How to Identify the Ty Beanie Babies Iggy and Rainbow. : eBay Guides

Beanie Baby collectors have been confused by these two Ty lizards since their release in January 1998. It is no wonder, because there have been 5 versions of Iggy the Iguana and 2 versions of Rainbow the chameleon as well as some manufacturing error versions.

To be able to identify the differences in these beanie lizards, a Beanie Collector should know what an Iguana and a Chameleon look like in the wild.

An Iguana is a lizard that has spines or spikes along its back and tail so it can protect itself from predators. A Chameleon is a lizard that is well known for its ability to change colours, so that it is able to hide from its predators. The Chameleon has no spines or spikes on its back, but may have bumps instead. However, it does have a veil over its head or collar instead, as seen in the following picture:

Iggy the Iguana was released in 5 versions over its lifespan and is part of the reason for the confusion among collectors.

Sitting on a rock, basking in the sun

Version 1 of Iggy was born August 12, 1997 and released by Ty on January 1, 1998. The first version had pastel tye-dyed fabric, red eyes, green felt spines or spikes on his back and tail, no tongue and his hang tag is attached to his left foot. He was made from either PE or PVC pellets. His Poem is as follows:

Version 2 of Iggy was also released in January 1998 and had all the same attributes as Version 1 except that his hang tag was attached to his spine:

Version 3 of Iggy appeared in Ty Stores in June 1998. He was very similar to Versions 1 and 2 with pastel tye-dyed fabric, red eyes, and his hang tag on his spine but now a red forked tongue had been added and he was now made with PE pellets only.

Version 4 of Iggy appeared in Ty Stores in August 1998 in  blue/green tye-dyed fabric, with yellow eyes, green felt spine, no tongue and his hang tag attached to his left paw. He was also made with PE pellets only.

Version 5 was the last known version of Iggy. His attributes and fabric are identical to Version 4 including being made with PE pellets only, except his hang tag was attached to his spine.

Iggy  was released in one other version by Ty, the Canadian Version. The Canadian Iggy that is most frequently seen, is identical to Version 5, but wears an extra Canadian Bilingual Tush Tag.  Also the McDonald's Teenie Beanie was named Iggy, and I will deal with him later.

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Rainbow the Chameleon was released by Ty in 2 Versions over his lifespan, with a birthdate of October 14, 1997.  He also later appeared as a Ty Beanie Buddy. His Poem made Beanie Collectors think that his fabric was another error, creating even more confusion among Beanie Collectors.

Red, green, blue and yellow

This chameleon is a colorful fellow,

A blend of colors, his own unique hue

Rainbow was made, especially for you!

Version 1 of Rainbow, appeared in Ty Retail Stores after July 1, 1998 wearing blue/green tye-dyed fabric that made him appear much like Iggy. He had yellow eyes, no tongue, a collar or veil around his neck (or over his head) instead of felt spines or spikes on his back and tail and his hang tag on his left front paw. He was also made with either PVC or PE pellets.

Version 2 of Rainbow, was available in Ty Retail Stores after January 1, 1999 and now wore a pastel multi-coloured fabric making his Poem much more appropriate. He has red eyes, a veil or collar around his neck and his tag is located on his left foot. He is made with PE pellets only. This Rainbow was the last official version of the Rainbow Beanie Baby.

A Rainbow Beanie Buddy was released by Ty in January 2000 wearing the pastel multi-coloured fabric, with red eyes. There is no version of the Rainbow Beanie Buddy wearing the blue/green fabric.

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Both Iggy the Iguana and Rainbow the Chameleon were also  released with Hang and Tush Tag errors several times by the factories that manufactured them. You will occasionally find Iggy wearing a Rainbow Hang and/or Tush Tag and vice-versa.

The McDonald's Teenie Beanie was probably the bigget error, when the McDonald's Teenie Beanie 'Iggy' was released with the 1999 series. The lizard wears Iggy's tags but is obviously Rainbow, because he is without felt spines or spikes on his back and tail, but has a veil or collar around his neck:

We have now covered all official versions of the Ty Beanie Babies named Iggy the Iguana and Rainbow the Chameleon. The  reasons for the different versions of these Beanie Babies has been a subject of discussion among Beanie Experts. Some of them have said they believe that Ty released the different coloured versions of each Beanie Baby, in error. I know from reading about Ty Warner that he likes to create his Animal Beanies to resemble the live creatures so that children who have seen an animal while visiting a zoo, or in the wild, will have a toy that reminds them of this animal. For this reason, I personally believe that Ty Inc. released the pastel multi-coloured and dark blue/green tye-dyed versions of Iggy and Rainbow, because there are many different types and colours of Iguanas and  Chameleons.  The ability of the Chameleon to change colour to hide itself  is also well known. I believe this is the more likely reason for the different versions. Of course I may be wrong and the Beanie Experts correct, they have studied Beaniology in detail far more than I have. Ty has never given an explanation for the different varieties of Iggy and Rainbow so we are left to speculation. There were the errors in the production of Iggy and Rainbow during the manufacturing process, but these errors have been common to all Beanies with the Hang Tags switched.

As I said at the beginning there is a very easy way to tell Iggy the Iguana and Rainbow the Chameleon apart.  Iggy always has green felt spines or spikes along his back and tail and Rainbow does not.  Rainbow always wears a collar or veil around his neck and Iggy does not. These attribues are common to all Iggy's and all Rainbow's with the exception of the occasional error beanie and the McDonald's Teenie Beanie 'Iggy'. This gives us a foolproof way of determining which Beanie you have or are going to purchase.

I have written this guide because I have seen many Iggys and Rainbows for sale on Ebay and elsewhere that have been wrongly identified due to the version changes. Every Beanie Collector and purchaser should make themselves aware of the different versions of Iggy the Iguana and Rainbow the Chameleon, before they  purchase or sell an Iggy or Rainbow that has been mis-identified. Have fun shopping!