12/30/2023

Ty Error Tags, Beanie Baby Birth Dates, Values, Myths

Ty Error Tags Beanie Baby Birth Dates Values Myths

Many old time collectors are amazed at the asking prices of certain Ty Beanie Babies on eBay.   Most know how it started but what we can’t believe is how many sellers are following the leaders.  Simply put, the beanies we are about to discuss aren’t worth much money at all, aren’t worth authenticating and are not rare at all.  In fact, millions were produced.

#1  The “Error” Tags    ( For more information on the 5th gen error tags please go here : Ty Beanie Baby 5th Generation Swing Tags

We are specifically referring to the tags that have the “ii” and “surface” errors.  YES they ARE errors.  They are errors to the early 5th generation swing tag and MILLIONS were produced.  These tags are NOT rare, they are NOT valuable.  They are VERY common on Peace bears, Blackie, Roary, Curly, Ears, Goldie, Hoppity, Roary, Cubbie, Chocolate and many, many others.  ANY of the early 5th gen swing tags can have this common error.

#2  The birth date is different than the tush tag date.

Very simply put, the tush tag date is the copyright date.  It is different than the birth date.  It does not make it rare.  Ty copyrighted Beanie names quite often.   The company did not always release these beanies immediately following a name copyright.

#3  Another  birth date issue

It does NOT make a beanie rare just because the birthday is written as July 1, 1996 or 7-1-96.  These are different generation or tag variations.   Spelled out July 1, 1996 is a 5th gen swing tag.  Written out in numbers like 7-1-96 is a 4th generation tag.

Note – There are 6 versions of the 4th gen swing tag. Version 6 with the name of the Beanie Baby in ALL CAPS . Some of these are much harder to find and some collectors do pay a SMALL premium for them.  They look just like regular 4th gen swing tags but the name of the beanie is in all caps.

So why are some people asking so much money for them?  The key word is asking. Ty Error Tags Beanie Baby Birth Dates Values Myths.

The Power of Marketing aka Creative Sellers

The vast majority of early Beanie sellers exited the market by about 2010. There are only a handful left of the early sellers.   Some of these sellers stuck around in the background to try to educate buyers or very occasionally dabble in the hobby.  As the originals left, new sellers entered the market.  Some good, some bad and many very ambitious.

A few sellers  began marketing these “error” tags as rare and came up with quite creative stories to support their prices.  Then, they made fake sales.  They posted a listing and had someone purchase it. These sales never went through. They were meant to deceive newer buyers into believing that they were worth that much money.  Other sellers picked up on it and continued the trend.  Before long some of these beanies were being touted in articles on the internet by people who know nothing about them.  We call these articles click bait or fake news.

This article is a work in progress.   Photos and additional information will be added as time permits. Ty Error Tags Beanie Baby Birth Dates Values Myths

Read more on Error Tags, click on the links below:

Key Facts you need to know

Here’s a good article of errors often mentioned that can be applied to many other Beanie babies:
Jake Ty Beanie Baby in the Spotlight

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