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Home » FOUND – 1988 “TY” LARGE LEOPARD or CHEETAH

FOUND – 1988 “TY” LARGE LEOPARD or CHEETAH

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Hi! I did get in touch with Tyler, and we worked out a deal, and he sold the plush to me! I just got it today, and I am so happy!! I cannot believe I found it! I don’t think I would have ever found it if it wasn’t for your site. Thank you so much! 😀 Happy 4th of July!

Marybeth has finally heard from TY, and they say it is a counterfeit, BUT Addie has written to say that this is a very rare TY valued as high as $900 IF it is in very good condition. So, we really don’t know if it’s a real TY or not.

, FOUND – 1988 “TY” LARGE LEOPARD or CHEETAH

, FOUND – 1988 “TY” LARGE LEOPARD or CHEETAHHi! I have been searching for this childhood plush of mine for many years. It is an old Ty leopard (or maybe cheetah?) plush. The tush tag says Ty, and it’s copyrighted 1988.

I know this is an early Ty release, making it VERY rare. I have been searching on and off for years. I’ve checked Ty collector websites, eBay, etc. and I have never seen it anywhere. I can’t even find it mentioned or a picture of it on a website anywhere…it sometimes feels like I have the only one ever made. Lol.

I do still have this plush, but I was only 4 years old when I got it (I’m now almost 25). I carried it everywhere with me. It was my favorite and was definitely “well loved”. 😉 There is a giant hole in its tummy, the beanbag stuffing inside fell out long ago. The eyes are scratched up and the nose fell off long ago too (well actually my family’s former dog chewed it off…).

I would love to find this plush mentioned somewhere at least. I’d like the opportunity to buy one that is in better condition to keep as well. Maybe to keep with my “well loved” one for a comparison. Haha.

Even if you cannot find one for sale, a website that mentions its existence or even has a picture would be so much appreciated! I just can’t find anything, and Ty collectors seem to know nothing about it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope to hear from you soon!

Marybeth

If you can help Marybeth find this 1988 TY Large Leopard or Cheetah, or even just some information about it, THIS SEARCH REQUEST IS NO LONGER ACTIVELY MANAGED. Please use Our FREE FACEBOOK GROUP, including POST CODE #030209-4 in the subject

Originally posted 03/02/2009

Comments

FOUND – 1988 “TY” LARGE LEOPARD or CHEETAH — 34 Comments

  1. I actually contacted Ty directly about this plush and they recently informed me that it is a counterfeit. It is not an official Ty plush. =( So now my chances of finding it are even slimmer…

    -Marybeth

  2. #030209-4
    Counterfeit TY? I have never heard of such thing. Does the tag looks like TY tag regardless? How long is this leopard?

  3. #030209-4

    What a shame, but at least now you know why you couldn’t find it on any TY sites!

    And yes, Anastasia, they did make counterfeit TY’s back when they were such huge collectibles. Some of the beanie babies were selling up in the $100 range, so no telling what this one originally sold for.

    Now that the fad is over we see huge bins of them at yard sales and estate sales, where people collected them, hoping they would increase in value.

  4. the tag definitely looks like the item would be counterfeit… the t and y on the tag are lower case… on the real ones, they are uppercase, and right next to each other, not staggered diagonally like it is shown.

    I’m sorry that the OP hasn’t had any luck.

  5. Thanks for the verification, Kat mom! We don’t do much with TY ourselves, because most people (and thrift stores) set the prices too high, as they remember the “good old days”. So I really didn’t know if the really old ones would have had a different logo than the new ones or not.

    Does anyone know if they ever did use a different logo?

    #030209-4

  6. #030209-4
    I never was a beanie baby collector, but I do like the larger plushie ones like Marybeth has. Actually, I have a couple of them that has exact same tag, but not same animal. I know they use multiple different logos, but normally on the swing/ paper tag.

  7. 310120836780 – I came across this one and thought they looked very similar! Hope this helps! Saren

  8. I didn’t realize there were so many comments here. Thanks, everyone! I just checked that item# on eBay and it’s definitely not the same plush. Thanks anyway though!

    I am pretty sure I will never find it again because since this was made in the late 80’s, I’m assuming the company that made this counterfeit Ty has long been shut down.

    I asked my mom and she said she remembered buying it in a family owned floral shop, that has long been closed, in South Euclid, OH (a suburb of Cleveland).

    -Marybeth

  9. #030209-4
    I will not give up too fast. As I mentioned before, I have several of these larger ty lookalike plushies. Guess what, every single one of them came from various antique shops. So, it will be a good place to look.

  10. Thanks, Anastasia. I have looked in a few antique toy shops in the past but they didn’t have it.

    ~Marybeth

  11. Today I saw a lying down lamb with the exact same TY label yours has. So don’t give up yet!!!

    #030209-4

  12. Quick question: what is off about the lot 310120836780 (because it looked like exactly the same cat almost… to me. And it sounded like the right size). Have you asked that seller for a picture of the tag? That way you could at least send it to TY and find out if yours is a knockoff of that one.

    I would think if it was originally from a flower shop/greeting card type of shop it would have a pretty high chance of being genuine TY because isn’t that where they started out selling? And you were WAY before the days of counterfeits (when you bought it, but not if it was from the later years where “old” ones would be valuable), I would think?

  13. The one in the eBay auction doesn’t look anything like mine. It’s completely different. Even the material looks different…a lot more “fluffy” like. The “spots” are different too. I know it’s not the same plush, even if it looks similar and is in the same position, it’s not my plush.

    I thought it was a real Ty too, but someone in Ty customer service told me it was counterfeit, so I guess I have to believe them. What else can I do? I mean I haven’t seen it on any Ty collection site anywhere, so it almost makes more sense to believe it’s a counterfeit than real at this point anyway. And it was bought in ’88 because I know I was only 4 years old when I got it.

    ~Marybeth

  14. OMG. I have this same cat. I am 21 and still carry it everywhere. I named her Kitty (I was such an original four year old) and got it around 1992 when my mom was having major surgery at a hospital gift shop. Kitty is well loved. All the stuffing in her rests in her butt from being carried around by her waist. Her eyes are a bit scratched and her ears have some wear holes in them from being carried around by my childhood dog, Jasmine (16 years old and still going!)

    I love Kitty and have never seen any other person with one! WOW! So, you’ve got a relative of Kitty! =D

    POST CODE #030209-4

  15. Wow. I am Heidi’s mom (she posted above). “Kitty” is in more pics with Heidi than myself and her dad! LOL! Anyway, there is one distinction that may help that I remember. I will check with Heidi, of course. “Kitty” has/had nylon type whiskers, not the fabric kind. Did yours?

  16. Hi Tammy/Heidi.

    Omg, what a coincidence!! Not to make it more creepy but, Kitty is exactly what I called my plush!! No joke!! How crazy is that?!

    Mine doesn’t have any whiskers left, but I do believe she had nylon/plasticish whiskers rather than fabric.

    And it seems like you got her from a similar type store; a gift shop. And my mom got her from a florist/gift shop.

    ~Marybeth

  17. O.K. I’m Heidi’s Grandma – and Tammy’s Mom. Yes….I bought “Kitty” for Heidi when her Mom was being operated on so she would have something to cuddle until Mom got home. Well she did -and has for the past 17 or 18 years. I bought it in a Florist shop in Baltimore, Md. (not hospital gift shop — Heidi was too little to remember exactly) – but I do believe it is a real TY. Heidi carried Kitty EVERYWHERE!!!! I even wrote a story (poem) about Heidi and Kitty and put it in booklet so she would always have it as a keepsake. It’s pretty cool to know someone else loves “Kitty” as much as Heidi does. Grandma

  18. This is so cool! I’ll have to see if Heidi can send you a pic of Kitty! LOL! She chewed the whiskers off herself when she was little! LOL!!!

  19. Heidi’s Grandma – If it’s a real TY why would the TY customer service rep. tell me it’s a bootleg? Seems kinda strange to me…

    Marybeth

  20. Marybeth,
    My fiance also had this stuffed leopard as a child and thought she had lost it. I found and purchased one from e-bay just recently and then the next day found her original one in a storage unit. Im curious if you have found one to replace yours from your childhood. If not we would like to share and if you would like we would be willing to sell the one from e-bay for the same price I paid. We would like to help you get that part of your childhood back like my fiance got hers. You can reach me at coffeboy23 At Gmail dot com.

  21. OMG, this is so weird but my 13 year old son fell in love his "kitty" when he was about 6 months old. His daddy got it from an ex-girlfriend years ago. The funny thing is that apparently these kitties attract dogs because about 1/2 his head was ripped off by a friends' dog. We replaced as much as we could and restuffed him. His tail is mostly missing because he use to chew it while he went to sleep. Oh yuck. He has loved this kitty for years and would to find another but also have been unsuccessful in even finding a picture of it until today.

    Brandi

  23. This plush is NOT counterfeight….its ultra rare. I have a Black Pati Cat that has the same tag, is from the same year…and is about as loved as the leopard in the picture above. My Mom got him for me when I was 1-ish from a floral shop in Portalas, NM….I saw my Pati in a TY magezine once (but havent been able to find him again since) and at the time it was worth $900….had it been in mint condition, which he is not. 🙂

  24. Hopefully some of you will see this! I have the same one that I got as a present in 1988 (named it Tigey). Did anyone find out if it was counterfeit ??

  26. Hi dirty butter, as you can see the original posting was FOUR YEARS AGO! I thought some time in between then and now there may have been an update. Oh well!

  27. #030209-4
    I have been looking for this! Ive been wondering if it was real or counterfeit. guess its counterfeit. mine was my childhood toy since I was three (Im twenty-five now) and simply named “cheetah”. I chewed the whiskers to crinkles and the nose fell off! So glad to find out what it is. I’d be willing to sell if it I could get a good amount for it. Email me at bohemianfreedom@yahoo.com.

  28. Sorry if I bump this, but I just wanted to talk about what I know about this plush! I also had one, and just had to know about it’s background. I found a website that had many (all?) of the released TY Classics, and seems to be regularly updated.

    https://www.tycollector.com/classics/classics-roster.htm

    After going through and seeing that none of links had this plush, I took the list and started googling all the cats. It wasn’t listed under cheetah or leopard or jaguar or tiger, so I started going through the regular cats. I finally hit one that brought up the right images — Chi Chi! Chi Chi is a retired Cheetah!

    https://typlush.tripod.com/

    Sadly I can only find two websites that have pictures, or even really mention Chi Chi. I don’t think she’s fake though, since she was released in 1988, and TY had only been around for two years at that time. Bootlegs didn’t start becoming a thing for TY until the mid-late 90’s during the popularity boom when it was the most profitable. Not to say there weren’t knock-offs ever, but I don’t think they’d have been as widespread as it was, since quite a few people seem to have this cat.
    Post Code #9783

  29. Wow, thank you to the OP for this post. I too am looking for this plush! I’ve been searching for years to just try and find a picture or it’s name. It was my favorite stuffy growing up, I called him ‘Cheety’ and then a roommate of mine gave it away by accident. If anyone out there can help get me in touch with someone who may have one I’d be eternally grateful.
    Post Code #9783

  31. Hi! I don’t know if this thread is still open but I have this cheetah. I am not interested in selling so please don’t bother with that, but I can tell you a little bit about her. The tag had her named as Cheechee (Chi Chi?) the cheetah and she is a Ty. I don’t have the original paper tag but I remember it being read to me. I got mine from a zoo gift shop when I was very little. I’m just interested in seeing how many have/had this stuffed animal and this is the first time I have ever found a similar picture on any site. She was my favorite childhood toy and rarely left my side.
    Post Code #9783

  32. Oh, and on the TY logo issue, it is standard practice for logos to change over time and all of my other TY toys from that time period have the same lowercase ty staggered as on Chi Chi’s tag on her leg.
    Post Code #9783

  33. Hi- not sure if people still read this. Chi Chi was first released in 1988 as a flat cat and she came with a plastic heart on the edge of her tail and a ty heart paper tag that did not fold up. Then she came with the fold open tag. She was then released in a standing version. Ty only goes back so far on there website and I’m sure customer services probably uses the same data base, genes them not knowing. I was an avid collector in 1997-2000 and just got back into it (this time a profit isn’t part of the collecting). I never saw one for sale during that time Though I have acquired the laying and the standing version both between February and March 2016 both in amazing condition minus paper tags. Hope is still out there
    Post Code #

  34. After a year of dedicated searching, looking almost daily I was able to find a replacement Chi Chi. Mine was in amazing condition as well, with the ear tag still attached. They are hard to find but like Chris said, hope is out there. Just stay dedicated to the search 🙂
    Post Code #

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