The Beanie Babies Fad - Big and Bad?

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Beanie Babies are easily one of the biggest fads of all time. But what looks like a fun little toy, may not be as harmless as it seems. This video talks about the rise of the fad, the man behind it, and how it may have taken a turn for the worse.
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[@MarshalArnold]

Oh man, I was a teenager working at McDonald's at the time.. It was insane when they had them in the happymeals! People lost their shit!

[@mikeappleget482]

I was working at a McD’s when they were in happy meals! It was insanity. I remember soccer mom types always holding up the lines and asking about which ones we had and changing their orders based on what was in stock. I heard a rumor about one manager from a different area who ordered like 3 boxes of each happy meal item for himself and sold packages on eBay containing the complete series. I guess those complete packs were selling for insane amounts of money and the dude made a small fortune.

[@jdfrench86]

That was right when the Beanie Baby Market crashed.....it was a successful promotion for Mcdonalds, but the market just became flooded and thus brought the crash.

[@FlexibleToast]

Yeah, I'm surprised he didn't mention this. I remember that being a huge deal. So much food was getting thrown away because people were buying as many meals as they could just to get the beanie babies.

[@Jenniet2002]

Joseph McDade I would be pissed of astronomical proportions if I was slaving away at McDonald’s filling happy meal orders for the food just to be thrown away. Hellllllllll noooooooo. 👊🏼

[@9HighFlyer9]

Yeah, me too. I remember people standing there and ordering "10 Happy Meals, hold the meal."

[@moopiedoots1487]

John it's over i'm taking the Princess Diana Beanie Baby Bear

[@l1minal84]

hey I have the original one

[@xnovax4189]

I’m ordering an original one :)

[@jessicalee1007]

My fiance has 3

[@MarchOnRome]

@@l1minal84 a whole $5!

[@l1minal84]

@@MarchOnRome I got it for free

[@rwaitt14153]

"Don't remove the tag. You will ruin it's value." "Don't play with it too much. It will be worth a lot of money some day." Getting these things as gifts as a kid always seemed like getting an ugly sweater a family member made. You put it in a drawer and only took it out when they visited. It ruined the charm.

[@Dudeitsmeee]

"It goes in the box honey see? Then you can sit it on your shelf and look at it! No not that shelf! It's in the sun! You'll fade it.. yes right over here in the dark corner. Isn't this a great gift? Better write gam-gams a thank you note!"

[@speedy01247]

I played with them as a kid.

[@jesuschild07able]

i broke that rule and played with mine and sadly Im one of the few who actually had one of the ones that are worth something.

[@ghoultooth]

I just played with them. Toys are toys.

[@Helldragon64]

My mom kind of did the same thing, she got me an anniversary bear made specifically in 1999 to sort of celebrate when I was born. If I find it again i'm probably gonna burn the damn thing.

[@maddiejoy6619]

My grandpa still has his beanie babies in plastic bags in his basement. He's still convinced they'll be worth something someday. Personally, I don't think that'll be until thousands of years from now when they're an archeological find, but I guess that's still "someday".

[@howdy5025]

Yeah it is just another stuffed animal

[@SigEpBlue]

My mom said the same thing when she bought a few back in the 90s: "they'll be worth something someday!" My reply: "They literally made *100 MILLION* of these things, they're worth jack squat!" I get the last laugh when I point them out to her at the "antique" shops, going for a dollar or two apiece. I've got nothing against anyone getting happiness & joy from owning them, though, really! If Beanie Babies make someone happy, I think that's great. But I draw the line when someone calls them an "investment".

[@metazoxan2]

The thing people who got into this fad didn't seem to realize is that profits from "scarcity" only applies if someone else is willing to actually pay for it. A handful of special limited edition figures that make a set are worth a fortune because people are willing to pay almost anything to complete the set. But a near endless amount of "limited" stuffed toys? It doesn't matter how few there are of each one if they don't come together to make collection they are just mildly rare toys. The royal blue elephant retained it's value mostly due to it starting the fad and thus holding a lot of fame. But besides special cases like that? nope.

[@jpmnky]

That’s what we all thought about sports cards. And look at them now.

[@Madkins8817]

If you look on Ebay (filter: sold items) you'll see that there are some that people have sold for hundreds if not thousands of $$. There are still active collectors..

[@katiemcgrade2711]

i’ve always been amazed by how adults approached this fad. i have an entire box full of beanie babies i accumulated as a little kid, because i adored how they looked, how individual each one was, how i basically had an entire zoo at my disposal (great for someone who liked to play pretend for hours and hours). it was so different from any other toy i had, and i honestly will never get rid of them just because of how much i cared for each and every single one. leave it to adults to take such a pure thing like that and make it all about money.

[@saucyboy1695]

Same! I’ve had a pretty big collection for my whole life because I used to go around garage sales and thrift stores looking for them. I just loved how cute they were! Now I have them in a stuffed animal hammock.

[@PigglePigSwillbucket]

I got all of mine from Goodwill, etc in the late 2000s, when everyone was ditching their collections, and actually was able to get some of the 'rare' ones. To me, they were something to play with, collect, and look forward to hunting for on family outings. I still have some around today and I know the names of hundreds.

[@LarryOfilms]

Yeah people who collected toys, action figures are meant to be played but nowadays most keep it in the box to display.

[@JLynnEchelon]

For sure. I still have some, including the Princess Diana bear, but I am not interested in getting rid of them.

[@em84c]

@@JLynnEchelon princess Diana as a bear?!

[@Kenneko]

I wish my family had never encountered Beanie Babies. I have precisely one good memory of them: On a field trip to an aquarium, the chaperone for my group let us all get one thing in the gift shop, even though he wasn't supposed to. I chose a dolphin Beanie Baby because I love dolphins. I loved the toy, and this was a great act of kindness for this man to buy his son's classmates souvenirs! But this was before the height of the craze. Later on, my mom went Beanie crazy when she got ahold of the fad. She learned all about the "rare" Beanie Babies and took me to the toy store to find them. At first it was fun, shopping with my mom, getting to pick out piles and piles of cute toys. But then she started getting the plastic display cases for the bears... tag protectors... I wasn't actually supposed to PLAY with any of these toys. They were for collecting, not playing. They were off limits. When McDonald's had their Beanie Babies Happy Meals, she drove me around to multiple locations all day to collect them all. They were distributed at random, so we would buy Happy Meals until we got all of them, and I was only given the repeats we got. When my mom died, we found the Beanie Babies stored in trash bags in the basement. Worth almost nothing now, though in great condition because I never got to play with them. I told a family friend to chuck them but she took them to give away as "free gifts" with donations to her cat rescue group to encourage parents to donate a few bucks to get their kid a little toy, so at least they're going to as good a cause as they can now. God knows they weren't doing me any good.

[@WhatsUpWithSheila]

I'm sorry the Beanie Babies made your life sad as a child 😞

[@Buttermilkjug]

@duping delight Quit being such a pussy~

[@teetywoo3156]

@@Buttermilkjug I'm the pussy? You're the buttermilkjug. Stop kissing your sister and grow up

[@ArtseyGurl]

@@teetywoo3156ayyy I like you

[@ArtseyGurl]

@@urukadooedwards7637 bigger than yours 🤗

[@leaf9700]

Ok I don’t really care if there valuable but they are ADORABLE like I just get them just because they are adorable :/

[@nenesiiiiiiiii]

Me too :) My cousin is ordering 4 for me

[@tomhill3248]

That's what a toy should be. Shame on those people trying to retire from Beenie babies. Their greed is deplorable.

[@RadiantBleu]

Yeah *they're* still so cute

[@lwcaexii]

They're really cute, I had some as a child and wish they still sold them.

[@lilliths-httyd-channel]

this might be an unpopular opinion but Yuzuchoco are the cutest bears in existence.

[@KatieKatt18]

I remember every time I got a new beanie baby, everyone would always say “Remember, don’t rip the tag off or they won’t be worth anything one day!” The tag always came off within minutes of playing because it would bother me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@charlottesmom]

That is the way it should have been, I remember buying doubles for my kids so they could play with them but I had the heart guards on all mine and nobody was allowed to touch them.

[@timduncan6750]

We bought several for our kids and cutting the tag off was one of the first things we did when we got home. All were played with - we certainly got our moneys worth out of each one...

[@bradleymcwilliams6348]

Well I guess you lost your fortune! Probably have $10 worth today...😄

[@KatieKatt18]

@@bradleymcwilliams6348 Aww, damn! That would’ve paid for a nice wedding! 🤣

[@orangebeagle3068]

I remember my cousin had a ton of beanie babies just sitting on a display, just nagging at my little kid brain. My mom bought my cousin an additional beanie baby for her collection, a calico cat, and I asked my mom if I could play with it before we gifted it to her. She said yes, and I remember my mom getting so mad when she found out I had broken the tag off! I had to go apologize to my cousin, who was sad, and I didn’t really understand why.

[@HarleyTheCockatiel]

I don't care what they're worth or not-worth. I collected them as a kid because I loved them, I loved the variety, I loved animals and I loved that they all had a name and personality. I used to spend my pocket money on them because I enjoyed them, not for future financial gain.

[@geofff.3343]

That's great. I watch someone buy a toy and it never leaves the box, and I know it's silly, but I always think how sad that is. A toy that's never played with or loved by a kid is just wrong on some kind of human level.

[@willypp13]

Comp Wiz2007 dude when kids play they imagine the personality

@@willypp13 But it's grown people saying this... See the problem?

[@willypp13]

Comp Wiz2007 the comment is referring to the past, not now lol the person said when he or she was a kid

[@Helicopter7]

I’ve been collecting beanie boos (and somewhat beanie babies) For years and I still do.

[@itwasntmeemtnsawit3509]

I always thought the TY was Thank You. as in, thank you for buying one

[@dashman2062]

Same

[@ryneprince7113]

Always thought it was the brand

[@MiniMindfulMuse]

I always thought it was a weird way of writing "toy"

[@KatieKatt18]

Same

[@vlowe17]

I thought it was just for fun

[@Kahuna_550]

This man finnsesed the world with some under stuffed cloth then dipped.

[@mooneater7072]

Nah just us Americans not the world

[@SonnyGTA]

Reggae Llama FINNSESED!!?!?!!!!?!?!?!! WTF word is THAT??? Hahaha dope.

[@viperlife914]

@@mooneater7072 wanna bet lol would be easy money for me

[@nick5422]

Not a finesse, just smart business

[@greggoryfurbyisle2111]

They may be monetarily worthless, but they're priceless in my heart 🥺

[@princessbeaniewiggle]

Ikr? Everyone says they're worthless now. But they're worth something to me.

[@rinibunny4576]

Agree

[@cifge_404]

I loved these little things as a kid, I still do at 18, and I don't think I'm growing out of it. My beanie babies were always the crown jewels of my stuffed animal collection, and it wasn't because people valued them. They just looked the best to me. If I have to pair down my collection, I'm keeping those.

[@63shirochan]

ditto! i've still got all of mine. some in my room where i have space, others carefully put into boxes until i have room to display them or something. they're all attached to childhood memories - from my late grandfather getting them for me, to playing with old friends i've lost touch with - so why wouldn't i keep them and keep them safe?

[@SaraMahdi]

Same !!! My beanie babies are truly my babies 🥺🥺

[@clarky23]

back in 1997 I dated a girl who ended up cashing out her 401K and spend it all on Beanie Babies. She probably spent $20-25K on these stupid things. it was when she had to "borrow" $300 from me to pay her rent that I decided if this was how she viewed finances that I needed to move on. Sometimes wonder whatever happened to her.

[@rowdyzack5914]

She is fantastically rich from selling all her beanie babies right before the bubble burst, you're missing out big time bruh you missed the bus on getting with that billionaire pussy

[@ZERO_42069]

Most likely sold those shits, and spent her money on stupid shit and ended up broke

[@nameless3635]

i give her a round of applause, she can sell all of them today and make a fortune

[@L30M00N]

she died.

[@ashirrelevent1062]

One word: Hummus

[@Geo_Thermal]

Ty Warner sold $5 toys. Whatever people did after that was their responsibility.

[@manictiger]

Yeah I don't have any pity on these families that were "ruined" by the toys. They weren't "ruined" by the toys. They were ruined by their own sheer stupidity! My family did it with houses and lawyers. First, they thought they could flip houses, which is just stupid busy work for idiots that watch too much HGTV (fake). Then they had a custody battle they couldn't afford. So many self-destructive morons in this world and it's always "someone else's fault". Are you sentient? Is your I.Q. above 70? So you're not clinically retarded and can do basic fucking math? K, then. IT'S YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALWAYS YOUR FAULT! Learn from it or die poor. (Most people pick option B.)

[@CelestialWoodway]

Simplistic thinking.

[@Spectorwing]

@@manictiger Exactly! It's the same problem with people and fast food chains, suiting companies for their own bad choices. No one anymore takes responsibility instead always playing the victim.

[@spacer-guy5017]

@@manictiger uh, i know this is a year old but jeebus h christopher i think you went overboard with the insults

[@manictiger]

​@@spacer-guy5017 Nope. I stand by it more than ever before. One little crisis comes by and the financially irresponsible drop like flies. Should have taken it more seriously. Now they've lost the war and still haven't learned anything. Even if the world did care about you, which it doesn't, it still wouldn't have the resources to save you. I still remember when I was homeless a decade ago. After 2 weeks, they kick you out of the shelter. That's the real world. I had to learn the hard way that I find myself where I put myself, but at least I learned early. Most people never learn at all. Harsh words are nothing compared to what's in store for people that don't pay attention.

[@athy3617]

I had a new McDonald's one, my parrot lost his partner, and the vet told me to give him mirrors and small teddies, so I gave him my England beanie baby, and now it's really ripped up and weird looking, but it's fine since he is happy

[@hegtyson7044]

That was nice of you :)

[@athy3617]

Thanks it s all for him

[@livingmaulana]

d'aaawwwwww

[@ethanomcbride]

I had one beanie baby when I was a kid, I named her “Vocal” the opera ostrich and would scream like a drunk soprano when I threw her in the air. God I was a strange child

[@mightypurplelicious3209]

wat

[@sauvagess]

Who wasn't a strange child?

[@dudeross9120]

Some of my favorite memories from being a teenager in the mid 90's were when McDonald's was selling their ty Beanie Babies in happy meals. (and by themselves) My mom and I used to hit 2-3 McDonald's on the way home from school, asking which ones they had, trying to finish our collections. We knew it was silly, knew it was a fad, but we didn't want to fully get into beanie babies generally b/c there were too many, but collecting just this batch proved a really fun distraction. It was something we both had a lot of fun doing. We never did get that purple platypus though.

[@dudeross9120]

@David Parry We didn't have the internet at home at that time and I have no idea how we would have just 'found someone' otherwise. Also it was the fun of trying to find the last few with my mom on our own. Like so many things in life, it was about the journey and not the destination.

[@skip2mylusantiago65]

That’s an awesome memory you have with your mom. It must have been lots of fun and brought you two closer ❤️

[@ms.craftycapricorn9475]

That's beautiful.. ❤

[@xnovax4189]

Omg Patti the Platypus! My best friend has that.

[@TheStephozz]

Dude Ross Commenting on this because if I am able to find a platypus beanie baby in storage somewhere I would like to send it to you so you can complete your collection

[@saffron3986]

beanie babies have always been special to me. my grandmother and i bonded over sharing beanie babies when i was a kid because we both loved how cute they were. when she died, i inherited most of her beanie babies and i smile when i look at my collection because they remind me of her.

[@bobroberts2371]

Yep, and that is the point. Buy what you like ( afford ) and don't be concerned if they go up or down in value.

[@fluffy_psalms_23]

That's so sweet! 😊❤ You Made my day. I love beanie babies too. 😊

[@beaviswealth]

Me and my brother used to throw these at each other 😅

[@evilst.management8810]

brandonbeavisinvestin

[@_graey]

David Posadas I agree.

[@sadmeat8937]

B...Brother?!?

[@Paddichops]

me and my sister still throw our one at each other and i am nearly 30, I threw it at my dad one time and he went fucking psycho lmao

[@emperorleroy6747]

brandonbeavisinvesting little did you know you were throwing little bundles of money at each other.

[@nooodisaster]

Growing up, Beanie Babies were my favorite toy. I loved making personalities for each one and playing pretend. Each design was so unique and because they were 'understuffed' I could move them kinda like action figures. I'd spend hours making up stories. I still remember some of the characters and 'plotlines' I made lmao.

[@jlyo1991]

Similar story but I used them as wrestlers for pretend wrestling matches.

[@FlameEmber]

Same. My brother and I made a whole world out of them and our other stuffed toys. They all had deep lore and went on many adventures.

[@ZOSO900]

I did the exact same thing, usually based on the description in their tag poem and I had different voices for them. I even bought a motorcycle for Tuffy and put up a mini basketball hoop for Snort based on their poems.

[@VenomSnake00]

@@FlameEmberReminds me of me and my brother, we did the same! I remember creating a city out of cardboard boxes and Christmas lights in our basement for them. My favorites were the different colored cats, and the Ronald McDonald bear. Just such good memories whenever I see these things. Your totally right about them having that action figure quality, they were very fun to play with and had tons of personality

[@orangebeagle3068]

The cat ones are a classic for sure. I never really thought about it before this video, but I guess I did prefer beanie babies because of how poseable they were. Barbie dolls on the other hand couldn’t even stand on their own. I recognized so many beanie babies from this video! Ah the nostalgia. I had pokemon figurines which were smaller, so the pokemon would serve as kids and the larger beanie babies were adults when I played. We also had this black poodle beanie baby with red bows named Gigi. Well Gigi would sometimes turn into Super Gigi! Super Gigi could fly and had superpowers! But Super Gigi’s hero costume consisted of a red hair tie that we would tie as tightly as we could around its legs and waist, and we called it the Superman underwear, and it always made us kids giggle.

[@LikaLaruku]

"After he lost his job, he took off to hang with friends in Italy for 3 years." That must have been SOME severance pay.

[@JTScott1988]

I always wondered how white people are able to do so much with jobs everyone else struggles with.

[@riddlemefish6217]

My beanie baby collection is growing and has been for two years now Thanks Goodwill for the $1.99 beanie babies! I have 138... yeah

[@PigglePigSwillbucket]

I remember getting Tabasco the Bull from a Goodwill and feeling like I robbed a bank.

[@dizzyplatypus9646]

I usually see a fad, wait till the end of it, and then start collecting it just for fun.

[@amandeepgill2958]

do u know where to get any from Canada?

[@kendragreene5953]

Seeing this video makes me want to collect again. I still have all of mine

[@jennachinne9639]

Same I got the rare cancun beanie boo at goodwill for 2 bucks

[@micah3046]

This channel's consistant quality makes me keep coming back.

[@tynothanks]

Kyaknight ¡ Honestly

[@JusNoBS420]

I remember McDonald’s had a teeny beanie baby happy meal promotion. I went into the store to grab lunch one day. Because the drive thru line was like 20 cars deep. Only to see inside the store they had every register open and like 10-12 people deep in each line 😂. I immediately turned around and got lunch somewhere else that day

[@LightsJusticeZ]

I remember a news article saying ppl were buying Happy Meals for the BB and just throwing away the food.

[@orangebeagle3068]

That’s like me with ChickfilA every day haha

[@krxstall]

I always thought the TY was for toy I didn’t know it was a mans name lmao

[@L1V2P9]

In eastern Canada it is a toy! As in.. "give the child a ty to play wid."

[@cristymontoya2934]

I thought it meant thank you as in "TY for buying our toy "

[@coleluna2073]

Bruh I thought it stood for Thank You

[@heizousbabygirl4972]

@@coleluna2073 SAME

[@Wysiwyg43]

I still have Beanie Babies on a sentimental level from this fad. I never bought ones for profit, only the ones I liked. The last one I bought was in 2000 -the year of the dragon- after the birth of my son. Eighteen years later it's still here "looking" at me as it sits on my desk.

[@fartmerchant762]

Wait a second, I was born in 2000 on Feb 29. You know how to use KZbin mom?

[@thehylianloach9473]

Fuck that's kinda creepy actually

[@Kaboomboo]

That's pure poetry.

[@Lynnfly100]

I have that dragon too, my kids play with it now lol. I remember spending allowance money on that series.

[@peebay3515]

It wants some of that milf ass....

[@GirtheAlienGoldfish]

As a kid, I had a lot of them. My favorite was a Siamese cat named Snip. I was so upset when my dog ate her.

[@TrueBlueVinn]

Too bad your dog never ate your homework though!

[@Tadpole_Plyrr2]

I had chip the cat I named her mittens 🥺

[@paullytle246]

I have snip too they are always in my carry on luggage

[@TheGabb1]

I had Snip! Zip was my first Beanie Baby, then I got Chip, then Snip :D

[@birdmasterthecaffeinatedowl]

Omg yes. There was also nip, chip, zip

[@cardwitch91]

I have a ton of beanie babies I collected as a kid. I can’t bear to throw them out because I loved playing with them, especially the cats which were amazingly cute.

[@waffles5354]

SAME

[@shepherd9217]

The cats were easily the most fun to play with lol

[@romanvice]

You can't BEAR to throw them out ;)

[@skipythebest]

Bruh I have so many bears and it's weird to see them in this video

[@charlottesmom]

Seriously they are really difficult to even think about giving away/throwing out, I still adore them, they're too cute.

[@dog8668]

I'm glad these are so cheap because I wanna own more lol. I love plushies and I love 90s stuff

[@ThePinkLadyJ]

Ugh, I remember these. I was 13 in 97' when they were at the height of their popularity. My best friend was collecting them and a few other people I knew. I remember my mom going way overboard when McDonald's had them. But even at 13, I knew it was a bunch of BS and that they didn't really have any value. In all my life, I've owned three: a dragon, a unicorn, and a bat and that was just because I thought those three were cute and I only paid retail price for them. Still have em.

[@mightypurplelicious3209]

I tried strangling mine

[@eliocosmos]

@@mightypurplelicious3209 well did it work ?

[@pickles3128]

I have a million of these things in my attic. What can I say, I was an eight year old girl? I had a great time collecting them. I can still smell the candy shop that made fresh fudge where I got them with my mom.

[@ZERO_42069]

Pickles I make fresh fudge daily

[@riddlemefish6217]

C... Can I have them?

[@skybingus]

As a child born in January of 1999 I got to reap the benefits of the ending of the beanie baby craze. During the 2000s everyone had massive amounts of beanie babies that they no longer wanted, so at every yard sale and for every holiday I got massive amounts of them and loved every second of it. I still have several and love them to this day ❤️

[@bwink4709]

My dad used to own one with a spelling error on the tag...it's super valuable today, but my mom sold it for a dollar at a garage sale.

[@sophiathekitteh]

oof.

[@king_big_pp]

I'd love to watch a documentary of like 5 or 6 families who lost everything on the Beanie Babies "investment bubble". I want to know where they are now, if they're doing ok, and who these human beings are.

[@RyTrapp0]

Commander_Ninja I can't imagine that anyone that "invested" in these is in good financial shape - I'm pretty sure one had to lack financial sense in the first place to get caught up in collecting brand new, readily available toys, and most people that lack financial sense don't tend to learn it in the future. They're typically the type that think that they just have "bad luck" or blame their problems on hippy astrological bullshit. They live in a mountain of debt and claim that they "don't have any choice but to take out more debt" - while they spend their paychecks on 'luxuries' and outright garbage they don't need. I say this because I know too many like this, they don't learn and advice goes right in one ear, right out the other.

[@jimbo-fk4dq]

Most of those families found out their Beanie Babies were only worth a $1,000, but lucky them, they met this fellow named Bernie Madoff, that could turn that $1,000 and their life's savings into Millions.😂

[@M_Finance]

I'm sure in a few years or so there will be a documentary on the Bitcoin fad. (not saying it's not worth something, just not at $20,000 where the peak was in 2017)

[@callummarriott7818]

There's a short documentary thats exactly this. "bankrupt by beanies". It's on Vimeo.

[@carlitos219]

Commander_Ninja there’s a little documentary about a family named bankrupt by beanies

[@dlcalbaugh]

In 1998, my husband and I spent our honeymoon traveling all over Michigan looking for Beanie Babies and had so much fun. This was the biggest craze I had ever seen. I can't even imagine how much money we spent in the late 90's on Beanie Babies. If I didn't get the ones I wanted, sadly I would cry. Now I feel so silly about our devotion to these little animals. I did have great fun collecting them and would take one today if someone gifted me. I think I want to go buy one.

[@asherael]

Yanno... if you had a great time, it was time and money well spent. If they had value to you, they were valuable. It's the assumption they'd carry people(who had no interest in them for what they actually were) into retirement that blows my mind.

[@anagama5238]

What did you do with them?

[@dlcalbaugh]

ANA Gama I worked at a daycare center for low-income children and I gave them all away to the kids after keeping them for a few years.

[@delusionsofgrandeur1330]

Dianna, you crazy girl

[@philiphugoofficial]

God bless your soul :)

[@Sharayaslover]

I gave all my beanie babies to my dog. She liked to carry them around and groom them like they were her puppies. My dad still has them in a bin somewhere because she took such good care of them up until she passed.

[@calebgadison167]

I'm sorry to hear about your dog passing even if it's probably been a while since that occurred.

[@orangebeagle3068]

Aw that is so cute. My dog tore some of mine to shreds. Well, to little white plastic beans, to be exact.

[@GPlusZGaming]

I had fun collecting Beanie Babies with my mom in the 90's. I had a bookshelf FULL of them. I believe in '98 my school was taking a trip to Cancun Mexico. I really wanted to go, but couldn't afford it. My mom gave me the idea of selling my Beanie Babies as a lot. I wouldn't split them up, no matter how many people called begging me to. I had a good mix of valuable and not so valuable, so selling as a lot was the best way for me to not end up with tons not sold. After only a day or so someone called offering to buy at my asking price! I went to Cancun with my school and had a great time. It didn't seem like very long after I got back, the bubble seemed to burst with Beanie Babies and they weren't worth a fraction of what they were when I sold mine. I guess I just got lucky, but I have mostly good memories of the Beanie Babies fad!✌

[@Buttermilkjug]

@Christian Seas.. I imagine you saying that as you're crawling out from under a very dirty, piss stained couch, with Doritos crumbs all over your face~

[@1963Iota]

I went through this and the "Cabbage Patch Kids" fad. What a time to be alive

[@mikemoos]

Should've gone for Pokémon.

[@maximillianlylat1589]

SilverEevee pokemon never really died it still gets hugely popular with kids and now has the nostalgic adult market if anything its more of a trend as it keeps comming back

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yep I vaguely remember the Cabbage Patch Kids fad as I was only around 2 at the time, but my mother did give me one with glasses to help make me feel better about having to wear mine LOL. Also with the Beanie Babies I had a coworker at my first job in High school who would sometimes spend her whole paycheck trying to get them, and saying it's gonna save my family from ruin someday. Last I saw her sadly was in a few years ago in a Walmart checkout line swiping an EBT food stamp card, but don't think she noticed me thankfully.

[@pippo17173]

The fact it ended in such a tragic way, shows how powerful merchandise can have over someone.

[@Christopher-N]

I'm still waiting for my *Spaceballs* the doll. _"May the Schwartz be with you!"_

[@ThisOldSkater]

And my flame thrower.

[@Christopher-N]

*Number Six:* The kids love that one.

[@starlite04]

They should have ended when it was originally announced. The company is nothing like it how it used to be.

[@gabriellegay4097]

When I was little I found my cousin's beanie baby collection in the attic, they were stored in these individual glass cases and when I asked my aunt if I could play with them she was like "No. These toys aren't for playing." I remember thinking wtf let me play with that teddy bear haha

[@andrewburleson9314]

In 1998 I bought 50 Beanie Babies, and $500 in Enron stock. I still have the Beanie Babies, I'm not sure how the Enron stock is doing.

[@lynnzerben]

I was dinking water when I read this and I had to work really hard not to spray water all over my keyboard

[@a552bcx]

andrew burleson enron went bankrupt. you can still get into another bubble fad stock called the elon musk tesla.

[@CleaveTheDragon]

We got beanie babies on the cheap and used them to hurl at each other, calling them "Beanie Baby Wars". So I'd say they were worth the memories.

[@202cardline]

Whoa I literally had "beanie baby wars" with my brother too. We called it the exact same thing LOL great times

[@TickleMyResearch]

Same

[@TextileGeorge]

I had no idea other people did this.

[@whymypeepeehard7016]

what the fuck did we have the exact same childhood? me and my older brother would do this too. same exact name

[@PigglePigSwillbucket]

getting it in the eye with a beanie baby eye sure hurt

[@astralclub5964]

The actor who played Dr. Rick Webber on General Hospital "invested" over $100,000 of his retirement money in Beanie Babies. Rule: If something is sold as a "collectible" it will NEVER be really valuable because everyone saves it in mint condition. Some old toys are valuable today because kids destroyed 99.9% of them in their first year of ownership. Another idea for investment is precious metals. They've been valued by humans for thousands of years.

[@mezcaomezcal4724]

Rick Pyle baseball cards?

[@ShidaiTaino]

Rick Pyle never invest of precious metals. They’re too volatile and people almost never make a profit

[@astralclub5964]

476 Anno Domini PM's are more insurance against our ever inflating dollar. One silver quarter bought a gallon of gas in 1964, and that same silver quarter will buy you actually a bit more of that gas today. They have their place in any investment strategy IMHO.

[@astralclub5964]

mezcao mezcal Baseball cards have seen enormous waves both up and down in collectibility. The most precious ones were collected long before they became massively popular collectibles - therefore the cream of the crop are rare in pristine condition. I had some cards in the 1960's and early 70's, but they ended up clipped to my bike tires as a sound effect!

[@DAViDD767]

Rick Pyle hawhawhaw

[@BangBang-hk4rg]

I remember the Beanie Baby insanity very well. I heard about people walking into McDonalds and buying dozens of Happy Meals just to throw all the food straight in the trash can and walk out with just the toys. SMFH

[@Jaceblue04]

Apparently people in Singapore once did the same thing when McDonalds sold Hello Kitty dolls with Happy Meals. No really, this is a thing that happened.

[@megga1886]

Terrible people. Homeless could have had the meals.

[@velocityakaslothmom8083]

I sold all of my beanie babies right before the crash and I put a down payment on my house with them

[@DromeFilms]

Velocity The running Sloth aka Sloth Mom smart

[@asherael]

that's... awesome... good for you. Never heard a good story about beanie babies before.

[@erikcummings3125]

Smart move

[@jakedenner4789]

MVP investor. Using a worthless item on something valuable. MVP Well done

[@CrossoverGameReviews]

You still living in that house?

[@eleanorcarpenter37]

I had a white dragon beenie named Magic. She had a couple lizard friends, a peacock, and a parasaur named scooter. Best stuff 10/10

[@mediumunwell]

I like how you cut off your own intro haha

[@bparks_5095]

Polin Mileg dam son

[@Shadowclanwarrior246]

I was born in 1996, and my grandmother (who has passed away) had a huge collection of Beanie Babies. She let me play with them as a kid, and honestly a lot of my fondest memories are playing with beanie babies as a kid. I never understood or knew about the fad. So it is interesting to see the more business side of some of my favorite toys growing up. So I may be in the minority...but beanie babies do have a special place in my heart, because of my connection to my grandmother. So...on a personal level, I'm glad this fad was a thing. But on the other hand...it was an insane time.

[@Saiyanryu]

Beanie Babies are like the 90s Funko Pop figures.

[@gd523]

As a toy vendor, I AGREE! by 2019 Pop! will be flooded.

[@Peppermon22]

I hate those toys. They are so dumb and serve no function. They just collect dust.

[@babysisdolls3336]

i just started to collect them this year..

[@caligulalonghbottom2629]

nowhere near the same thing. the only other thing that could be considered remotely close are those shopkins things.

[@UmmYeahOk]

I’ve already joked numerous times to my family about Funkos. All of us collected beanie babies, except maybe my mom, who bought us most of them. I would joke about how all my funkos were going to be worth a lot some day and is my daughters college fund. As a member of the class of 2000, which there was a millennium bear, a Y2K bear, and a class of 00 owl, I bet there were several of my peers who seriously thought their collection was going to pay for their own tuition.

[@CZsWorld]

Beanie Babies > Funko Pop

[@Indeside]

CZsWorld at least beanie babies have variety

[@bathedgie6139]

Why do you have to that.

[@Red_Vega]

CZsWorld niether in my mind make sense

[@BippyChunchun]

Literally anything > funko pops

[@Immorpher]

Have you guys see the queen alien Funko Pop?

[@Gungho73]

I want to share a story, for people (including Company Man in a way) to understand just how big the Beanie Babies were for some people: We had a family friend i met named Fred, who I'd meet during thanksgiving and 4th of July holidays. Fred was born with a barely functional, working hand, was a smaller man around the lower 4 feet scale and required a breathing apparatus in the side of his neck (it's a longer tubule structure, not the nose variants most of you are aware of). Fred was, in every sense of the word, a unique individual with what some would deem a unfortunate life. He lost his parents heading into his teens/20's and basically supported himself while dealing with all these issues. Though he never got a great grasp of his parents giving travels and such, his mother and father always found reason to bring him those beanie babies once the fad started. But for Fred, his reasons for wanting them were different then many others. For him, they acted as friends who could listen and console him during his tough times, small enough for him to actually give a real big hug to even with his bad somewhat smaller hand (originally they had brought him other stuffed animals, balls and doo-dad's but no gift took advantage of his unique issues like BB's did) and detailed enough to allow his imagination to roam free. And as his mother and father made a point to do, each of the ones he ever received were absolutely unique. He never had a duplicate, and they ranged from very unique to simple multi colored. By the time of Fred's passing, a short couple years ago, his collection (which he kept growing, as the only gift he ever splurged on himself or asked for) had ranged into the several hundred. Even the counterfeit ones often found a home on a special seperate dresser in his home, because as he described it, "even if someone didn't love making these (counterfeiters), or even want the toys themselves (consumers), I do. Everyone deserves to be wanted for who they are, no matter what others dress them up as. We are all blissfully unique in our creation." When I went to his open funeral, I really understood what this message meant to him; in such a small community in Idaho he attracted so many people from every walk of life. From the elderly who could barely walk, to the youngest of kids at the recreational center, to devoit church goers and non believers alike, hundreds of people showed up to give final thanks to this man. And as thanks for having touched his life, he willed all of his beanie babies to be given individually. So that he may continue touching their lives as each of the stuffed creatures seemingly did his own. Thanks for listening, everyone. I appreciate any and all who read this. Have a wonderful day/night. Especially you, Company Man. Thank you for bringing out this sudden remembrance.

[@steveb4662]

Thank you! What a great story.

[@typeonegative24314]

Enjoyed reading that. It touched me. I will share your story with friends and family

[@ellieadele3769]

Gungho73 thank you for sharing that. It was beautiful.

[@bwink4709]

Fred seemed like one of those people you're just glad exists at the same time you do. He seems pretty amazing. RIP Fred.

[@KlockoFett]

Wow. That's...a really touching story. Thank you for sharing. Wish I could've met Fred.

[@ericaschaidt8588]

I worked at McDonald’s back in the day during the FIRST beanie baby promotion. Holy hell. We had NO IDEA what we were in store for. We had no clue how obscenely popular they’d be. As such we were severely understaffed, and couldn’t adequately handle the influx we’d have of people at any given time. I was 16/17, and admittedly got a bit nervous when faced with an angry crowed of adults who were demanding their beanie babies.

[@meechp123]

I have that same memory.

[@Trev_Swen]

I remember in the late 90s when Pokemon and KFC did a promotion too. I remember the lobby having kids and their pokemon beanie babies.

[@jacuzzibusguy]

Near my hometown, police had to direct traffic because they were so popular. M

[@dasher607]

you didnt mention how the little tag gave them names and a little story. I think that was part of the appeal. I was 12 when beanie babies started getting popular. my family bought them for me because they thought i would like them. during this video i was able to point out the ones i remember i had. though, i dont remember their names. I absolutely had the princess di one. my aunt had one, my mom had one, my grandma had one. i dont think anyone in my family spent more than $5 on a beanie baby though. probably because no one in my family knew how to use ebay. I dont think ty did anything wrong (except for the tax evasion thing). he saw an opportunity and took it. that is in encouraged in the America. thats capitalism. as long as he didnt make children sew the toys, i dont really have a strong opinion about his success.

[@kittikissable]

he did mention it

[@gigitastic90]

I always had to read the stories in the tag! I think they influenced my love of my favorites by about 40%. 60% was whatever animal it was.

[@JesamyPorter]

I had over a hundred of them. Several Princess Di bears all with different regional tags. I did manage to sell a first gen Zip the cat for quite the little profit in the late 90s but I always regretted that because that was my first beanie baby. I was 11-13 years old when they were big. Buying them was how I spent the majority of my allowance. Now they live in a big tub in my closet, most of the tags have fallen off because the tag protectors were too heavy. But they were cute and it was fun collecting them while it lasted so I have no real regrets.

[@dustin628]

Wow the tag protectors made the tags fall off? That's so ironic considering it was blasphemous to have a beanie baby in the 90s without tag protectors 😂 Yeah it was fun.

[@prtdiva]

I have a huge trunk of them too at my mom’s, some with tag protectors. Now I’m curious to see if the tag has fallen off lol 🤦🏾‍♀️😂 But I also loved playing with them and have no regrets about the purchases 🥰

[@1mfilms]

Since he always sold Beanie Babies for $5 at retail, I can't say he was in the wrong. And while his company benefited from the demand, it's not like they got a cut of eBay's or the resellers' profits.

[@AleXander9KPSN]

Yep and just because their value tanked after a short period of time doesn't mean they didn't have value then. Someone buying a benie baby for hundreds also means someone was able to re-sell one for hundreds. Literally nothing """"""dark"""""" or """"""""unethical"""""""" about it.

[@Outd8tddais]

Beanie babies were also great gifts to buy for someone’s bday since they had little birth dates for the figures as well!

[@MattMamba24]

Another fad that would be interesting to talk about would be baseball cards. The industry has changed so much from its beginnings to where it is today!

[@gilbertoflores7397]

Matt Mamba baseball as a sport is on the decline. Who would want to collect baseball cards when the sport is kind of fading out of popularity. Matter of fact, do you know anyone who still collect sports cards?

[@MattMamba24]

Well since I collect cards, I've met a bunch of people online that still collect sports cards. I 100% agree with you that, card collecting is not as common as it used to be. I'd say a majority of the people collecting are older males. I'm in the minority being 21 years old. Every year there is a National Card Show that attracts tens of thousands, but it is nowhere near as popular as it was in the 80s and 90s.

[@User31129]

Not just baseball. My wife has still from her childhood a mint Magic Johnson in a case. I've been meaning to price it out. I have some 90s NFL stars like Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Jerome Bettis. But not in cases so they're probably worth nothing.

[@MattMamba24]

Overall 90s cards are pretty much worthless because of how overproduced they were. They made so many cards, there are still thousands of unopened boxes of 90s sports cards that sell for less than $10. If they are graded a 10 and of great players like Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Ken Griffey JR, they could fetch a little money, but like I said there are so many copies of 90s cards.

[@autobotzapof0002]

And now it's Pokemon cards, or casino cards.

[@AirshipFury]

'hung out with friends in italy for 3 years" 10/10 SKETCH

[@Arjay404]

Jeez, you make this man seem like a monster, all he did was try to make money. Objects have whatever value people are willing to pay for them. He was a savy businessman not unethical. These are toys after all, not medicine or food, something people actually need to live.

[@StarlightPrism]

And a big part of his business strategy was keeping the toys for a low price, even when they got popular. If he was really so evil, he could have easily jacked up the prices and made even more money since "investing" adults were willing to pay so much. And it's not like he told people that they'd be a good investment, he just retired certain ones, which is a really common business strategy, it's not particularly sleazy.

[@elwoodziggurat]

When I was about 4 years and my sister was 11, we collected Beanie Babies like crazy and my sister opened up an online store after Y2K for us to sell them. It was our first "business" lmao and we actually made a few hundred bucks

[@Kaalokalawaia]

There's a sucker born every minute. Crazes like this have happened throughout time. Tulips anyone?

[@elevenaffirmations5821]

tulips?

[@javannabarnes5811]

This conversation restored my faith in humanity

[@cortneyrens]

Kaalo: exactly lol, and now the Bitcoin art (where a computer generated image of a cat and rainbow, looks like a 1990 Nintendo image) is worth a million dollars, it’s like the newest non-cash “currency “ that people think is going to catch on

[@kenbee1957]

NFTS have entered the chat

[@thatweirdfeelingpart3767]

My dad used to sell Beanie Babies during the fad. The house I'm living in was largly bought from the selling if them.

[@elf9064]

That's awesome. It doesn't even matter the size of the house because a house is a house. BUT, if you happen to live in an expensive area like LA, then that investment has definitely doubled in real estate value in the last 2 decades.

[@LuxAudio389]

The 90's was a crazy time for this type of stuff. I think this was the era of hype which has led to the present Black Friday frenzy. I remember Tickle Me Elmo blowing up, Sleep and Snore Ernie, PS2...

[@BangBang-hk4rg]

People were going stupid for stuff back in the 1980’s too. Remember Cabbage Patch Kids?

[@SpectraNyte]

And don't forget the original Furby in '98!

[@dspecter1187]

And Betty Spaghetti, Wettin Wizard, Baby Born, Carebears and Digi Pets.

[@CryptiCoy]

how can you forget about pokemon!! that was just as huge as beanie babies lol

[@MissDublDD]

Boomers being boomers

[@マシュードーラン]

I collected, bought and sold them in their prime and it was an amazing time to be alive! I was 11 or 12 at the time. Now I’m tempted to rebuy them since their $1 or so a piece and I can actually collect them just for fun and nostalgia now

[@warmswimmer8045]

"now claude is one of the more valuable ones so maybe not him" *goes to ebay* claude is a whopping $5.50 on the first result and that isnt even the cheapest listing

[@brendawhite5910]

😂😂

[@matthewcrowe646]

Sarcasm is a tough concept to grasp, it's okay

[@nicolewong3687]

I'm actually really sad that they no longer produce the OG beanie babies. I got them as presents as a kid and I still think they're pretty cute. Nowadays the ones I see at the store are the creepy bug eyed ones :/

[@jaclynmcdine8490]

You can order them on amazon, idk if they are legit, but they are cute and nice quality

[@xnovax4189]

You can order em on websites! :) Don’t know if they are OG but they are very cute 💗

[@brilondon]

Ty was a good business man. He made his money selling the initial goods. People were the greedy ones trying to profit from their popularity. There was a demand which he sought to fulfill. That's just good business.

[@catboyhole]

what about the whole tax evasion thing lol?

[@mcdouche2]

When I was a teenager the neighbor lady was obsessed with them. She was a great lady, she taught me a little about Beanie Babies and a lot about love.

[@electricpenguin32]

Ty might be shady but honestly it's not his fault consumers don't know what's good for them 😂😂

[@lp-xl9ld]

PT Barnum was right...

[@reagan13579]

This is funny, watching the video I got to pick out all the beanie babies I have (like the little crab at the end). We didnt buy them as an investment - I was a little kid at the time and my parents and uncles and aunts bought me beanie babies as birthday and christmas presents because they were cheaper than most other toys (at least the ones they bought me). I didn't realize how special beanie babies were considered until high school, when my friends asked me if I collected them for profit. I didnt; they were just my childhood toys.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

Kate Matos You sound exactly like me! I loathed dolls and told anyone that wanted to buy me something that I'd prefer a stuffed animal instead. I received lots of beanie babies growing up, all of which I have now. I knew a little bit of their value but that didn't matter to me. I had fun playing with them and creating their personalities :)

[@Ethen-ne1gu]

This video still makes me sad , my grandma has so many “rare” (used to be rare I guess) beanie babies and was so happy when she thought she could sell them, it sucks seeing her that happy than having her find out her entire pile of them isn’t even worth 20$ now at days

[@savannahswebkinz]

"I dont think its possible to make such demands for little stuffed animals without being manipulative" I had to pause to comment and how funny and true this dialogue is

[@AllieRX]

The Rite Aid store right next to me still sells Beanie Babies.

[@hex8787]

Allie-RX Lots of stores still sell Beanie Babies. It's not like they're a rare sight or anything.

[@twicethemegapower3995]

They still exist, they just are not worth big money to collectors anymore. The big deal with them was the collector's market markup for 'rare' items. Like what resellers do with Nintendo products

[@Prof9299]

I still have some beanie babies, they're hand-me-downs from my mom. Got two of those brown horses and the calico cat, plus probably some others I don't remember Though my favorite toy through my entire childhood was my pink poodle beanie baby (Brigitte), I took that thing everywhere I went until I was nearly a teenager. I still have it to this day

[@sharondiaz6149]

I know this was a year ago but sameee I had that exact same beanie baby and would take her every where I called her rosita and she was my favorite

[@ChuckKeough]

Royal blue peanut, don't crease my tag!!

[@jirehjirehjirehjireh]

OMG YES

[@SalvaDORKiann]

🤣

[@User31129]

A beat up Ty tag is so triggering!

[@ThisOldSkater]

Tags being pulled off Beanie Babies is like ASMR to me!

[@raulpetrascu2696]

I just realised my family may have one and we had no idea of its value

[@ShanicornBeauty]

My daughter loves them so I bought a few recently from someone who collected them here in the Philippines. I even got the purple Princess Diana beanie. ☺

[@mierardi88]

Oh yes, I lived through this mind boggling phase, remembered longing for the "retired" Beanies, and my elation of my aunt getting me a particularly rare ghost named "Spooky". The Teenie Beanies were even crazier, I remember my mom coordinating with other moms to go to McDonald's around New England to get them. The 90s were a strange time.

[@Zeldarw104]

Hahahahha!! Yes!😂😂

[@noah-i4436]

I had the same beanie baby for my whole life, and by the time I was like 10 all the fur had ceased to exist due to all the oil rubbed on it. It was a naked and gnarly beanie baby, but I loved it all the same.

[@Knight_Astolfo]

I don't know; I had several as a kid. I liked them, so I can't say I blame the guy for making them. Let people be responsible for their own stupidity.

[@HarleyTheCockatiel]

I have many happy memories shopping for these with my sister and my older brother back in the 90s. Sadly I lost my brother too soon in 2011 so whenever I hear about beanie babies I think of him and the fun times we had going round the shops and toy fairs buying our favourites. I still have my collection in storage and don't know if I could ever part with them to be honest.

[@tynothanks]

My name is on every single one so they usually catch my eye by default

[@ellieadele3769]

Ty Helms lol

[@nokocchi1983]

My grandma had 14 gigantic tubs full of beanie babies

[@benjaminfacouchere2395]

Amazeballs! And did she divide the beanie babies equally among her children???

[@nokocchi1983]

Benjamin Facouchere when she died my dad and his two brothers gave most of them to charity, actually! I, being the stuffed animal fiend I am, got to keep only about 15 of em, lol

[@dustin628]

Lol me too my gma had the big ones and the little ones literally everywhere!

[@Wawagirl17]

I laughed so hard at the divorce court photo. What a world. Gotta love it.

[@TheSaundersPack]

I was born in 1996. I can remember playing with these when I was a little girl! I had a huge collection but ended up giving them away to kids whose families were victims of Hurricane Katrina

[@AlexElectric9001]

I LMAO at anyone who invested money into Beanie Babies. Even in the 90s it was obviously a fad and they wouldn't turn a profit!

[@CrossoverGameReviews]

Just like comic books. "OMG, these old comics are making thousands and millions! Let's buy all these number 1's with their bazillion variants by the truckload and sell them years later so we too can be swimming in money!"

[@dinkalus]

comic books are different tho because older number ones are super valuable and some variants go for hundreds and for spending a few bucks on it thats a major profit

[@zorinlynx]

There's always two phases to this, though. First phase: The original #1s become valuable because they didn't print that many of them, and scarcity increases value. Second phase: The comic book publishers take advantage of this and do large print runs of "Collectors edition" #1s and such so suckers buy them thinking they'll get rich... which doesn't happen because they're not scarce.

[@Glock_Nico]

AlexElectric9001 - Back in '98 I worked with a guy who's wife collected these for investment. Even then I couldn't believe how stupid that idea was.

[@Boalmighty]

My entire family was a part of this fad. But personally, I just liked them. The birds especially.

[@Aquadood23]

the people who bought beanie babies for $1000 each have nobody to blame but themselves. they should've known that its just a stuffed animal, and that the fad was going to wear out some day.

[@timothymclean]

"Claw the Crab is one of the more valuable ones..." Really? I think I had one as a kid...I wonder where it is...

[@JulioLopez-xz5kx]

Timothy McLean Claude

[@vitaminanime]

Timothy McLean that one was my favorite

[@speedy01247]

Same, but I know what happened to mine (got ripped in half and thrown away) Hey I was a kid and my aunt had a dog, what do you expect to happen when playing tug of war using something not meant for tug of war. (now that I am an adult, I probably would not do that as I don't know what would happen if a dog eat's what's inside)

[@73l981]

i still have that one

[@Altoclarinets]

A lot of times the "valuable" version of the beanie baby is a very specific one - it has to have a specific hang and tush tag or a rare production error or deliberate change (like royal Peanut). In Claude's case some of the early ones had errors in the text on the tag, those are the ones that were considered super valuable. You can find a later run, "normal" Claude for about $6, which accounting for inflation is cheaper than his original price lol

[@Musaluc]

Nostalgia! I remember getting the beaver, the horse and the dachshund from a local grocery store. They were so cute and yes, the floppiness was definitely appealing. I wasn't a big fan of pre-posed stuffed animals, so the freedom to move and pose these little guys in so many different ways made little-me very happy. I got a few more, but I never had a big collection. My friends and I had a lot of fun with ours, though only one kid in the neighborhood had a truly massive accumulation. He filled up at least half his driveway one day, showing us all of them. Then we rolled around in the pile and tossed them about, like it was a pile of leaves. It's nice memories, but it's sad to see it was all kind of scummy behind the scenes. :/

[@mickcv4554]

How was he unethical? All he did was sell a product. You’re saying retiring them is unethical? No that just creates a time window to buy which is a very common sales technique

[@tomhill3248]

Yeah it;s strange. He makes excuses for million dollar bonuses in failing companies, but then condemns this. I don't get it.

[@Allhoney33]

Business people are never ethical. Not that hard to figure out. It's never about the customer, it's always about the $$$

[@Katana622]

common sales techniques can still be unethical. see: lootboxes and artificial scarcity.

[@josephpostma1787]

@@Katana622 Just like them diamonds

[@Ethereal_109]

I remember I was really little when the craze was slowly dying out. My father was certain that these beanie babies, along with some hot wheels cars, were going to pay for my college, and freaked out when my brothers and I played with the beanie babies, and I think my brother took at least 12 years off his life by opening one of the hotwheels cars.

[@itsdave92]

I was in kindergarten when I got my first Beanie Baby, Scoop the Pelican. My second was Zip the Cat, and I still have him today. Poor Zip has been through some *SHIT* , let me tell you. Either way, I remember the craze, but only as a kid, like the way kids remember the Pokemon craze. I knew certain ones were "valuable", but I had NO idea that they got this bad! People splitting up their collection in divorce court? Holy crap!

[@Jaceblue04]

"People thought these were so valuable, they would go on Ebay and buy one for hundreds or thousands of dollars and feel like they walked away with a bargain." And now people are doing that with Funko POPs. So, you know, the more things change the more they stay the same.

[@candiejo3869]

Ty Warner was smart. Anyone willing to pay 1000's for a stuffy is crazy anyways. Wish these were still worth something. ❤️💙

[@mylamename14]

I remember beanie babies being available at McDonalds as a special Happy Meal add-on. So I had a nice little collection as a kid. I always wanted the flamingo @6:50 but never got it.

[@nicoleonyx9186]

I remember the hype so clearly, but I also remember only buying them after the hype was over, between 2000 and 2003. The designs had been updated to look more like a real animal. I liked collecting the dogs and I also got the dragon from the zodiac collection. I just thought they were cute and I still kept the tags on because I liked to know their names.

[@rosygracee1708]

NicoNicoleinTokyo it says it on the tush tag

[@nickyblue4866]

I had that dragon one. I gave it to my ex as a present.

[@LittleWerewolfPlushie]

I remember them from when i was a kid, the new ones suck. The ones i loved were from when they did a thing with Mcdonalds, i loved those ones and collected a bunch when i was little.

[@waffles5354]

I remember getting a tiny green monkey called Coconut in my happy meal lmao

[@dontex7]

Genious business man👏🏾...textbook supply and demand baby😉 he never forced anyone to buy anything...he should write a book on marketing😎👍

[@MR_MRM_]

@Cat Egorical Exactly. Disney sold millions of "limited edition" VHS tapes of their animated movies. They're worth 50 cents at a garage sale now at most. Ty was just good at marketing and creating demand. The tax problems are a separate issue.

[@18booma]

Yep. And it started with an acceptable product too. He was selling people on the pipe dream of making money from the rare collectors items, but still has plausible deniability because he has a tangible, real product that does what it was designed to do.

[@GJ-dj4jx]

Or a book on how stupid people are.

[@thereaIitsybitsyspider]

Do webkins and neopets

[@SalvaDORKiann]

Yes on neopets!

[@joejarvis4168]

WEBKINZS!!!!

[@dustin628]

Neopets! Blast from the past 🖤

[@autobotzapof0002]

XD those were shit

[@XXIIXIIIXXXIXXXIX]

Just got around 75 TY dolls for around $0.35 a piece at a used shop....not bad to give a chunk of my girlfriends childhood back. All in mint condition as well.

[@jupiter9099]

My late grandmother had an entire guest room loaded with displayed beanie babies she collected throughout the 90's. As the craze started to die out, she didn't know what to do with them. So whenever I visited, she'd let me and my brothers take whatever beanie babies we liked from that room. I found the ones I took in a box from my attic recently, and it not only brought me back to another time, but it made me wonder whatever happened to the rest of my grandmother's beanie babies.