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Feb 29, 2024

Beanie Baby Mania swept nation in ‘90s, some cost thousands

Beanie Babies were sought by collectors worldwide in the late ‘90s and could be sold for a massive return. The same reasons they were so valuable resulted in their downfall. Beanie Babies were sought

Beanie Babies were sought by collectors worldwide in the late ‘90s and could be sold for a massive return. The same reasons they were so valuable resulted in their downfall.

Beanie Babies were sought by collectors worldwide in the late ‘90s and could be sold for a massive return. The same reasons they were so valuable resulted in their downfall.

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Beanie Babies were sought by collectors worldwide in the late ‘90s and could be sold for a massive return. The same reasons they were so valuable resulted in their downfall.

If you lived in the ‘90s, odds were you had at least one Beanie Baby. Children and adults alike were swept up in the sometimes frantic need to collect them.

Beanie Babies were small, stuffed animals created by Ty. Each unique toy was given a name like Princess the Bear or Bubbles the Fish. A four-line poem accompanied the name on an attached heart tag.

Beanies were designed to be cute, cuddly and collectible.

They enjoyed moderate success after their reveal in 1993. Three short years later, they were at the center of a phenomenon that was called the “Beanie Baby Craze.”

The aftermarket value of these understuffed toys shot through the roof. The rarest could net hundreds or even thousands of dollars. People waited in lines for hours for the opportunity to buy more Beanie Babies. There were even news reports of people risking their lives to grab Beanies that had spilled on a highway.

The Beanie Babies dominated the market in the late ‘90s, but all good things come to an end. The Beanie Baby Bubble burst in 2000. Values plummeted, and some people lost thousands as the toys they had invested in became next to worthless.

What made these toys so valuable? What drove people to spend so much time and money collecting Beanie Babies?

Watch the video to discover why these toys were so expensive and find out if any are still worth anything today.

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