The Stuff

What’s in a name? For Ty Warner, creator and owner of Ty Inc.--maker of the absurdly popular Beanie Babies--apparently quite a lot.

Garcia is a tiny bear with a tie-dyed look and the name of the late Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia. The tag offers this poem: “The Beanies used to follow him around/Because Garcia traveled from town to town/He’s pretty popular as you can see/Some even say he’s legendary.”

Whether Jerry Garcia’s family took official notice, no one will say, but Warner has decided to circumvent possible litigation and “retire” the Garcia bear, replacing him with the “Peace Bear.”

The significance of all this is the value in the collectibles market. “Like the rumors flying around stocks, prices will inflate,” says Becky Phillips, co-author of the self-published “Beanie Mania: A Comprehensive Collectors Guide” (1997).

So even before his retirement party in May, the price for Garcia in the huge secondary Beanie Baby market went from its original $5 retail to $100. Because of rumors that a limited edition of the Peace Bears will be manufactured with colored embroidery instead of a new black peace symbol, its price has jumped to $100 as well. Garcia has a long way to go to top the highest priced Beanie: “Peanut the Royal Elephant,” who through a manufacturing error is dark blue instead of light blue. Its price at a Chicago trade show was $2,000.