Meanies

Meanies are small stuffed animals made by Topkat LLC, starting in October 1997 and lasting until 2000. A Meanie is a type of bean bag in the form of a stuffed animal toy. Unlike Beanie Babies, the Meanies line is humorous in nature and was made to target an older audience than Beanie Babies, usually by relying on bodily functions and gross-out humor.

This article is about stuffed toys. For the band, see The Meanies. For other uses, see Meanie (disambiguation).
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History

Meanies were first released in October 1997 with a 12-animal run. They were an attempt by the Idea Factory and Topkat LLC to capitalize on the Beanie Babies fad by providing a humorous alternative to collectors and a younger crowd.[1][2] The first line of toys was generally based on bodily functions or gross-out humor, including "Splat the Road Kill Cat", "Fi and Do the Dalmutation" (a mutated two-headed dog) and "Bart" (a flatulent elephant).[1] Key chain versions of nine of the 12 Series 1 Meanies were made available at 7-Eleven stores in 1998. They were small versions of the characters on a small chain with a standard key chain clasp.

Whenever a Meanie ceased production, it was "exterminated" instead of "retired" as the Beanie Babies were.[1]

Infamous Meanies

Infamous Meanies were Meanies that were based on celebrities, such as "Donkeyng" for Don King, "Mike Bison" for Mike Tyson, "Moodonna" for Madonna, "Mick Jaguar" for Mick Jagger, "Dennis Rodmantis" for Dennis Rodman, "Mallard Stern" for Howard Stern and "Bull Clinton" for then-President of the United States Bill Clinton.

Meanies "At Large"

A few of the Meanies were made in larger versions called Meanies "At Large" and were apparently based on Beanie Buddies, the larger version of Beanie Babies.

Special edition Meanies

Some special edition Meanies were given away as unique collectibles at arena events, such as basketball games. They were animal versions of players for the home team, which was either the New Jersey Nets or the Philadelphia 76ers.

Other special edition Meanies were mail-away offers, where collectors could send in tags or proofs of purchase to get a free mystery Meanie in the mail. This was done first with "Fangaroo the Kangaroo" in Series 1, then with "Chubby the Bear" (a parody of Clubby from Beanie Babies) in Series 2 and finally with "Tiger Shark" as a special promotion through various Cap'n Crunch cereals. White's Guide to Collecting Figures (a now-cancelled price guide magazine for random collectibles; mostly toys) ran a special mail-away offer for a special edition Infamous Meanie known as "The Codfather" for The Godfather.

References
  1. Dunne, Claudia (June 1998). "These Beanies Are Mean!". Mary Beth's Beanie World. 1 (#5): 68–69.
  2. "New Meanies could give Beanie Babies competition". The Sun-Herald. 1998-03-01. pp. F6. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
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