From: joyce@123.net   
      
   Very good analogy!  What I also find interesting is that the *kids* who were   
   the   
   original target for Ty's beanie baby line, are now older teens or young adults   
   (my   
   two youngest kids and there friends were on the ground floor of the   
   development).   
   The marketing strategies that Ty used left such a bad taste in their mouths   
   that   
   neither one of them will ever spend a penny on another Ty product.  I have a   
   feeling if Ty wants to make those big bucks he better do it now.  It's OUR   
   group -   
   the adults - that made him the money and kept him going, probably keeping him   
   going somewhat now.  What will happen when we all hit retirement age and it's   
   that   
   younger original target group that is sitting with the $$$ and power in their   
   hands - along with the bad memories?  You know things have changed when you can   
   buy all the new releases at your local grocery store, and the higher end gift   
   stores no longer carry them.   
      
   Joyce   
      
   On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 06:32:10 -0500, "The Original Gumby Damnit!"   
    wrote:   
      
   >As a toy, Beanies are a good value at $5.00   
   >   
   >During the "Beanie Craze" alot of people made alot of money on   
   >Beanies....including people who added no value to the product (people who   
   >just happened to get their hands on one and paid a reasonable price for it   
   >and decided to bump up the price)  We've all seen these people...they are   
   >vendors at flea markets, they have websites, some of them just had ebay   
   >accounts.  Those people ruined the Beanie market because people were now   
   >having to pay more than suggested retail price for a product whose   
   >"collectibility" is precarious at best.   
   >   
   >It took  a few years, but people eventually realized that there were more   
   >sellers than buyers and that the way Ty manufactured yielded nothing   
   >remotely collectible.  Ty may have produced an average of 80 or more styles   
   >per year...each in quantities of millions....that's hardly collectible.   
   >Soon enough production far exceeded demand.  People who were having a good   
   >time trying to track down a reasonbly priced collectible now found   
   >themselves with too many styles to buy, too many levels of sellers, and just   
   >too much product.   
   >   
   >Ty products continue to be one of the top selling "boutique" toys so the   
   >company can continue to operate...but they are no longer collectible.  It   
   >remains to be seen whether Ty can pull another scam on American consumers   
   >and convince them that they need Beanies.  In the meantime...he'll continue   
   >to try lame attempts at duplicating Beanie success ( Kids, Boppers, Punkies,   
   >Pluffies, Buddies, etc)  All of this while former collectors sit with tubs   
   >full o beanies that they don't know what to do with.   
   >   
   >It was a fad...the fad is now over.   
   >   
   >"John Llort"  wrote in message   
   >news:buvhv2$m3ujf$1@ID-155262.news.uni-berlin.de...   
   >> I remember hearing about people spending 400-1000 dollars on mass produced   
   >> made in china/taiwan stuffed animals. What did you guys do and how is the   
   >> market?   
   >>   
   >>   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)