Bean there, done that...

[draftermatt]

you all remember when Ty announced they wouldn't make Beanies anymore after 2000 (or something along those lines).

That probably would have helped Beanies hold thier value.

[lordlundar]

you would think, but they made so many and there's so many people hoarding, er collecting them, that they are still practically worthless.

[Becks]

You know, I have a few myself. I keep them in the basement for the simple reason that I don't have anywhere else to keep them.

They're "worthless", by the way. I've written on some tags, others got chewed on by my kittie Milenko (wherever she is now), and others just got beat up. I don't care. The ones I have, I bought because they were cute.

[ArenaBoy]

I just remembered that my aunt use to give my cousins and I beanie babies for christmas for 3 years straight. It drove me nuts because I didn't even like the things at all and I was sick and tired of hearing about them.

[Dragon_Dreamer]

All I want is the Mongoose (I think that's what it is) with the poem about killing things.

But it's not worth paying more than $5 for.

One of my friends has one of those. He roleplays a mongoose online, so his sister got it for him during the craze. I've seen it, it's quite amusing.

[protege]

Well, how about the ultimate error? The Penny Black, for those interested in philately. It was a penny stamp printed in the wrong colour, and now is worth (as in people will pay large sums for it, not that it's actually any use...) millions and squillions.

Along those lines...is the famous "inverted Jenny" airmail stamp printed in the US. This was an early two-color stamp. Up until that time, most stamps here were single-color. Two-color stamps were made by printing the first color, and then running the sheet through another press. Somehow, one sheet got inserted upside down, and wasn't caught before it was released. Some lucky owner bought it at a post office...and immediately asked if there were any more. The postal service tried to seize the sheet, but couldn't--the guy held his ground and kept it. Over time, the sheet eventually got separated, and the stamps lost. Right now, they're valued at about $300,000 (US) apiece!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Jenny

I got to see one at a stamp show some years ago. It was in a special case, and was actually *bolted* to a counter. Not surprisingly, the case was alarmed, and closely guarded.

Then there are the Dag Hammarskjöld stamps. These too were mistakes. On some, the yellow background is slightly shifted to the right. This time, the postal service printed 40 million *more* to thwart profit-seekers. As a result, they're only worth about 50 cents

[Witch of Endor]

you would think, but they made so many and there's so many people hoarding, er collecting them, that they are still practically worthless.

Dead on.

When my mother was little, she had some Lone Ranger comic books. Her mother (may she rest in peace, she passed away this week) threw them out. Mom says she's seen the same books in collectible markets for upwards of $50 US.

So these days, everyone saves their comic books in plastic sleeves, especially Issue #1 of every series that might take off someday... but what they don't realise is that if everyone saves them, they won't be rare in the future. The same thing goes for baseball cards. The only reason the old ones are priceless is because everyone read theirs to pieces or their mothers threw them away, and there aren't many left.

This is why 'defective' toys are the ones that get collectible... if you have a Beanie that was made with the wrong kind of tail hair, or the wrong eye colour, it's rare even if that particular model is not rare.

Some manufacturers of collectibles try to get a head start on it by making limited editions. But even if there's only fifty made of that model, they're only valuable for as long as people are willing to pay money for them. Rarity alone isn't enough, and neither is popularity alone.

ETA: I have a Cabbage Patch Kid. I saved up my money and bought her when I was seven years old. Her name is Blythe Marcelline. The craze was on the way out and they were about half the price they'd started out at. I think I paid $25 CDN, and that was over twenty years ago. She lives in a drawer at my dad's house and ended up not being one of my favourite toys. (Her contemporary, Ginger the Wrinkles dog, is far more cuddly and therefore still has pride of place in my bed.) I also have one Beanie Baby, a brown dragon with iridescent wings given to me by my first boyfriend.

[hawkchick11]

My grandma was really into the whole beanie craze. It got her out of the house and she enjoyed looking for them. We never realized how many she had until she passed away. In her basement, she had 6 huge plastic tubs full of beanies, plus a bunch on display in her spare bedroom upstairs. The whole beanie craze was out by then, but my mother took about half of them and the rest got donated to the local children's hospital. Every Thanksgiving, the local junior hockey team does a 'Teddy Bear Toss' at their game after they score their first goal. We've tossed a few grocery bags full at each game for the past 3 years, and we still havent made much of a dent in the beanies that my mother has.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yes, I was going to mention the Inverted Jenny. I collected stamps when I was a young kid, so I remember that (at the time) that was the most valuable stamp in the world.

I think I own a singe beany, that my daughter's godmother gave her a couple weeks ago. If I understand correctly, they were giving them out at her bank or something. It's a teddy bear inside a zippered snowball. It's cute. Of course, the tags came immediately off. It was given as a toy.

Godmother is no idiot.

Stocks are investment. Real estate is investment. Stuffed toys are NOT an investment.

I was so disgusted by the whole Cabbage Patch thing. Those things were worth about 30 bucks back...was it the 80's? Look on ebay...guess what they are worth. About...30 bucks. The sad bit for me is that I actually remember them before they were bought by Coleco. They were beautiful hand sculpted and hand painted dolls made by a guy named Xavier Roberts, who I had the pleasure to meet at a craft show I was working at. They were rare and expensive, and buying one was a big event, as he went through a "adoption" ritual, with papers and everything. Very cute. (no, I never got one of his original ones, because they were not cheap and I was very poor. I have one of the mass produced ones, but it was a gift from my mom when I was a teenager. I liked it because it was cute. I took it out of the box and enjoyed it. ) To see such charming art reduced to a mass produced and shamefully fought over fad was sad to me. I'm sure Mr. Roberts made a bundle, and that's cool for him, though, so at least there's that.

When these people are fighting over these dolls, or furbies, or beanies, or any other THING, I don't understand how they can not be ashamed of themselves.

[protege]

When these people are fighting over these dolls, or furbies, or beanies, or any other THING, I don't understand how they can not be ashamed of themselves.

I can never figure out that either. At least we can take comfort in the fact that most of the idiots who fought over those stupid things... got *pwned* when the market for them disappeared. They spent hundreds (thousands?) on those toys, and are stuck with them now. Karma's a bitch like that

I like my toys too, but that's a bit extreme. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay ridiculous prices for them. Even hobby items I'll wait on--the price will eventually come down as dealers get new stock in.

Books are another story--you can usually find the "must haves" online or, if you wait long enough, discount book stores. Just the other day, I found a copy of the Daimler-Benz history book for much less than its original cost. The discount store was going out of business, and wanted to unload them The only exception to this rule, are for things like "Penn Central Power," which has only been printed once. Even the poorest of copies is selling for $70-80! However, I searched nearly 10 years (yes really!) for a copy...before spending $90 on a mint one. I'm glad I waited--the book was mint, still sealed, and had still had the magazine cards inside. Of course, after thumbing through it the past few years, it's no longer mint. And no, I don't care! Money well spent, in my book (pun intended!)

[Imogene]

There's a hacking project in one of my techie books that involves reprogramming a furby. I'm tempted to get one for that reason only.

Actually, just before my Mom closed her bird seed store, I heard a story from one of her employees, about a friend of his who'd gotten into a Teddy Ruxpin (Anyone ELSE remember those?), found the part of his tape that made him move his mouth and head and such, figured out how the audio track worked, and set up a new tape, with Teddy talking about his time in 'Nam, and he actually moved in perfect time with the audio. He'd set Teddy down on his DJ station when he did 'gigs', and would leave a jar for tips, if I remember the story correctly.

[aqutalion]

The blood bank I used to be a regular at would sometimes have a deal where if you donated a unit of blood, you'd get a beanie baby. I don't know if it helped them get more blood, but I accumulated a decent collection of beanie cats in a couple of years.

(No, I didn't donate just to get the cats!)

[Dreamstalker]

I heard a story from one of her employees, about a friend of his who'd gotten into a Teddy Ruxpin (Anyone ELSE remember those?), found the part of his tape that made him move his mouth and head and such, figured out how the audio track worked, and set up a new tape, with Teddy talking about his time in 'Nam, and he actually moved in perfect time with the audio.

Cool (isn't there a new TR, or a very similar type doll out now? TJ Bearytales or something like that?) I'm wondering if it's possible to hack one of those "[X] Knows Your Name" dolls that were insanely popular about 2 years ago. Probably not, or at least not as much as a Furby.

One of the speculators on the ebay boards bought about 300 Furbies when the new release came out--3 years ago was it?--and he still has all of them as far as anybody on my seller's forum knows.

[moekosowl]

a Teddy Ruxpin (Anyone ELSE remember those?), .

I had one. They were pretty cool if you were six.

[ToasterQueen]

For the record, Teddy Ruxpin scared the holy hell out of me.

Also, shamefully, I have roughly two plastic bins full of beany babies. But you don't understand. I was twelve.

Those things are /soft./

For a little child who built castles in the realms of her imagination, and whose mother was obsessive about the FotM (Fad of the Month)....New subjects for my imaginary kingdom? And bloody softer than a dry-cleaned duckling? Sign me up!

I suppose my saving grace was that I never really expected to sell them. I just liked them. *shrug*