Ty Warner Put The O! In "Toy'; Innovate: They called his idea "road kill," but it brought new life to stuffed animals.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG

H. Ty Warner, one of the greatest toy entrepreneurs in history, has a simple rule for success: Be different.

After a successful stint as a toy salesman in San Francisco, Warner came up with a radically new idea for stuffed animals. Rather than filling them to the brim with stuffing, why not fill them only partially with both stuffing and plastic pellets?

Other toy makers mocked Warner's idea. They called his toys "road kill." Critics said he was cheap. But Warner believed in his new design. He argued that his stuffed animals looked more lifelike because you could squeeze them and prop them up in different positions.

At the 1993 World Toy Fair in New York, Warner unveiled his Beanie Babies. The small plush toys included a moose named Chocolate, a bear called Cubby, Flash the dolphin and Legs the frog. These and others became known as the "Original Nine."

After just several years of business, Warner did the unthinkable. In 1997, he began retiring some of his products even though they were apparently selling well. This strategy gathered plenty of media attention and publicity. Why? The shortage created curiosity.

"By saying this is the end, you create demand for what's next," Russ Berrie, chief executive of stuffed animal manufacturer Russ Berrie & Co., said in a Sept. 20, 1999, Time feature on Warner.