TEENIE BEANIES: DOLLS SELL FAST DURING PROMOTION

Teenie Beanie Babies made a brief but eventful appearance in Southeast Missouri.

"There was a greater demand for these beautiful Beanie Babies than we expected," said Jerry Davis, owner of McDonald's franchises in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Sikeston and Charleston. "It got crazy."

In Jackson, the police were on hand for traffic control.

At some Cape Girardeau locations, the babies were gone within two days. By Sunday, they had sold out in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

On Monday a few remained in Sikeston and Charleston, but sellouts were expected at those restaurants by the end of the day.

A dozen Ty Teenie Beanie Baby designs were available. The first few sold out within hours.

The Teenies are miniatures of the regular-sized Beanies, complete with red Ty heart tags. The fact that eight of the 12 are miniatures of retired Beanies made them all the more popular.

Last year the five-week McDonald's Happy Meal promotion lasted only two weeks in Southeast Missouri, and this year's promotion was scheduled to last two weeks.

Over the weekend, Beanie Baby collectors made the rounds from one McDonald's restaurant to the next. Others waited in parking lots and lobbies for the next little critter to be sold.

"These people had cell phones and called their friends whenever a new one came out," Davis said. "It was like a swarm of locust."

At one point as many as 150 Beanie Baby collectors jammed the Jackson McDonald's lobby. Diners couldn't reach the counter to order meals.

McDonald's had installed answering machines to handle calls about the Beanies. Answering machines were averaging 300 to 400 calls an hour over the weekend.

"We had so many calls the answering machine burned up," Davis said.

The craze wasn't limited to Southeast Missouri. Davis said similar reports have been coming in from around the country.

If you didn't get the Teenie Beanie Babies this time around, don't despair: Teenie Beanies probably will make a third appearance at the same time next year.

Or, if you are determined to get one, mint-condition sets in packages were selling for as much as $85 on the Internet Tuesday morning.

Individual Teenies were also for sale. Doby, the first Teenie in the set, was selling for as much as $13.50. Inch, the fourth in the series, was selling for $4.25.

At McDonald's, one Teenie Baby came with a $1.99 Happy Meal.

In 1997, McDonald's sold 100 million Teenie Beanies. A complete set of 10 in a package sold for between $200 and $250. Prices fluctuated daily.

Claire Lafoon, a counselor at the Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau, said the Beanie Baby craze is an example of good marketing.

"Marketers are right on target when they call something a collection," she said. "You think you have to get them all."

In addition, the frenzy is fueled by claims that supplies are limited. The Teenies were limited; 240 million were made.

And perhaps, she said, scouring the city for Beanie Babies is an indication that people have nothing more troubling to worry about. On the other hand, maybe people are thinking about Beanies instead of their troubles.

"Of course, you have got to admit they are cute," Lafoon said. "And in a world of high-tech gizmos, this is something simple. That has a certain appeal."