Beanie Babies are a brand of soft collectible toys created by Ty Inc. These became one of the first online sensations in the 1990s. People began collecting Beanie Babies because the toys were cute, cuddly, and fun. Then people started collecting them because they were worth some serious money. The creator of Beanie Babies orchestrated the craze by selectively retiring certain animals to create demand.
The dot com and the Beanie Baby bubbles burst at around the same time, so hopefully your retirement planning in the 1990s didn’t hinge on a plush toy collection and Pets.com.
Although Beanie Babies aren’t nearly as valuable today as they were at the height of the craze, there are still some highly collectible specimens that are worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Most Beanie Babies are sold online in bulk on popular auction sites such as Ebay. A select few still carry a high price tag, so look out for these special Beanie Babies before you sell your collection!
Beanie Babies value in 2022
The most valuable Beanie Babies are from the early generations of the toy, the ones produced and sold mainly before the craze between 1993 and 1995. Later generations of Beanie Babies were mass produced and are worth far less than even their list price unless, of course, they are flawed or sport a rare feature.
Here are the estimated values of the most sought-after Beanie Babies on the market:
- Princess Bear: $500,000
- Valentino Bear: $20,000
- Peace the Bear: $15,000
- Claude the Crab: $10,000
- Chef Robuchon: $7,000
- Patti the Platypus: $6,000
- Employee Bear: $3,000
- Weenie the Dog: $2,500
- Puff the Magic Dragon: $1,750
- Mystic the Unicorn: $1,500
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As you can see, the value drops sharply after Princess Bear. So, if you find the super-rare commemorative toy celebrating the life of Princess Dianna in a box in your garage, you’ve got it made.
Can I buy Beanie Babies today?
Ty Inc. is still in business and cranking out those cuddly little toys we all used to love in the 1990s. The man himself has become a recluse, refusing to do any interviews, even for the HBO Max documentary “Beanie Mania.”
For $6, you can buy a wide variety of Beanie Babies still in production on the Ty Inc. website. They may not skyrocket in value or get you on the news, but they are still cute, cuddly, and fun.
If you have piles of Beanie Babies sitting in your closet or attic, maybe you should take another look to see if you have some valuable ones, and then let them go. They likely aren’t appreciating in value anytime soon. You never know, though–you might still have a plush goldmine lurking somewhere in your home in a box with that iconic Heart TY tag!
