Garcia the bear was introduced to the world on January 7, 1996. With his birthday falling upon August 1, 1995, Garcia turned 10-years-old in 2005!The poem on the inside of his tag reads:
The Beanies use to follow him around Because Garcia traveled from town to town He's pretty popular as you can see Some even say he's legendary!
This ty-died bear wore either a third or fourth generation hang tag and second or third generation tush tag.
Garcia's popularity wasn't only based on the fact that he was such a colorful bear! A lot of attention was on Garcia because of his name and birthday. Either extreme coincidence or careful planning paired this bear's name and birthday to the late leader of the Grateful Dead: Jerry Garcia. Even the poem seemed to hint towards fame and popularity!
Production of Garcia was prematurely halted on May 11, 1997. Rumor has it that this was to prevent further legal issues between Ty Inc. and Jerry's family.