Search eBay’s range of Bean Bag Toys to find the perfect gift
Bean bag toys, such as Beanie Babies and Beanie Buddies, were once widely sought after and collected. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Beanie Babies were bought and kept as collector's items, as manufacturer Ty Inc. limited numbers of Beanie Babies available, while also creating limited editions that collectors had to work harder to find. But, are these bean bag toys as valuable today as collectors thought they would be?
Unfortunately, no. While there are rare Beanie Babies that sell for hundreds and even thousands of dollars, most Beanie Babies sell for around what they were purchased for originally. So, how can you tell if your Beanie Baby is worth selling? Beanie Babies that remain in mint condition, with tags on are usually worth more than those that have been played with. Certain Beanie Baby editions are also more valuable than others, such as the first generation ‘original nine’.
These include Chocolate the Moose, Brownie the Bear (later called Cubbie), Flash the Dolphin, Legs the Frog, Pinchers the Lobster, Splash the Orca Whale, Spot the Dog, Squealer the Pig and Patti the Platypus. Other valuable Beanie Babies include the bears Princess, Curly and Valentino, and Claude the Crab. Some Beanie Babies may also be more valuable if their tags contain errors, or they have tie-dye fur, as these are all unique.
What about other bean bag toys? While Beanie Babies were perhaps the best-known bean bag toy, there were others sold. Beanie Buddies offered another bean bag toy option, and there are plenty of Disney bean bag toys around as well. These include characters from popular Disney movies such as the Disney Princesses, Mickey and Minnie, and Winnie the Pooh. For collectors, retired and rare editions of these toys can be just as valuable as Beanie Babies.