When Ty first introduced its Beanie Babies toys, there was no way of knowing the phenomenon they would one day become. However, nothing as popular (and profitable) as Beanie Babies could go without imitators forever, and there are now at least 15 companies producing bean bag toys similar to Ty's.

Here is an overview of some of the leaders in the marketplace:

Beanie Babies (Ty): These are the ones that started it all, striking a chord with consumers and taking the world by storm. More than 200 different Beanie Babies have been produced so far, with the more rare ones going for up to $5,000 on the collectors' market. Beanie Babies set the standard for all the bean bag toys that would follow -- specifically, they are inexpensive to buy (initially), extremely cute, and available for a limited time only before being "retired."

Coldbeans (Custom Edge): The first line of this bean bag series had an official license with the National Football League, and consisted of Cheers the Frog, Cleats the Cow, Pigskin the Pig, Rah Rah the Rhino, Tackle the Elephant and Touchdown the Lion. There was a version of each animal available in each jersey of an NFL team -- which means there were actually 186 different Coolbeans available, not just six. To further ensure increased collectability, the first series of Coolbeans was only available during the 1997 football season. The second series was released in conjunction with the 1998 baseball season (six more animals, each available in 30 different Major League Baseball team jerseys). A third series will be released as a tie-in with the start of the Nation Hockey League's 1998-1999 season.

String Beans (Gund): In 1997, Gund, the premiere name in the stuffed-toy industry, introduced its String Beans line, consisting of 12 animal and insect characters. Each character had a cute, food-related name, such as Candy Apple, Bleu Cheese and Peanut Brittle.

WeeBeans (Princess Soft Toys): Aside from simply looking cute, WeeBeans are educational, and actually help teach children about geography and the environment. Each WeeBean is named for the capital of the country or state it comes from (e.g., Augusta Lobster from Augusta, Maine, and Beijing Panda from China), and comes with a card that lists information about the animal and its habitat.

Warner Bros.: Warner has what is possibly the largest pool of licensed characters to choose from when making bean bags -- in addition to the cartoons it has been producing since the 1930s, it also owns the entire Hanna Barbera library, and D.C. Comics, among others. Bean bag characters are available from classic Warner Bros. cartoons, as well as from contemporary TV shows like "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain." Characters from "The Jetsons" and "Tom and Jerry" are also currently available. Each year Warner Bros. releases a few limited edition bean bag characters that tie in with upcoming holidays, such as Halloween and Christmas, and even offers a line of talking bean bag characters.

Disney: Disney also has a huge library of characters to use for its Mini Bean Bag line. In fact, Disney runs second only to Ty in the number of bean bags produced (more than 130 and counting). Aside from variations of its core characters (e.g., Pilot Mickey, Hula Minnie, Space Suit Goofy), Disney releases Mini Bean Bags that tie in with upcoming holidays (e.g., Santa Mickey, Valentine Minnie), and its current home video and theatrical releases. Disney has also offered two talking Mini Bean Bags: Flubber and Mushu.

The above is only a sampling of all the bean bag toys available -- others include Harley-Davidson bean bags, Nascar Beanie Racers, Grateful Dead Bears and Star Wars Buddies. With such a selection, there is sure to be at least one bean bag out there for everyone!