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The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

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Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#11

Post by brimble »

janmo wrote: post #3

Many parallels with what is going on with NFTs right now.

"Collectibles" bubbles have been a feature of (at least) American society for many decades. The tendency of some people to fall for marketing that describes some mass-market junk as an "investment" or "collectible" and to think they're really getting in on something good, is documented in Fussell's Class, so it was already a recognizable trend by 1983.

[EDIT] This is distinct from, or a useful subcategory of, some other "manias" or bubbles chiefly because the effect is often deliberately cultivated by a manufacturer or trade group, and the goods are mass-market in price and quality and lacking in (meaningful) natural constraints on supply. Think Franklin Mint junk on the Shopping Channel, or Precious Moments, or early '90s Topps cards. Pop-culture themed dinner plates intended only for display. Or Beanie Babies.

Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#12

Post by jpm_sd »

Lerc wrote: post #8
jpm_sd wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the most relevant portion of the article is: "There was one person who emerged handsomely from the Beanie Baby bubble: Ty Warner. Aside from getting caught secretly hoarding $107m of his Beanie Baby riches in an offshore Swiss bank account, Warner has kept a low profile over the years — but he’s quietly amassed a fortune the size of Djibouti’s GDP. Today, the 73-year-old Beanie Baby inventor touts an estimate…

"$41m worth of rare art" That bit at least is rather amusing.

He could sell NFTs of it and burn it, and double his money!

Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#16

Post by technofiend »

Lerc wrote: post #6

The current state of NFTs etc. amazes me in the context of Beanie Babies. So many people have learned nothing. Granted the time gap means these are entirely new people making those mistakes. We have such a degraded level of discourse now that if it were used in the Beanie Baby craze there would be people arguing about whether all soft toys are evil.

>So many people have learned nothing.

I would argue considering the plethora of NFT offerings both legitimate and plagiarized that many people learned trying to manufacture the next Beanie Baby is better than investing in them, sort of like selling shovels in a gold rush is more reliable than digging for gold.

Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#17

Post by khazhoux »

edm0nd wrote: post #14
janmo wrote: post #3

Many parallels with what is going on with NFTs right now.

Agreed. 19.94B locked up in NFTs atm https://defillama.com/nfts

I call bullshit. We're supposed to believe people have invested almost $20B in NFTs? I have no data one way or the other, but this fails the smell test.

Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#18

Post by camjohnson26 »

pushcx wrote: post #9

There's a great history of this, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette. It's a quick read, almost entirely original reporting. Aside from the colorful characters, it's really compelling to see the way some individuals' and limited information combined with mass media fell together to create the bubble. It seems like it couldn't have happened at any other time because…

Also Beanie Mania on HBO, not as insightful as the book but still a good documentary. The Beanie Baby bubble was essentially a textbook example of mania.

Re: The Beanie Baby Bubble of '99

#19

Post by technofiend »

jpm_sd wrote: post #12
Lerc wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"$41m worth of rare art" That bit at least is rather amusing.

He could sell NFTs of it and burn it, and double his money!

You're thinking small. You sell raffle tickets to let someone burn the artwork and pocket the profits from that too. Bonus points if there's a sponsor of the event.
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