles of'flag' bear, most have been exclusive to their particular country, one or two available to all the Beanie collectors in all countries in which they are sold. Once retired these bears seem to quickly rise in value and therefore probably make the best investment in the Beanie world today.






The main attraction to many collectors is the way a bear can be exclusive to a country it represents making these bears top of most fans 'wish' lists and then going to great lengths to obtain these bears and achieving the goals of owning one of these wonderful characters.






Each one has exact detail on the flag and different styles of ribbon around the neck with the exception of Glory.


The flags can either be patches sewn onto the bear with clear nylon or more elaborate embroidery which has been used a couple of times. Here are some details on each of the six bears to aid you if you are looking to purchase a particular bear:




    The UK Bear




The nations very own flag bear, only sold in this country, Britannia was first introduced in January 1998. Unless lucky enough to find this bear for the regular price many stores want you to buy ten or more current Beanies to get a Britannia.


Several design changes have taken place with this bear, first of all, being made in Indonesia sporting an embroidered flag and single red ribbon around the neck, then a patch version appeared but was recalled by'Ty'for bad quality workmanship on the flag and fur (only 500 thought to exist) and finally a Britannia made in China, larger in size with again the embroidered flag.




The first Indonesian 'Brits'are now unofficially retired as all Beanies are currently made in China so this first version is already rising in value. Constant rumours circulate about Britannia retiring altogether, nothing has become official yet but we will keep you posted if we hear anything.




The German Bear
TY  BEARS
Only released in January 1999, Germania is one of the more recent additions to the flag bear family. Now confirmed to be exclusive to Germany only (though theTy web site has it as a European exclusive), this bear has an embroidered German flag on the chest with the thin double ribbons in red and yellow around the neck.The material is the same as Curly's but the same colouring as Fuzz bears.

This is a unique Beanie in which the poem is not in English but German and Germania's birthday isback dated to October 3,

1990, the same day the Berlin wall fell.This bear is believed to have been
released in Germany to help kick start the market for Beanie Babies as they were only recently introduced in that country. In the UK this bear is only at Beanie fairs for sale but as it is quite new to the market, prices are $25  £20



    Glory - The Bear



TY  BEARS
This was the second bear to have been released with an American flag on the chest (the first being Libearty), this bear was celebrating the 4th July or Independence Day in the U.S. Glory was released in June 1998 but only stayed with us for six months before being retired in December 1998 so therefore it had a very short shelf life.




It is different to the other flag

TY  Bears in a few ways, firstly the material is patterned and not plain with unique red and navy stars on each bear, Glory has no ribbon around the neck like the others  finally but most Glory was available to everybody in every country and not just exclusive to American's which was believed to be the case when Glory was first released.




Prices for this retired bear are rising quickly to £25 or more already, if you don't own a Glory get one soon before the prices rocket.





    The American Bear

TY  BEARS

By far the oldest of the six flag bears, Libearty is on the  most collectors wish lists.This bear was released for six months in June 1996 before being retired in December of that year. Beanies were still quite new to the American collector then so it is believed that only 50,000 Libearty's were ever made making this bear a limited edition in many ways. He was made to celebrate the Summer



Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 and is the only Beanie Baby with a 4th generation heart tag not to have a birthday. Libearty has plain white fur, black eyes with a dark brown nose, patch American flag on the chest and double thin ribbons round the neck in red and blue. Part of an American trio  Libearty's prices are $35 £30





The Canadian Bear



TY  BEARS
Maple is the longest running release of all the flag bears first being sold from January 1997 until present. Exclusive* to Canada this bear has always been popular with Beani# collectors the world over finding its way into America over Canada's borders even though there are meant to be restrictions. Maple is plain white with a patch flag which actually says the country above it and has a plain single red ribbon around the neck.


The first 3,000 Maple's were named 'Pride'on the tush tag so these versions are extremely rare and there were also 10,000 Maple's made with a 1997 Special Summer Olympic tag given out to those who attended the Olympics in Canada which now sell for around £300 or more. Maples can be found at our U.K. Beanie Fairs for around £20 but like Britannia it is strongly rumoured that this bear is due to retire soon.




The Mexican Bear



TY  BEARS






The newest and brightest member to the flag bear family, this new Beanie is going to be very popular with all collectors. Osito is the first bear to be bright red in colour (apart from the very limited No.1 bear) and has the Mexican flag proudly sewn onto the chest in a patch variety.The ribbons are similar to Germania's and Libearty's but in white and green instead.


There is still a lot of confusion over where Osito is going to be on sale, as of now they are not on sale in this country in shops but they are coming in from America in large numbers to be on sale at Beanie Fairs in the U.K. They are currently around £25 each but prices may come down more if you wait. Judging by the other mid year releases of flag bears  they have retired in six months so it remains to be seen if Osito will stick around.
 




Hopefully this  TY Bears guide will help you when choosing one of these flag bears for your collection,as you can gather most of these are only available at the Beanie Fairs so go armed with any spare Britannia's you may be lucky enough to own as most dealers will trade them for other flag bears, so you can obtain these 'dream' bears at a lower price, happy hunting!

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