Page 2 / News, Trends, Gossip and Stuff To Do : Here and Now : Oh, Baby, No More Beanies? Say It Ain’t So
When the cruel winds of fortune came to visit Wednesday morning, 4-year-old Allie Sugano spoke for a generation. “Why?” asked the San Clemente youngster. “Why?”
Allie, like thousands of young Beanie Baby collectors across Southern California, had just been told the unthinkable--no more beanbag creatures will be made after New Year’s.
Ty Inc., which has manufactured the widely popular toys since 1993, would provide no answer. After mysteriously posting the announcement Tuesday on the Internet, the Illinois-based firm has refused to comment.
“It’s like, ‘Sorry, Santa Claus isn’t coming this year,’ ” said Laurie Smith of San Clemente, whose three children collect Beanie Babies. “Well, it won’t be quite that bad, but they are going to be bummed.”
Some parents, who bonded with their kids in the collection craze, are having trouble with the news too. Allie’s mom, Kelly, has more than 1,000 Babies.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Kelly Sugano, who recently special-ordered 500 Beanie Babies with the name of their family’s restaurant, “Taka-O,” emblazoned on them.
Call it cynicism, or maybe denial, but not everybody was buying the alleged bad news. Internet chat rooms were awash in rumors about some Beanie Babies, which originally sold for $4, now fetching $1,000.
As “s2teddybear” said: “Don’t listen to that stupid rumor . . . I think they’re just gonna make more and retire the old ones.”
Some local merchants agreed. Meredith Miller, who sometimes had 100 or more collectors outside her South Pasadena store, thinks it’s a marketing ploy.
“It looks like to me they are trying to spawn sales through the end of the year,” said Miller, owner of the Fair Oaks Pharmacy & Soda Fountain. “The sales have started to slow down, and it’s probably time for them to try something new.”
But not everybody was upset.
“I’m relieved,” said Amanda Goodrich of Temple City, whose 13-year-old daughter has 150 Beanie Babies. “It means the whole hunt, the whole obsession, is finally coming to an end.”
*
MARKETING PLOY?
Toy industry is wondering if Ty Inc. is really pulling out of the business. C1
