CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: BEANIE BABIES RETURN TO MCDONALD'S FOR THIRD GO-ROUND

They're back. Ty Teenie Beanie Babies returned last week to McDonald's restaurants. New installments will be released Wednesday and Friday.

Teenies have been the most successful Happy Meal promotion in McDonald's history, and the restaurant expects no less the third time around.

If you want to learn more about Teenies or full-sized Beanies, there are lots of sites on the Internet.

Joni: We might as well start at the horse's mouth. To learn about Teenie Beanies, let's go to McDonald's.

www.mcdonalds.com

Peggy: I think there is something to the fast food toy wars.

Joni: I admit it. The toy sometimes motors us to one restaurant or another.

Peggy: When Beanies are in town, we're all eating Happy Meals.

Joni: I've got to tell you, my kids play with them. These are babies to their full-sized Beanies.

Peggy: You can see pictures of all 12 Teenie Beanies on the McDonald's page, find out when they were born and look at the toy from four different angles. That may be more attention than I've ever given the toys.

Joni: You can also keep track of when the different Teenies are being released. You can also find some vague information about International Bears that go on sale June 4. McDonald's and Ty will donate at least $4 million to Ronald McDonald House charities.

Peggy: I guess I'll learn more about that later. If you want to reminisce about the Teenie Beanies from 1997 and 1998, those are still on the Web site, including all the pictures. Which is your favorite?

Joni: Oh, I think Spunky the cocker spaniel is my favorite. He has fuzzy ears. Freckles the leopard is my 3-year-old's favorite, maybe because she has freckles.

Peggy: Here's something different. McDonald's has a trip planner that will show a driving route and all the McDonald's restaurants along the way.

Joni: Lots of other Beanie sites offer more information. Let's head to the official Ty Web site at

www.ty.com

Peggy: To give you some idea of how popular Beanie Babies have been, Ty has received 2.7 billion visits to the Web site. You can learn a lot about Beanies, but one of the new things on the site is Ty Talk Cyberboard.

Joni: It's broken up into four different areas where people can talk about anything they like, including Beanies.

Peggy: It appears to be popular. Ty Warner, who reads the boards, said they got more than 30,000 messages in one week.

Joni: There are four areas: The Daily Tymes for news and rumors; Bright Ideas for ideas and criticism; Grins and Gripes; and Mixed Bag.

Peggy: If you give them an idea, you forever grant rights to your idea to Ty.

Joni: What I like is that this is Beanie fans talking, not trying to buy and sell. They are talking about something they like.

Peggy: Hmm. Here is a place for new Beanie animal suggestions. Someone suggests a muskrat. Here's a 'possum or a catfish or a peacock. I could go for a peacock.

Joni: The Ty site also has games you might enjoy if you're a member of the Collector's Club. You have to join up first.

Peggy: You can see a list of all the current Beanies and their birthdays, including the new ones. And you can look at the extensive list of retired Beanies. Another good site for Beanie Baby information is Beanie Mom.

www.beaniemom.com

Joni: It's a good place to learn about surprise retirements, news and happenings regarding Beanies. If you wanted to see the first glimpse of the Teenie Beanies, this would have been a good place to go.

Peggy: The site also has information about Beanie accessories and other stuffed animals, but probably the most popular feature is the pricing guide.

Joni: Each week, the site posts prices for retired Beanies and last week's price. The retired Beanies range from $10 to $12,000. That's right $12,000 for the first bear.

Peggy: Prices go up and down on these Beanies, kind of like the stock market. For some, Beanies are an investment. But it's not always about money. A new group is collecting Beanie Babies over the Internet to give away.

www.expage.com/page/ourbeanieangels

Joni: Beanie Angels are a group of Beanie Baby fans who think everyone should have a beanie to hug. They recently collected 100 Beanies for Preemies. They are currently collecting 200 Beanies to be given to patients at four children's hospitals.

Peggy: Beanies have garnered worldwide fame. A United Kingdom Web site is dedicated to the little critters.

www.lemonlaineydesign.com

Joni: Lemon Lainey features photographs of hundreds of Beanie Babies, even some of the hard-to-find ones. They also offer online auctions.

Peggy: Currently, the site is auctioning a series of Beanies autographed by famous people like Tony Blair and the Spice Girls. The auction is a fund raiser for a guide dog association.

Joni: Of course, the mother of all auction sites is eBay. On Monday afternoon, there were more than 20,000 Beanie Babies up for auction.

www.ebay.com

Peggy: Ebay is a good way to learn which of the babies may be valuable and which would be OK to give to the kids to play with. It's also another way to find people who are interested in the little bean bags.

Joni: Ebay also have an "Express Yourself" area for Beanie fans to write about their favorite Beanies. The list goes on and on.

Peggy: What's your favorite Beanie Baby site? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams and Peggy Scott are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.