Large collection of TY Beanie Babies up for sale in Rockford

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WLS) -- Decades after the Beanie Baby craze, one woman's entire collection is going up for sale.

While preparing a home in Rockford for an estate sale, Jolly Estate Sales found more than 1,000 beanie babies.

From turkeys to pigs and monkeys, it took the team 15 hours to sort and divide the beanie babies into different groups.

Almost all of them have tag protectors and some are in display cases.

"I hope for some people, they can fill out a collection if they are missing a piece here or there, or if they are looking - mom cleaned out their room when they moved out and they want four or five Beanie Babies to throw on the shelf because it reminds them of their childhood. Whatever the means are that makes you happy, I hope that somebody connects with them in that way," said Kelly Kakert, owner of Jolly Estate Sales.

There are also Beanie Babies collector cards.

The man behind the stuffed toys, TY Warner, is from the Chicago area.

The estate sale will be held at 123 South Madison in Rockford, Illinois. The hours are Friday, Sept. 2 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.