17 Ways to Determine if a Beanie Baby is Counterfeit

17 Ways to Determine if a Beanie Baby is Counterfeit

by: Barry Stein

You should always buy Ty Beanie Babies from reputable dealers or from sellers who you know how to contact. These dealers and sellers should also have many references and/or feedback from other people they have done business with. Most counterfeit Beanie Babies are easy to spot if you know what to look for. If you don't know what to look for then you will probably have a hard time telling most counterfeit Beanie Babies from authentic Ty Beanie Babies. Beanie Baby shows are a good place to check out expensive Beanie Babies. Try to handle them if you can. Get to know the feel of the fabric and their overall appearance. Some counterfeits are excellent reproductions, but regardless of how good the counterfeits look, they usually have many mistakes. It is never just one mistake. If you are buying expensive Beanie Babies, then you should educate yourself on the counterfeits or at least know where to find the information when you need it. Here are two websites that have information on counterfeit Beanie Babies along with photographs of many of them: About Beanies Counterfeit Information http://www.aboutbeanies.com/fakes/index.html Ms. Janie's Beanies Counterfeit Page http://www.msjanie.com/fakes/fake_page.html Your other option is to have the Beanie Baby authenticated which is inexpensive to do. You can get your Beanie Babies authenticated at these websites: http://www.pbbags.com/ http://www.peggyg.com/ Most of the mistakes on the counterfeits can be found on the tags. Become familiar with the different generation hang tags and tush tags or know where to look to find this information. You can find information and photographs of all the different generation hang tags Ty has produced here: http://www.aboutbeanies.com/tags.html Below are 17 ways to determine if a Beanie Baby is counterfeit: Many of the counterfeits have spelling errors on the tags, but keep in mind that so do some of the authentic Ty Beanie Babies. So you usually have to look for other mistakes beside just this. Check the tag dates and the addresses to make sure they are correct. Many of the counterfeits have the wrong date on the tush tag. Compare the tags of the suspect Beanie Baby with the tags of another Ty Beanie Baby that you know to be authentic. Is the type on the tags too light or too dark? Is it the right typeface? Compare the tags to an authentic Ty Beanie Baby's tags and determine if the tags are smaller or larger than the authentic tags. Compare the stock color inside the hang tag to another hang tag. Is it too white? Authentic tags have an off-white color. Are the color of the hang tags identical? Or does the red and yellow on the hang tag look muted or too light or too dark? The hang tag should be blue red and not orange red. The yellow star on the hang tag should be a bright sunshine yellow, not a mustard color. Some of the counterfeit Beanie Babies have a yellow star on their hang tag that have points that are too "pointy." The points of authentic hang tag stars are slightly rounded. Check the gold edge on the hang tag. It should have a nice clean line and be a light bright gold color. It shouldn't be brassy. Check the overall size and shape of the Beanie. Some of the counterfeit Ty teddy bears have ears that are either too small or too large or perhaps the legs or arms are too short or are shaped strangely. Is the teddy bear's head too large or overstuffed? Check the eyes to see if they are too close together or too big or too small. Are the eyes a solid color? Some Beanie Baby eyes are a solid color and some are not. Humphrey the camel has solid black eyes but most of the counterfeit Humphrey have eyes that are two-tone. Check the fabric and see if it is rough or if the color is too dark or too light. Does the fabric nap look right? Is the fabric rough, stiff or the wrong color? Most authentic Beanies have nice plush fabric that "flows" in all directions and doesn't get "wrinkly." One place you should avoid buying expensive Beanie Babies that are not authenticated, is online auctions like eBay. Odds are that if you buy enough of these expensive Beanie Babies that are not authenticated, that you will eventually end up buying some that are counterfeit. -- You have permission to use this article on your website or in your newsletter, but you must include the resource box along with an active link for the BarrysBeanies website URL address. About The Author Barry Stein has been a Beanie Baby dealer since 1997. You can visit his website at http://BarrysBeanies.com/, where he sells Beanie Babies retail and wholesale.

 

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8 Simple Tips for Taking Great Baby Photos

8 Simple Tips for Taking Great Baby Photos

by: Criss White

Taking pictures of your new baby is a great way to preserve life long memories. Baby pictures can also make great postcards, keepsakes, or baby shower gifts. Here are some simple tips to get great baby pictures: 1) Avoid bright light - Babies are especially sensitive to bright light including harsh sunlight and flash photography. If possible, try to take photos during the day when flash photography is not necessary. You can also use lamps to create lighting. 2) Take pictures from different distances - Try to take pictures from different distances. Most people like to take close-up pictures, but pictures that are too close can be blurry and out of focus. By taking several pictures from different distances, you can keep the ones that are the best. 3) Be aware of your baby's mood - Try not to start a photo session when your baby is cranky or crying. If your baby is in a bad mood, then wait awhile until he or she is better rested or calmed. You will get better pictures when your baby is in good spirits. 4) Use a high quality camera and film - This tip may seem simple, but is worth saying. Using high quality cameras and film can make a big difference in the quality of the photo, especially if you are creating photo gifts or favors. 5) Get rid of any distractions - Make sure there are not too many distractions when taking pictures. Anything that moves or makes noise, like the TV, should be turned off is possible. Having too many people around can also be distracting for the baby. 6) Take multiple shots - Taking different shots is a good idea for any type of photography, particularly if you are making photo gifts. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a shot will turn out good until it is actually produced, so get those extra shots just in case. 7) Background - Make sure that there is not too much distracting stuff in the background. The focus should be on the baby, so plain backgrounds usually work best. 8) Other people - Try taking pictures of the baby with other people as well, including you. A baby will interact with other people and these interactions captured on film can make great keepsakes. About the Author - Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. For baby shower picture frames, go to Baby Picture Frames - Favors (http://www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/pictureframes.htm) and Unique Baby Shower Favors (http://www.mybabyshowerfavors.com/unique.htm). Note: If you find this article useful, you may reprint it on your website, e-zine, or in your newsletter as long as the credits above remain in tact and the hyperlinks stay active.

 

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4 Tips for Taking Great Baby Pictures - Even If You are No

4 Tips for Taking Great Baby Pictures - Even If You are No

by: Alexis Dawes

When my daughter Layla was born I had a hard time putting the camera down. And apparently I wasn't the only one. The cashier at the photo developing shop told me that new parents comprised a fairly sizable chunk of their business. We can't help it! Babies are such beautiful creatures that you want to capture every new movement and every fleeting smile that comes along. (Even if that smile is attached to a smelly gas bubble!) However the problem many parents have is that their lack of good photography skills can translate into pictures that are too dark, too bright, blurry, out of focus, uncentered, and so on. Perhaps this describes you. If so, don't sweat it. These problems are easily fixable. An album full of mishaps can quickly be transformed by following these 4 tips... 1) When taking pictures of babies lying on their backs, stand directly over them and shoot straight down. I used to take a solid color baby blanket and place it on the floor in a bright, sun filled room. When I was ready to take a picture I would put Layla on the blanket, and adjust it around her, making sure not to put her directly in the sunlight. Then I'd get on my knees right over her, aim straight down and snap away. This technique will allow you to center the camera properly and you'll get some great close-up shots. The natural sunlight will often give you just enough light so your picture isn't too dark or too bright. 2) Capture a range of emotions. Smiling babies are cute. But so are crying babies and pouting babies and messy babies and sleeping babies. Be sure to take pictures of your little one in all phases of his or her emotion filled life. You'll be amazed at how truly beautiful they are in non-traditional picture taking situations. 3) Make bath time picture time. While there are some babies who don't like water, most love it. They often become very expressive in the bath tub - laughing, cooing and splashing. So bath time often becomes a great opportunity to capture a few precious shots of your little one. I've personally used the bathtub to document how Layla has changed over her 2+ years. Every couple of months I take a few close-up pictures of her in the bathtub. Then I take the best one and place it in a special section in the photo album. It's truly amazing to see how her face changes so dramatically with each new picture. 4) If you use a disposable camera, choose a good one. I purchased 3 dirt cheap disposable cameras before I had Layla. When we brought her home these were the ones we used for the first week of photo taking. Boy was I disappointed! The pictures developed horribly. And as a new mommy with hormones still raging, you know how sad this made me. Those cuddly little moments can never be relived again. I learned a good lesson though. You get what you pay for. Now my disposable camera of choice is the Kodak Max HQ. It's one of the more pricey disposable cameras. However the quality is fantastic in comparison to other disposables I've used. You can usually buy them inexpensively on eBay. Popular retailers like Target and Wal-Mart also run sales on them quite frequently. Alexis Dawes is a real mom (not a professional photographer) who runs the Photograph-Your-Baby.com web site. Check out her free 20+ page tutorial that teaches parents how to take better pictures of their little one (http://www.Photograph-Your-Baby.com).

 

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