The Differences in Ty Beanie Baby Tags

Early 1990s

• The first generation of Beanie Babies appeared in late 1993/early 1994 and have a single two-sided tag. On the front of the heart-shaped tag is the Ty logo and on the back is the style number. The second generation of Beanie Babies appeared in spring 1994 and have tags that open like books. The third generation, introduced in 1995, continues to have an open-book tag; however, the third-generation Ty logo appears in a more bubbly and fatter font compared to the skinnier first and second-generation Ty logos. There are four different versions of third-generation tags.

Mid-to-Late 1990s

• In 1996, the fourth-generation Ty tag appeared that was similar in size and shape to the third-generation tag. The fourth generation, however, has a yellow star with the words "Beanie Original Baby" on the front of the tag. There are six versions of fourth-generation tags. Fifth-generation tags from 1998 are similar to the previous tag generations except the tag font is different. In 2000, Ty introduced the sixth generation of tags, and instead of a yellow star on the tag, the star is holographic. Ty printed "2000" across the holographic star to commemorate the year.

Early 2000s

• Seventh-generation Beanie tags are only on Beanie Babies from Europe. On these tags, the word "Beanies" appears across a holographic star on the front of the tag. Eighth-generation Beanie tags are from 2001, and the main difference on these tags is that the words "Beanie Baby" surround a small holographic star. Ninth-generation tags emerged in 2001. The major difference on these tags is the change from "Beanie Baby" to "Beanie Babies" on the front of the tag. On 10th generation tags, five small stars are added above the words "Beanie Babies."

Mid-2000s

• Eleventh generation Beanie tags appeared in 2003 with a "10 Yrs" slogan printed on the front of the tag. This slogan marked the 10th anniversary of Beanie Babies. In 2004, the 12th generation tags removed the "10 Years" slogan and replaced the star design with a comet. The American, Canadian and U.K. Beanies all received new tags in 2004. The 13th generation tag has the return of a holographic star on the front of the tag. The 14th generation tag has a yellow star that appears in the center of the word "Original" on the front of the tag. On the 15th generation tag, the star changes color to white and moves next to the words "Beanie Babies" on the front of the tag.

Later 2000s

• The main difference on the 16th generation tag is the addition of a second star to the front of the tag. On these tags, the words "Original Beanie Babies" are between two stars. Seventeenth generation tags add a third star, but this time, the three stars are clustered together on the side of the words "Original Beanie Babies." The three stars move to a higher position below the word "Original" on the 18th generation tag.