Peace Bear Tag Generations
Peace Bears can have 4th or 5th generation hang tags, with 3rd-6th generation tush tags. There are several things to look for on your tags. Lets start by taking a look at hang tags. One of the things usually looked at first on a hang tag is whether it is 4th or 5th generation. The 4th generation tags are often more sought after since they were manufactured earlier, however as you will discover there are many ways to choose which ones you will collect! Below is an example picture of a 4th & 5th generation tag:
4th Generation Hang Tag:
5th Generation Hang Tag:
Fareham, Hants Address:
Fareham, Hants Address no U.K.:
Gosport & Gasport Address:
Next lets examine the tags in more detail. On the left inside part of each tag is a list of locations. The top one will always say Ty, Inc. It's the 2nd and 3rd ones that will differ. The second address is always the Ty Europe location, but its details will change. The Ty Europe address can say Fareham, Hants or Gosport or Gasport. The Fareham, Hants location is seen as the rarer of them. Some Fareham Hants address have U.K. on their last lines and some do not. See pictures above!
So what is with Gosport & Gasport? Some tags have the Hampshire location as Gasport, which is actually a misspelling, the correct spelling is Gosport. There are probably about the same number of Gosports as there are Gasports on the market, making neither more rare then the other.
Now on to that 3rd location listed on the left hand side. This location can be either Ty Canada or Ty Deutschland. The Ty Deutschland tags are more rare and more sought out compared to the Ty Canada tags. The Ty Deutschland location will only be found on 4th generation hang tags.
Ty Deutschland Tag:
Another important thing to look for on the inside left of your tags is the Handmade in _____ line. The most rare Peace Bears will say Handmade in Indonesia. Click here for our page on Peace Bear manufacturing locations!
How about the back of the hang tags? What's there to look for? A rare number of Peace Bears were manufactured with a small CE printed on the back on their tags. These bears were most likely prepared for sale within Europe. The CE mark on products is done by manufacturers who want to sell their product inside of Europe. The letters "CE" are an abbreviation of a French phrase "Conformite Europeene". The marking indicates that the manufacturer has conformed with all the obligations required by the legislation. This marking can be found pre-printed on the back of the hang tags or as a sticker placed on the back of the hang tags. These Bears are pretty rare!
CE Label on back of Hang Tag:
Some Peace Bears are collected because their tags have other errors. The most common error is the "Origiinal" and "Suface" spelling errors. This was a pretty common error made my Ty on several different Beanie Babies. The "Origiinal" error refers to the front of the hang tag inside of the yellow star where "Original" was misspelled as "Origiinal" with two ii's. The "Suface" part refers to the back of the hang tag, near the bottom where it is suppose to read, "Surface Wash". On many tags the r in surface was left out. Sometimes this error was covered up with a small sticker correcting the problem. See the pictures below for an example:
Origiinal & Suface Error:
Origiinal & Surface Error w/ Sticker:
Ok, what about those tush tags! Many people collect Peace Bears with 3rd generation tush tags, as these were the earliest versions created. 3rd generation tags are easy to identify as there is no STAR printed on them. Peace bears came in 3rd-6th generation tush tags. The biggest thing people look for on their tush tags are how Ty Inc is spelled, whether it is Ty Inc. or all caps like TY INC. Typically the tags with the all caps spelling are more rare and sought after. The all caps version was created first and in the autumn of 1998 the spelling changed to the mixed case.
Canadian Tush Tag:
TY INC. vs. Ty Inc. Tush Tags:
Also check out the "Handmade in ____" part of your tush tag, if your hangtag says Handmade in Indonesia your tush tag should as well, other wise they will all have "Handmade in China" on them.
And last but probably most important, collectors often collect Peace Bears based on a special number they may have stamped inside of their tush tags! This is such a big part of Peace Bear collecting that this is all explained on its own page! Click here to read more about it!
For a better idea of what to expect from Peace Bears with different tag generations view our gallery here!
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