Poll of the Day > seriously, the hell was the deal with beanie babies

(+) Yeah! (+)

christ that was a weird fad

They're going to be worth a ton in the future, just you wait!
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1000 years from now they will be priceless artifacts.
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They're like the micro transactions of our ancestors. Like hey how cool is this digital hat/ here's this tye dye dog.

They had an artificial scarcity which led to everyone thinking they had value.
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My grandma collected them for me when they were hot. I loved having them and collecting them, they were cool. I ended up giving them all away, eventually.
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Fidget spinners, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pet Rocks, there is a sucker born every minute.
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myghostisdead posted...

Fidget spinners, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pet Rocks, there is a sucker born every minute.

Go away, dude.
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Well, they were cute and the demand exceeded the supply which made people want them even more. While I bought some during the initial wave, I've picked up many more pretty cheaply because so many people wound up getting rid of them... which is probably stupid because I had most of the ones I owned packed away in bins, etc.

The thing that really kept it going, I assume, was the sheer number of designs and the scarcity, especially after they announced plans to "retire" certain beanies

myghostisdead posted...

Fidget spinners, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pet Rocks, there is a sucker born every minute.

None of those are comparable. Fidget spinners aren't a collectibles fad, Cabbage Patch Kids was only kids getting them (and you have countless kids toy fads -- several new ones each year), etc. I'm not sure any collectible (outside of cards) had as much universal appeal as Beanie Babies
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Do you watch Guru Larry, or was this just a coincidence?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mYJ-BkUAi4
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More like weanie babies right
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Do you watch Guru Larry, or was this just a coincidence?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mYJ-BkUAi4

Beanie Babies worth thousands of dollars in the 90s, now worth less than a dollar. Crazy
Also Ty Warner's obsession with plush toys is bizarre...some may even say creepy.
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I still have some, though only dragon ones.
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DeltaBladeX posted...

Do you watch Guru Larry, or was this just a coincidence?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mYJ-BkUAi4

Came to ask this, too!
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Zeus posted...

Well, they were cute and the demand exceeded the supply which made people want them even more. While I bought some during the initial wave, I've picked up many more pretty cheaply because so many people wound up getting rid of them... which is probably stupid because I had most of the ones I owned packed away in bins, etc.

The thing that really kept it going, I assume, was the sheer number of designs and the scarcity, especially after they announced plans to "retire" certain beanies

myghostisdead posted...

Fidget spinners, Cabbage Patch Kids, Pet Rocks, there is a sucker born every minute.

None of those are comparable. Fidget spinners aren't a collectibles fad, Cabbage Patch Kids was only kids getting them (and you have countless kids toy fads -- several new ones each year), etc. I'm not sure any collectible (outside of cards) had as much universal appeal as Beanie Babies

True but the fidget spinner fad and cabbage patch fad was carried by rabid moms. I saw countless mothers going to great lengths on Facebook asking for certain colors, brands and types and where to get them. When a new shipment of cabbage patch dolls came in there were mom fighting in our local department store toy aisle.

I agree most of these were to play with instead of to look at but I know older women who have unopened boxes of cabbage patch dolls who bought them back in the day as collectables because they thought they would be worth a lot. Beanie babies did their marketing well though playing into these people perfectly.
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It still makes alot more sense than the pet rock fad of the 70s.
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I still have a whole chia pet farm. Chia seed is expensive so I harvest my own.
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...do you mean chia

chia seeds aren't expensive at all

likehelly posted...

chia seeds aren't expensive at all

The price has dropped in the last couple of years but my farm collection has been fertile for decades.
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I was working at McDonald's when they first had them in happy meals. Some of my teachers would ask me daily if I knew if a new shipment of toys came in.
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