The plush toys were largely successful ... Ty Warner founded Ty Inc. in 1986 with the dream of creating a stuffed animal kids could afford. At just $5, Beanie Babies hit the shelves in 1993 ...

As soon as scores of the plush animals rolled ... out until around 1995, when Ty employee Lina Trivedi proposed adding birthdays and individual poems to the toys. Ty soon employed the clever ...