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- When it comes to the richest fish around, Bubbles take the lead as it can be worth as much as $129,000. Released first in 1996, Bubbles had several different modifications throughout the time it was manufactured. These updates made the toy fish more susceptible to errors, and it's those limited-run Beanies that are worth a big buck.
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Are Beanie Babies worth a lot?
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Aug 1, 2024 · 3. Bubbles. Value: $21,358. Bottom line: Released in 1996, Bubbles the fish was the most popular fish Beanie Baby ever released. While Bubbles was updated several times with slight variations between editions, the process wasn't exactly seamless. Errors happened frequently.
Jul 18, 2023 · Beanie Babies were all the rage in the 90s & your collection could be worth a fortune if you own some of the rare & valuable characters!
- Overview
- Rising Values Spurred a Beanie Baby Crime Wave
- Parent Company Ty Inc. Added Turmoil to the Beanie Market
- HISTORY Vault: The Toys That Built America
In the 1990s, hysteria over Ty Inc's $5 plush toys fed a wave of theft, fraud and market manipulation. Values soared—then plummeted.
Beanie Babies were one of the 1990s biggest fads: colorful, pellet-filled plush toys given cutesy names and an aura of collectibility. By mid-decade, investment mania reached such dizzying heights that an active collectors’ “gray market” developed. Like tulip mania before it, and cryptocurrency after, Beanies became a popular alternative asset, with some examples of the $5 toy—in mint condition, with its original hanging tag—selling for thousands of dollars apiece.
Divorced couples fought over their Beanie Baby assets, and children were trampled by stampeding collectors. Some families sank their entire life savings into acquiring the rarest examples, hoping to fund retirements and put kids through college. And when the Beanie bubble ultimately burst, their stacks of floppy, understuffed toys were rendered virtually worthless.
Amid such hysteria, an underground economy began to flourish—and with it, a wave of criminality. Theft, fraud and counterfeiting spun up over fuzzy-faced soft toys with names such as “Bananas” (a monkey), “Hairy” (a spider) and “Humphrey” (a camel).
On the basic, petty-crime level, people filched Beanie Babies from owners, snatching them from homes and car dashboards alike. Ohio police reported coming across Beanie Babies during busts of organized-crime groups, with one officer recalling the jarring sight of a floppy purple teddy bear discarded on the floor.
“I thought, good heavens, this bear is worth $400,” officer Gary Cameron told The New York Times in 1998. “What’s it doing here?”
More ambitious thieves looked for targets further up the food chain. In 1998, police investigating a stolen-goods fencing operation in Columbus, Ohio discovered $20,000 worth of the beanbag animals; most had been lifted from the van of a toy distributor in town for a Beanie convention.
In March 1999, a burglar dubbed the “Beanie Baby bandit” stole 200 of the stuffed animals from a stationery shop in Centerport, New York. While their face value might have been only $5 apiece, or $1,000 for the entire haul, the toys sold readily online for many multiples of their original cost.
These were the early, wild-west days of the online auction site eBay, when flipping discontinued Beanie Babies offered an easy road to quick cash. One Nashua, New Hampshire couple used forged checks to buy $2,400 worth of the valuable toys, then resold them at a profit to buy heroin.
In more complicated cases, scam artists used the internet to bilk collectors. In Pensacola, Florida, a woman named Melissa Ann Stiver auctioned off rare editions online for more than $1,000 a pop, then failed to deliver the goods. Stiver was arrested in February 1998 on multiple counts of grand theft, after a Tennessee collector complained that she had never received “Nana the Monkey” or “Chilly the Polar Bear.” (She paid $2,500 for the two together, money Stiver spent on home-improvement projects.)
All this greed wasn’t limited to consumers, however. As Beanie Baby mania became more and more protracted, Ty Inc. upset retailers and customers alike by flexing its corporate muscle. Ty went aggressively after knockoff producers and summarily cut off supplies to retailers that undercut prices by running promotions such as buy five bears and get one free.
In 1997, a Connecticut toy store, called Tybran after its owners’ young sons, Tyler and Brandon, received a cease-and-desist letter ordering them to change the name. “The boys are distraught that a toy company would pick on them,” the owner told The Los Angeles Times.
The toy giant did whatever it could to stem the tide of rule-breaking, including urging children to report counterfeits online and registering its trademark with U.S. customs officials. People trying to make a quick buck by bringing home bags full of special overseas editions were labeled “importers,” and had their goods swiftly confiscated.
In September 1999, Ty Inc. blindsided collectors with a surprise announcement. Tacked onto the end of a press release about new toys, the company wrote: “VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: On December 31, 1999-11:59 p.m. (CST) All Beanies will be retired…including the above!” Enthusiasts worried about the impact this would have on the value of their collections; rumors abounded that its founder, Ty Warner, had bought an island or been bought out by Disney.
A few months later, allegedly as a response to fans, the company claimed to have changed its mind. Instead of axing Beanie Babies altogether, it would release an entirely new line in the new millennium, starting with a shimmering, star-spangled bear called “The Beginning.”
Some have speculated that this shock decision was an attempt to make future Beanie Babies more difficult to counterfeit. Others called it a ham-handed attempt to fabricate an aura of rarity and rekindle interest in Beanies in the face of softening sales.
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- Natasha Frost
- 58 min
- Motoring Editor
- Princess The Bear: $500,000. Released in October 1997, this tribute to Princess Diana quickly rose as a Beanie Baby sensation. Its white rose emblem grabs your eye while the deep purple fur emanates eminence.
- Wise The Owl: $122,000. Soaring to the top of its class, this plush scholar is ready to share its wisdom with the world. Wise the Owl Beanie Baby is a celebration of a job well done, marking the graduation ceremony at the end of an educational endeavor.
- Valentino & Valentina The Bears: $60,000. The first sign of this loving combination came in 1995 when Valentino the White Bear took part in a Toys for Tots promotion.
- Lefty The Donkey & Righty The Elephant: $50,000. In a lighthearted representation of the major US political parties, this Beanie Baby duo is reaching across the aisle and into hearts everywhere.
Feb 29, 2024 · An authentic guide to 2023 Beanie Baby prices. Discover the top 25 most expensive Beanie Babies, tips for avoiding price scams, and more.
Oct 24, 2023 · One of the most famous Beanie Babies (and most valuable) is Bubbles, the fish. Bubbles made in 1996 can be worth around $129,000 in good condition. However, it’s important to keep in mind that there are many versions of Bubbles on the market.
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