Billionaire 5, 6 and 7 Teddies – Rare tags

Prior to Billionaire 5, all previous Billionaire Bears came with a single, identical hang tag for its respective run – only differentiated by number. But for Billionaire 5, 6, and 7 Ty released different tags that corresponded with country rep locations. While purchasing a “regular” Billionaire 5/6/7 is a fairly easy task if you have a few hundred to spare, locating some of the more limited tag variations is a difficult challenge. In fact, to date, we only know of one complete set containing an example of all tags listed below.

Billionaire 5: The BBPG has a terrific page breaking down all details surrounding this piece: https://beaniebabiespriceguide.com/billionaire-5/.

Specific text taken (with permission) from the BBPG site:

769 produced in total. The following countries received them/tags exist:

Ty Employees US version #1, Party listed on back of hang, 6/30/02. 10th gen hang. Given to US employees at the party.
To Employees US version #2/Australia, Party event missing. 10th gen hang tag. Given to US employees who missed the party (500 range) and to Australian reps (higher numbers).
Ty Employees Korea, Korean writing inside, no event on back hang tag. 10th gen hang tag.
Ty Employees Japan, Japanese writing inside, no event on back hang tag. 10th gen hang tag.
Ty Employees Europe, no event or “3 and up” on back of hang tag. 7th gen hang tag.

You’ll notice this bear was distributed with specific hang tags depending on employee location: USA, Australia, Korea, Japan, and Europe. Ty made 769 of this bear – one of the highest numbers for the Billionaire line. But with a bit of research, we have seen that territories correspond loosely to a bear’s number.

1.) Billy US version #1 #474 (US tag). Lower numbers all have event listed, 10th gen.

2.) Billy US version #2*, #548 #569. Similar to US version #1, but no event information on the back. Identical to Australian version. 10th gen hang.

3.) Billy UK/Europe #594, 623, 629 637, 648 – all “Beanies” UK 7th gen hang tags.

4.) Billy Korean #665 is Korean. 10th gen hang tag.

5.) Billy Japan – #511 is Japanese. 10th gen hang tag.

6.) Billy NZ/Australia #690, #692, #739 – No event listed. 10th gen hang tag. Identical to Billy US version #2.

Distribution: (ballpark/guided guess – some exceptions)

#1-#500 are US #1 tags

#501-#515 are Japan tags

#515-#539, #548, #569* are US #2/Australian tags

#540-#650 are UK tags

#651-#665 are Korea tags

#666-769 are New Zealand/Australian/US #2.

You can see some of these tags are supremely rare indeed. An exceptional challenge to assemble a complete set of Billionaire 5 bears.

#1. US Billy 5 #191. Version #1: 10th gen hang tag, Employee Party info + date. “For Ages 3 And Up”. Most common Billy 5 (photo credit: tycollector).

#2. US/Australian Billy 5 No event batch #1: 10th gen hang, No Employee event info. #569.

#3. UK Billionaire 5 #601 – 7th gen UK hang tag “Beanies” on front. No event on back of tag. No 3 and Up.

#6. Australian Billy 5 batch #2 #720 – 10th gen hang tag. No event on back of tag.

#4.) Korean Billy 5 #665 – 10th gen hang tag. No event on back of tag. Korean writing inside hang.

#5.) Japanese Billy 5 #511 – 10th gen hang tag. No event on back of tag. Japanese writing inside hang

Korean vs. Japanese tags – side by side

Billionaire 6: Similar story to Billionaire 5 – Ty distributed three bears for this release (696 total bears), the USA tag, the UK tag, and the Australian tag/tags that went to non-event attendees. This isn’t to say this bear didn’t go out to employees in additional countries – they just received one of the these three tag variations. We suspect again a few US employees who could not attend the event giveaway received a bear with no event on the back of the hang tag. While the New Zealand/Australian tags also had no event on them and were scattered towards the end of the run.

696 produced in total. The following countries received them/tags exist:

Ty Employees USA, event on back of hang tag, Sept. 13th, 2003. 11th gen hang.
Ty Employees Australia/NZ, no event on back of tag. 11th gen hang. Identical to USA #2.
Ty Employees UK, 7th generation hang tag. No event on back of hang tag. No “For Ages 3 and up”
Ty Employees USA #2 – no event on back of tag. 11th gen hang. Identical to Aussie/NZ.

Distribution: (ballpark/guided guess)

#1-#520 US hang tags.

#521-#696 are mostly UK tags. (UK #523, 530, 575, 619,620,639,665)

#548#559, #583 and #649 are USA #2/NZ/Aus. (#583 no event. #649 NZ/Aus)

#3.) UK Billionaire 6. No event on back of tag, and “Beanies” 7th gen hang

#1.) US Billy 6. Event listed. 11th gen hang. Photos from Tycollector

#2.) Australian/New Zealand Billy 6. No event listed on back. 11th gen hang

#4.) US #2 Billy 6. No event listed on back. 11th gen hang

Billionaire 7: 612 total examples. All hang tags, 12th gen. We have confirmed the UK Billionaire 7 bear (#400) and the New Zealand bear (#458) are no different from the other US hang tag bears. Billionaire 7 bear with no event listed exists. Given to Australian reps, we believe.

Distribution: (ballpark/guided guess) #1-#575 are US #1 tags #576-612 are Australian #2 tags . #595 AUS.