Bean Bag Plush Toy

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Bean Bag Plush Toy

Bean bag plush toys are not filled with beans. Their soft stuffing consists of small bean-like plastic pellets and polyester fiberfill.

A bean bag plush toy is an soft, stuffed, hand-sized animal toy filled with bean-like plastic pellets and fiberfill (material used for pillow stuffing). The original nine Beanie Babies® created by H. Ty Warner in 1993 started a "fad" that has continued to last and has renewed interest in other bean bag plush toys.

Bean bag ancestors

Bean bags are among the oldest toys and have been made in various shapes and forms. Some have taken on simple geometric shapes, while others are made into animal and doll forms. For centuries, they have been filled with beans, peas, rice, or pebbles.

A cousin to bean bag toys is the rag doll, which has also been around for many years. People have probably made rag dolls for their children since the first fabrics were woven. Like bean bag dolls and animals, they have been toted around by children and brought to bed for comfort and companionship. Rags are the stuffing used in many old dolls with cloth bodies and heads made from china, ceramic, or porcelain.

Bears remain very popular toys in the United States, perhaps because people associate them with the classic teddy bear toy that was created in honor of President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858–1919) in 1903. These stuffed creatures continue to have a sentimental value and have become the most popular bean bag plush toys.

Birth of the Beanie Babies®

H. Ty Warner (1944–) is the genius behind the Beanie Babies®. For eighteen years, Warner worked for Dakin, Inc., a major stuffed toy maker, before forming Ty Inc. in Oakbrook, Illinois, in 1986. He developed Beanie Babies® with the idea of marketing small, cuddly plush toys that children can hold in their hands and that they can afford to buy using their allowance money. He also wanted the toys to be soft and not stiff like the other stuffed animals in the market. Therefore, to make the toys soft and posable, he understuffed them with bean-like plastic pellets and fiberfill.

In November 1993, Warner debuted the first nine Beanie Babies® at the World Toy Fair in New York City. In early 1994, he began selling them in small stores across Illinois. In June 1994, Ty Inc. introduced thirty-six new Beanie Babies®, and soon the hand-sized plush toys had found their way to the southern states. Sales steadily rose as the plush toys attracted not only children but also adults. Before long, Beanie Babies® became collectibles, starting a buying frenzy across the United States. By 1996, over 100 million Beanie Babies® had been sold.

It's all in the marketing

Since the mid-1990s, the Beanie Babies® "fad" has grown. Apart from endearing designs, Ty Inc. employed several clever marketing tactics to increase its sales. Unlike other toys that are mass-produced, varieties of Beanie Babies® have limited production. Once consumers realized a certain number of toys were being "retired" (discontinued) periodically, they would snap up new releases as soon as the products hit the stores.

In 1996, Ty Inc. launched a Web site where, among other things, soon-to-be-retired toys were announced. Collectors would then quickly buy up the potential "retirees," thus creating instant collectibles. By 1997, the company was discontinuing and creating new Beanie Babies® every four to six months. When Ty Inc. announced that it would retire all Beanie Babies® by December 31, 1999, consumers not only protested but went on a buying streak.

As stated before, Beanie Babies® appealed not only to children but also to adults. Adults who shop at specialty stores, such as flower shops and hotel gift shops, became collectors overnight, thus opening up a whole new market. And since the price was reasonable—between $4 and $7—they were more likely to buy several.

Other gimmicks, such as creating "generations" of hang tags and tush tags, further enhanced the toys' appeal, especially to collection hunters. Each toy has two tags. The hang tag, also called a swing tag or a heart tag because of its heart shape, identifies the toy by name and birth date. Those made after 1996 include a poem describing the animal's habits or character. The second tag, called a tush tag, shows the toy contents, the manufacturing location, company trademark and registration.

Corporate America joins the craze

In 1997, McDonald's Corporation added to the Beanie Babies® craze by including miniature versions of existing Beanie Babies® with its Happy Meals. The first Teenie Beanie Babies™ promotion featured ten toys to be released two per week during a five-week period. The promotion lasted just two weeks because the supply of 100 million toys had been exhausted.

Design

Designing a bean bag plush toy begins with a prototype (a standard model) that may take several years to complete. In the case of Beanie Babies®, Ty Warner designs the toys by making several prototypes of the same design. Warner varies the shapes, colors, materials, features, and accessories (additional features) on each prototype, and then asks for friends' and employees' opinions to select the best design. During the design process, changes continue to be made not only to the toy itself but also in its name, tags, and the poem on the hang tag. Even after a toy has been in the market, changes may be made to improve it.

At SWIBCO, another plush toy manufacturer, the Puffkins® Collectibles undergo the same process. These plush toys have rounded shapes; therefore, some types of animals, such as snakes or long-legged birds, are not suited to the design. The design idea may come from employees. (In fact, an employee contest resulted in the Puffkins® name.) Other design ideas may come from children, Puffkins® collectors, or the general public.

SWIBCO's art department creates up to six designs, and the sketches are reviewed by the firm's owners. From the sketches, factory workers produce handmade prototypes, using different fabric and color combinations. The owners may approve the prototypes for manufacture or request new designs. Of the original six designs, four may be manufactured. The two that are not selected may be revised and kept for future use. The art department may review these designs later and get fresh ideas from them.

Raw Materials

Bean bag plush toys are not filled with beans. Their characteristic soft stuffing consists of small bean-like plastic pellets and polyester fiberfill. The plastic pellets are made of either polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE), and are produced by specialty suppliers. The polyester fiberfill is the stuffing commonly used for pillows, comforters, some furniture, and many other products.

The outer fabric of the toy is made of synthetic (artificial) plush. The fabric called plush typically has a soft nap, the term used to describe the short fibers that stick out from the fabric surface to give it a smooth, soft feel.

Manufacturers usually use unique fabrics to distinguish their products from others of almost similar characteristics. For example, SWIBCO uses high-pile fabric for a fluffy, furry appearance. Ty Inc., on the other hand, created its own synthetic fabric called Tylon for use with Beanie Babies®.

The eyes, noses, and other hard plastic features of bean bag plush toys are made by an outside specialty manufacturer. The parts are all childproof, which means that they cannot be easily removed or broken. The eyes are placed onto plastic stems, and the stems are passed through the fabric to be securely attached with fasteners on the fabric back. Some manufacturers use eyes and other features made from felt material. These felt parts may be produced by an outside supplier and then sewn on at the manufacturing factory. Some manufacturers create eyes and noses on the fabric itself by stitching layers of thread by machine to produce the desired look.

Yarn and thread are used for insect antennas and cat whiskers. Large body parts, such as legs, feet, beaks, wings, and ears, are made of plush or other fabric. These body parts are usually stuffed with filling. Ribbons that are used are high-quality, double-sided satin.

Bean bag plush toys generally have one or two tags, or strips of material attached to the finished products. The tags may carry the manufacturer's name, location, and telephone number; toy contents; washing instructions; and the ages of children for whom the toy is intended. For Beanie Babies®, two tags are used. The hang tag is printed on paper and carries the manufacturer's identification and information about the animal character. It is attached to the toy with a plastic strip fastener made of red or white clear plastic. Each fastener is about 0.5 to 0.74 inch (1.3 to 1.9 centimeters) long. The fabric safety tag, also called the tush tag, is attached to the animal's hindquarters. The tush tag shows the contents of the toy, its name, its place of manufacture, and registration and trademark information. To prevent the making of counterfeits (fake products), the tush tag also sports a morphing hologram (a changing three-dimensional image). Ty Inc. periodically changes the design of these tags.

The Manufacturing Process

The large-scale production of bean bag plush toys is done on an assembly line, in which specific parts of the toy are made at different sewing-machine stations, then moved to the end of the line for final assembly and stuffing.

Making the pattern

1 The pattern made from the selected prototype is computer-generated to fit a certain length and width of fabric. The resulting patterns are then laid out on the fabric, making sure that very little fabric is wasted.

Producing the formed animals

2 Cutting dies (molds) are also computer-generated from the pattern information to produce the form for each part of the toy animal. Using the different dies, parts of the toy are stamped out (cut by using high pressure) of multiple layers of plush fabric. Some toy parts may also be hand-cut.

Assembling the face features

3 Each animal's face and body parts with accessory attachments are assembled first. The eyes and nose are fastened into place with a special hand tool. Whiskers, antennas, and other features made of yarn and thread are sewn in place.

Sewing the animal parts

4 At long rows of sewing stations called an assembly line, sewers stitch parts of the toy animal together. Industrial sewing machines, which are powerful machines suited for large-scale production, are used. However, the machine parts are especially made for sewing small pieces of fabric.

The sewing is done on the back sides of two matching fabric pieces. One sewing station may be responsible for sewing just the ears. Another station sews the paws, while still another is responsible for the head. At other stations farther along the assembly line, body parts and the tags are attached to the main body until the whole animal is completely assembled. Manufacturers vary in the placement of the tags on the animal's body. For Beanie Babies®, just the tush tags are attached. Then the animal is turned right-side out.

Stuffing the animal

5 Depending on the manufacturer, fiberfill may be added to certain pieces, such as the legs, before attachment to the body. The plastic pellets and fiberfill are measured before they are machine-stuffed into the animal to ensure a uniform weight and to give the toy an under-stuffed feel. Assemblers also subject the toy to a touch and squeeze test to make sure it will sit on the hand, bend at the legs, and feel cuddly. The last of the filling is stuffed by hand, and the opening in the head or side seam is sewn by hand.

Adding the final accessories and packaging

6 Neck ribbons and other final details are tied in place. At this stage, Beanie Babies® hang tags are clipped on with plastic fasteners. The toys are sent to the packaging department where they are bagged and boxed for shipment.

Quality Control

The sewers and assemblers make sure the toy animals are put together properly and that they are filled with appropriately measured stuffing. Before packaging, the toys are rechecked. When the toys reach the distribution centers in the United States or other parts of the world, they are inspected before they are repackaged for shipment to retail stores.

WHO KNEW WE COULD BE THIS CRAZY?

Beanie Babies® fans and collectors have been known to do wacky things just to get their hands on those bean bag plush toys.

Arguing and wrestling with other adults at the mall to secure their first-in-line positions.
Asking total strangers to buy more Beanie Babies® for them, in exchange for money, after they have bought their limit of toys in a certain store.
Ordering enormous amounts of Happy Meals at a McDonald's restaurant in order to obtain the free Teenie Beanie Babies™ that come with the food.
Following UPS (United Parcel Service) trucks known to deliver Beanie Babies® to certain stores.
Sending along an inventory list of one's child's Beanie Babies® when he/she visits a friend to ensure the child brings home the same number of toys.

The Future

Although some observers predicted that the market for Beanie Babies® and other bean bag plush toys would soon decline, the popularity of these toys continues. Clubs that have been formed by collectors are as active as ever and have various Internet sites with contents ranging from new products to counterfeit reports and helpful tips. Children are not the only ones buying the toys. Adults of all ages, including men, are collecting them. Many are willing to pay several more times the original price of around $4 to $7 to acquire toys that have been retired (no longer manufactured).

Bean bag toy manufacturers have created elaborate Web sites to fuel the bean bag toy craze. Fans can find out about toys that are soon to be released and discontinued, as well as post their questions and complaints. Some fans have even created their own Internet sites to share their experiences with these toys.

Bean bag toy fans claim the demand will last for many more years. Secondary markets (places other than retail stores or wholesale firms, which ordinarily sell the toys), including Internet auction sites, sports card shops, and florists, now carry these toys. People trying to cash in on the fad have written books from any angle they can think of. Some have published monthly magazines, while other have developed software programs targeting collectors. Also joining the many businesses are individuals offering authentication services to help establish that a certain toy is the real thing.

Many products marketed as beanies have flooded the market, including cartoon characters, sports stars, and entertainment figures. A recent concept of bean bag plush toys is taking advantage of children's interest in computers. The four-inch, plush PuterBabies®, who go by such technology names as Byte the dog and Bandwidth the Raccoon, are designed to sit on computer monitors. It seems as if bean bag plush toys will be here for a while.

assembly line:: A line of factory workers and equipment through which a product that is being put together passes from one operation to another until completion.
collectible:: One of a group of a certain object that is sought after by a collector.
fiberfill:: A synthetic material used for stuffing pillows and other products.
pile:: Loops of yarn that form the surface of some fabrics.
polyvinyl chloride (PVC):: A type of plastic that is resistant to moisture and weathering.