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The ACE Rating System        

Attic Treasures are categorized by means of their hang tags and tush tags.  The hang tags are the  heart-shaped cardboard tags that dangle via a plastic attachment from the attic's ear and the tush tag is the cloth tag that can be found either sewn into the attic's leg or tush.

First Generation hang tags are single red full heart-shaped tags with "ty" in skinny white letters surrounded by gold foil.  The back of the tag has The Attic Treasures Collection title along with the specific style number and name.   Early 1st Generation tags were printed in Hong Kong while the later ones were printed in Korea.  Finding any mint 1st Generation hang tags on an Attic Treasure is very hard to do.  

                                1st Generation Hong Kong tag                            1st Generation Korea tag

Second Generation hang tags have the same skinny lettering on the front of a red folded heart-shaped tag.  This edition of the tag opens like a book.  Some second Generation hang tags say "The Beanie Babies Collection" on the inside and some say "The Attic Treasures Collection."  This can happen on the same Attic as seen below with Fraser.

2nd generation inside                                                              2nd generation inside

2nd Generation Outside

Third Generation hang tags hang tags, like the second edition ones, open like a book, but the "ty" script on the front uses fatter lettering.  This fatter font is sometimes referred to as "bubble lettering."

                          3rd generation inside view                                   3rd generation back

Fourth Generation tags look just like the previous ones except for the addition of a green "collectible" banner placed diagonally across the upper right hand section of the heart.  The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Generation hang tags were used for a much shorter span of time than the 1st generation hang tags, making them rare and thus, extremely desirable for true collectors.

                                        4th Generation inside                                4th Generation back

Fifth Generation tags marked a significant change in the material from which the hang tags were made.  Instead of the stiff cardboard tags used on TY plush and Beanie Babies, the new tags were made of a flimsy beige paper with maroon lettering and little paw prints on the front.    The style number is on the right side of the inside of the tag next to the style name.   The Collection is "Ty Collectibles, and in many instances, if there was a specific designer of the Attic, this was credited on the hang tag.   There are several variations of the 5th generation hang tag.  Below are examples of some of them.  The first back with the SAFETY PRECAUTION on it is the most common 5th tag back seen.   It is our hypothesis that the early 5th generation hang tags had the CE on them similar to that on the back of the 4th generation hang tags.  There are two versions of this tag.  One has the warning to "Please remove all swing tags before giving this item to a child."  The next one takes it a step further warning to "Please remove all swing tags before giving this item to a child under 36 months."  These tags are most commonly found on early 5th generation Attics with the red and white tush tag.   The fourth variation has the similar warning, but no CE.    These are all 5th generation hang tags.             

                       5th Generation inside                                                                   5th Generation outside               

5th generation back variations

Sixth Generation tags differ from the fifth only slightly.  The front of the tag looks the same but the font on the inside of the tag was changed to "comic sans," and the style number was removed from the inside of the tag by the style name, but is still incorporated into the UPC code on the back. The sixth generation tags may have either "Attic Treasures" or Ty Collectibles" on the left side of the tag.

6th Generation Inside                                                  6th Generation Outside

Seventh Generation  The seventh generation hang tag on the most recent Attic releases is a return to the red and white cardboard heart shape that opens like a book.  The front has the fat "ty" letters and looks like the third generation hang tag, but there is a big difference in the MIDDLE of the tag in that instead of the "to...from....with love" of the third generation tag, the inside of the seventh generation tag has the attic name and a one line "verse" along with the ty website URL.   Be careful when buying red tag attics that you verify the tag generation and know that only the current attic line will be found with seventh generation tags.  The initial release of the 7th generation hang tags all share the same error on the back where instead of "Retain" it says "Return for Reference."

7th Generation back with error

Pictures of the ACE logo and pictures of each generation tag are available for collectors use free of charge at:
http://www.pcperspectives.com/images/ACE.html . Directions on how to
incorporate these pictures in auction and trading board advertisements can
also be found on this site.