THEY'RE BACK! TY TEENIE BEANIE BABIES RETURN TO MCDONALD'S

McDonald's most successful Happy Meal program in the company's history begins round two today.

A dozen Ty Teenie Beanie Baby designs will be available -- up from 10 last year. The Teenies are miniatures of the regular-sized Beanies, complete with red Ty heart tags.

The fact that eight of the 12 are miniatures of retired Beanies should make them all the more popular, said Lynn Petzoldt, district supervisor for McDonald's.

Jerry Davis, owner of McDonald's franchises in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Sikeston and Charleston, said they're bracing for the storm.

Last year, the five-week Happy Meal promotion lasted only two weeks in Southeast Missouri. In northern Missouri and Illinois, the Teenie Beanies sold out in four or five days, said Petzoldt.

Davis and his staff have hired extra employees and are mapping out a battle plan to handle the additional traffic. They won't be surprised if the first three styles sell out by Saturday.

The phone rang off the hook last year with customers wanting to know what Beanies were available. This year the restaurants will use an answering service to tell what Beanie is available at that moment.

Security is so tight that local restaurants will only have one style at a time. Employees are allowed to buy one Teenie of each design, but must keep their receipt to show proof of purchase.

"The Manhattan Project was not guarded as closely as this promotion," said Davis.

The McDonald's Teenie Beanies arrived in an unmarked truck and were placed in a secret location.

"No one knows where we're storing them," said Davis. "It's like taking gold out of the vault."

Each box is coded, and a copy of the code has to be returned to Ty when the order arrives. That's to help track stolen boxes of the Teenies, which was a problem last year.

"I'd hate to get caught with a stolen case of these Teenies," said Davis. "A case would put you in jail because they'll prosecute for the full retail value."

Beanie collectors are expected to be out in full force. But Davis hopes that people remember that these toys are manufactured for children.

"If the kids get these toys that will be wonderful," he said.

Davis won't be surprised if the nationwide promotion lasts only two weeks.

"Now everyone knows what they are, and more people will want them," he said.

Reports say that McDonald's has ordered 240 million of the Teenies this year, up from the 100 million sold last year.

Restaurants won't be able to order any more Teenies, and allotments were based on a complicated formula devised by Ty.

"It's fun until someone gets upset when they don't get the one they want," said Davis. "We have no control over the quantities. That's all set up by Ty."

Happy Meal toys can make a big difference in traffic.

Davis pointed out that many of the Happy Meal toys have a retail value of more than $1, such as Hot Wheels cars.

"The Happy Meals are supposed to be for kids but every now and then you get something the adults want -- like Barbies or Beanies," he said.

Up to five Teenies can be bought for $1.99 each with a food or drink purchase. One toy is free with the purchase of a Happy Meal.

The Teenies won't be available for purchase in full sets, which had been rumored. No exchanges or returns will be allowed.

The order of McDonald's Teenie Beanie Babies:

1. Doby the Doberman

2. Bongo the Monkey

3. Twigs the Giraffe

4. Inch the Worm

5. Pinchers the Lobster

6. Happy the Hippo

7. Mel the Koala

8. Scoop the Pelican

9. Bones the Dog

10. Zip the Cat

11. Waddle the Penguin

12. Peanut the Elephant

The following larger versions of the Ty Beanie Babies are retired: Twigs, Inch, Pinchers, Happy, Bones, Zip, Waddle and Peanut.

Beanie Fun Facts

4,300 tons of PE Pellets are being used to stuff the Teenie Beanie Babies. That is roughly the weight of 4,000 Ford Explorers.

The thread being used to sew all 12 designs could be stretched around the world seven times.

More than 10,000 sewing machines and 25 million square yards of fabric are being used to stitch the Teenie Beanie Babies.