May 1-31, 2003
www.doodlespage.com
May 1-31, 2003
www.doodlespage.com
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Friday
- May 30
... New 'Ask Ty' Q & A
A new 'Ask Ty' question and answer has been posted on Ty's
website.
Q: I
am a member of the Beanie Baby of the Month Club. What is the June, 2003
Beanie going to be? If you can't tell me, can you tell me when the
announcement is going to be made? (submitted by beekneeman)
A: You know I can't just tell you and spoil the surprise, but how
is this for a hint - June's Beanie of the Month can be found in the
Virunga Volcano region in the highlands of eastern Zaire. Here's one
more hint . . . watch for a Newsflash very early next week !
Click here to visit 'Ask Ty'
And just what could the answer mean? .......
What's to be found in the Virunga Volcano region? With a little
research, and a couple of hints from our readers, perhaps Ty is
referring to the mountain gorilla.
There are fewer than 650 mountain
gorillas left in the world. They live only in the mountain rainforests
of central Africa, about 320 in the Virunga Volcano conservation area on
the borders of Rwanda, Congo and Uganda, and another 300 just 25 miles
away in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. .... They are
threatened by poaching, loss of habitat, human disease and war.
Click
here to read more
... Red, White, or Royal Blue Decade?
So what's the chance of finding a red, white or royal blue
'Decade' Beanie at your local retailer? Diane, a Ty
Retailer, writes: "... We can't order Decade by color ...
you don't have a choice ..." Currently, as you know, only the light blue Decade
has retired.
Thursday
- May 29
... Ty Beanie Baby Giveaway
7:45 pm EST
TREE-SA' AT THE NEW CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM
"Tree-sa" is sure to be one of the favorite exhibits at the
new Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, MN. (PRNewsFoto)[AG]
GRAND RAPIDS, MI USA 05/29/2003
GRAND
RAPIDS, Minn., May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Children's Discovery Museum (CDM),
one of the nations only children's museums serving a rural area,
celebrates the opening of their new $2.2 million, 15,000 square foot
facility June 7-8. CDM is excited to expand and enhance their exhibits
that range from the local environment to dinosaurs from around the
globe. CDM is one of over 400 children's museums across the
country and one of only three in Minnesota. What sets CDM apart is that
it is one of the only children's museums in the nation to serve a rural
area in a community of less than 8,000 people, making it a model for
future small town museums across the country. .... Opening weekend the
exhibits and new facility will take center stage! Guests will be offered
guided tours throughout the museum (admission $5/person, children 1 and
under are free) and complimentary snacks and refreshments will be
served. Families will also have an opportunity to purchase a "buy
one get one free" family membership on Saturday and Sunday only.
The opening weekend celebration is scheduled from 10A.M.-5P.M. on
Saturday, June 7th and from Noon-5P.M. on Sunday, June 8th. The
first 200 children to the open house (100 each day) will receive a free
beanie baby from Ty Inc.
Click here to read the complete article
... Ty Retailer Ordering Parameters for June
Ms. Janie shares the following:
According to the Ty Retailers website, here are the ordering parameters
for June:
Click here to view the parameters
... Royal Blue 'Decade' Beanie
Thanks to all our readers ... and Ms. Janie, who have pointed
out to us that 'Decade' (royal blue) is now listed in the current Beanie
Baby listing on Ty's site.
Click
here to view Ty's Beanie Baby list
... Ty Newsflash - New Releases for June
Ty has announced the new releases for next month:
Beanie Babies
July Birthday Bear
Sherbet Bear (3 colors)
Muddy (Dog)
Lumberjack (Beaver)
Fancy (Cat)
Colosso (Mammoth)
Beanie Buddies
Sherbet Bear (2 colors)
Soar (Eagle) (USA Exclusive)
Teanie Beanie Boppers
Sailor Sam
Private Pete
Classic
Glitz (Yellow Cat)
Glamour (Pink Cat)
Disco (Blue Dog)
Click here to view
the announcement
... Ty Newsflash - Retirements
Ty has today retired the following Beanie Babies
today:
March
Smitten
Dublin
Dippy
Click
here to view the retirement announcement
...
Thanks to Joseph, Christine, Helen, and Jo for passing along the
news. As one reader also mentioned ... "Wonder what is going
on with the June 'Beanie Baby of the Month'?" Perhaps we
shall soon see!
Wednesday - May 28
... Disney Exploring Sale of Disney Stores
8:30 pm EST ...
Wednesday May 28, 2003
Disney Exploring Sale of Disney Stores
The Walt Disney Company recently announced that it’s exploring a range
of options for The Disney Store, Inc., including the possible sale of
stores in North America and Europe.
“The Walt Disney Company is a global licensing leader committed to the
growth of this business,” said Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney
Consumer Products. “We successfully extended this licensing strategy
with the recent sale of the Disney Stores in Japan, and believe this is
an attractive option for the Disney Stores in North America and Europe
as well.”
As The Walt Disney Company prepares for the potential sale of the
stores, Peter Whitford, president of the chain, announced his
resignation. Mooney will oversee the day-to-day operation of the
business on an interim basis. .......
The chain has been reduced from 522 stores in North America to 387
currently, with a total of 548 worldwide. The process of reducing the
number of stores in North America will likely accelerate as a result of
preparing the chain for possible sale. The company continues to assess
the performance of each store, as well as expiring lease agreements, and
will make decisions based upon those factors.
The Disney Store chain in Japan was sold to Oriental Land Co., Ltd.,
operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort, in 2001.
Click here to read the article
... 'Muddy' Beanie Pictures
Are you interested in taking a peek at a 'Muddy' Beanie
Baby? 'Muddy' is a new chocolate lab Ty Beanie. Although not
officially announced by Ty yet, expect to find it at a retailer near you
soon. Leah from Leahland.com has
shared photos with us, including hang tag info, which can be viewed at
the link below.
Birthday: June 26, 2002
I just love swimming in the pool
And rolling in the dirt is cool.
Whether I'm a mess or squeaky clean
I'm the happiest dog you've ever seen!
Click here to view the photos
... 'Hero' Australia 'Sold Out'
The 'Hero' (Australia) Beanie, introduced yesterday and offered
only through Ty Store, has retired today. Now THAT was quick!
Click
here to visit Ty Store
... Thanks to Steven, Joseph, Helen, and
Christine for sharing this news with us
Tuesday - May 27
... Ty Newsflash - New 'Hero' Beanie
Ty has announced the Ty Store
Exclusive 'Hero' (Australia) today. (It will be interesting to see
if the flag is on the left arm as shown on the announcement and in Ty
Store. The UK and USA versions have the flag on the right arm.)
Click here to view the announcement
Monday
- May 26
... 'Beanies
For Baghdad'
As you may recall, Beanie Mom provided information earlier on a program
called 'Beanies For Baghdad'. She has now given us an update from
Major Jim Barker, who is currently in Iraq. He is working on
getting some much needed school supplies, and is also handing out Beanie
Babies donated by collectors. To learn more about the program,
click on the link below.
Click here to visit Beanie Mom's site
... 'Thank You Bear' Raffle
Interested in a chance to own a Ty 'Thank You'
Bear? Jodi is conducting another raffle, through Lisa's site
(Planet Beans) ... an authenticated 'museum quality' Thank You Bear
(grand prize); 'Mom-e 2003' and 'Dad-e 2003' (2nd prize); and M.C.
Beanie II (3rd prize). Check out the link below to see how you can
participate.
Click
here for more info on the 'Thank You' Bear raffle
... Finally?
For almost a week now, our host server has been experiencing
problems much more involved than first anticipated. Hopefully,
everything is up and running now, and all the bugs have been
eliminated. All we can say is ... thank you for your
patience. (Ours was starting to run thin!)
Sunday - May 25
... Ty Website Down
The Ty website
is down this evening. Michelle from the UK writes ... "Are
they getting ready to announce something?"
With the ups and
downs of our site's server over the last few days, we wonder if perhaps it's simply a
repair / maintenance problem. There have been similar problems
throughout the internet.
Both have been typical reasons in
the past ... guess we shall see. (The Ty site does work
occasionally - just keep trying.)
Saturday - May 24
... New
Ty Products?
It's about time for Ty to retire some products ... and release new
June products. Many rumors are circulating on what new products
may be coming our way. Ms. Janie reports on a few 'rumors', some
of which we have heard as well. She reports:
The rumor mill
is spinning out of control. In anticipation of new releases I have
received the following list of rumored products to be released.
PLEASE view this as a rumor until Ty officially releases them.
Click
here to view the list
Thursday - May 22
... BBOC
Website
The following note is posted on the main page of the Beanie Babies
Official Club website:
Welcome
back to the Beanie Babies Official Club website, the only official
source for news and information for BBOC members.
2003 marks a very special year for Beanie Babies, it's their 10 year
anniversary!
We're planning a very special offer for this very special occasion.
Check back often….you don't want to miss out.
Click here to visit the BBOC website
The BBOC Store reads:
"B.B.O.C.
Special Project Meeting in session"
... New 'Ask Ty' Q & A
A new 'Ask Ty' question and answer has been posted on Ty's
site.
Q: Ty products
are so personable with poems, birthdays, and stories (Boppers) that we
can enjoy and sometimes identify with . . . How did you come up with the
idea of poems, birthdays, and stories? (submitted by song bird)
A: The poems, birthdays, and Bopper personalities were all designed
with children in mind. Beanie Babies were made to sit in the palm of a
child's hand, soft and cute. Birthdays are important to children and the
poems engage them to read. The Bopper personalities inspire thought and
creative play. And, to all the adults out there . . . . I'm glad you're
like me, kids at heart!
Click here to visit 'Ask Ty'
... Website Update
Although we
are still experiencing minor problems with our website, we have been
assured that our host server is working day and night to resolve the
problem. It appears to be a random problem now, however many ISP's
are still affected. Our host server reports the following:
"We
have learned that the Denial of Service (DOS) attack aimed at our
systems since Tuesday, May 20, was not isolated to our network, but is a
widespread DOS attack affecting a large number of Internet Service
Providers (ISPs). Rest assured that the appropriate authorities have
been notified and are working to identify the source of the attack. ...
You will likely notice increased slowness in your website and email
performance. Our engineering and systems administration teams continue
working to resolve this problem, and we will keep you updated as the
situation changes. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience and
appreciate your patience."
Wednesday - May 21
... 'Hero' Beanie Variation
One of our readers, 'Will', writes of seeing a 'Hero' variation
today. Several comments have also been posted on the Ty
Cyberboard:
Click
here to view the Cyberboard messages
Update: One of Ms. Janie's readers reports of finding a 'backward flag' 'Hero'
Beanie. She has posted a picture on her site, which can be viewed
at the following link:
Click
here to view the photo
... Ty Newsflash - Retirement
Ty has retired the Liberty Beanie Buddy today. When you
click on the picture in the retirement newsflash, it shows the 'blue'
version. However, all three (red, white, and blue) are now listed
in the retirement list on Ty's site.
Click here to view the announcement
Click
here to view the Beanie Buddy list on Ty's site
... We're Back
As you may know, our server was down for maintenance on Tuesday
and the site was inaccessible. The mail server was down as
well. If you sent an email and it has been returned to you, or is
still unanswered, please resend it and I will respond asap.
Hopefully,
all is up and running normally again. Thank you for your patience.
Tuesday - May 20
... Ty Warner - Flip Flops on eBay
The flip flops that Ty Warner personally decorated for Hospice
(see Saturday's news below) are now listed on an eBay auction.
This items is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Click
the below link for more info.
Click
here to view the eBay auction
Monday - May 19
... Did You Notice?
10:00 pm EST ... Ty has placed (Blue) Decade among the retired
Beanie Babies today.
... Thanks to Will
for pointing it out.
(We also noticed both 'versions' of 
Bear are also listed on the current list of Beanies.
Interesting! Will there be other versions? We shall see.)
Click
here to view Ty's Beanie Baby lists
Saturday - May 17
... Ty
Warner - And Hospice Donation
Added note to yesterday's news:
Ty Warner has donated a pair of flip flops to be
auctioned off as a fundraiser to support Hospice of Santa Barbara
programs. Hospice of Santa Barbara invited celebrities, local
personalities, and members of the community to utilize "flip
flops" as a canvas as works of art.
Click here to visit the 'Hospice of Santa Barbara'
website
Thanks to Ms.
Janie for sharing the news
Friday - May 16
... Exhibit and Silent Auction:
May 2003
Over 300 celebrity-designed will be mounted and displayed for public
viewing in downtown Santa Barbara for two weeks in May 2003 in the midst
of the Memorial Day holiday. All viewers will be able to bid for these
creative treasures on silent auction sheets displayed with each mounted
pair. On the last day of the exhibit, the public is invited, free of
charge, to participate in the excitement of final bidding for these
coveted celebrity flip-flops.
Promotional materials about Hospice of Santa Barbara, the Project, and
its sponsors, as well as Project memorabilia will also be offered at the
site.
Swept Off Your Feet raffle tickets for a coveted item will also be sold
community-wide throughout May.
Click all the way through page 3, enjoy!
http://www.hospiceofsantabarbara.org/steppin_out.htm
...
Information shared by Ms
Janie
... Ty's Bear
A
reader reports to Ms
Janie of
two different versions of the
Bear, specifically in regards to the 'peace' symbol on this
Beanie. To view a comparison photo, click on the link below.
Click
here to view the photo
... Chubbley
Bears - Into Liquidation
...
Ty Warner Posting on the Ty
Cyberboard ... Cherish
UpdateThursday - May 15
... New 'Ask Ty' Q & A ... A Beanie Movie?
A new 'Ask Ty' question and answer has been posted.
Wednesday - May 14
... Ty Newflash - Retirement
Ty has
retired the Ty Store Exclusive 'Dad-e' today, just two days after it's
introduction.
... Ty
'Beanies & More' - Magazine ReviewTuesday - May 13
... Rye By Post Says Goodbye to Beanies
Rye By Post, a large UK secondary market dealer, has announced
that they will no longer be selling Beanie Babies/Buddies (and other
plush items). Ken Smith Ltd. Inc. is taking over. However,
Rye By Post will continue in the market of film cells, gold discs, and
other items. You can read the announcement on their website at the
link below.
Click
here to view the announcement
... Cherish Auction Update
Monday - May 12
... Ty
Newsflash - 'Dad-e' Announced
Click here to view the announcement
Sat-Sun - May 10-11
... Have a Happy Mother's Day
Did you know? ... Mother's Day
was officially declared as the second Sunday in May by
Congress on May 8, 1914. If you interested in more about
Mother's Day ... the history behind this special day,
cards, crafts, music, poems and inspiration, and more ...
here are a couple of links you may want to check out.
Enjoy - and have a wonderful day! :)
Click
here for Mother's Day info
Click
here for more
... Asia Pacific (Flag) Bears
Back in December of 2001,
'Sakurako' of Bottega
Beanies (Tokyo) sent us
pictures of the different versions of the 'Jinglepup'
Beanie Baby. Since that time, we have been visiting the
site almost on a daily basis. If you can't read Japanese
text, you can still enjoy the photos. There's Ty, HRC,
Pooh ... and more. Check out all those Asia (flag) Bears.
And there's a nice comparison of the previous Asia
Pacific Flower Bears versus the Flag Bears as well.
Nicely done, Sakurako. Thanks for
sharing.
Friday - May 9
... USA Exclusives
Sandra writes:
Hi Doodle ... Did you know Ty has listed
the new May introductions - Beanie Babies 'Red'; 'Red, White
& Blue', and Beanie Buddy 'Liberty' - as USA
Exclusives today ??? Guess that's good for those
wanting to trade with collectors in other
countries. Although I hadn't heard of these new
products showing up elsewhere, wonder why Ty didn't
mention it until now? I saw all three of these at
my local retailer yesterday. Maybe I can convince
my husband to let me buy them now.
<smile> TTY soon. Sandra
Thanks for passing along the info,
Sandra. Many collectors in the U.S. have been
hoping for a new Exclusive. Good luck to all who
wish to add these to your collection.
Click here to view Ty's Beanie Baby list
Click
here to view Ty's Beanie Buddy list
... Asia-Pacific Beanies - Photos and More
Ms. Janie has posted photos of the new Asia Pacific
(flag) Beanie Babies. Shown also is the hang tag
information for these bears ... quite interesting
and worth taking a look at.
Click here to view photos and hang tag info
Thursday - May 8
... New 'Ask Ty' Q & A
A new 'Ask
Ty' question and answer has been
posted:
Q:
Hey Ty! Since you're doing a Beanie for the Cubs, are you
going to do any for other baseball teams? (submitted by
Mrs. White)
A: I think you could be in for a
real treat at the ball park this summer ! And for those
of you wondering if I like bananas . . . they're ok.
Click
here to visit 'Ask Ty'
Wednesday - May 7
... Ty Store Change
Ty Store has posted a new graphic on the
site, which reads ... "Happy Mother's Day - Look for
Mother™ at your favorite Ty retailer. Click here for
retailer locater
... Celebrity-Signed CHERISH Auctions
Sue writes with the following information,
updating the auctions' latest news:
The second set of CHERISH a Celebrity
Signed George Chubbley auctions closed this evening with
an amazing total of £652.38 for 10 items! Top seller was
the oddity George which has the 2001 logo on the wrong
paw. This went for £197.66! There will be some delighted
high bidders tonight, I am sure. It is wonderful to see
that some people have bid on and won more than one
auction. How special to have a little piece of English
history of one's own and even more special to have a
collection!
The George Chubbley Bears do look good for display - they
each come in a case with a gold background to set them
off nicely. Rest assured that each is quite unique in
that each celebrity has only signed one of each of these
special limited edition tags.
£62 of this week's total (from the sale of the Sir Bobby
Charlton signed George) will be going to the Bobby Moore
Fund for Cancer Research UK, which raises funds
specifically for research into the prevention and cure of
bowel cancer.
The way things are going CHERISH looks set to achieve the
goal of £3000 in total from all of the fundraising
events centred around George Chubbley Bear (with some
help from a few of his Chubbley friends!)
Thank you so much for your interest and support. Keep an
eye on this week's auctions...there is a DOUBLE LOGO
George Oddity for sale this week as well as a whole host
of wonderful English celebrities' signed Georges.
Click here to see this week's auctions.
Best wishes,
Sue Owen
Click below for news of:
CHERISH - collect for life 2003
Tuesday - May 6
... Red Decade
One of our readers, 'Will' writes:
...
Red Decade is shipping in mixed bags with White Decade.
12/12
(Hmmm ... if
that's the case with most retailers, looks like the red
version may be a bit more difficult to find, at least for
now anyway, being the newer Bear. Or does that mean we
have a 50/50 chance of finding both?
Monday - May 5
... Beanie Aerobics
Sue writes:
Some Beanie trivia for you...on
closer inspection of Bloom, she has no beans in her arms
- just wadding - presumably the weight of the beans would
pull her paws too low and she wouldn't hold her flower at
the right angle. A lot of work in this bear - she
has a nose stitched from pink thread, the flower she
holds has a piece of green knotted satin ribbon forming
its centre and petals are made of coloured felt. On the
reverse of the flower is a bow made from the same green
ribbon.To allow me take a photo of the reverse of the
flower Bloom kindly did some beanie aerobics...
Sue
Thanks
for sharing your photos, Sue!
... 'Dusty'
Photos
Ms. Janie has posted
photos of the Dusty Beanie Baby, given away at the
Chicago Cubs' home game yesterday..
Click
here to view the photos
... May Ty Releases Photos
Beanieholics shares the following info, with
photos, from Marilyn:
Liberty bears are all over the
place today...red is the easiest to find. Blue is the
hardest. Found all the little beanies except that Red Pot
Bellied was already gone as it's shipping 3 out of a bag
of 12 Reds. ~Marilyn
Click
here to view the photos
... The news has been posted a little later
than usual ... thanks to the once-again daily
thunderstorms we have incurred. Let's just hope the
sporadic power outages are over with, as more storms are
expected throughout the week.
Sunday - May 4
... "Sunday a Fun Day for Bakers"
05/04/2003 3:34 PM ET
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
CHICAGO
-- Never mind guiding a team to the World Series or
winning the Manager of the Year award three times. As far
as Dusty Baker's wife is concerned, her husband has
finally made it. He has a Beanie Baby named after him.
The bright blue plush bears were handed out to the first
10,000 children attending Sunday's Chicago Cubs game
against the Colorado Rockies. The toy is unique -- it's
the first time Ty Inc. produced a Beanie Baby exclusively
for a professional sports franchise bearing an official
team logo.
Click
here to read the entire article
... 'Dusty' Giveaway at Chicago / Colorado
Game
12:05 am EST ... Today is the day the 'Dusty'
Beanie Baby will be given away at the Chicago Cubs
Baseball game. The Cubs play against The Colorado
Rockies (1:20 pm CDT at Wrigley Field). This
Exclusive Beanie Baby (with Cubs logo) will be
issued to the first 10,000 fans, 13 years old and younger
- with commemorative card included.
Click here to view the Cubs promo schedule
12:10 pm - Update ... Ty
has announced this Bear on the website.
Click
here to view the introduction announcement
8:10
pm - Update ... Ty has announced the retirement of
Dusty.
Click
here to view the retirement announcement
(Thanks to Ms. Janie for
sharing the news of the retirement)
Saturday - May 3
... 'Hero' British Version
The BeanWatcher site has posted pictures of the British
'Hero' Beanie Baby. There is also a comparison
picture of both the US and British 'versions'. This
bear was found in the UK ... hopefully everyone will be
able to soon locate both of these wonderful bears.
Click here to visit the BeanWatcher site
... Planet
Beans Contest
Lisa writes: "Can you please let your
readers know about a contest I'm running at Planet Beans
for the month of May? The contest prizes are Peace 2 and
a gorgeous hand knitted sweater from Sue Owen that she
made special for this contest "World Peace
2003". Thank you! :o ~Lisa"
Click
here for contest details
Friday - May 2
... Style Numbers
4:45 pm EST ... Martin has shared the following
style numbers for the new 'AP Flag Beanie Babies':
4626 Aussiebear
4627 Kiwiana
4628 Ai
4629 Coreana
4630 Singabear
4631 Wirabear
... Thanks for sharing,
Martin!
... 'British Hero' Bear
Ms. Janie reports the following:
From the Ty Retailer Page
We are currently sold out of the British Hero.
Thank you.
05/02/03
billyboy in n y state
I
would imagine retailers are only unable to order this
Bear momentarily. As she says, 'don't panic'.
Thursday - May 1
... Ty's May Wallpaper / Calendar
Ty has announced the May Wallpaper / Calendar
today ... this time, a Mother's Day theme.
Click here to view and download wallpaper