Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman H. Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mostly animals.
Created in 1993, Beanie Babies emerged as a major fad and collectible during the second half of the 1990's. They have been cited as being the world's first Internet sensation in 1995. They were collected not only as toys, but also as a financial investment, due to the high resale value of particular ones.
Beanie Babies are deliberately under-stuffed. This led to a criticism that the toys looked "cheap"; however, this set them apart from most stuffed animals on the market which could not be posed easily. Ty Warner has said that this under-stuffing method made the toys look "real".
Another important design element is the tag. Since the beginning, Beanie Babies have included two tags for identification: a heart-shaped "swing tag" at the top, and a fabric "tush tag" at the bottom. Both tags have been redesigned completely over time. Between 1994 and 1996, the swing tags had "To" and "From" blanks in them for use as gifts. Starting in early 1996, the tags include four-line poems related to the Beanie Baby, and a date of birth for the toy. The poem and birthday concept was created by Lina Trivedi who is credited as authoring the poems on the first 136 Beanie Babies that were introduced to the marketplace.
It was not uncommon for Beanie Babies to be accidentally shipped out with incorrect or misspelled tags, which sometimes increased the toy's value. On occasion, the poems, birth dates and even the names have been changed on certain Beanie Babies.
The 2002 Signature bear is made from a fuzzy brown material flecked with white and has black button eyes and a black button nose. Tied around it’s neck is a red checkered ribbon and on it’s chest is a bright red embroidered heart with Ty’s signature and “2002” stitched in white.
His birthday Unknown
Signature was released on 30/09/2002
Signature was retired on 27/12/2002
No POEM
The 2002 Signature Bear was introduced on 20 September 2002.
The 2002 Signature Bear was the third signature bear to be released.
Like all the Signature Bears, he did not include a birthday or a poem.
He was retired on 27th December 2002.
Type Stuffed Toy
Character Bear
Name Signature
Company Ty Inc.
Founder H. Ty Warner in 1986
Material Synthetic plush, polyvinyl chloride, polyester fiber
Status 1993–present
Tall 21 cm (8'26 inches)