Ty's latest announcement obviously caught a lot of collectors
off guard, me included!
When I visited the Ty site and saw the retirement announcement,
I could not believe my eyes. My first thought was why in the world
would he do something like this? I immediately became concerned
because I had not had the opportunity to purchase the holiday
Beanies and I knew that finding them would be more difficult than
ever.
After spending many hours digesting the news, I came to the
following conclusion.
This retirement can be viewed in many ways.
1. In my opinion, Ty is definitely trying to fuel the fire.
2. Were we really caught off guard, or just dumbfounded?
3. Secondary Market
Fueling the fire!
History has proven that Ty's Beanies always experience a slow
down during the holidays. This holiday season was no exception.
With stiff competition offered from different manufactures
and Furby hitting the top of every Christmas list, Ty needed to
fuel the fire. In other words, the market needed to be shaken
up!
Many of you will disagree that a shake-up was needed, but
believe me, not only was it needed - many collectors welcomed
it. Collectors look for and welcome excitement and challenges,
others feel that this retirement will only fuel the secondary
market. I'm hoping that Ty will ship holiday Beanies as he has
done in the past. Last year we all felt the rush to run and find
Snowball and 1997 Teddy, many collectors were successful because
Ty shipped them in abundance. Let's hope history repeats itself!
I have received hundreds of e-mails from collectors who were
mad, confused, happy, and unsure of the final outcome. My reply
to many of them has been as follows:
Were we really caught off guard, or just
dumbfounded?
Ty's announcement should not be too much of a surprise. 1998
Teddy was bound to retire, Zero and Santa were a given. The remainder
of the retirement thus far should probably only affect a very
small percentage of collectors. For those of you who are affected,
don't feel to bad, we have all experienced what you are going
through. Hopefully you will find them before December 31st.
Let's face it. Scoop has been in the lineup for a while; many
expected his retirement. Fetch on the other hand was sort of a
surprise. Fetch has not been around that long and will be missed.
Stinger, although collectable, kind of gave me the willies, Good-bye
Stinger. Valentino will be missed; the bears are everyone's favorite,
but Valentino's retirement has been rumored for over a year. Secondary market
It has already been established that the secondary market
plays a big role in Beanie collecting.
Many collectors would argue that Ty's announcement would only
inspire this market to purchase mass quantities of these retirees.
Don't be too quick to judge! The secondary market is not alone.
Ty has offered new guidelines to retailers and hopefully they
will adhere to those guidelines and follow them to the letter.
If retailers overprice their Ty products, you can guarantee that
Ty will find out. Collectors have not only become educated; they
have also become vocal and do not hesitate to turn dishonest retailers
over to Ty.
Realistically we can not place all the blame on the secondary
market dealers. How many times have you seen Beanie products sold
on message boards, Beanie mailing list and yes, even on the Ty
site? Not all of these posts come from secondary markets; many
of them come from collectors and Ty reps. who are looking to make
a quick buck. I personally know of three individuals who do not
have children, but spend countless hours hunting for products
(which they believe) will be a hot seller. Once the product is
in demand, they raise the price substantially and sell. Who's
right and who's wrong?
All we can do is hope and pray that Ty has tucked enough of
these Beanies away! Children want them, collectors need them and
no set will be complete without them.
I still believe in Ty and their product and will continue
to collect. I will admit that the difficulty in finding Beanies
is getting more challenging as time goes by. I guess that's what
continues to make it exciting.
Some Beanie experts and collectors have changed their views
on collecting. I will remain consistent as I have in the last
2 years by repeating my feelings once again.
If you are expecting Beanies to fund a college education,
you better get a real job NOW! If you collect for the fun, excitement,
challenge and history, you are already a winner! Collect what
you like and be happy knowing you have just been part of the most
exciting two and a half years of Ty history.
