McDonald's said it would offer 29 kinds of the small, plush, toy animals during this promotion. The Teenie Beanie Babies are given away with Happy Meals, or are available for purchase with regular menu items.

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Ill., has offered Teenie Beanie Babies every year since 1997. The Beanie Babies promotion held in the 1999 first quarter was credited with lifting McDonald's sales, but one restaurant analyst said this year's toys were not likely to generate as much enthusiasm as toys had in previous years.

``Typically, when they run a promotion for the first time, it does really well, but I wouldn't look for the same level of excitement this time,'' Mark Kalinowski, analyst with Salomon Smith Barney, said. ``For example, they just ran a Monopoly promotion and it did pretty well, but not as well as it has done in the past.''

When the toys made by privately held Ty Inc. were first offered in by McDonald's, they created a frenzy among collectors, who jammed the fast food restaurant's counters and drive-thru lanes.

Interest among collectors still exists, however. On the online auction site eBay, there are several sellers seeking to ``pre-sell'' McDonald's 2000 Teenie Beanie Babies collection. Bids start at $34.99.

McDonald's has more than 27,000 restaurants serving over 43 million people a day in 118 countries.

Shares of McDonald's were off 3/16 at 35-5/16 in early afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

[Posted 6/06/2000