Beanie Babies’ Future to be Decided by Vote

At first, Ty Inc. made a cryptic announcement that it would “retire” its Beanie Babies on New Year’s Eve. A few months later, Ty made it official: It would stop making the toys altogether. Now, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company’s owner, Ty Warner, said he’ll let consumers and collectors decide. Beginning at 3 a.m. PST on Friday, Beanie Baby collectors and others can cast ballots on the official Ty Web site (https://www.ty.com)--for 50 cents a pop. Analysts and collectors disagree on whether Warner ever truly intended to retire the Beanies, but most agree that Warner is a marketing genius. “It’s the spirit of P.T. Barnum still alive,” said toy analyst Chris Byrne, referring to the shameless circus promoter. “How do you milk even more publicity out of a 4-inch stuffed toy?” Warner has expanded his factories and has several trademark applications pending for names such as E Babies, Bean E Buddy and Bean E Baby, leading many analysts to believe that he planned to continue Beanie Babies in some form.