Teenie Weenie Meanies

It all started when I lost my beloved cat-roadkill keychain late last night. Once I realized my steadfast pal was missing, I fell to the ground devasted. Immediately I took to eBay to search for a replacement. Though, I never thought to look too far into him and his story. In memorial, here is the sorta boring, sorta interesting, history of the "Meanies" brand. This is for you Splat.

Idea Factory

Idea Factory first formed in 1996. Within their first year they had plenty of high-end clients, such as Disney, FAO Shwartz, Paramount, Warner Brothers, and more. Weirdly enough, they made a promotional spoon-straw for 7/11's slushie's titled "brainfreeze".

Allen LeWinter and Beanie Babies

Later, a lady named Sandra LeWinter would begin collecting Beanie Babies with her kids, this apparently drove her husband Allen, who was an entertainment marketer, insane. In a 1998 article Allen says "Meanies are based on the same concept as their cute and cuddly counterparts, only they're geared to boys instead of girls. And what would little boys find appealing? How about Splat the Road Kill Kat, Fi & Do the Dalmutation, and Hurley the Pukin'Toucan".

So Allen marched into Idea Factory and was like so I have this cool idea to get boys to buy bean bag toys, as he saw that there was a market being missed. Leveraging this deal with 7/11, they began to create an anti-beanie baby brand for the slushie slurping boy's. The original "Meanies" were Beanie Baby sized, but they eventually produced their keychain counterparts.

Each "Meanie" came with its own story and poem such as "Splat the Road Kill Kat didn't cross at the green. A big truck was coming that couldn't be seen. To the left and the right this kat didn't look, and now poor Splat is flat as a book". A weirdly ironic poem as that is most likely the state of my own Splat. Sorry, bud.

But, apparently they were worried about this particular one "Splat the Road Kill Kat is the one we were most worried about . . . but it really caught everybody's imagination."

Meet The Meanies

Series One Meanies (1997)

1. Armydilllo Dan
2. Bart the Elephart
3. Navy Seal
4. Otis the Octopunk
5. Boris the Mucus Monster
6. Fi-do the Dalmutation
7. Sledge the Hammered Head Shark
8. Snake Eyes Jake
9. Hurley the Pukin Toucan
10. Matt the Fat Bat
11. Peter Gotta Peagul
12. Splat the Road Kill Kat

Series Two Meanies (1998)

(not sure if this is all)

1. Burny The Bear
2. Chicken Pox
3. Digger The Dog
4. Floaty The Fish
5. Lucky The Rabbit
6. Phlemingo
7. Sunny The Preemie Chickie
8. Velocicrapper (A dinosaur)

But they had special one off versions of the animals such as my beloved Splat. This version of splat was a Christmas special titled "Shocking Stuffers"