Hobbies And Interests
Generations One to Three
The first generation of Ty Beanie Baby tags were produced in early 1994. The tags are simple in design, showing a red heart-shaped tag and two skinny white letters, "t" and "y." On the back of the tag is copyright information and the name of the Beanie Baby the tag is attached to. The second-generation tag has the same slender "ty" on the front but can be opened much like a book to reveal the information about the Beanie Baby and has a "barcode" printed on the back. From 1995, the third-generation tag looks similar in design but replaces the skinny "ty" logo with a much fuller, thicker "ty."
Generations Four and Five
The year 1998 brought on the fourth generation of tags and a new design to the front of the tag. The newer, thicker "ty" was modified to make way for an "original" stamp. The "y" was drug down toward the bottom of the tag, and a yellow star was placed directly above it. On the yellow star are the words "Original Beanie Baby," which assures purchasers that the product is an original Ty creation. The fifth generation of tags followed directly after the fourth-generation tags in the year 1998 and look identical in design. The only difference is the design of the lettering within the tag, as the Comic Sans font became the design of choice.
Generations Six and Seven
Generation six Ty tags were introduced in 2000 and look similar to the fifth-generation tag, except for a key design change on the front of the tag. The yellow star was replaced with a holographic star, and the words "Original Beanie Baby" disappeared to make way for a large yellow "2000" that spreads across the star itself. This generation also made use of a tag that was specially designed for the 12 Zodiac Beanie Babies that were produced in that year. For that tag, the holographic star and "2000" were replaced by a brownish-colored "Zodiac" lettering. Generation seven tags made a similar change, leaving the holographic star but replacing the word "2000" with the word "Beanies."
Generations 8 to 10
Generation eight was introduced in 2001 and made a minor change to the front of the tag. The holographic star was shrunk to roughly 50 percent of its original size. Arcing the top of the star is the word "Beanie," while the word "Baby" arcs along the bottom. Generation nine is practically identical on first glance, but a closer look will reveal that the word "Baby" was replaced by the word "Babies." The 10th generation made a simple but very noticeable alteration by turning the holographic star into a "stream" of small holographic stars. The stars spread near the top, and the words "Beanie" and "Babies" arc below them.
Generations 11 to 15
Generation 11 marked the 10th year of Ty Beanie Babies and therefore brought on a special hang tag. All 11th generation tags replaced the stream of holographic stars with a large holographic "10." Right next to the "10" is a small holographic star with the word "yrs" within it, signifying the 10th anniversary of the company. Generations 12 through 15 brought only tiny alterations to the front of the tags.
Generation 12 turned the "10" and star into a holographic "original" that hung above the words "Beanie Babies." Below those words is a holographic shooting star-like graphic. Generation 13 dropped the shooting star and placed a holographic star next to the holographic "original." Generation 14 moved the holographic star above the words "Beanie Babies" and turned it yellow. The holographic word "original" was stamped over the yellow star. Generation 15 turned the star white and placed it to the left of the words "Beanie Babies." The holographic "original" was left in the same spot but was defined with a "holographic" underline.