Advertisement

History of the ’90s podcast: Beanie Babies, boom to bust

Ty Warner, creator of Beanie Babies toys, shakes hands in a rare appearance to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Beanie Babies toy line at the American International Toy Fair Feb. 16, 2003. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

How did Beanie Babies go from boom to bust?

On this episode of History of the ’90s, host Kathy Kenzora looks back at the cute, colourful beanbag animals that started off as a toy but soon became an obsession for collectors, who were buying and selling the furry creatures on this new thing called eBay. Beanie Babies were traded like stocks and even became long-term investments for some optimistic buyers.

Story continues below advertisement

Of course, where there’s money to be made, there’s also crime and deception, and Beanie Babies were no different. We’ll look back at how greed and hysteria over the $5 plush toys also led to a wave of theft, fraud and fakery.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

We’ll trace the Beanie Baby Bubble from start to finish and try to figure out if the man who invented the toy was a genius or an accidental billionaire.

If you enjoy History of the ’90s, please take a minute to rate it, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends.

Contact:

Twitter: @1990shistory

Facebook: @1990shistory

Instagram: @that90spodcast

Email: 90s@curiouscast.ca

Guests:

Zac Bissonnette, author, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: The Amazing Story of How America Lost Its Mind Over a Plush Toy — and the Eccentric Genius Behind It

Twitter: @ZacBissonnette

Story continues below advertisement

Peggy Gallagher, Beanie Baby authenticator

We LOVE that you are loving the ‘History of the 90s‘ podcast! If you haven’t subscribed yet — what are you waiting for?

Subscribing’s easy! Here’s how…

History of the ’90s podcast: Beanie Babies, boom to bust - image
  • Open the Apple Podcasts app, search for History of the 90s and select it from the list of results.
  • Once on the History of the 90s page, click the “subscribe” button to have new episodes sent to your mobile device for free.
  • Click the name of an episode from the list below to listen.
History of the ’90s podcast: Beanie Babies, boom to bust - image
  • Open the Spotify app, search for History of the 90s and select it from the list of results.
  • Once on the History of the 90s page, click the “Follow” button to have new episodes sent to your mobile device for free.
  • Click the name of an episode from the list below to listen.
Curator Recommendations

Sponsored content

AdChoices