You’re digging through a dusty plastic bin in the attic, or maybe you're scrolling through a late-night eBay rabbit hole, and you see it. A tag with a birthday that matches yours or someone you love. If that date is March 22nd, you might think you’ve hit the collector's jackpot.
Honestly, the world of Ty collecting is a weird, confusing place. People see a date, they see the word "retired," and suddenly they think they’re sitting on a down payment for a house. But when it comes to the March 22nd Beanie Baby connection, the truth is a bit more nuanced than a viral Facebook post might lead you to believe.
There isn’t just one single "March 22nd" plush that rules them all. Instead, this date pops up in a few specific corners of the Ty universe, most notably within the Birthday Bear series and the odd connection to celebrity birthdays that Ty likes to sneak into their tag poems.
The Birthday Bear Confusion
If you’re looking for a Beanie that literally says "March" on its chest and has a direct tie to the month, you’re likely looking at the March Birthday Bear.
Ty Warner, the eccentric billionaire behind the craze, released a series of bears specifically designed to celebrate each month. The March version of the Birthday Bear (Style 4390) was released in 2001. It’s a pretty bear—tie-dyed in shades of blue and white, with a glittery aquamarine-colored button nose to represent the March birthstone.
Here is where the March 22nd Beanie Baby stuff gets specific.
In the 2003 version of the Birthday Bear series (Style 4554), Ty changed the format. Instead of just being a generic "March" bear, the inside of the swing tag started listing famous people who shared birthdays in that month. If you open the tag of the 2003 March Birthday Bear, you'll see a list:
- Dr. Seuss (March 2)
- Albert Einstein (March 14)
- Reese Witherspoon (March 22)
Because the actress Reese Witherspoon is listed right there next to the date, many casual collectors started referring to this specifically as the March 22nd bear. It created this weird secondary market where fans of the actress or people born on that specific day went hunting for this version.
Is It Actually Rare?
Let’s be real for a second.
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Most Beanie Babies from the early 2000s are not going to make you rich. I know, it’s a bummer. The March Birthday Bears were produced in massive quantities. If you have one in mint condition with a tag protector, it’s probably worth between $5 and $15.
Occasionally, you’ll see someone on a marketplace listing a "Rare March 22nd Beanie Baby" for $5,000. Don't fall for it. These sellers are usually looking for "trophy listings"—they hope a confused buyer won't do their research. They might point to a "typo" on the tag or a "rare" tush tag, but most of those "errors" were actually just standard production variations that happened by the millions.
Other March 22nd Connections
While the Birthday Bear is the most obvious candidate, some collectors get confused by the Date of Birth (DOB) vs. the Introduction Date.
For example, there are hundreds of different Beanie Babies, and while many have birthdays in March, very few land exactly on the 22nd. Most of the "big" names you know—like Princess the Bear or Peanut the Elephant—have birthdays in other months.
If you have a Beanie with a March 22nd birthday that isn't the Birthday Bear, you might have a later-era Beanie Boo or a niche licensed product. But for the "classic" 90s and early 2000s era, the Reese Witherspoon mention on the 2003 bear is the strongest link to that specific calendar day.
How to Check Your Beanie’s Value
If you’re holding a bear and you’re convinced it’s special, do these three things before you start spending that imaginary money:
- Check the Swing Tag: Look at the "Generation." Is the tag a heart shape? Is it flat or does it open like a book? The 2003 Birthday Bear has a "Birthday" generation tag which is very common.
- Look for "Sold" Listings: Go to eBay, search for the bear, and filter by "Sold Items." This tells you what people are actually paying, not what crazy sellers are asking.
- Inspect the Pellets: Early Beanies used PVC pellets, which some collectors prefer. Later ones used PE pellets. This is usually noted on the tush tag. For the March 22nd-related bears, they almost all use PE pellets, which are standard.
Actionable Next Steps for Collectors
Instead of just letting that bear sit in a box, here is what you should actually do with a March 22nd Beanie Baby:
- Authenticate the Tag: If you have the 2003 version with Reese Witherspoon’s name, ensure the tag is "Mint." A crease in the heart tag can drop the value to almost zero for a serious collector.
- Gift It: Because of the specific date, these make incredible birthday gifts for people born on March 22nd. The "Aquamarine" nose on the 2001 version is a great touch for someone into zodiac signs or birthstones.
- Avoid the "Error" Trap: If you see a thread on a forum claiming a misspelling of "Oakbrook" makes the bear worth thousands, ignore it. That was a common trait on millions of tags and rarely adds significant value to 21st-century releases.
The March 22nd Beanie Baby might not be the "Holy Grail" of the toy world, but it’s a cool piece of Y2K pop culture history that bridges the gap between toy crazes and celebrity worship.