The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette, 245 pages
Ty Warner had a difficult childhood. His father was emotionally, and sometimes physically, distant, while his mother was a paranoid schizophrenic. Extremely, even obsessively, detail-oriented, he was somehow able to be convincing without being likeable. He struggled in business and life until he created a line of understuffed poseable plush animals - Beanie Babies.
Initially not a hit, Beanie Babies became the best-selling toy of the '90s after being repositioned as a collectors' item. Warner's constant tweaking of his products led to multiple variants and retired pieces, which turned the collectors' market into a speculators' market. Prices soared, with Warner deftly manipulating supply and demand. Toys bought for $5 sold for $5000 a few years later. Then, suddenly, inevitably, the craze ended, and those $5000 "investments" found their way into bargain bins at Goodwill.
Bissonnette's book is fast-moving, well-researched, and fun, despite being a little rough around the edges. Considering that the central character refuses to be interviewed and some of the supporting cast were reluctant to say anything that could damage their relationship with a notoriously litigious billionaire, it's remarkable The Great Beanie Baby Bubble has any substance at all, affording a bit of insight into the formation and collapse not only of this specific fad, but of speculative bubbles generally.
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