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Around the Internet => Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy => Topic started by: scarab007 on July 26, 2013, 11:15:24 PM

Title: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: scarab007 on July 26, 2013, 11:15:24 PM
Wow, this is crazy.  Not sure how I feel about the family doing this. Hard to believe they really thought that stuffed animals would lead to some wealth. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/a-family-spent--100-000-on-beanie-babies-to-put-their-kids-through-college-155053345.html (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/a-family-spent--100-000-on-beanie-babies-to-put-their-kids-through-college-155053345.html)
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: Micheal on July 27, 2013, 12:58:10 AM
Yet if they had them to sell 10 years ago they would have made a mint.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: The knitter on July 27, 2013, 07:01:48 AM
This is quite sad.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: ny.er on July 27, 2013, 07:17:53 AM
This is painful to watch. My husband got in on this craze too, although not to the extreme. This family is probably not alone.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: Tami1982 on July 27, 2013, 11:20:55 AM
My mom is in a similar situation.  She doesn't have quite as many, but definitely 1,000 of them.  And she won't get rid of them because she has put too much money into them and won't sell them for less than she paid.  They are just sitting in a corner of the garage, with tag protectors and in plastic cases:(   It is sad.  She just hopes that one day they will be worth something again. 
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: AlmostIndependent on July 27, 2013, 02:58:45 PM
It always amazes me what you can get people to buy.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: Sparafusile on July 27, 2013, 05:29:00 PM
Beanie babies aren't the only thing people use to collect that lost all collector value. Stamps are another. At least stamps still had their intrinsic value. I remember getting envelopes from my grandmother covered in stamps because she could get more out of them by using rather than selling them.

Baseball cards are another.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: geekette on July 27, 2013, 05:58:00 PM
And of course the tulip mania (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania) in the 1600's.  Nothin' new!
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: AlmostIndependent on July 27, 2013, 06:13:19 PM
And of course the tulip mania (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania) in the 1600's.  Nothin' new!

The Holland tulip mania is my hands down favorite example of a bubble.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: Hugh H on July 27, 2013, 07:24:38 PM
More than Anti-Mustachian this seems like an investment gone wrong. Also, the dad seemed to enjoy the thrill of acquiring the beanie babies more than thinking how to make money off of them.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: .22guy on July 27, 2013, 07:32:23 PM
Hard to feel sorry for them, honestly. 

I think it's pretty lame that they made a documentary entitled "Bankrupt by Beanies".  You weren't bankrupted by beanies, but your own stupidity.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: AlmostIndependent on July 27, 2013, 07:42:41 PM
Hard to feel sorry for them, honestly. 

I think it's pretty lame that they made a documentary entitled "Bankrupt by Beanies".  You weren't bankrupted by beanies, but your own stupidity.

Exactly.
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: MrsPete on July 27, 2013, 09:14:12 PM
Beanie babies were a big deal when my kids were small, and I knew a couple people who were very into collecting sets, etc.  to my knowledge, none of my friends ever made a penny from those "investments".

My kids had a couple of them, but they . . . Removed the tags and played with them. 
Title: Re: Crazy 100k on Beanie Babies
Post by: Jamesqf on July 28, 2013, 12:02:03 AM
It always amazes me what you can get people to buy.

Yeah.  Bakelite costume jewelery from the '30s goes for pretty good money these days.  Then there's the guy who found his late uncle's comic book collection in the basement, and sold it for $3.5 million: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2012-02-22/rare-comics-auction-nets-millions/53210694/1