How Much Is a Purple Millennium Beanie Baby Worth

Millennium was introduced on January 1, 1999 to represent the coming millennium (even though the true millennium was not 2000 but 2001). Millennium was an instant success, collectors quickly fell in love with this beautiful bear! Millennium's poem reads:

A brand new century has come to call
Health and happiness to one and all
Bring on the fireworks and all the fun
Let's keep the party going 'til 2001!

During Millenniums short lifetime (Millennium retired 10 1/2 months after it was introduced on November 12, 1999) there were several variations, technically they were misspellings! In fact it took 5 tries to get Millennium spelled correctly on both the swing and the tush tag! There are also 2 different ribbons for Millennium! There were even fake Millennium Beanie's produced!

Before I talk about the 5 different versions I will take some time to talk about the other ways Millennium the Beanie Baby was remembered:

BUDDY:
On April 09, 1999 a Millennium Buddy was introduced! The Buddies hang tag said the following:

Millennium the Beanie Baby
commemorates a once in a lifetime event,
making it a once in a lifetime Beanie Baby!

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE MILLENNIUM BUDDY:
On December 12, 1999 Ty Warner gave 303 Ty Representatives an exclusive signed by himself Millennium Beanie Buddy. The Buddy was only given to Reps who attended the annual sales conference held at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago, IL. This signed version of Millennium Buddy had special tags as well:

The back of the hang tag reads, "Ty Sales Conference Renaissance Hotel Dec 12-14, 1999."

Each Buddy was presented in their very own box wrapped in tissue paper that was white with little read hearts! This is definitely the rarest Buddy ever!

TEENIE BEANIE:

For the June 13, 2000 McDonald's McHappy Day , a Millennium Teenie Beanie was created and given away with a food purchase.These bears were of extremely limited quantity. An estimated $4 million was expected to be raised during this one day for the Ronald McDonald House Charities!

SPECIAL OLYMPICS MILLENNIUM BEANIE :
For the 1999 Special Olympics in Canada Millennium was given to those who made a $20 donation. This special Millennium was given an addition hang tag that was oval in shape. The front of the tag had the Special Celebrity Festival Logo and read, "We can all be Heros - 1999." The back of the hang tag read:

Purple and furry
Without any fear,
A true friend of heroes
in this special year,
He plays hard,
He tries hard,
He's brave and he's fair,
Like you, he's a winner,
Millennium bear

Each Beanie came with a certificate of authenticity signed by SCF Managing Director Lea Perrell. There were 20,000 of these Millenniums created.

Do remember that this was NOT a Ty Produced Variation, Ty did not create the special hang tag.

MILLENNIUM BEANIE SPORTS PROMOS:
Millennium was given away at several Baseball games:

New York Yankees - Minnesota Twins, August 15, 1999- All kids 14 & under
Chicago Cubs - Pittsburgh Pirates, September 26, 1999 - First 40,000 Fans

MILLENNIUM BEANIE VARIATIONS:
There are 5 different Millennium variations during to the word "Millennium" being spelled wrong either on the Swing tag or on the Tush tag!

VERSION 1:

Incorrect spelling on both swing tag and looped hologram tush tag. It's misspelled "Millenium." This version has the stiff gold ribbon. See below for ribbon differences! Also Gosport was misspelled as 'Gasport'.

VERSION 2:

Incorrect spelling on swing tag but correct spelling of "Millennium" on the looped hologram tush tag. This version also has the stiff gold ribbon. Also Gosport was misspelled as 'Gasport'.

VERSION 3:

Correct spelling on both swing tag and the looped hologram tush tag. This version also has the stiff gold ribbon.

VERSION 4:

Correct spelling on both swing tag and the looped hologram tush tag. This version has the softer copper ribbon.

VERSION 5:

Correct spelling on both swing tag and single non looped hologram tush tag. This version has the softer copper ribbon.

MILLENNIUM RIBBON VARIATIONS:
There are two different ribbons (click for larger image):

FAKE MILLENNIUM:
Yes someone created a counterfeit Millennium Beanie Baby! This Beanies hang tag looks pretty real and matches the other, however there are several things wrong with this beanie! The most noticeable is the tush tag! Ty makes the tush tags holograms for a reason! Because they are hard to counterfeit! That is what gives this Beanie away! The tag doesn't have a real hologram, instead it has a gray area that sorta looks like the same image seen in the hologram of the real version.

Another thing that gives this little guy away is his color and ribbon! It is no where near correct in color when compared to a real Millennium! Check out the following pictures for yourself! (click for larger view!)