Scorch the Dragon

Scorch is a dragon and one of the first Beanie Babies made in the ty-dyed curly fabric. He is style 04210, stands 9.75 inches, and has a birthday of 31 July 1998.

The Cincinnati Reds used him as a giveaway, handing out 10,000 at their game against the Milwaukee Brewers on 19 June 1999. The one documented oddity is a Scorch wearing a Kicks tush tag.

The fabric on a counterfeit is close to the real thing, so the checks are elsewhere. The felt spikes on a fake are lighter in colour and too thin. The tongue is too long, lighter in colour, and unflocked. Nostrils can be missing altogether. The eyes on a fake are two-tone, where an authentic Scorch has solid-colour eyes.

The tags give more. A counterfeit swing tag is printed on paper that is too thin, with holes punched unevenly. The type on the inside left and right of a fake differs from one side to the other, where both should be Comic Sans. The counterfeit tush tag is slightly wider than an authentic one, the red star is too big and slightly elongated, and the name is set in the wrong font.