I have a beanie baby CORAL the fish with a 4th gen hang tag anybody know the value of it?

Question

I have a beanie baby CORAL the fish with a 4th gen hang tag anybody know the value of it?

Answer 1

COMPLETE TY BEANIE HISTORY

Ty Warner is the World Famous creator of Beanie Babies, Beanie Buddies, Pillow Pals and Attic Treasures.

As a young man Warner attended St. John's Military Academy in Wisconsin. He was very active in sports and received high marks in academics.

After graduating from the Military Academy, Warner attended Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where he studied drama.

After graduating from Kalamazoo, Warner tried his hand at different occupations, none, which appealed to him.

Warner finally found his niche and landed a job with the Dakin Company as a sales representative. In his 18 year stay he became familiar with the product lines and the business. He used his education and smart business sense to become the best he could be.

After leaving the Dakin Company Warner took a hiatus to experience life and refocus on what direction he would choose next.

Ty designed plush styles only to be sold to small gift stores. Warner's first designed Plush piece would be a Himalayan cat.

In late 1993 Ty would introduce the original nine Beanie Babies at a Gift Show. They included the following styles.

Chocolate the moose

Cubbie the bear

Flash the dolphin

Legs the frog

Patti the platypus

Pinchers the lobster

Splash the whale

Spot the dog

Squealer the pig

These Beanies would be released with a first generation tag. These Beanies would go on to be his signature for quality and reasonably priced toys in the market place.

Beanie Babies first debuted in stores in 1994 and would take a while before their popularity would catch on.

Generation # 1 TAG

This tag is a single heart tag, which does not open. The heart on the tag is red in color trimmed with a fine gold foil. The back of the tag displays the Beanies name and style number, there is no poem on the first generation tags. The ty letters are slim lines in style.

(Not chunky letters like with future generation tags). The tush tag is black and white and has the year 1993 on it.

Mid 1994 - Early 1995 Ty would release a 2nd generation tag.

Generation # 2 TAG

Ty releases their first double heart tag. This tag was used from late 1994 to mid 1995.

This tag is perfect for gift giving. The tag includes a To and From space, which can be filled in by the giver. The front appearance of the tag remains the same as the first generation tags. The tush tag ink is black with the year 1993 but no Beanie names appears on the tush tag.

In 1995 Warner would spark interest in his Beanie Baby line by introducing newer styles to include Peanut the Royal Blue Elephant.

The Ty Company would now be incorporated and launch to levels unforeseen.

Mid 1995 - Early 1996 Ty would release the 3rd generation tag.

Generation # 3 TAG

The third generation tag was used from mid 1995 to early 1996. The front appearance of the tag changes slightly. Ty is (ty) in a chunkier font. The tag is a double fold tag and now includes the locations of Ty's offices in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The tag also contains the title "Beanie Babies Collection". The tush tag date has been changed to read 1995 and now displays a small red heart. The tush tag lettering is now in red ink. There is no Beanie name on the tush tag.

June 1996

Ty's first official retirement.

Bumble, Rex, Flutter, Bronty and Caw.

Ty would release the 4th generation hangtag in early 1996 - late 1997

Generation # 4 TAG

The forth generation tush tag was used from early 1996 to fall of 1997. The front of the tag has changed considerable. The gold star, with the words Beanie Baby original make their appearance. The font style on (ty) on the tag remains the same, while the (y) on the tag appears to be lower than on the other generation tags. The ty letters are no longer outlined in gold. The To and From on the tag have now been replaced by a Beanie poem. The Beanies also have birthdays. Ty displays their website address www.ty.com The tush tag have undergone a major change. The color of the tag has changed to white with red print and also displays a red star, the tush tag also includes the Beanies name.

January 1997

Ty retirees for the second time.

Say goodbye to the following popular Beanies.

Libearty the bear, Lefty the donkey, Righty the elephant, Tusk the walrus, Sting the stingray, Chops the lamb, Tabasco the bull, Coral the fish and Kiwi the toucan.

Welcome the following new Beanies.

Fleece the lamb, Crunch the shark, Pouch the kangaroo, Mel the koala, Nuts the squirrel, Floppity the lavender Bunny, Hoppity the pink bunny, Hippity the mint bunny, Doby the Doberman, Bernie the St. Bernard, Snip the Siamese cat, Gracie the swan and Snort the bull.

February & March 1997

Ty's January retirement has sparked worldwide interest in their Beanie Babies. Retailers' phones all over the country are ringing off the hook. Collectors are desperately trying to locate recent retirees.

April 1997

Ty and McDonalds team up for the largest promotion McDonalds has ever seen. Teenie Beanies have been released. The promotion began on April 11, l997. 100 million Teenie Beanie were made. The following ten miniature animals were made.

Patti the platypus, Pinky the flamingo, Chops the lamb, Chocolate the moose, Goldie the goldfish, Speedy the turtle, Seamore the seal, Snort the bull, Quacks the duck and Lizz the lizard.

May 1997

Mother's Day offered a special announcement from Ty, Inc.

The following Beanies bid a farewell.

Bubbles, Digger, Flash, Garcia, Manny, Radar, Sparky and Splash.

The following new releases are now being offered.

Roary the lion, Doodle the rooster, Baldy the eagle, Blizzard the snow tiger, Jolly the walrus, Nanook the husky, Tuffy the terrier, Dotty the dalmation, Pugsly the pug, Chip the cat, Claude the cat, Peace the bear, Echo the dolphin and Waves the whale.

June 1997

Maple - U.S. Customs problems still continue. Ty has had to request customs to watch for fakes. Fake Maples showing up with incorrect printing on tush tag or no tush tag at all. Maple continues to be hard to locate in Canada.

July 1997

Ty has established a hotline number for collectors. Let your fingers be your guide. Dial 1-888-628-6111, provide your zip code and you will receive five locations in your area that carry Beanie Babies.

Claude starts showing up in stores with a new look. Claudes first tag was as follows:

Claude style 4083 - New Look - CLAUDE style 4083

August 1997

The UPS Strike in August of 1997 posed difficult situations for Ty and collectors. UPS was Ty's primary shipper.

Doodle's name has been changed to Strut.

Ty's Attic Collectibles are gaining attention. The cute large and smaller Attic Collectibles are finally being noticed as a true collectible.

September 1997

Collectors are anticipating a Ty retirement.

Beanie World Magazine hits the market.

The Ty nursery and diary are very active. Blizzard leaves hints about up coming retirement.

September 30, 1997 The Big Announcement. Ty has another retirement and new releases of Beanies.

We said goodbye to the following Beanies:

Teddy, Speedy, Seamore, Hoot, Legs, Flip, Bessie, Tank, Ally, Spot and Velvet.

New releases are as follows:

Spinner the spider, Batty the bat, Gobbles the turkey, Snowball the snowman and 1997 Teddy the holiday bear.

Ty would introduce the 5th generation hangtag in late 1997

Generation # 5 TAG

The fifth generation tag was released in the fall of 1997 The tag has a change. The birth dates are now written out and are no longer in numeric form.

October 1997

Ty's Big announcement is over, but maybe not! Hints are being dropped about another surprise. Batty the bat is up to something. Batty keeps referring to a big secret. Collectors are anticipating a special Beanie.

Ty surprised the Beanie community by releasing Princess. Princess is a beautiful purple Beanie made to honor of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales.

Website owners ban together to protect Princess from the secondary market. Website owners are not allowing Princess to be sold on their page auction boards or trading post.

Many worthwhile charities are being supported by Ty and collectors with the use of Beanies.

November 1997

The secondary market is gaining popularity.

Talk and rumors are being generated about a possible December retirement.

Collectors and retailers are awaiting the arrival of Princess in stores.

Rumors of Red Pinky.

Princess is already pre-selling on the Internet!

December 1997

Princess announcement in Ty's dairy. Princess is having a News Year's Eve Party and indicates that new friends will be attending.

Rumors run wild as everyone tries to guess who the new Beanies can be.

Rainbow, Peach and Iggy are some of the anticipated releases.

Counterfeit Grunts found at O'Hare Airport.

12-31-97 Ty masterminds a great News Year's Eve Party!

We once again said goodbye to Beanies and welcomed new releases.

The new Beanies now entering the line-up are as follows:

Bruno the terrier, Hissy the snake, Iggy the Iguanna, Pounce the cat, Prance the cat, Puffer the Puffin, Rainbow the chameleon, Smoochy the frog, Spunky the cocker spaniel, Stretch the ostrich and Britannia the bear.

Ty's Britannia is a UK exclusive.

Retired New Year's Eve Beanies are as follows:

Bucky the beaver, Lizzy the lizard, Magic the dragon, Spooky the ghost, Cubbie the bear, Goldie the goldfish, Snowball the snowman, 1997 Teddy and Nip the cat.

January 1998

Ty's retailers confused about backorders. Many reports indicated that as of January 1, l998 Ty would be canceling all orders in their systems. Many stores still report that backorders were being shipped and current retired pieces were still showing up.

Rumors of counterfeit Kiwi and Chops showing up.

The bunny trio is displaying a new tag error. The word original is now being spelt (Origiinal)

Princess

Answer 2

Wow.  Lots of cut and paste on the other answer.  Just not sure it addresses the question.

The best way to find the value of a collectible like your Coral beanie is to sign up on ebay.

Do a search for similar items.  Then look at completed items (this is why you need to sign up)

This will show you what REAL money people are paying for those similar items.

It will also let you look at the auction composition for the most successful sellers, giving you hints on how to create your auction if you decide to sell there.