Remember the Beanie Babies craze of the 1990s? Somehow, those little plastic pellet-stuffed toys became more valuable than gold and diamonds.
People rushed to buy the Ty toys, snatching them up and flipping them on the internet or storing them for later, hoping they’d appreciate in value. Fraudsters created counterfeit Beanie Babies and sold them for thousands of dollars. Heck, eBay built itself on Beanie Babies. At the Beanie Baby craze’s height, one out of 10 sales were for the little plush toys.
Of course, the Beanie Baby market crashed, hard. In 1999, the bubble burst, seemingly overnight, rendering most of the stuffed animals worthless. So, are Beanie Babies worth anything anymore? Yes, there’s still a market for them. And the rarest Beanies are worth thousands.
How Do I Know If My Beanie Baby Is Valuable?
eBay
Before we get to our list of most valuable Beanie Babies, let’s address some of the big questions you might have about the Beanie Baby collectors’ market. The biggest one being this: Which ones are actually valuable?
Like with most collectibles, the ones that will fetch top dollar are ones that still have their tags and look brand new. That means they’ve likely never been played with, and even better if you’ve kept them stored in plastic cases.
But any old, unused Beanie Baby will not do. To be truly worth a lot of money, it needs to be one that was not mass-produced. For example, Ty only made a small batch of the animal with a certain material, or the tag attached to the animal is older or more unique. Or maybe there was even an error in the tag’s spelling or the design of the bear itself.
You get the gist.
How Do I Sell My Beanie Babies?
eBay
If you’re looking to sell your Beanie Babies, we recommend going to eBay, where Beanie Baby sales skyrocketed, but any online marketplace like Facebook Marketplace is a good place to start. Make sure to take good-quality photos of the product from multiple angles and provide a detailed description so that the buyer trusts the product you’re selling.
Just remember: Like any marketplace, the value of something on eBay is completely dependent on the person who buys it. That means one person could buy a Princess Diana Bear for $500, while the next guy wouldn’t be willing to go over $200.
Plus, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on with eBay. There are numerous Beanie Babies that have sold for thousands of dollars but were offered by sellers with no feedback and purchased by no-feedback buyers. Those identical Beanies could be had for $5 on other listings.
Which Beanie Babies Are Collecters Looking For?
eBay
Because there are so many weird things happening on eBay — whether due to spam, possible money laundering or price-fixing, collectors are looking for authenticated Beanie Babies (because who would drop big bucks on a possible counterfeit?) and real sellers.
So, we wouldn’t recommend selling your most valuable Beanie Baby as your first eBay sale ever. Instead, grow your account so that people trust you. We also recommend getting an authentication certificate (similar to an appraisal) for a particularly valuable Beanie Baby so that collectors know it’s the real deal.
Now, which Beanie Babies are worth the most money? These are the 125 most valuable ones today, based on eBay sales, using the same method of doing our best to find trusted sellers.
124. Zip the Black Cat Beanie Baby
www.bbtoystore.com / eBay
Value: $202.89
Bottom line: Zip the black cat might look commonplace, but some versions of Zip are surprisingly rare. Four different Zip designs were offered, including an all-black version, one with a white face and magenta whiskers, one with a white face and pink whiskers, and one with white paws.
The all-black Zip was offered for the shortest amount of time, and it came with an error: a third-generation swing tag and a first-generation tush tag, plus no listed birthdate.
This copy was played with heavily, but it still sold on eBay for about $200.
Get a similar Beanie Baby
122. Roger the Pirate Bear Beanie
www.bbtoystore.com / eBay
Value: $204.89
Bottom line: One of Ty’s classic Beanie Baby teddies, Roger the Pirate Bear looked just like a regular teddy, only with an eye patch, a pirate hat and an embroidered skull and crossbones on his chest. Roger was sold exclusively in the Vedes store in Germany, so he’s quite a treasure for American collectors.
He was sold on eBay in mint condition by BBToyStore, which has specialized in authenticated collectible toys since the 1990s.
Roger’s poem reads:
“Gold and silver I like a lot
Sailing over the open waters
Roger the pirate I am called
Traveling to the hidden land”
Get a similar Beanie Baby
120. Happy the Hippo Beanie Baby
socofdc / eBay
Value: $217
Bottom line: Happy the hippo, released in June 1994, is a light gray hippo with small gray ears and black button eyes. He was also released in lavender, but the gray version is less common.
This copy was authenticated by a toy appraiser called True Blue Beans, and he was worth more than usual, thanks to a mismatched hang tag and tush tag. The tush tag is a first-generation, while the hang tag is a second generation.
This copy was played with, but it was sold with no visible wear and the original hang tag. Had the tag not been creased, it likely would have sold for even more.
Get a similar Beanie Baby
112. Ty Schweetheart Beanie Baby (Tie)
mikeke9857 / eBay
Value: $225
Bottom line: Schweetheart, an orange-red orangutan Beanie Baby, came out on April 26, 1999. He was one of the earliest Beanie Babies to feature fabric other than the classic, soft, velour-like material Beanies are known for, with fluff added on top of his head like a real orangutan.
This copy sold on eBay was worth more than usual due to the errors on its tag and its mint condition status.
Schweetheart’s poem reads:
“Of all the jungles filled with vines
Traveling about, you came to mine
Because of all the things you said
I can’t seem to get you outta my head!”
Get a similar Beanie Baby
112. Lucky the Ladybug (Tie)
arbcoc0 / eBay
Value: $225
Bottom line: Three different versions of Lucky the Ladybug were produced, including one with seven spots, one with 11 spots, and one with 21 spots. This version, the 11-spot version, was released on Jan. 1, 1996, and retired on Jan. 5, 1998. It was one of the longest runs of any Beanie Baby.
While she’s not the rarest, she’s one of the earliest Beanie Babies produced, containing the original PVC pellets that Ty initially used to fill their toys.
Her cheerful poem reads:
“Lucky the Ladybug loves the lotto
‘Someone must win’ that’s her motto
But save your dimes and even a penny
Don’t spend on the lotto and You’ll have many!”
Get a similar Beanie Baby
89. Beak the Bird (Tie)
savcitr-0 / eBay
Value: $1,000
Bottom line: Beak the kiwi bird, introduced on Sept. 30, 1998, was one of the more challenging Beanie Babies to make. Beak’s long, tan-colored beak was a new design for Ty, and it took some finagling to get it right.
Beak was released in tandem with a bigger Beanie Buddy version, which is even rarer as it was retired after less than a year. Beak’s tag reads:
“Isn’t this just the funniest bird?
When we saw her, we said how absurd
Looks aren’t everything, this we know
Her love for you, she’s sure to show!”
89. Mac the Cardinal (Tie)
morher-70 / eBay
Value: $1,000
Bottom line: Mac the Cardinal was one of three cardinal birds made by Ty. Mac, however, is far more valuable than the other two, which were produced several years later.
He was released on Jan. 1, 1999, with a June 1998 birthday. Twenty thousand copies of Mac were given out at a St. Louis Cardinals game on June 14, 1999, but he’s still surprisingly hard to find.
Versions of Mac with errors are the most valuable. This one had a tag error with an extra space, contributing to its remarkable price tag. His sporty poem reads:
“Mac tries hard to prove he’s the best
Swinging his bat harder than the rest
Breaking records, enjoying the game
Hitting home runs is his claim to fame!”
83. Early the Bird (Tie)
chansu_31 / eBay
Value: $1,200
Bottom line: Early the bird, a robin, was released on May 30, 1998, with a bright red belly and a short, rounded, yellow beak. Just like a real robin.
This collector’s quality version was never played with, and has one major error. The year on the swing tag reads 1997, while the tug tag year reads 1998.
Early’s cheerful poem goes like this:
“Early is a red-breasted robin
For a worm, he’ll soon be bobbin’
Always known as a sign of spring
This happy robin loves to sing!”
79. Lizzy the Lizard (Tie)
dacor-1229 / eBay
Value: $1,250
Bottom line: Lizzy the lizard was one of the earliest Beanie Babies made, with a release date of Jan. 7, 1996. She was sold for two years before retirement, and her bright blue and yellow fabric was a hit with kids.
Did you know Beanie Babies could have friends? Lizzy the lizard does. According to Ty, her best friend is Legs the frog. Interestingly, the poem printed on her tag is different than the one originally published on the Ty website. The website version reads:
“Her best friend Legs was at her house waiting
Today is the day they go rollerblading
But Lizzy Lou had to stay home
So Legs had to rollerblade alone.”
Meanwhile, the tag version reads:
“Lizzy loves Legs the frog
She hides with him under logs
Both of them search for flies
Underneath the clear blue skies!”
59. Nanook the Husky (Tie)
sjv_3111 / eBay
Value: $2,700
Bottom line: Nanook, an energetic Husky that loves to run, was the first blue-eyed Beanie Baby ever produced. He was released on May 11, 1997, and retired in March 1999. The version sold on eBay was a third-generation Nanook toy, with a tag that read:
“Nanook is a dog that loves cold weather
To him, a sled is light as a feather
Over the snow and through the slush
He runs at hearing the cry of ‘mush!'”
Some versions were accidentally sold with the tags of other Beanie Babies instead, including Chip, Gobbles, Lucky and Quackers.
42. Lefty and Righty (Tie)
shash5008 / eBay
Value: $4,500
Bottom line: We don’t like straying into politics, but we’ll let this one slide because the two rival Beanie Babies were sold together. Lefty and Righty were released in June 2000, representing the Democratic and Republican parties.
Lefty is a donkey, and Righty is an elephant — both featuring festive, red and blue stars on a white background.
Lefty’s tag reads:
“This November make a note
The time has come for you to vote
Pick me when you have to choose
I’m a Beanie, you can’t lose!”
Meanwhile, Righty’s tag reads:
“On and on the race will go
Who will win we just don’t know
No matter how this all will end
You will always be my friend!”
If only politics were actually that positive.
31. Chip the Cat (Tie)
sarahlo_1998 / eBay
Value: $5,000
Bottom line: Chip the cat was one of the trickiest and most expensive Beanie Babies to produce, requiring more than 20 pieces of fabric for each stuffed toy. She has brown fabric on part of her body, black on the other half, and a white belly and white paws.
Instead of plain black eyes, her eyes are a glowing shade of gold. The cute kitty was introduced on May 11, 1997, and was retired on March 31, 1999.
Her colorful poem reads:
“Black and gold, brown and white
The shades of her coat are quite a sight
At mixing her colors she was a master
On anyone else, it would be a disaster!”
