BEANIE BABIES BONANZA: COLLECTIBLE CRAZE BIG IN AREA

Beanie Baby hunters rushed inside Ye Ole House to grab up the popular toy.

When Kim Hagler and Kim Scarcella learned that Ye Ole House in downtown Cape Girardeau would sell Beanie Babies, they made their plan.

A plan is a must to snag the elusive beanbag animals, one of the hottest collectibles in years.

They arrived at the store at 8 a.m. to wait in line. Two others arrived before them. And before the doors opened at 9:30, the line had grown to more than 30 people. The 385 Beanies were grabbed up in less than 30 minutes.

Hunting for Beanie Babies has become a daily ritual for the pair. They call at least 10 local merchants who sell Beanie Babies, asking if any have arrived and when they expect the next shipment.

They are looking for Beanie Babies, made by Ty, Inc. Knock-offs and alternative beanbag toys are readily available. But collectors want Beanies.

"They are so soft and cute," said Scarcella, who has lost count of her collection. She has about 90. "I've never collected anything before."

Hagler said her daughter received a Beanie Baby as a gift. They both thought it was cute and decided to look for more. Hagler was hooked and now has about 70.

They aren't alone. Hundreds of local Beanie Baby hunters are on the trail and most are grown-ups.

Judith Anne Lang, owner of Judith Anne's in Cape Girardeau, said she gets 20 to 50 calls a day from those seeking Beanies.

She started a list of people who were interested in Beanie Babies. It covers six legal-sized pieces of paper.

But she found that she doesn't have to call every one when a shipment arrives. "If I call five, 500 will be down here," she said.

Children's Bazaar has carried Beanie Babies for more than a year.

"When it started, we thought they were a really good price," said Michelle McVay. "It happened to be right before Christmas and we thought they would be good for stocking stuffers, or kids could buy them with their allowance."

The Children's Bazaar's list of Beanie collectors topped 400 before the store abandoned the list. The store gets a couple dozen phone calls every day.

"We never know when we're going to get them," McVay said. "We just put them out. Whoever is lucky enough to be here gets them."

Recently a shipment of 3,000 Beanie Babies at Children's Bazaar sold out in a couple days.

From a retailer's perspective, Beanie Babies have been good and bad. Lang said her August, September, October and November orders are still being processed by Ty.

Retailers often don't know when a shipment will arrive or what Beanie Babies will be in the shipment.

That unpredictability has fueled the collectibility, said Laura Younghouse, owner of Ye Ole House.

In addition, the babies have drawn customers to small gift shops who might never have visited.

Dana Bode from Mounds City, Ill., drove 35 miles for a chance to buy Beanie Babies.

Her children, ages 6 and 8, each wanted a specific Beanie Baby for Christmas, Peace Bear and Batty the bat. Both are hard to find.

"I tried to explain that they might not get those Beanies," Bode said. "But my 6-year-old was adamant. He told me Santa can do anything."

So Bode began her search and indeed found both Beanie Babies.

Many people are buying Beanie Babies as Christmas gifts. But will the craze continue after the holidays? Lang predicts it will either die out or a whole new generation of collectors will be born when their first Beanie Baby arrives under the Christmas tree.

Beanie Babies have been around since 1993, but within the last year the collecting craze has caught fire.

The most important tip for collectors is to leave the tags on. Beanie Babies have a paper, heart-shaped tag that tells the animal's name and birthday. It also includes a poem about the animal.

Without the tags, the Beanie Baby's collectible value is zero.

The names are important to collectors, who refer to the pieces in their collection by those names. The giraffe is Twiggs. The frog is Leggs. The yellow duck is Quackers. Collectors are hunting for Batty, not the bat, and Princess, not the violet bear.

The company periodically retires styles and introduces new ones.

Beanie Babies usually cost around $5, but some retailers are marking up the price, especially for highly collectible ones.

On the secondary market, prices are headed sky-high. Price guides show costs over $100 for many styles. A few reach $1,000. Yes, someone will pay $1,000 for a beanbag animal.

Hagler has never paid more than $6 for a Beanie Baby, but she would have been tempted to pay $10 for Gobbles, the new turkey as she entered Ye Ole House with the other shoppers. However, all the turkeys were snatched up before she could lay her hands on one. So her hunt continues.