The Phenomenon of Beanie Babies
Remembering the 1994 market explosion of these toys
Erin Beanie Bab was released on January 31, 1998. If you’re familiar with Beanie Babies, you know they come with birthdays. Erin was born on March 17, 1997. She was retired on May 21, 1999.
H. Ty Warner, now a reclusive billionaire, founded Ty Inc. in 1986 and created these unique stuffed toys called Beanie Babies. They were a craze in the mid to late-1990s.
I remember the year McDonald’s was offering them in Happy Meals and how everyone was buying a lot of Happy Meals to get the complete collection. I was one of those crazy moms. Today, the retired ones are sold at whatever cost you’re willing to pay across the internet, particularly ebay.
The United States of America briefly lost its collective mind over stuffed animals 25 years ago. (Source.)
Once children learned about their existence, they wanted all of them. These stuffed toys were introduced at a Toy Fair in New York in 1993. In the following year, they were manufactured. Stores in Chicago, Illinois were the first to sell them. They were going for $5 each.
