There has been a lot of chatter recently with numerous calls to SmartCollecting.com from all over the U.S. about Princess the Ty Beanie Baby that was a charity release over 13 years ago and raised over $21 million for the Princess, Diana of Wales Memorial Fund. Some eBay sellers are attempting to get millions of dollars for this purple Beanie Baby that is adorned with a white rose on her chest. Unlike the notable Ty Beanie Baby Peanut the royal blue elephant that was only produced for four months, the Princess Beanie Baby was manufactured for nearly two years before retiring in April of 1999.

While there are currently 500 auctions on eBay for a Ty Princess Beanie Baby, some eBay sellers are attempting to raise interest in a first edition Princess Beanie Baby by posting outrageous buy-it-now prices.. as much as $2 million. Yet, there is great confusion about what defines a 1st edition Princess Beanie Baby since it was produced in Indonesia and China and was made with either PVC Pellets or PE Pellets.

A current search on Ebay revealed, that only 34 auctions noted PE Pellets in the auction title and just 15 noted PVC Pellets.

During the first week of July 2011, two Princess Beanie Babies with PVC pellets made in China have sold on Ebay. One sold for $59 and the other sold for $125 including shipping. Both were mint with mint tags.

As of July 5, 2011, Ty Princess Beanie Babies with P.E. Pellets can be purchased online from BBToyStore.com for $4.99.

Some eBay sellers claims that P.E. pellets was the first version explaining that this was a tag error which was later corrected. They also claim that Ty explained this at the 1998 New York Toy Show to dealers.

To understand the difference between a Princess Beanie Baby with PVC versus P.E. Pellets, please consider the following documentation:

On November 29, 1997, Ty introduced the Princess Beanie Baby.

On January 20, 1998, the following news story was viewed on the CQS Health and Environment website:

“Are Beanie Babies Toxic?

This is from the label on Zip, a Beanie Babies Collection stuffed animal:

HANDMADE IN CHINA, ©1993 TY INC, OAKBROOK, IL, U.S.A.

SURFACE WASHABLE ALL NEW MATERIAL

POLYESTER FIBER & PVC PELLETS

PVC (short for PolyVinyl Chloride) often produces cancer-causing vinyl chloride monomer, which is the base chemical from which PVC is made. In addition, the conditions under which vinyl chloride and PVC are made are perfect for the formation of dioxin, so that PVC is often heavily contaminated with this super-toxic chemical. Finally, if these PVC pellets are burned in an incinerator or fire, large amounts of dioxin can be formed.

What You Can Do

Avoid buying any toys that are made from PVC. (All plastics are somewhat toxic, but PVC and other chlorine-containing plastics are the most toxic.) If you have toys made from PVC, such as Beanie Babies, put them aside and find substitute toys as soon as possible that are made of less-toxic plastics or from unpreserved natural materials. Limit children’s exposure to PVC as muc