After their rise to glory in the events leading up to 1996 the Beanie Babies continued their journey to world wide fame from whopping turnover of 250 million USD in 1996. The following year the beanie babies enter the fast food market in a joint venture with McDonalds, where a mini version of the beanies, called Teenie Beanies, are included in Happy Meals as part of the largest promotion of this meal ever.
Restaurants cross the globe are crowded with Beanie Babies fans, trying to get their hands on the teenie beanies. This year is also marked by the launch of the Sports Promo Beanie where ten thousand Cubbie Bear Beanies are given away to kids at a Chicago Cubs game. This year also marks the birth of Brittania, the first beanie created exclusively for the European market, where Germany is also awakening to the little creatures that Ty Warner is now promoting there also.
A second serving of Happy Meals is part of pushing sales in 1998 over the one billion dollar mark. This makes Ty the most succesful toy manufacturer in history. He also gives birth to the first Charity Beanie this year, as Princess a royal purple bear is sold in remembrance of Princess Di and in support for her foundation. A total donation of 10 million dollars is made from these sales.
The two following years several internationally exclusive Beanie Babies are launched, such as Germania in Germany, Sakura in Japan and USA Bear in, well you guessed it, in the USA. On a personal Ty note he buys the tallest hotel in New York City in the year of 1999, called The Four Seasons Hotel. This year is also the famous year when he announces that he will be retiring all Beanie Babies at the end of the year and a special beanie called The End is created. At years end he decides to leave it up to the collectors world wide to decide the faith of the beanies. The vote comes in with a roaring yes to continued creation of new Beanie Babies.
The following year, 2001, sees the birth of several different charity bears, such as Issy that comes in over 60 different versions and a series of bears to raise funds for those affected by the 11th of september events. A charity bear signed by Ty himself is sold on eBay for 24000 USD, money that is then donated to charity.
Kari Eriksson is an infopreneur and takes great interest in the Beanie Babies. He runs his site http://www.beaniebabiesdirectory.com where you can find articles, links and useful resources in regards to Beanie Babies.
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