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
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.
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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,
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
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| 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.
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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
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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
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| 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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