Jerry Garcia was pretty adorable and so is his 7" bean bag plush bear! The bear is in shades of purple plus black shirt and accents. His hang tag says 'Jerry' and, of course, features the Grateful Dead's motif,  a rose.
Jerry is in excellent condition as are the hang tag and sewn in tag.  
Rather than trying to explain why he is an early edition, I've copied information I received from our good friend..AI 
"2. The Move to Indonesia and China
As the bean bear craze exploded in the late '90s and production demand skyrocketed, Liquid Blue shifted its manufacturing facilities over to Indonesia and eventually China to mass-produce later editions. Finding "Philippines" on the tush tag means yours is a coveted early-run toy. 
3. Proof of Authenticity
Because counterfeiters who bootlegged these toys in the late '90s and early 2000s primarily operated out of cheap factories in China, a clean "Made in the Philippines" tush tag—paired with your "©1998 GDP" credit card tag—is one of the strongest indicators that your bear is 100% genuine vintage. 
Summary of your bear: You have an authentic, original 1998 First/Early Edition Jerry Garcia tribute bear, manufactured during the very first phase of Liquid Blue's legendary production run in the Philippines. It is in its true vintage form!"
This estate sale find was discovered in an oval, lidded box which will be included as it will help to keep Jerry in the excellent condition I found him in.