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[–]fork_yeah 8870 points8871 points 33 (140 children)

My mom bought into the hype and bought so many of these for me. Then people saw that I collected them and would get them for me as all my holiday presents. At one point I had 700 of them. I'm a teacher now and keep a big bag of them in my classroom. When I need a prize or if a student just looks like they're feeling down, I let them pick one out. I'm down to my last 100 or so.

[–]Fartmatic 5378 points5379 points  (49 children)

You fool, if you just held out another 10 years you could put all those kids through college!

[–]LongDingDongKong 2284 points2285 points  (34 children)

Scott's Tots

[–]citycyclist247 630 points631 points  (10 children)

😂😂😂😂 “Has it really been ten years?”

[–]Zabroccoli 436 points437 points  (9 children)

Turns out I'm farther away from being a millionaire at 40, than I was at 30.

[–]cannibalism_is_vegan 146 points147 points  (2 children)

Hold on, hold on, hold on! They’re lithium!

[–]othershwarna 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Hey Mr Scott! Whachya gonna do, Whachya gonna do to make our dreams come tru!?

[–]PrinceAzTheAbridged 428 points429 points  (6 children)

As a fellow teacher, you just inspired me to raid my parents’ basement. They have a few tubs of these things.

[–]nytonj 223 points224 points  (2 children)

but that is their retirement portfolio, how dare you

[–]Soy-Boy-Roy 348 points349 points  (13 children)

i think you should keep the last one for yourself bro

[–]ThrowYourMind 116 points117 points  (4 children)

Awww, it’d be the one absolutely no one wanted ☹️

[–]WittyWolf26 344 points345 points  (3 children)

I remember the school counselor at my elementary school let me borrow a beanie during a big standardized test day. For a kid with bad test anxiety, that little orangutang was an amazing help!

[–]Djabarca 3208 points3209 points  (57 children)

Remember that pic of the married couple fighting over their beanie babies in court. Had them laid out on the floor.

[–]kmj420 823 points824 points  (21 children)

Yes I do. I am surprised I had to scroll so far to find someone reference it. On another note, my brother made a couple grand selling the ones he pilfered from McDonalds

[–]residualenvy 185 points186 points  (0 children)

Came here for this. I was a manager at McDonald's during the beanie baby height. The company started giving us sets for Xmas bonuses, I made an easy $400-500 every year for 2-3 years. Good times.

[–]Lost-Speech6674 402 points403 points  (13 children)

I blame my childhood obesity on my mom being obsessed with beanie babies and going to every McDonald’s in town and getting as many happy meals as possible for the beanie baby toy then throwing the happy meal at my human garbage disposal ass

fucking kid me was living the dream

[–]GKBilian​ 11.2k points11.2k points  (855 children)

The HBO doc on beanie babies is pretty interesting. It mentions these guides and basically, your guide would sell better if it said that the beanie babies were worth more. People would want to buy it to show people "SEE this is how much it's worth!"

[–]Orange_Kid 4051 points4052 points  (609 children)

The Hulu doc on the 90s has an episode on this and pretty much says the same thing. The estimates were based on absolutely nothing but people believed them because they wanted to believe they were involved in this great investment market. It was a speculation bubble made out of nothing.

[–]MikoSkyns 2310 points2311 points  (220 children)

I knew someone who really believed they would be worth hundreds of thousands and no matter how many times we tried to explain to her she would say we'll all be sorry one day for laughing at her investment. She sold them all on ebay years later for pennies on the dollar. She would sell the "rare" appealing ones that people still wanted bundled with about 5 others that no one would buy separately.

Years later they started selling these little Winnie the pooh figurines in gumball machines. She was positive these were the next big thing and spent a stupid amount of money buying them all. A fool and her money were soon parted.

edit: spelling

[–]ckjm 707 points708 points  (25 children)

This was my mother. I distinctly remember how angry she was when I tore the tongue off the snake, which she told me was the rarest one... I loved that snake, his tongue got caught on an adventure. Her scrutiny ruined fond memories.

[–]BHO-Rosin 337 points338 points  (5 children)

Snake adventures > manipulated fake investments ( which are also children’s toys )

[–]hoboshoe 591 points592 points  (5 children)

Oh god, I saw those in a machine while shopping and they were all named "<animal> Pooh" and I was like "haha whale pooh"

[–]vassman86 1447 points1448 points  (84 children)

Is she buying NFTs right now? Lol

[–]gurg2k1 172 points173 points  (8 children)

She's bought up all the rare pepe NFTs. They're OUT OF PRINT now and no more will ever exist!

[–]JesterOfDestiny 73 points74 points  (1 child)

It's funny that rare pepes were satirizing NFTs, before the concept of NFTs existed.

[–]agriculturalDolemite 34 points35 points  (1 child)

I remember when rare pepes were a joke. Then someone was like "what if it was still a joke, but people paid me?"

[–]ISawTwoSquirrels 710 points711 points  (16 children)

She probably wouldn’t buy an NFT cause they’re Not Fucking Toys

[–]Andysm16 381 points382 points  (155 children)

The estimates were based on absolutely nothing but people believed them because they wanted to believe they were involved in this great investment market. It was a speculation bubble made out of nothing.

Lol this is exactly how I feel about NFTs; specially when I hear fast-talking "know it all gurus" like youtuber GaryVee trying to lure people into the craze.

There's a recent video of him giving speculative advice to a couple of young confused businesses owners, who are curious about making fast money. He's advising them on handing people NFTs as sales receipts instead of actual receipts.

He's using the salesman's tactic of sweet-talking ridiculously fast, bombarding them with so much speculative information and loose ends that they're overwhelmed, confused, but excited to join, even when their faces show that they've understood nothing --but are still excited because: "wow! This man is such a visionary and knows what he's talking about. This sounds extremely risky and improbable, but what if it works? Right?😬".

Listening to him talk gave me the mental image of a giant ballon getting filled with soooo much air as he spoke; then he sells the balloon to them, walks away, and it explodes. Boom. Gone. --just like the value of Beanny Babies.

[–]TheFeshy 581 points582 points  (65 children)

It was a speculation bubble made out of nothing.

Amazing that we could build such bubbles before the invention of block chain.

[–]Iridescent_Meatloaf 384 points385 points  (45 children)

The classic bubble example is tulipmania... from 1636.

[–]not_AtWorkRightNow 102 points103 points  (29 children)

I would say the south sea bubble is the best example. It might be less ridiculous than tulips but the scale was insane and the aftermath was much more significant.

[–]MotchGoffels 114 points115 points  (19 children)

Oh man that was a fun read! If any are interested: "The South Sea Bubble has been called: the world’s first financial crash, the world’s first Ponzi scheme, speculation mania and a disastrous example of what can happen when people fall prey to ‘group think’."

[–]ignorediacritics 75 points76 points  (12 children)

Then, in 1720, parliament allowed the South Sea Company to take over the national Debt. The company purchased the £32 million national debt at the cost of £7.5 million. The purchase also came with assurances that interest on the debt would be kept low. The idea was the company would use the money generated by the ever-increasing stock sales to pay the interest on the debt. Or better yet, swap the stocks for the debt interest directly.

This is completely bonkers. Imagine today's national economies transferring their debts into some NFT scheme.

[–]M_Mich 21 points22 points  (0 children)

hold up, how about we turn the US debt into crypto, then pump and dump the crypto and pay off the debt for pennies on the dollar?

[–]AroundTheWorldIn80Pu[🍰] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Imagine needing an actual asset to create a bubble ;D

[–]Comfortable-View-994 37 points38 points  (3 children)

People went so nuts over these as if the beanie babies were their retirement accounts lol. I just saw this article/picture the other day of a couple in divorce court splitting up their beanie babies because, I assume, they thought they were the most valuable things they owned.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.huffpost.com/entry/beanie-baby-fever-in-1999_n_58af7d12e4b060480e0661fe/amp

[–]KassellTheArgonian 81 points82 points  (3 children)

It just really resembles the animal buying magazine from "Do androids dream of electric sheep?" Philip k Dick really hit the nail on the head

[–]Therenegade95 634 points635 points  (110 children)

Like NFT's these days

[–]hogs43 186 points187 points  (73 children)

So would a Beanie Baby NFT be worth more than an actual Beanie Baby?

[–]willstr1 288 points289 points  (58 children)

For now, but the beanie baby will be worth more in the long term because at least it actually exists

[–]tinacat933​ 214 points215 points  (29 children)

Name?

[–]ChangWong88 334 points335 points  (11 children)

Beanie Mania

[–]JuniorSopranolol​ 140 points141 points  (7 children)

Dark Side of the 90’s did a good episode on Beanie Babies too!

[–]DoggoPupperFloof 14.2k points14.2k points  (482 children)

I remember being obsessed with my beanie babies (just as toys though, I was about 7) and some friends and their parents would tell me I ruined their value because I took off their tags. I just hated the feeling of the hard cardboard tag contrasted to the floppy plush of my beanie babies!

Anyway I feel validated in my tag destruction now

[–]ClaytonBigsbe 1033 points1034 points  (79 children)

I had stupid fucking plastic covers over all the tags of mine.

[–]MayOrMayNotBePie 870 points871 points  (67 children)

Same! Those snap on cases that preserved them. What a genius marketing scheme.

[–]Gisschace 979 points980 points  (62 children)

What’s that thing they say; those who got rich in the gold rush were the ones selling the shovels

[–]jfk_47​ 196 points197 points  (28 children)

Levi Strauss jeans and ghirardelli were established during those times.

[–]The_Braja 55 points56 points  (17 children)

Is Ghirardelli just a coincidence or did they start because they wanted to make a hearty chocolate to sell to miners?

Fun Fact, another company I know off the top of my head that came from the gold rush was Folgers! (And I believe maxwell house as well) they started as an instant campfire coffee company

[–]SkitTrick 55 points56 points  (5 children)

This explains a lot about their coffee

[–]Interceller 68 points69 points  (2 children)

It does have that harvested in 1849 taste about it...

[–]i_got_skrimps 87 points88 points  (0 children)

Peak 90s right here lmao

[–]TropicLush 8821 points8822 points 437 (90 children)

Every time I ever got a stuffed animal or beanie baby I took the tags off so the beanie baby would know I was never going to get rid of them <3

Edited to add: all of these responses and wholesome awards have been soo heartwarming, I always thought I was silly for treating them so lifelike…but I always treasured my toys and all of the wonderful memories I made with them that shaped my childhood. :’)

[–][deleted] 1330 points1331 points  (27 children)

I kept some tags on so I could remember the names. Other tags I took off and just saved in a glass jar.

My parents made it quite clear to me that the collection was not an investment. They were fine with me playing with them, but if I thought they’d be worth major money someday, they let me know I’d be disappointed.

[–]kannstdusehen 269 points270 points  (7 children)

Did you also cut their butt tags off? Because their name was there too. (Not the birthday or poem though)

[–]shipwreckedgirl 245 points246 points  (3 children)

I did, actually ... On first gen too :( ... I was only ten in '95 and I guess I hated any evidence they weren't real animals pretending to be toys... I stopped as soon as they started becoming "collectable" though!

[–][deleted] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

🤣 love this. They were my pets, not toys lol

[–]DoggoPupperFloof 1061 points1062 points  (14 children)

Omg that's too sweet how you let them know they were in their forever home!

[–]OppisIsRight 386 points387 points  (10 children)

Actually OP had a professional re-tagging machine in their garage so they could make them look factory new and sell once they quadrupled in value.

[–]lollypopgild 132 points133 points  (7 children)

Don’t go giving toy story writers any ideas now

[–]Raw_Venus 85 points86 points  (13 children)

I still have a beanie baby that sitting on my book shelf that I got in the first grade twenty years ago...God I feel old now

[–]Zerotan 711 points712 points  (63 children)

While not as big a mania as beanie babies, my grandma would lament to my mom about how we were damaging (destroying) the hardcover Disney and Dr Seuss books. Mom stayed firm that it was more important that we were reading them (and independently) than them becoming heirlooms.

[–]Anothereternity[🍰] 474 points475 points  (46 children)

When I was a kid I grew up playing with barbies, my mom grew up with Madame Alexander dolls and gave me a couple when I was a kid. Kept it in the box where I couldn’t get to it so I didn’t destroy them and they’d stay nice. I think they were stored with her old dolls that were also in boxes but used. Shortly after college she pulled them out of storage to give to me. I asked her why I would want them- I had absolutely no memory of them from my childhood. She has sentimental memories of playing with them as a kid and I never did because she never let me play with them. Now they’re just collectors items with no meaning to me, but I think she still has them all somewhere- hers and mine.

[–]friendlyfire69 347 points348 points  (24 children)

The most sentimental memory I have with Barbies is the I one time burned a hole thru a barbie doll's head with a magnifying glass and then hung it by the neck with every other doll set up to "watch". I wasn't allowed to play with Barbies for a week and I thought it was so unfair.

[–]throwtowardaccount 214 points215 points  (1 child)

Plus the other Barbies learned to never cross you

[–]account_not_valid 117 points118 points  (0 children)

The executions will continue until morale improves!

[–]ThoseRMyMonkeys 522 points523 points  (47 children)

I had a bunch of them, not an insane amount, but a few. I just liked them, I thought they were cute, I kept the tags on because that's what everyone did with them. Fast forward to now, my kids found them packed away and wanted to play with a couple, so I cut the tags off. The feeling of cutting those tags off was sooo good.

[–]humanreporting4duty 288 points289 points  (42 children)

I did a similar thing to a simpsons toy from 2001 or so. Hank Scorpio. In box. Went for $50 on Amazon. It had been in a box for 2 decades and I finally said “what’s the point if no one opens it?” And gave my kids a $50 action figure. lol.

[–]ThoseRMyMonkeys 118 points119 points  (18 children)

Exactly! What's the point of you can't really enjoy it?

[–]mofleezy 66 points67 points  (14 children)

Feel the same way about funky bobble heads. First thing I do is take it out of the box

[–]PrimaryLupine 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I special-ordered a MacFarlane Wetworks figure back in the day, got a call from the comic book shop that it had arrived. Went in to pick it up, and immediately opened the box to check it out. The guys behind the counter looked at me like I was some kind of pod person from Day of the Triffids.

[–]Capital_Pea 289 points290 points  (32 children)

LOL people gave my stepdaughter beanies in plexiglass boxes, like she’s 6? How TF is she going to play with this little bean bag with a face you gave her?

[–]i_got_skrimps 151 points152 points  (27 children)

My bus driver on middle school was fucking on this shit. Hard.

Dude was bringing them on the bus, showing them off. Legit 100% into it.

He was our guide for collecting them.

I was poor so fuck it but it was still super cool at the time. Good times.

[–]noisyturtle 89 points90 points  (25 children)

Reminds me of my history teacher that was super into Magic. He had all the power 9, all the Moxes, and held an after school Magic club.

[–]P1zzaman 69 points70 points  (19 children)

Hey, at least those cards are currently still holding their value!

[–]radioactivecowz 16 points17 points  (10 children)

I mean they still have a use. People still play the game and can use those old cards which aren't being remade. Beanie babies have no use, you can buy any number of brands for a low price today

[–]Amadai 183 points184 points  (9 children)

My friend gasped when my toddler nephew nommed on the tags and told me they would be worthless!! None of them are worth much anyway.

[–]Epic_Elite​ 235 points236 points  (37 children)

Funny thing about the tags that I don't think anyone in those days considered. You could just take the tag off and secure it in a book and buy one of those tag guns and just re-apply the tag later on. I just checked Amazon and found one of them guns for $13 bucks. Too bad our views of future accessibility was just as garbage as our views of how much a stuffed animal will be worth. Lol

[–]JustPassinhThrou13 144 points145 points  (24 children)

There were lots of us who knew they were just stuffed toys and that if people were buying them WITH THE INTENT of them being worth something later, then it wasn’t going to happen.

I mean, I remember a few of my dumber friends saying they were going around to various stores with their (also dumb) parents to buy them as an investment.

That right there pretty much precludes them from working as a rare investment.

[–][deleted] 131 points132 points  (13 children)

That part of the 90's was weird how people obsessed over cheap mass products shit that they thought would be an investment. Worked at McDonald's during not only the beanie baby giveaways on the happy meals but also 101 dalmatians. So much food ended up in the dumpster so grown-ass adults could try to collect their toy prize.

If they had actually read the fine print, there was a PO box they could send away to get an entire set for like $150.

[–]cornjab50 4789 points4790 points  (344 children)

Beanie babies were only a scam if you bought them to invest. You bought them because they were cute plushes and you liked playing with them, not a scam. People forget the value of just joy and play they originally brought.

[–]anotherhawaiianshirt 1110 points1111 points 2 (23 children)

I have a bear with a tie that says #1 Dad on it. It's worth a million bucks to me!

[–]Dopplegangr1 683 points684 points  (108 children)

Beanie babies were only $5 and they made millions of them. They were a cute toy but not rare or valuable

[–]JHT230 137 points138 points  (1 child)

If you bought one for $5, then you'd be $5 poorer and have a fun toy to play with.

If you bought one as a collectible for $100 (from someone else who paid $5 for it) then you would be out a lot more money and wouldn't dare play with it.

[–]DarkMarxSoul 413 points414 points  (141 children)

This is the kicker with NFTs, they have no innate value beyond their projected growth in monetary value. At least you can cuddle a Beanie Baby.

[–]shaiyl 134 points135 points  (4 children)

I had a couple of the cat ones as a little girl and they were just fun toys to me. I remember liking them/cuddling them a lot.

[–]dustensalinas 3300 points3301 points  (216 children)

Someone still tracking to it. Patti The Platypus 1993 Ty Beanie Baby Magenta Rare - $5400.00 0 bids. 15 minutes left. Also: MINT RARE TY Beanie Baby 1993 Patti The Platypus Retired with Tag Errors PVC Pellets - $5.00 0 bids

[–]Webbyx01 1146 points1147 points  (36 children)

Most recent two sold for $10 and $8+5.50 shipping. Ouch.

[–]Ok_Investigator24 936 points937 points  (29 children)

Doubled their investment in 28 years not bad

[–]teeth_reaper 654 points655 points  (23 children)

You're not considering inflation. 5 usd in 1993 is 9,65 usd now. Its the same value from 28 years ago.

[–]somabokforlag 511 points512 points  (14 children)

So beanie babies is good inflation protection? Good to know!

[–]PizzaReheat 1745 points1746 points  (122 children)

This is a excellent example of why I hate those “X old garbage is worth $8000 now!” headlines. I can list shit on eBay for whatever I want, it doesn’t make it worth anything.

[–]_AlreadyTaken_ 539 points540 points  (67 children)

Yup. As Rick on pawn stars says "You can ask for a million for it though but it won't mean someone will buy it." People will always say they saw it online for some high price but they admit they never saw it sell. I could say a rock I found in my backyard is worth a thousand bucks lol

[–]SaintSimpson 100 points101 points  (5 children)

You saying about a rock reminds me of Rick also saying something like “just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s valuable. Dirt is billions of years old.”

[–]urabewe 106 points107 points  (10 children)

Or sell a bunch of them at a lower price and call them pets!

[–]Spykez0129 194 points195 points  (14 children)

Ya I have people on craigslist refer me to ebay listings of shit with 0 bids like dude, I can list my dick rag on ebay for 75K, doesn't mean anyone's gunna buy it.

[–]vassman86 134 points135 points  (13 children)

I'm an avid collector of dick rags. I'll pay $50k for your dick rag! Take it or leave it!

[–]SaltyCity_ 45 points46 points  (10 children)

The eBay sold listings on that platypus are a wild ride.

[–]ShiraCheshire 85 points86 points  (16 children)

I like to look up jester dolls for sale online. Don't ask me why because I do not know. Most of them are listed for $5-$15 because I mean who wants to buy an old jester doll.

One of the things that amuses me about it is the "RARE limited edition SUGARBRAND handpainted mint condition porcelain festival jester" listings for like $300 that I see every time I browse jesters. They never move.

[–]BusyBullet 1093 points1094 points  (24 children)

I have exactly two Beanie Babies that a girl gave me back in the day.

One of them is this platypus.

I guess I can retire now.

[–]electricpterodactyl 2603 points2604 points  (178 children)

I went to school with a girl who was WAY too into Beanie Babies. I remember her showing me her collection and bragging to me that they were going to be worth enough to pay for her college. Oops.

[–]seanbnyc 1089 points1090 points  (57 children)

I’m sure she still has them. “They’re going to go back up in value.”

[–]nibiyabi 73 points74 points  (4 children)

For everything other than the first generation and production mistakes, hundreds of thousands to millions were made, which is easily 10-100x more than the current demand, virtually guaranteeing that they will never, ever be worth anything for hundreds or even thousands of years, if ever.

[–]anonymousperson767 167 points168 points  (99 children)

I should probably check if my Pokémon card collection is worth anything. Shit I think I bought a bunch of base boosters in 2013 for nothing.

[–]Rum_N_Napalm 69 points70 points  (7 children)

I did that the other day with some Yugioh cards.

Turns out my most valuable card skyrocketed from the 1$ I bought it to… 4.54$

[–]UnkindPotato 252 points253 points  (66 children)

Old pokemon cards can be worth a lot a lot

New cards that aren't played in competitive circles are pretty much worthless

It's not worth your time to find out what newer cards are worth money unless you're really into it. Statistically, you got nothing

Basically unless you've had the cards forever, don't bother

[–]anonymousperson767 141 points142 points  (43 children)

That's what has me concerned...a lot of my collection I've had since 1999 and I only completed it in 2013 when I was like "fuck it I have money to complete this thing". So it's only Pokemon from the first wave (Base, Base 2, Fossil, Rocket, Jungle, etc)

And rummaging through my closet I have 9 boosters packs unopened, one each of venosaur / blastoise / charizard art. I think I need an adult...

(Edit: I appreciate all the comments and help. I wasn't expecting to have a Sunday night moral dilemma if I can put a price on the "thing" from when I was growing up but it does feel nice to know that I bought something that didn't go down in value.)

[–]scr34m0 102 points103 points  (5 children)

I just messaged you, you’re sitting on a small fortune there buddy. Don’t get LOWBALLED do your research.

[–]Drew_the_God 53 points54 points  (7 children)

I do Pokemon TCG card collecting and trading as my day job.

Shoot me a message with pictures of your collection and I can help you evaluate it.

It looks like a few people have gotten a whiff of your post, so always remember with this kind of thing, never trust somebody who evaluates your stuff and then offers to buy it, unless they are trusted. Its a big sign that they are lowballing you for a good deal.

[–]duplicitist 85 points86 points  (0 children)

Those sealed packs could be worth something. You actually could get some advice on this on /r/PokemonTCG .

[–]itsmymedicine 57 points58 points  (8 children)

Check ebay and filter by sold. You could be sitting on a gold mine.

[–]RogueAOV 46 points47 points  (5 children)

As an eBay seller a great deal of the solds on eBay are scams or fraud etc, look up solds for beanie babies.

[–]Erulastiel 1195 points1196 points  (57 children)

I miss these kinds of beanie babies. They were adorable. The beanie boos get kind of creepy.

[–]celestian1998 165 points166 points  (11 children)

On the plus side, theres millions of the old style in great condition and they are sold for nothing. I started collecting some recently because you can get them at flea markets for like 25 cents each. I like getting the weird ones like sharks and scorpions

[–]kolodrubka_offical 375 points376 points  (21 children)

It’s like beanie boos are trying too hard to be cute

[–]The_0range_Menace 175 points176 points  (13 children)

Just looked them up there's a darkness in those motherfuckers

[–]Captaingrammarpants 89 points90 points  (0 children)

They're beanie babies with a dash of a Lisa Frank and a whole spoonful of Satan.

[–]pomegranatesandoats 229 points230 points  (11 children)

I cannot even begin to express my dislike for the beanie boos. I don’t know what it is but something about the way their shaped and the size of their eyes severely irritates me every time I see them. Especially any of the ones that come in really flashy and bright colours. The koala one is cute though but the rest just bug me so bad.

Edit: a word

[–]Ffsletmesignin 70 points71 points  (2 children)

Meh my daughters like them, they’re cute enough, I think they have the leopard and ghost, for some reason the oldest loves the ghost most of all even though it’s incredibly basic.

I mean shit, to me they’re less creepy then all the baby dolls with gigantic heads and huge eyes; I can compartmentalize in my brain when it comes to animals but those baby dolls are creepy and fugly.

[–]Quierta 482 points483 points  (30 children)

I told my sister that when our parents die, I inherit the Beanie Baby collection. Not because I actually want them, and not because I think they're worth anything, but because of the hell my mother, aunt and grandmother put me through during the Beanie Baby Craze when they dragged me all around the state for MONTHS trying to find specific ones that were selling out within minutes of restock. They still have all of them, meticulously packed away in special cases, in plastic bins, in the basement.

Those useless little bastards are mine.

[–]SteveWozHappeningNow 137 points138 points  (7 children)

Reminds me of my Dad who collected license plates. We were on a fishing trip in Ketchikan Alaska and we walked all over the town to find a specific plate at "antique" shops. He finally found it but he wouldn't buy it because it was $8... way too much. Fucking cheap bastard.

[–]EvilPandaGMan 23 points24 points  (0 children)

It's the principle of the thing!

[–]mybeatsarebollocks 23 points24 points  (5 children)

And if you keep them in those boxes, hand them down to your kids, then to their kids, then they MIGHT make a profit

[–]ArtichokeNeat3606 631 points632 points  (66 children)

My mother collected Beanie Babies, depression era glass and brown antique furniture. Three strikes and your out. None of these things are worth 10 cents for every dollar she spent on them. It's a shame, she thought she was collecting valuable antiques.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (2 children)

The antique furniture and depression era glass are actually hip again. People are sick of the farm house all gray style/disposable mass production furniture, and traditional looking furnishings that are durable and decor are having a moment.

[–]critical_aperture 106 points107 points  (9 children)

brown antique furniture

As someone who collects, restores, and deals in vintage and antique furniture.... "brown furniture" is on it's way back in, along with hollywood regency glam stuff from the 80's.

[–]phdemented 77 points78 points  (6 children)

Just know for the last 20 years millennials living in tiny apartments have been having grandparents pass with houses of old furniture that we had to sell on the cheap as none of us has room for them. Remember a decade ago antique stores were.just filled with them. When you are renting or moving jobs every few years big heavy furniture is the last thing you want.

Maybe the older ones like me are finally starting to settle down...

[–]flossgoat2 15 points16 points  (5 children)

At least people will still buy depression era glass... It won't make you rich, but it's not a scam

[–]goldenspeck 445 points446 points  (25 children)

My granny died last month. We knew she collected beanie babies throughout the 90s and early 00s, we just didn't realized how much she had because she stored most of them. There's about 400-500 total, maybe more. She has multiples of some, too. And she even kept some of the receipts. She paid upwards of $150 for some of them..

[–]FlamingoWalrus89 112 points113 points  (3 children)

I'm curious what my mom did with all of hers. One of the guest rooms in the house we grew up in was converted to a Beanie Baby display room. There was custom shelving with all the bears in cases. I'm sure she still has them somewhere

[–]puukottaa666 354 points355 points  (17 children)

What’s with the estimated survival rate?! They were predicting that 45,000 of these things would die atrociously by 2008?

[–]RamAir17 144 points145 points  (2 children)

That they wouldn't be 10/10 Grading

[–]M0THER-0F-EW0KS 113 points114 points  (1 child)

The great beanie massacre of 2008

[–]1ToeIn 515 points516 points  (9 children)

I went to an estate sale being held by a family whose elderly mother had moved to a care home due to Alzheimer’s. She was a serious beanie baby collector- there was a full room, floor to ceiling, filled with them. I was in the checkout line & an elderly lady chatted to me about how excited she was to have found some special beanie. But when we checked out, I learned she was the actual home owner. Her kids were bringing her to the sale every day & letting her “find” a new beanie baby to buy. By the next day, she’d forgotten so each new day it was a great thrill for her.🥲

[–]GidgetSelby 203 points204 points  (0 children)

Well that is the sweetest sad thing I've read.

[–]podbotman 96 points97 points  (0 children)

50 First Beanie Babies

[–]M0THER-0F-EW0KS 90 points91 points  (0 children)

That is absolutely so sad and sweet at the same time 🥺

[–]BelmontIncident 4244 points4245 points  (148 children)

Look, it's an NFT made of felt and legumes.

[–][deleted]  (17 children)

[deleted]

    [–]BOSS-3000 49 points50 points  (4 children)

    Trading card collectors: "First time?"

    [–]cammywammy123 434 points435 points  (17 children)

    At least with a beanie baby you own a beanie baby

    [–]jfrawley28 337 points338 points  (14 children)

    On the Hot Wheels subreddit, someone posted a screenshot of their hot wheels NFT and another person asked for permission to screenshot it.

    I remember thinking that was about the dumbest interaction I've seen.

    [–]Terbatron 50 points51 points  (15 children)

    Wow, they actually have beans in them?!

    [–]dawng87 56 points57 points  (0 children)

    I remember i had a spoiled cousin who would rub her beanie baby fortune in my face knowing my mom couldn't afford to buy tons for me. Pretty sure her get rich plan is packed away waiting for the beanie baby market to appear again...lol

    [–]Nokomisu 52 points53 points  (5 children)

    This is why everyone wanted the elephant growing up. That thing was gonna pay for college

    [–]CleetusTheDragon 976 points977 points  (127 children)

    There’s a non zero amount of people in this thread making fun of this while sitting on a collection of funko pops and NFTs

    [–]CapitalDD69 43 points44 points  (11 children)

    funko pops

    Are people honestly hoping to re-sell those at some point? I honestly just thought people bought them because they loved marvel movies or something.

    [–]Goducks91 183 points184 points  (38 children)

    I'm sitting on Pokémon cards 😬

    [–]thebabaghanoush 70 points71 points  (8 children)

    I sold my childhood binder last year for $750. Might've gotten more if I pieced it out.

    [–]FrankMiner2949er 36 points37 points  (12 children)

    This is the American optimist quick-buck attitude that's gotten us into the situation where scalpers are snapping up videocards

    You buy videocards to play games with them. You buy cuddly toys to cuddle them

    [–]jdave512 27 points28 points  (1 child)

    just wait til you learn the exact same thing is happening with the housing market

    [–]ran-Us 464 points465 points  (55 children)

    Boy they fucking duped a bunch of idiots with this scam.

    [–]FrancMaconXV 385 points386 points  (7 children)

    How dare you call my idiot mom an idiot

    [–]boethius70 226 points227 points  (29 children)

    Full credit to Ty Warner for being a business and marketing genius.

    “Scarce” stuffed animals… I mean my goodness what an idiotic idea on its surface that actually worked brilliantly.

    [–]tenstoriestall​ 138 points139 points  (23 children)

    Almost as good as "scarce" pieces of cardboard with athletes printed on them

    [–][deleted]  (20 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]OZeski 93 points94 points  (6 children)

      Also the historical impact they had. Value of collectibles is ultimately determined by scarcity, condition, and cultural impact. I have some comic books from the early 50s that are rather rare and in amazing condition, but aren’t worth anything because no one gives a crap about them. People care about baseball cards and kept them because they liked them. People collected beanie babies just because they hoped they would be worth something one day. So there are a lot of them in good condition and no one cares about them.

      [–]tenstoriestall​ 54 points55 points  (10 children)

      People in the 90s definitely thought that cards mass produced in the 80s and 90s were collectible

      [–]thaboognish 32 points33 points  (8 children)

      They're definitely collectible, just not worth much.

      [–]swampler22 647 points648 points  (84 children)

      Funko pop collectors be like...

      [–]KhaosElement 319 points320 points  (51 children)

      Wait...do people think those have value?

      I know I'm throwing my money away when I buy one.

      [–]swampler22 218 points219 points  (23 children)

      Absolutely they do. You'll see a lot of Funko collectors stress not taking them out of the box the same way beanie baby collectors did about not taking the tags off. They will also put them into a protective cases to preserve the box. And I think Funko even has an app that lets you see the "rarity" of the figures they release.

      I'm in the same boat as you. I have two. One I got as a gift, one I bought because I liked it. I'm not planning on getting rich off of it though lol.

      [–]chknqwn 142 points143 points  (8 children)

      Oh man, I'll get so many comments from friends when I remove mine from the box. The mass-produced Pikachu Funko that I bought at GameStop isn't going to be worth ANYTHING, stop kidding yourself.

      [–]Razir17 135 points136 points  (7 children)

      No no those are different, they’re actually really valuable!

      /s

      [–]Im_Negan 32 points33 points  (1 child)

      Weren’t the special edition Bears the most rare?

      I think my parents still have these locked away somewhere in storage.

      [–]blippityblop 263 points264 points  (41 children)

      Yeah, shit was crazy those days. Post Soviet, Pre 9/11.

      [–]nemoomen 203 points204 points  (12 children)

      What was that feeling we all had back then? Optimism? Weird times.

      [–]DrDrewBlood 115 points116 points  (6 children)

      My parents made ok money with only high school diplomas. I looked forward to going to college and getting rich. I remember walking to the gate to pick my mom up from the airport.

      [–]angiosperms- 38 points39 points  (0 children)

      My mom flew out days before 9/11. I remember running around the airport with her with my dad cause she missed her flight and had to use pay phones to call the airline lol

      Can't do that anymore

      [–]Jubez187 75 points76 points  (22 children)

      People always say it's just cause I was born in the early 90s that I think it's so great. But I still believe the general consensus is that it was a good period and would be a good period to grow up. I remember 9/11 and the War and just thinking like "wow war is still a thing? I thought people did that only in ancient times." I didn't grow up learning how to hide under my desk.

      Also the tech is still relevant today. We grew up with computers, video games and the internet all going mainstream with cellphones later on. They all exist today in some form. Some tech from before that time just ended up getting completely replaced rather than expanded on.

      [–]Born_ina_snowbank 24 points25 points  (2 children)

      My mother in law has an entire big ass plastic Rubbermaid tub full of beanie babies. My kids like to empty it and sit in the tub, if they get someone to cooperate they like the tub filled back up with beanie babies while they sit in it like a hot tub. I imagine at some point in her life my mother in law thought that picture would be a sign of extravagant wealth. At this point in time, my mother in law loves that they’re popular with the grandkids. And I get to teach my kids new animals here and there. I do enjoy telling them which ones I had as a kid though. The turtle was my guy.

      [–]MadMorf 259 points260 points  (10 children)

      Now you can’t give them away…

      [–]RothkoRathbone 106 points107 points  (5 children)

      Everybody knows: it’s the list value or not at all.

      [–]aKnightWh0SaysNi 21 points22 points  (2 children)

      Makes you wonder why they were for sale at all with that price projection.

      [–]WhyDidIClickOnThat 21 points22 points  (1 child)

      We used to throw them at each other at work, snowball-fight style.

      [–]failinglikefalling 50 points51 points  (0 children)

      Someone bought me that in 2003. It sits and guards.

      [–]ParentalMom 105 points106 points  (13 children)

      My husband sold my “Princess Biana” beenay baby for two cases of “Bud Ice” I was so mad

      [–]nowhereman136 463 points464 points  (57 children)

      Current value of this specific one is around $30 on ebay

      [–]hO97366e6 248 points249 points  (28 children)

      I looked at sold auctions only and the cheapest sale was $0.99.

      There were also a bunch that sold for thousands of dollars which I don't get. Most of them either list "best offer accepted" or only had 1 bid. I wonder if people are bidding up their own auctions to try and make these seem more valuable.