The Rarest & Most Sought After Ty Beanie Babies fall into different groups.
Rarest Ty Beanie Babies. Each group has its own rarest Beanies in it. Sometimes the rarest Beanie Babies are not the most expensive: popularity, appeal, and how intense a collector is as to whether they want the original version, or a later version of the Beanie Baby, can play a part in the price.
1. All 1st Generation swing tag Beanies are extremely hard to find in mint condition. Punchers, Brownie, Cubbie, Fine Mane Mystic, Deep Fuchsia Patti & Blackie are arguably the hardest to find; with a mint 1st gen. Blackie edging out the pack as the hardest to find and a mint 1st gen. Fine Mane Mystic taking 2nd place. The pre 1st gen UK tags are the shining stars in this group and the owners usually spend big bucks to obtain them.
2. Out of the 2nd Generation swing tag Beanies the hardest to find would be any Canadian Beanie with an embroidered tush. Ty made an error when exporting to Canada and put one of the 1994 plush tags on Beanies in error. It was quickly corrected. If you see one of these gems, grab it and run fast! The hardest to find regular release Beanie is 2nd Generation Valentino in mint condition. 2nd Gen Valentino is one of the most underrated Beanies probably because it is found with later generation swing tags. Beanies with 2nd Gen German Korean tags are highly prized by rarity collectors.
3. The 3rd Generation swing tag group would be led by Nana without the Bongo sticker. Another Beanie is the underrated Fine Mane Derby. I know of many dealers who have sold dozens of Royal Blue Peanuts but have only had a handful of Fine Mane Derby. The rarest 3rd Generation swing tag would have to be the German tag. This is the one where the right side of the swing tag is written in italics. This is a specialized swing tag that your rarity collectors go for. It was only distributed in Germany.
4. Out of the Ty employee Beanies the rarest would have to be the Employee Violet Teddy Set and the #1 Bear.
5. Ty also produced some very limited Beanies for clubs, private events, etc. Chef Robuchon, Mitya the 2017 Russia exclusive Toy Fair bear and the 2011 Hong Kong Toy Fair Beanie are the toughest to find out of this group. Another one that we have not seen in a very long time is the San Ysidro Ranch Bently. Another group lurking in the shadows are the Ty products produced for Leo High School in Chicago and Tilden High School in Chicago.
6. Ty has done many commemoratives. Two of the hardest to find would be the Toronto Maple Leafs Chocolate & the Madame Alexander Playdate With Spot.
7. Prototypes. These are some of the Holy Grails of collecting. They were “working ideas” of what eventually evolved into a Beanie Baby. Some are very cool looking !! These were never available to the general public.
Rarest Ty Beanie Babies
Top 12 Rarest Ty Beanie Babies – Retail Release
1. Any Pre 1st Gen UK Tagged Beanie
2. Any Embroidered Tush Canadian Beanie
3. Any 2nd Gen German/Korean tagged Beanie
4. Any 3rd Gen German Tag Beanie (tag on right is in italics)
5. 1st Gen Blackie
6. 1st Gen Fine Mane Mystic
7. 2nd Gen Valentino
8. Tied –1st Gen Brownie & Punchers
9. Nana (especially with no Bongo sticker ever)
Top 10 Most Sought After Ty Beanie Babies – Retail Release
1. Royal Blue Peanut
2. Wingless Quackers
3. Punchers
4. Brownie
5. OF Teddies
6. NF Teddies
7. Humphrey
8. Peking
9. Chilly
10. Spot No Spot
Special Notation : Princess is a very sought after Beanie but it is not rare so we left it out of this group. Princess article here : https://beaniebabiespriceguide.com/ty-beanie-babies-princess-versions/
Top 7 Rarest & Most Sought After Ty Beanie Babies – Non Retail Release – No particular order
1. Chef Robuchon
2. Hong Kong Toy Fair 2010
3. Billionaire 2
4. M.C. Beanie (Brown Nose)
5. Coral Casino
6. #1 Bear
7. Employee Bear (green or red ribbon)
Prototypes
Prototypes are another level of rarity that some collectors treasure. For more details, photos and discussion of these, please visit Rarest Beans
The one thing that collectors need to be sure of is authenticity. The vast majority of rare Beanies were heavily counterfeited. The auction sites do nothing about this. Every day there are fakes sold. When spending a lot of money please protect yourself and use escrow through a reputable authenticator. We suggest True Blue Beans