<P> Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed animals (a.k.a. plush toys) created by Ty Warner, the man who founded Ty Inc. (named in November 1991). The toys are unique because each toy is stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing (PVC and PE), giving Beanie Babies a more flexible feel . In a rare interview, the publicity - averse Warner said, "The whole idea was it looked real because it moved ." </P> <P> During the later half of the 1990s, the toy emerged as a major fad, and were collected not only as toys but also as a financial investment due to the high resale value of some Beanie Babies . </P> <P> Nine original Beanie Babies were launched in 1993: Legs the Frog, Squealer the Pig, Spot the Dog, Flash the Orca, Splash the Whale, Chocolate the Moose, Patti the Platypus, Brownie the Bear (later renamed "Cubbie"), and Pinchers the Lobster (with some tag errors with "Punchers"). They were not in factory production until 1994 . Sales were slow at first to the point that by 1995 many retailers refused to buy the products in the bundles Ty offered them while others outright refused to buy them in any form . The popularity soon grew however, first starting locally in Chicago before growing into a national craze in the USA . </P> <P> In 1996, Ty Inc. released a new product called Teenie Beanies, a miniature offshoot of the original Beanie Babies line . They were sold alongside McDonald's Happy Meals to celebrate that product's 17th anniversary . </P>

When did the first beanie baby come out