How The Beanie Babies Frenzy Collapsed | Rise And Fall

Beanie Babies were once the hottest toys in the world, sometimes being flipped for thousands of dollars in the '90s. Now, they're nearly worthless.

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How The Beanie Babies Frenzy Collapsed | Rise And Fall

[larryrouse]

My daughter used to cut them open and do “surgery” on them. She always sewed them back up. She’s in her last year of Vet School now.

[slee]

gained popularity because of the scarcity, lost popularity because of the abundance

[kmelaine]

I cleaned the home a woman who collected beanie babies “for her daughter” and displayed them in her daughter’s bedroom. The beanie babies had their own specially designed wall which she (the child) was not allowed to touch. As you can imagine it was over the top and the child could have cared less about the toys since she was not allowed to play with any of them. I always felt like it was rude to have toy wall in her room she couldn’t touch. I wonder how she feels about them today.

[MauraVH]

“It could be our college money” is such a sad thing to hear

[pigpjs]

Whenever McDonald's had those tiny beanie babies in their happy meals my friends and I would stand outside of McDonald's and adults would hand us their happy meals. They had only bought the happy meals for the toys. We cleaned up and gained a lot of weight during that time. Good memories.

[k.d.]

There was a claw machine at a restaurant in my small town that my family always went to on weekends. The owner had put a Princess Diana bear inside. I probably played that machine over a 1000 times trying to get that bear. You could play 1 game for $0.25. One lady put $50 in & played. She moved the bear around but didn't win. I put $1.00 in right after her & finally got it. My 10 year old ass was so proud. I had played that game for a month trying to win. That same lady actually offered me $150 when I won the bear. She then turned into a Karen & had a hissy fit about how I would ruin it. My Granny told her to kick rocks. I collected Beanie Babies. I had around 1500 of them. My lovely Granny would always have a baggie of quarters for me to play games with. I miss her so much. She was an amazing woman. I'll never get rid of that Beanie Babie.

[jaridkeen]

I remember i had so many beenie babies when i was a kid. Then i got a ferbie and some pokemon cards lol. Just like in the video. 1990s Kid man

[NoOne-qnhv]

I never even realized the beanie baby craze was all because of their supposed monetary value. I just liked the way they looked. My dad got me a happy meal with that bluebird beanie baby one day and it was kind of like my imaginary pet for a few years.

[DerekDogsforSentience]

Bought them for my daughter because she loved them. She played with them and still has them. For us they are just as they should be, a child’s toy with very happy memories attached.

[nicholasgrijalva]

when he said "175 thousand" I physically reacted. I cant imagine spending that much on anything besides a house.

[yolandaponkers]

My grandparents’ neighbors were two wealthy old ladies who got me a TON of Beanie Babies when I was little. They spent a fortune on them. I still have them all for sentimental reasons.

[blkhemi]

I know people that spent their entire savings on "rare" beanie babies issued by the Franklin Institute. Now, you can't sell them for a $1.00 at your yard sale.

[RajaReign]

I remember selling off so many of these things to what I thought was crazy people. One dude paid $400 for a black cat I had named Zip and I made several hundred dollars at a few trade shows at my mall before it closed. I initially bought these cute stuffed animals cuz they were cute and cost only 5 bucks, never did I think they’d be worth so much money. I still have all the cats in my collection cuz I liked those best.

[errhka]

That picture of that couple splitting their beanie baby collection one by one is the epitome of misery and sadness.

[indianagrandmary]

My daughter grew up to be a teacher. Gave her all of the beanies my kids had to be “reading buddies” for her students.

[ohh_manda]

My mom has a rainbow worm in her room for the past 25 years. I had the majority of the original 7 but they're gone now. Crazy how people thought they could retire on beanie babies.

[kellylyons]

How sad that adults ruined something for children. Just like they always do.

[Ryan-zefz]

My grandma used to buy us beanie babies every time we went to the store. We had several bins full. But we didn’t collect them. We played with them until they were dirty and gross and literally falling apart. My favorite was the giraffe that I called giraffey, but he got run over by a lawn mower

[Jude]

They might not be selling like they used to but they are still selling.

[laurabowles]

My great aunt ran a gift shop during this era. She gave me and my cousins the Princess Diana bears. I had no idea how lucky I was to simply have that handed to me!