THANK YOU BEARS
In December 2000 a new face appeared on the Beanie scene. The Thank You Bear. A similar idea to the Billionaire bears , Employee bear and #1 bear; this bear was being sent to TY authorized retailers. Thank you was originally sent out in America and Canada, and later in the UK and Germany; the bear arrived with a letter (Canada, UK and Germany) or a card. Like the Billionaire bears et al., this became an elusive and expensive bear. The American and Canadian versions come with a letter signed by Ty Warner, the UK version has a letter signed by Patricia Roche of Ty Europe.
In December 2003 another Thank You Bear was released. With the same "Thank You" logo on his chest this bear was beige instead of blue. He came with the card as the backing to his very own box, the same sort as Ty sell at the Ty Store.
Further to the Thank You Bears sent out to the Ty retailers the April 2004 Beanie Baby of the Month was also a Thank You Bear... adding a more affordable option to the Thank You collection!
Personal note: Thank You was bought for me as a gift by my fiancé, not the first
valuable Beanie he had bought me, but the Sakura some time previously had turned
out to be a fake. He was so worried at the prospect of history repeating itself
that he spoke to some very helpful people at Ty Europe who verified the bear's
authenticity!