PRINCESS
RETIRED ON
13 APRIL 1999 !!
The answers to some Frequently Asked Questions
about
P R I N C E S S
- Princess was
announced on 29 October 1997 and appeared in the Beanie Adoption
Centers in December 1997. At that time she wore 2 very slightly different tush tags. One states
"P.V.C. Pellets" and the other has "P.E.Pellets"
on it.
-
- PVC (polyvinyl
chloride [(-C2H3Cl-)x]) is that stuff they make those plastic pipes out of, and
PE is another
thermoplastic resin, Polyethylene [(-CH2CH2-)x].
-
- Both tush tags are ORIGINAL
FIRST ISSUE, NOT a "Version 1" and/or "Version 2" as
some people are advertising on auction and other sites.
- NOBODY else seems
to have mentioned that there ARE two slightly different hues of the green / green on the stem of the white rose, one slightly lighter than the other! WOW! That translates simply into TWO VERSIONS of the first
ISSUE!!
Lighter Hue Stem of 3 different Beanies
Darker Color Stem of 3 different Beanies
- I shall designate the darker color stem of Issue 1 (also
in the 2nd and 3rd Issues??) , seemingly the most common, as VERSION
1.
-
- VERSION 2 is
the First Issue (and 2nd and 3rd??) having the lighter green
tone.
-
- WOW, this is
just as much fun as finding my new subspecies of Ice Age walrus!!
- This scan was sent to me by Beryl from London, Ontario, Canada.
-
- Her PRINCESS is Canadian, made in Indonesia, P.E., FIRST VERSION (due to stem
colour) and FIRST ISSUE. She obtained it around the end of April.
-
- BUT note that the upper left petal
is almost entirely missing
except for a small projection!
-
- Has anyone else found this variation
or is it UNIQUE??
- I also noticed a slight distinction in the "fur"
QUALITY of my
First Issue critters
when trying to photograph the entire Beanie. The digital pics showed
a minute color variation, possibly the result of a differing reflective
/ refractive sheen in the sunlight. A friend said he "felt" a difference by
just holding them in his hand.
-
- Joy, from Fresno,
California, recently told me that she observed this in both her Princess and one of her Rainbows.
She describes them as "softer
and more plush" than the other Beanies.
-
- I also recall reading on another site about someone
finding a "fuzzier" Squealer. I assume that more observations along these lines
will follow.
-
- The dissimilarity could be due to different looms
/ rawstuffs / batches / companies producing the fabric.
BEANIE SCIENCE 101
A Determination of the
Number of Machines Used
to Produce the Embroidered
Pattern on Princess Beanies
Employing a Statistical
Analysis of Standardized Scans
of the Stem and Rose
- RESEARCH TIP FOR THE BEANIE SCIENTIST : Let's
assume that there are several machines at each Cloning Lab which embroider
the rose and stem. Although each "robot" is programmed with the
exact same instructions, the individual sewing apparatus are ALL
slightly dissimilar in some way (in much the same way as a manual typewriter
may be identified by its type differences). This would lead to nuances
in the EXACT size and shape of the rose and
stem. Some leaves might be more angled, curved, thinner or longer than
others. The rose might have a "V"
that is fuller or comes up farther than others.
-
- One would need a fairly large sample of Princess
Beanies to study. 500 individuals would be a good start.
Scan each at the same resolution, using the same scanner, applying pressure
with a standard (= the same; I used a 379g
iron meteorite for my scans) weight to the back of the Beanie so that the flower
is as flat as possible against the scanner. Visually (or by means of some
program which measures the various parameters of the scan) check for any
changes.
-
- The result would be clusters of specimens,
each having similar, particular characteristics. Each would probably identify
an individual sewing machine.
-
- WOW, what a great Beanie Science
Fair Project!!
- The "Second
Issue" is the one having "Handmade in Indonesia" on the
both tags. Apparently it was made for the European and Canadian markets.
-
- This may prove to be the RAREST of them all, excepting the light color stem version, due to the continuing political unrest in Indonesia.
Very little is functioning as it should there and the situation seems to
be getting worse. I predicted these acute social problems
back in February!
- The THIRD ISSUE reported would be the one with a space between the "donated to the"
and "Diana" on the hang tag.
- This particular one is made in China.
- The donation language is the same on all three issues.
-
- "ISSUE"
is not the same thing as "VERSION". A different version would be a change in the Beanie itself,
such as a different color rose or stem, a different color Beanie, or a change in the placement of the rose. In the same way that,
for example, the new "version" Derby has a spot on his head while
the previous versions lack this white marking.
- Beanie Mom got her Princess in December and it had the "P.E." label. Mine does
also!
-
- According to reports said to be from
TY (BUT we all know from experience
that TY is VERY
secretive about any kind of information concerning number or how produced,
how many were actually sold / remain in warehouse, etc.!!! He thus enhances
the rampant hype and constant speculation!), the "P.E." designation was a mistake, NOT a different
"version"!! If we can use some common Beanie "logic", a mistake on a tag, particularly on a tush tag, means that
this Beanie will become MUCH more desirable in the very near future!!
- Since the original Princess Di Foundation contract
with Ty ran out on 31 March 1998, Ty now has the option of paying for the
use of the new Diana Logo, which is her signature in purple, and / or redesign
the tags and / or the Beanie itself.
-
- According to several newspapers, the
Diana Foundation approved the new tag for Princess even though Di's family finds it very
inappropriate!
-
- From Daisy's Diary, Thursday, 14 May 1998,
1:00 pm : <<. You also know all the profits to Ty from the
sale of the Princess Beanie Baby are being donated to the DIANA, PRINCESS
OF WALES MEMORIAL FUND. Well, I just found out that our friends from Ty
will be presenting our donation from the sales of first quarter of the
year, to the fund on Friday, May 15, 1998 at 11:00 a.m. London time at
the Dorchester Hotel, London England. I don't know how much the check was
for, but there sure
- were a LOT of zeros!!>>
BEANIE SCIENCE 102
The Number of Princess
Beanies Sold Calculated
from Ty's Contribution
to the Diana Trust
- Objective : to ascertain the number
of Princess Beanies "sold" in the first quarter of 1998.
- Materials : the amount of Ty's contribution
to the Diana Memorial Fund, a simple calculator
- Perhaps if someone could find out the total
TY contributions per quarter thus far and divide it by the wholesale price
(about $2.50) minus his cost (calculated, in something I read on the WEB,
at about 76 cents) we could, at least theoretically, see how many were
actually sold each quarter to the Official Adoption Agencies!
NEWS
- The following was seen in the Sunday
Times (London / 3 May '98 ) : "Within the next few weeks
Ty, the American toy company, is expected to hand over $7m for its Beany
Bears sold as a licensed product."
- OK, if we consider a rounded $2 / Princess
wholesale "profit", that would suggest that about 3.5 million were "sold"
in the first quarter (WHERE ARE THEY ALL??!!), which probably includes those since its issue in December
1997?? The above article predated the actual contribution, so I still have
to find the actual "real" donation.
-
- By James Lyons ( PA News / 15 MAY 98 ) :
- The Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund, today received a first
£1 million plus payment from a US firm marketing a commemorative
teddy bear. Accepting the two million dollar (about £1.23 million)
cheque on behalf of the Fund, Diana's former butler placed his seal of
approval on the teddy which is set to raise millions for charities formerly
supported by the Princess.
- It seems as if we have a different donation
amount here!! This would reduce the number sold to about 1
million Princess sold.
THE NUMBER IS IN !
- Check # 019827 dated 12 May 1998 was
in the amount of $2,004,850.
- IF they cost about 76 cents to clone and wholesale
for $2.50, producing a "profit" of $1.74 then the number sold
in the first quarter of 1998 is
1,152,213
Princess Beanies
B U T
- IF the actual cost is closer to 50
cents, as some have suggested, then the profit increases but the number
sold decreases to
1,002,425
NEW DONATION
- In November of 1998 another check from TY
was presented to the THE DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
MEMORIAL FUND. This second donation was for a whopping $8,039,513.22, and represents the sales for the 2nd and
3rd quarters of the current year!!
-
- At 50 cents cost = 5,022,182 Princess "sold"
- At 76 cents cost = 5,772,618 Princess "sold"
Princess, the Royal
Tyrian Purple Bear
issued in December 1997 in honor of Diana,
Princess of Wales
- The Royal color of this stunning commemorative bear
is produced by a very distinctive dye which has been used since ancient
times in the Mediterranean area. It was extracted from certain species
of sea snails, and it took literally hundreds of molluscs to color a rather
small length of fabric. During the rein of Nero, cloth of this hue was
reserved solely for the Emperor -- under pain of death!
This is the ORIGINAL December
'97 "P.E." Issue,
made in China, and is now
"OUT OF PRODUCTION"
= RETIRED !
For Adoption Fee Please go to Beanie Gems
