We spent some time at my mother-in-law’s house recently. She brought out a bag of Beanie Babies that she recently decluttered. My daughter chose her two favorites to bring home.
Roary the Lion and Pugsley the dog.
My five year old . . . is in love with them.
I was in college during the Beanie Baby craze and missed out on the excitement. I do remember being at a friend’s bridal shower, though, where someone talked on and on about how much money she was going to make “someday” because of all of the Beanie Babies she had collected. And she paid top dollar for them, too.
Far above retail.
Yet now, if you look at the completed listings on ebay, the vast majority don’t even sell for ninety-nine cents.
NINETY-NINE cents!!!
Far below retail.
Pugsley is definitely more valuable than Roary, with one selling at 9.99, but other Pugsleys didn’t sell for .99 and 1.99. As a way-too-experienced ebay seller, I definitely wouldn’t get excited about going through the hassle of taking a picture, creating a listing, and calculating shipping on the off chance that I might sell it for .99. (Minus fees, of course.)
And yet . . . when my daughter ripped the not-so-snuggly tags off of their ears, my first reaction was, “No! They’re not worth as much without the tags!”
Yes, really.
The fact is that they’re worth much more without the tags. No toy is a “real” toy while the tags are still attached. He’s real when he gets played with. When he sleeps under the chin of a the little girl who just served his afternoon tea.
--Nony
You are so right. I have a good friend who has so many of those things I know she paid full price for. I know that she has more than 200 of them. She gave them as ‘gifts’ to all of her friends for several years. I never understood the way people ‘collected’ them.
When I see them at the thrift store or at garage sales I buy them. Never paying more than .25 for one. I give them to my dog as a toy. She loves them
new lurker
off the rip off some of my tags…..
So true. Also, is it worth having to keep track of all that stuff in my house? How much stuff do I save because it might be worth something someday or because I might need it someday, but in the meantime it steals my joy and my brainpower because I have to deal with the clutter in my house. I am working on this right now, learning to let things GO even if they might be useful someday. It’s amazing the freedom I have felt as I’ve given stuff away to others, plus the joy of knowing that they’ve been blessed by it!
Have you read, The Joy of Less by Francine Jay? I’m single and divorced. I am a packrat whose water pipes just broke. I just found out my homeowner’s insurance will not cover it. Not only that I lost my job. What a big wake up call. I have over 100 beanies I’ve collected… along with as many cleaning, decluttering and organizing books. (ADHD) All lost and yet I’m still living. I just purchased this book… and it’s been a Godsend for someone like me. Reading your response made me think about her book. You’re spot on and so correct!
the idea of putting something where it belongs WHEN I am touching it in a cluttered room has been life-changing. I had bins and bins of “to put away” and “to file” for years…
This is so funny because I had the same reaction a few years ago when my 2-yo ripped the tag off a Beanie Baby he was given as a gift. As soon as I opened my mouth to protest, I shut it with the same conclusion you just described.
my 5 year old has had one of the big TY toy kittens sense my little sister gave it to her at around 9 months old… still sleeps with it… my sister had it for years before… and well we’ve both had a small stash sense we were preteens when the craze hit… my grandma had a bunch of the pugs sense her dog was a pug… when my grandpa passed my mom took ahold of the pugs for me so we can give them to the girls when they are old enough to sorta appreciate them.. grandma would be happy knowing her grandbabies got to enjoy them 🙂 much better than the $ they are worth!
I love the Beanie Baby craze. 🙂 I wasn’t old enough to care much about it when folks were paying outrageous amounts of money to acquire their little beanie toys, but I’ve certainly taken advantage of it now. My children just adore the little beanies, and one person’s toy “clutter” can be a real blessing to the little ones.
hmm…I wonder if I can get the white seal I wanted for 99 cents now. It was rare then and expensive. I have a box full, but I’ve been slowly sharing them with my kids, because it brings me joy to see something I liked being liked by someone else. My 22 month old recently got my golden retriever because she loves puppies.
lol..my kids adore them…we’ve hit a few sales of beanie collectors..although i’m sure since they were selling them for 25c that the collector had passed on..
my kids adore them…my son has his army…no kidding..his soldier kitties…anything to make a stuffed cat more manly….and at a 25c or so i stock up on them…as quick rewards..lots of bang for my buck so to speak.money wise and space wise..
We have a University of Houston cougar named Rory at our house. Much loved and starting to look tatty enough to be real. 🙂
Go, Coogs!
Ha! So you mean I have every single McD’s Beanie with the tags still on and in the package and they are worth squat?! HA HA HA! Luckily I don’t care- I just love (a few of) the beanies themselves. But I dated a toy/ comic aficionado in college that picked up on the fact I sorta thought a few of the beanies were cute and ended up getting me the whole dang lot of them. Of course back then I thought it was sweet. Then he sucked the wind out of my sails and told me not to take the tags off. Luckily that’s the only thing along those lines that I’ve kept. I just think they are cute. I don’t really have collections and sadly, even though we just moved- they are in a small rubbermaid tote in the garage at this point. I doubt I will ever display them. Maybe keep the few I originally thought were cute. I don’t have kids yet. But I can totally see myself giving them to any young visitors that stop by. 😀
Thank you so much for this post! Its exactly what I needed to see. I’m such a big fan of yours.
I neglected to sell my PS2 when it was worth $50 trade-in. I could get a slim for $20 but I know what mine has been through since it’s been at the refurbishment facility. (Yeah, most of the games I own or wanted to own have been re-released or have PC versions.)
I absolutely LOVE the picture of the Beanies having tea 🙂 I don’t have kids, but I do love dolls, and my husband loves cars. So yes, we’ve had those “don’t remove the tag” moments. But honestly, our collections aren’t going anywhere, so no need to get upset if one gets torn off. 🙂
Lol…I had to laugh when reading this. I worked in a men’s prison for awhile & I kid you not, there was a man who got prison time for STEALING beanie babies. He broke into a store, stole a bunch of them, and ended up serving a sizable amount of time. Even back then I couldn’t believe they would just be a fad.
I find them at Goodwill for around 1-2 dollars. They make excellent dog toys for my 20 lb dog, and the little bit of weight they have over regular stuff animals makes them fly through the air really well for a game of fetch (and slide under furniture, which seems to be their favorite hideout). Usually the tags are already gone, and my pup’s first mission is to remove the eyes. I have to say I’m glad that I didn’t have the money back then afford to get obsessed, because I can imagine I could have become the Beanie Baby Lady.
I didn’t read this one before! Glad you reposted it! Yes, Yes! I have trouble thinking that way sometimes. However, years ago I was told by a friend’s grandma that I shouldn’t play with my “Pink and Pretty Barbie” because she would be “very valuable someday”. I went home and told my mom about it, and bless her heart, she let me know that I didn’t need to worry about that. My uncle also bought me some very fancy Barbie furniture once and he impressed upon me how I should take extra good care of it – probably on the same basis. My parents didn’t encourage that. I am so thankful that my parents let us love our toys all we wanted! Oh, they have had their moments about some things – usually vintage items – but, by and large they didn’t bludgeon us with guilt about enjoying our things. I was so careful with my stuff anyway, I hate to think what I’d been like if I’d actually been nagged about future value like those other folks tried to do. I really think that a lot of that thinking is learned. Kids don’t have to be told to enjoy their stuff. They have to trained to put it on a shelf and not enjoy it.
My aunt says that the only difference between “your” old furniture and antique furniture is that children from long ago teethed on and distressed the antiques! LOL!
My kids were given a whole bag of beanie babies a few months ago. Before I let them tear off the tags, I planned to look on ebay to see if any of them were worth anything to sell. After the first 5, I was like, forget it. Just play with them. Tear those tags off and throw ’em away. It’s not worth all the time it will take to research them all for the one in a million chance that any of them will actually be worth the shipping price it would cost to sell them to anybody.
I am most impressed that you had your daughter pick TWO beanie babies and you didn’t take the whole lot home! “Less is More!”
When my 2 granddaughters were
little I decorated my Christmas tree with
Scotch plaid bows and red Beanie Babies,
and clear blinking lights. They loved it!
Now they are 14 and 17 and are much too
grown up for Beanie Baby trees!
Oh, I bet that was adorable!!! What a good grandma!!
I love this post. My father has a habit of hanging onto stuff and saying, “It will be worth something someday!” I’ve pointed out numerous times that it is only worth something if he is willing to let it go. You’ll only ever get any value out of it if you actually sell it – which isn’t what he wants to do with it.
I remember winning a raffle for a Barbie with hand crocheted wardrobe. When I told the maker host pleased I was end it would go to my 6 year old granddaughter. She’d was horrified thar a child would play with it and maybe not appreciate it enough. Obviously it pleased Sarah for a long time. I don’t know it’s ultimate demise.
Yes… my FIL wants us to keep all the boxes from all the toys and sell them later… a toy is a toy and the time and storage would be so incredible. It’s just not my way… I get overwhelmed with daily duties… toss…donate…give away… ENJOY the toy….
Though I should say I am having a hard time tossing out a character from the Lion King… My MIL who passed away gave it to my son…my son gave it to my dd who hates it. What to do…if I ask dh he will tell me to keep it… so I may just put it in a bag for a bit… it’s in the donation bin… ugh…
My sons loved their beanies when young.
It was a tradition to always have a new one peeking out of their Christmas stocking.
They each have a bin full. They played with them…we kept the tags for the names and poems, but didn’t worry about them staying attached.
I have a few seasonal ones I use for decoration.
Looking forward to seeing the grandkids enjoy them.
I used to collect Barbies before they changed the body style,
and yes I kept them in their boxes to protect them from dust etc.,
but the first thing I would do when I received one was open the box,
take them out and brush their hair which totally lowers the value,
…but they were for my enjoyment not an investment.
I do know people who store every box their kids toys come in for future
collectible reasons…
I just can’t see it myself.
Reminds me of the book thE velveteen rabbit….
New (or like new) Beanie Babies are GREAT to put in each Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan’s Purse) shoebox. A new life in another part of the world! My mom’s friend gave her HUNDREDS of beanies when she mentioned to her I was asking for any for our church members many shoeboxes. Wow! People were so happy to tuck one in each of the shoeboxes they were donating (and I’m sure the recipients were happy, too!)
I donated several Beanies to my church this year for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. It was harder than I thought to part with them. Now I have two bins instead of three. Maybe next year I will be ready to part with more of them.
Oh, yes! My mom and I were part of that craze… insert eye roll…actually, she’s bringing down a box from her storage for me to deal with today. Thinking I will let the boys pick their favorites and donating the rest to the Children’s Hospital’s toy closet. I remember my son having one in his crib when he was admitted to the hospital as a toddler. Definitely more meaning full when you need a friend, not so much when you think you’re going to make a quick buck!
Yes, my mom collected them for the Grandkids (our kids) in hopes of a good college fund for them. I am storing like 5 big totes upstairs for them. I don’t have the time or energy to try and sell them and I didn’t feel right just telling my daughter to donate them the last time we took them down, because if mom asked about them I always said “yes, we still have them” I forgot about them until this post. Unfortunately, mom passed away a few months ago, so now we can donate them.
We received Nana’s collection when she downsized. I already knew they weren’t worth much but family said to be careful with them. I went through, found a few early ones, even one with a misprint on the tag supposedly making it worth more, and listed them on eBay for 9.99 to see if I’d get lucky. Not a single bid. I let the kids pick out a few favourites and donated the rest. The kids are grown now but we have a couple cats who like to ‘hunt’ them. 😂
I cut open a couple of the Teenie Beanie kitties, put in some catnip, and sewed them shut. My cats play with them like they are their kittens!
My daughters were of the collecting age during the Beany Baby craze. One of their friend’s mother totally believed all the hype. Not for a minute did I believe it. I told them, something is only worth what someone will pay you for it. Btw, this is true for everything. Also, all manufactured goods have limited value because they’re mass produced (even if in limited quantities). I let them buy some for the retail price, but they were just toys like any others and they were free to RIP off the silly tags and play with them.