Top 10 Insane Facts About the Creator of Beanie Babies – Listverse
Beanie babies are iconic. Even after the craze in the mid-1990s, these little cuddly toys are still considered rare and perfect children's toys.
But how much do you know about the company that makes them? What about the man who invented them? He turns out to be quite an eccentric guy. So here are the top 10 crazy facts about Ty Warner, the father of Beanie Babies.
Related: 10 toys that prove your grandparents were from a tougher generation
10 Creating the 'perfect cat'
After leaving college, Warner lived the good life in Italy for three years. While he took advantage of the sun and made new friends, Warner claimed it was a “more enjoyable lifestyle” than that of most Americans.
This time in Italy proved fruitful, as it was where he came across a plush cat toy, which inspired him to “come back and do something no one has done: make a good cat.”
These cats started out as life-sized stuffed animals with PVC pellets inside, making the limbs 'movable' and lifelike. It wasn't until a few months later that the first small version of the toy was introduced at the 1993 World Toy Fair in New York City – and history was made.[1]
9 School dropout
Okay, maybe this one isn't necessarily “insane.” But it's another example of how sometimes the most successful people in the world don't get that degree.
After attending military school for high school, Warner spent the summer working “menial jobs” to save enough money for higher education. In 1962 he began classes at Kalamazoo College, but unfortunately had to leave after just one year due to tuition prices.
This setback was actually a blessing in disguise, as Warner's first job out of college was as a salesman for Dakin Toy Company. From here you can see where it's going.[2]
8 Intentional scarcity marketing plan
Have you ever wondered why, of all the toys in the world, Beanie Babies made it big? Selling out across the country, driving collectors crazy, and even racking up thousands of dollars in eBay bids to this day?
You can thank the maker himself for that. From the very beginning, Warner Beanie Babies only sold in small stores and refused to supply them in large quantities to chains. Additionally, only certain Beanie Babies were produced at any one time. That means if you wanted a Cubbie the Bear, you had to buy it while they were still making it. And who knows how long that could be?
Warner was also very specific about his standards, personally inspecting each Beanie Baby for years before sending it out to the public to ensure it was perfect. [3]
7 A weird familial dating pattern
Due to Warner's extreme privacy, not much is known about his childhood, but the basic facts remain. Warner's father, Hal, was a toy salesman. He gave Warner a job at Dakin when he dropped out of college and his interest in toys began.
According to sources in Zac Bissonnette's novel The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusions and the Dark Side of CuteAfter his parents divorced, Warner became angry with his father. In retaliation, he began to “seduce” and date several of his father's girlfriends.
Keep it in the family, I guess.[4]
6 Holding hotels “hostage”.
With investments in properties across the country, Warner attempted to gain ownership in 2000 by purchasing Four Season Hotels in New York and Santa Barbara, California.
Everything was going well until the COVID-19 pandemic, which understandably temporarily closed the hotel. Staff had to be laid off, benefits were withheld and employees eagerly awaited a reopening date.
Three years later they still don't have one. Some former employees believe Warner is purposefully delaying its reopening to “avoid millions of dollars in unpaid wages and severance payments.” In August 2022, a group of employees sued Warner in federal court.[5]
5 A historic children's home
Warner was born and raised in the Chicago area, a part of the Midwest rich in homes designed by the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright's prairie-style houses, sharp angles, and use of the surrounding landscape make his homes beautiful, architecturally important, coveted, and of course, expensive.
Warner's house in the suburb of La Grange was designed by Wright, a fact that only seemed significant in adulthood. As he goes on trial for tax evasion, Warner's lawyers try to gain sympathy from the jury by portraying his upbringing as impoverished, “humble” and “almost Dickensian.”
Of course, anyone who knows how much a Wright original costs today (or even at that time) knows that although Warner had a difficult childhood, he probably did not lack material goods. It is clearly visible at the Peter Goan House.[6]
4 To retire or not to retire!
No one is taking away America's toys.
After nearly six years of Beanie Baby craze, Warner made a strange decision: call it quits.
In 1999, Warner announced that all Beanie Babies would be retired by 2000. No one knew for sure if there would be any new Beanie Babies, but the announcement certainly drove up the price of all remaining Beanie Babies.
Suddenly the company released a poll asking the public if they wished Beanie Babies were still made. It cost 50 cents to vote. Unsurprisingly, the majority voted to keep the toys in production. It should also come as no surprise that America was not happy about being essentially tricked into paying Warner's company for what was likely a bogus pension.
Some think this was all a ploy by Warner to make some extra money. Still, all proceeds were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Whether this was the original plan or a last-minute move by Warner to avoid criticism is unknown. However, he quit Beanie Babies in 2000.[7]
3 Those iconic poems
When the Beanie Babies company itself was just a baby of a company, its twelfth employee, Lina Trivedi, came up with an idea that would change the course of stuffed animal history.
She pointed out that the cards on the Beanie Babies were quite boring and suggested giving each toy its own name and a little poem. After showing Warner a sample poem, he was so impressed that he asked her to write another. And then another. And then another.
Suddenly, Lina was in charge of designing and writing every poem for the first 136 Beanie Babies. At that time, just 19 years old, Trivedi is perhaps the reason for Beanie Babies' success. Not only for the poems, which made each toy unique and increased sales, but also for creating and running the first-ever business-to-consumer website, which she got the idea for when she saw classmates' growing interest in internet during the middle of the year. – The nineties.
By 2023, The Beanie Bubble was released, a film based on the history of the famous toy. In it, the women from Warner's life are seen as the most responsible for the company's success. When interviewed about the film's accuracy, Warner claimed that “Lina was a part-time employee. The film greatly exaggerates her role.”
In response, Lina claimed, “The [poems] after I got sucked I left.[8]
2 Hat inspired by an ex
Ty Warner's dating history is interesting. Even though he has never been married and has no children, Warner has been fairly public about his romantic escapades. Although that's probably because two of his surviving girlfriends worked for him.
Patricia Roche was Warner's girlfriend when he started the company and eventually headed the company's British division. Although Warner had help naming most of the Beanie Babies, he did name one after Roche: “Patti the Platypus.”
But eventually Patricia decided she was done with Warner's eccentric ways and ended the relationship.[9]
Knowing that she is now his ex gives new meaning to the poem attached to the Beanie Baby: “Ran into Patti one day while walking / Believe me, she wouldn't stop talking / Listened and listened to her words / That would explain her extra long beak!”
Ouch!
1 From hat madness to tax evasion
In 2013, Warner was charged with tax evasion for evading nearly $5.6 million in federal taxes by underreporting his own income and (like some sort of cartoon villain) saving money in a secret account at a Swiss bank.
He faced a maximum of five years in prison, but was only given 500 hours of community service and a $100,000 fine. The leniency is likely due to his known support and donations to charities such as the Red Cross and the Princess Diana Memorial Fund. He even received the Children's Champion Award from the Children's Hunger Fund in 2006 for his philanthropic efforts.
Warner broke down in tears as he pleaded guilty, saying he felt “shame and shame.” One reporter described him as “sounding like a child being forced to confess to driving the family car without permission.” Britain Daily email called him “a crybaby.”[10]