Beanie Babies were invented in Illinois, 1994, by Ty Warner. They can be described as small, under stuffed animals affordably priced, with cute names kids love.

Warner started out making regular stuffed animals then hatched the idea to slightly understuff the animals to make them less stiff and more lifelike.

The first Beanie Babies were referred to as ‘The Original Nine’ by collectors. It consisted of Spot the dog, Squealer the pig, Patti the platypus, Cubbie the bear, Chocolate the moose, Pinchers the lobster, Splash the killer whale, Legs the frog and Flash the dolphin.

What made these animals so special was that Warner was keen on the animals to be a toy that children could buy with pocket money, under $5. With that, the Beanie Babies were born and currently there are more than 300 designs of Beanies on the market.
Since then Warner is a generous philanthropist, with donations of $6 million to the Andre Agassi Foundation for underprivileged children in Las Vegas and the gift of 10000 Beanie Babies for children in Iraq.