Toys and Collectibles, 1987-2006
Special Interest
While many toy magazines were less centralized when it came to topics they covered, franchises have a special place within the world of toy marketing and many magazines cropped up centered around certain media franchises or IPs that proved to be undeniably popular enough to warrant more specific coverage.
Even beyond contemporary marketing towards children and parents, certain franchises and brands begin to find niche hobbyists or become cult classics for one reason or another. Certain groups rally around a certain brand, product, or other niche that becomes centralized within a larger market. As these niches became more popular, magazines began to be published around a specific toy or groups of toys and solely discussed those items or topics related to them.
Included in this gallery are three magazines which discuss specific brands or IPs throughout, rather than the more generalized publications more commonly seen. One of the magazines centers around Beanie Babies and other Ty products, one discusses Pokemon and Toy Story 3, while the third discusses Star Wars toys.
The front cover of Beanie World Beanie Buddies, 1998
This magazine was a special edition from the publisher of Mary Beth’s Beanie World Monthly and Mary Beth’s Beanie World Kids, featuring a first look at TY’s Beanie Buddies Values for the 1998 run.
Originally intended as a one-time publication, later continued due to its popularity, the initial copy Mary Beth's Beanie World was published in October 1997 and sold 177,000 copies. The second edition proved even more popular, selling almost half a million copies. As its popularity increased, Beanie World began to be published more frequently and released special issues related to specific products under the Beanie umbrella, as indicated by this edition being special and that other editions of the publication exist for more generalized information.
Later on the magazine was renamed to Mary Beth's Bean Bag World due to pressure from TY Inc. over the Beanie trademark and it began to cover more than just Ty Beanie Babies. The final issue of Mary Beth’s Bean Bag World was published August 2001.
The front cover of Kidz Super Starz Presents Pokémon & Toy Story 2, vol. 2, no. 2 (2000)
Kids Super Starz Presents Pokemon & Toy Story 2 a special interest printing of the Hit Sensations Presents series of pop culture fan magazines, which is owned by Fanzine International, Inc. The magazine includes games and quizzes based on Pokemon and Toy Story 2, along with many images of popular characters.
This issue from March 2000 was published soon after Fanzine International’s acquisition by Metro Global Media, Inc., and a few months before Viacom won a suit alleging copyright and trademark infringement against Fanzine International for use of slides of characters from other intellectual property without permission.
The front cover of Star Wars Collectibles, vol. 1, no. 1 (1999)
Star Wars Collectibles magazine was published by Krause Publications. An American publisher, Krause was founded in 1952 and first focused on numismatics, or the collection of paper money, coins, medals, and other objects used as currency, with its most popular magazine being the Standard Catalog. In time, Krause expanded to cover more collectibles including antiques, stamps, baseball cards, and the incredibly popular Star Wars franchise. The magazine featured here is the very first volume and issue of the Star Wars Collectibles magazine, published in 1999. Krause Publishing filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and its assets and brand were acquired by Penguin Random House.