Pongo the Beanie Baby Value & Tag Guide

Release facts

Animal

Penguin

Category

Aquatic

Introduced

Not recorded

Ty style number

42121

Ty birth date

Not recorded

Catalogue

Expanded Ty roster

Documented sold prices

These are completed sales — what buyers paid — recorded from eBay completed listings and stored with their sale date so the history accumulates instead of rolling off.

How to spot a fake Pongo

• Style number. The tush tag and the inside of the swing tag should both read style 42121. A mismatch between the two tags is one of the most common fake tells.
• Tag print quality. Genuine swing tags are printed on stiff, glossy card with crisp edges on the star and clean, evenly spaced type. Fuzzy edges, bleeding ink, or type that sits at a slight angle are reprint tells.
• Tush tag. Check the font weight and spacing, the position of the ® and ™ marks, and that the stated country of manufacture is one Ty actually used for this era.
• Documented errors only. Tag misspellings are only valuable when they are a known, documented Ty error. An undocumented 'error' is far more likely to be a counterfeiter's mistake than a find.
• Construction. Seams should be machine-stitched, tight and even, with symmetric eye and nose placement and no glue. Loose or glued features are a strong fake signal.
• Fabric and color. Over-bright, over-fuzzy, or plasticky fabric on a supposed 1990s release usually means a modern reproduction.

Checks that need the item in hand are exactly what our authentication process performs. More background in the rarity guide and beanie info.