The Teenie Beanies are miniature Beanie Babies that were offered as McDonald's promotions in Happy Meals from 1997-2000.
The Teenie Beanies were most in demand from McDonald's in the first year they were offered (1997), but demand steadily declined in popularity every year thereafter, even though more were produced each time.
During the peak of their popularity, which was in 1998, Teenie Beanies were the cause of many fights at various McDonald's locations, resulting in police calls, criminal charges, and injuries.[1] Among these incidents included a Miami area McDonald's employee, who was charged with the theft of the toys.[2] Though originally acquired through the purchase of a Happy Meal (and for around $2 additional charge for each release of specialty babies from 1999 onwards), they were often sold for much higher prices on the secondary market after the promotion. Some McDonald's locations exhausted their supplies of Teenie Beanies before the promotion was over. Teenie Beanies returned to McDonald's in July 2009, featuring Beanie Babies 2.0, the subseries of Ty Beanie Babies. Consumers could log onto ty.com and play online with their new Teenie Beanie as a marketing decision to raise public awareness and garner interest in the Beanie Babies 2.0 virtual pets. Originally, there was a 30-day trial period for playing with the toys online, but now the company has decided to allow consumers to keep their virtual pets for an undisclosed period of time (albeit indefinite).
An all-new line of Teenie Beanie Boos, a miniaturized version of the popular Beanie Baby spin-off with large eyes, were introduced to McDonald's in July 2014 and late May 2017. Another line, called Teenie Teeny Tys, was released in late March 2019.
The 1997 series included 10 Beanies.[3]
The 1998 series included 12 Beanies.[4]
The 1999 series, which consisted of 16 Beanies released from May 21 to June 3,[5] included four bears, which were known as the International Bears[6] One of those International Bears, Glory the Bear, was also given out (in different packaging from the one sold to customers) as an exclusive Teenie Beanie to McDonald's employees and Ty reps at the end of the promotion.
International Bears:
In 2000, there were 32 different Teenie Beanies produced in all.[7] The first 29 of them came out in the spring, and the final three, which were the Patriotic Trio of 1996, were released in the fall. Unlike in earlier years, the 2000 series was divided into several categories. One of those Beanies, Millennium the Bear, was also given out (in different packaging from the one sold to customers) as an exclusive Teenie Beanie to McDonald's employees and Ty reps at the end of the promotion.
Super Stars
Dinosaur Trio:
International Bears:
Legends:
Others:
U.S.A. Trio(released in Fall 2000):
Following a four-year hiatus, a set of Teenie Beanies was introduced in 2004. Unlike the earlier sets, the twelve that came out this time bore no resemblance to any regular Ty Beanie Babies, with the exception of the Ronald McDonald bear which was an exclusive Beanie Baby handed out to those who attended the Worldwide McDonald's Owner/Operator Convention. Rather, each one represented a different McDonald's product or character.
Following a five-year hiatus, the Teenie Beanies 2.0 promotion ran from July 17, 2009 through August 13, 2009. Unlike earlier sets, this release was heavily based on the Beanie Babies 2.0 line, a subseries of the original Beanie Babies that come with online virtual codes much akin to other popular toy product lines such as Webkinz. In addition, there were four Teenie Beanies which represented original Beanie Babies, some teddy bears made specifically for this promotion that do not having a matching Beanie counterpart, and some McDonaldland and McWorld characters including Ronald McDonald and Grimace. The set included 30 styles to celebrate the 30th anniversary since the advent of the Happy Meal.
Some of these toys contain a misprint where instead of saying "30 Years Of Happiness", they will say "15 Years Of Happiness".[8] It is unknown how many were like this, but it is safe to assume a very small amount existed, compared to the total amount produced. Currently only 3 are known to be like this on the internet, though more must have existed.
Following yet another five-year hiatus, the Teenie Beanie Boos were created for the 35th anniversary of the Happy Meal in 2014. They are smaller versions of the large-eyed Beanie Boos. Each is available in two color variations. Their promotion lasted from July 4 to July 31, 2014. The set includes 8 styles:
Teenie Boos returned in 2017 after a three-year hiatus. The promotion lasted from May to June 2017. The set includes 15 styles:
Teeny Tys were released in 2019 for Happy Meal's 40th anniversary. The promotion lasted throughout April 2019. The set includes 12 styles in three color variations:[9]
After another three-year hiatus, Teenie Boos were released in 2021. Their promotion lasted from May to June 2021. The set includes 14 styles:
Pongo, Louie, Kookoo and Ming were released in Singapore from February 16 to March 23, 2022.[10]