Fuzz in your bathroom or Spunky in your bed? (Mary Beths Bean Bag World)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Mary Beths Bean Bag World
Date:	01/01/01 (150 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: glossy, well produced, lots of info, nice pictures

Disadvantages: expensive at £3.95 per issue, repetition

Mary Beth's Bean Bag World Monthly may not be the snappiest title to rattle off to your newsagent, but if you are a fan of beanies in their many guises, I suggest you do.

I have been collecting TY beanies for over a year now and have over 250 in my collection. But this magazine does not only feature the TY range of products, but many others, including beanies endorced by various celebs (like Steps and Britney Spears), Holy Bears, Disney and McDonald's collectibles.

The magazine is of a high quality and features almost 150 full-colour pages. It is very attractively presented with lots of photos, a lovely glossy feel to it and a gorgeous cover. Non beanie fans might wonder how I can lavish such praise on a magazine which is, let’s face it, about cuddly toys I should have grown out of two decades ago – but I collect all the TY ranges (beanies, Attics, buddies, classics, teenies and Kids), so to me, this is perfect – well, almost.

Each month’s issues contains some sixty pages, which are pretty much repeated each time. This is an invaluable resource occasionally, as it contains a complete pictorial documentation of each beanie, past and present, along with its current worth. This is followed by pages of tag analysis and price guides on the other ranges. But it changes less often than the magazine comes out – with TY introducing new beanies every couple of months or so – and then it takes a while for the magazine to update its lists, so it can become an irritating waste of those pages.

MBBBWM also seems to have a problem knowing who its target audience is. If it is aimed at children, they will surely find some of the more in-depth articles rather tedious and will probably not care how much their beanies are worth, as they won’t be planning to sell their collection. If it is aimed at adults, why are there pages of kids’ drawings, letters and stories? As it is, I read the magazine a
nd so do my kids, with none of us completely satisfied. Perhaps publishing two separate versions would be better?

Other regular features of MBBBWM include beanie birthdays, posters, a competition and plenty of adverts – although thankfully all beanie related! Although it is very much centred on the TY ranges, it also covers other beanies such as celebrity bears, Holy Bears, Disney and McDonald’s promotions, all of which are highly collectible.

I receive this every month, but only because I’m a sad completist who can happily goo over pics of new bears, just the same way I ooh and ahh over my friend’s baby. But I would suggest you just buy it every three months or so, by which time the endless lists will have changed significantly enough to warrant you shelling out almost £4 for it.

The main drawback to the magazine is that the cost is probably beyond most child's means. When you think a TY beanie can be bought for £5, most kids would probably prefer to spend their money on a cuddly toy rather than on a magazine about them.

By the way, if you find an old TY beanie baby in your child’s toybox, take a look at this magazine and see if it is worth selling. You might discover Fuzz in the bathroom (it’s a bear), Zip in the dirty washing (it’s a cat) or even Spunky in the bedroom (it’s a dog)!! But if you find a #1 Bear, I want a percentage – it’s worth over £4000!

Summary: