The Four Faces of Woolie Brown
This post is to celebrate the Woolie Brown Attic Treasure – the rarest and most infamous style in the Attic Treasure line. Even if attic treasures are not your thing, know that a few of us in the hobby serve as historians and cartographers mapping out the whereabouts of the rarest corners of the Ty Hobby. While the Beanie Baby line may be the most famous, Attic Treasures were a parallel line filled with rare ribbon and clothing variations that made completing a set extremely challenging. Woolie Brown is a piece that captured the imagination of this author, and ignited an interest for the ultra rare.
The original 12 attic treasures, introduced in 1993, included the rare Woolie Gold, as well as his brother, Woolie Brown. Unfortunately, Woolie Brown never made it to production. But four “production prototypes” were displayed at the original show/fair where attics were first introduced – all with clipped tush tags (said to get in the way of display). The original designers confirmed only four Woolie Brown examples had been created. These four are separate from the “Woolie Brown” pictured in the original 1993 ty catalog, which was in fact the “Woolie Cinnamon” prototype – Ty darkened the fur for the catalog image.
The most avid attic treasure collectors hunted ardently for them. And finally, with intense hunting and diligence, after 20 years, all four examples of Woolie Brown have been identified. In order of their discovery:
Woolie #1: Top Left (group shot). Sal’s. Woolie Brown #1 ended up in the hands of Sally Grace – of Sal’s Attics. The piece was sold to her by an old ty employee at a trade show. The piece was in a bag with other originals/prototype attic treasures. Sal secured her Woolie in fall 1998. It had a creased 6011 Woolie Gold hang tag. The piece has since had a MWMT MQ 6012 hang tag (from a Whiskers/Woolie) attached, and graded MWMT by TBB. The piece now resides with a private Ty super collector.
Woolie #2: Bottom Right (group shot). TyRiffic Store/Ty Trade. This example made waves when it appeared on display at the Tyriffic store in 1999-2000. It had no hang or tush tag. The piece was later a capstone offering for the fledgling TyTrade auction site in August of 2000. The piece had been authenticated by Peggy G with a MWMT 6012 Woolie Brown hang tag. It sold for over $7,000 to Michael Bean! Unfortunately, we have not heard from Michael in years, So Michael, if you’re out there, give us a holler!
Woolie #3: Top Right (group shot). Kathy’s. Woolie Brown #3 made its way to the co-owner of Sal’s Attics – Kathy Embleton via a Ty Executive – the one responsible for the TyTrade Woolie auction. The piece has no tush tag, and at the time, had a nonmint 6011 Woolie Gold hang tag. The piece has since been upgraded with a MWMT MQ 6012 Woolie Brown hang tag by TBB.
Woolie #4: Bottom Left (group shot). Linda’s. Woolie Brown #4 was just discovered a few months ago in the collection of original Attic Treasure designer Linda Harris. Many in the hobby knew she had a small set of original prototypes, but her reveal of Woolie Brown was astounding! The piece has no tush tag and has a lightly creased 6011 Woolie Gold hang tag. It now resides with a super collector who also owns Woolie Cinnamon (pictured) + a vast attic collection.
Rarity Rank: -1. Woolie Brown is a mythical piece. Imagine an original 9 style, pictured in the catalog, that never shipped. All examples are locked up in impressive collections. The price tag for an example is easily 5 figures, if you could get an owner to part. Most are the crown jewels of complete collections that have been painstakingly assembled.
Rarest Beans 