From: bretwiersbe@mindspring.com   
      
   I'm probably posting to a small audience, but it's been awhile since   
   I've lurked on ACBB.  This place is a ghost town!  Well, here's some   
   news that might get people going.  McDonald's is celebrating the 25th   
   anniversary of the Happy Meal.  Toy surprises that once started as some   
   very basic McDonaldland toys has grown into huge corporate partnerships   
   with Mattel, Disney, Furbies, and of course Ty.  The 1997 Teenie Beanie   
   promotion was the biggest and most successful Happy Meal promotion in   
   history.  Good sources claim that McDonald's will have some special   
   Teenie Beanies later this summer to celebrate 25 years of the Happy   
   Meal.  I must confess, I'm kind of excited.  Although the regular line   
   of Beanies have significantly declined in popularity, I've always felt   
   that Teenie Beanies were one of Ty's best ideas.   
      
   So who still collects?  I still buy a few.  I just recently bought   
   Piñata the Mexican bear.  I found the one with the "flag" nose (those   
   are about 1:12) but not too hard to find.  I expect an American Bear   
   similar in "flag fabric" soon.  Other than that, the new releases have   
   been pretty dull.  Have you seen the Circus Beanies?  Another failed   
   attempt similar to the Chinese Zodiacs.  I haven't seen much on the Ty   
   Store worth buying.  Besides, when there are only 1 or 2 available at a   
   time, it's not worth paying Ty's outrageous shipping costs.  Oh, and   
   he's still wasting fabric on Buddies.  Why he never made the really old   
   Beanies like Trap the Mouse, Web the Spider, and Kiwi the Toucan into   
   Beanies is beyond me.   
      
   All my best,   
      
   ~ ~ Bret ~ ~   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)