Sasha, Malia "Beanie Babies" retired

The Chicago Tribune reported: On Monday, 2 Feb. 09, Ty Warner, founder and CEO of Ty, Inc., the Beanie Babies empire based in Westmont, announced that the controversial pair [ "Marvelous Malia" and "Sweet Sasha" ] had been "retired" "in deference to the wishes of the First Family."

The retreat forecloses what might have been an interesting "right of publicity" case involving some obvious exploitation.