Remembering a Bean-Filled Craze

    It started with one and ended with over 300.  At one point in time, they were the toy of choice, perfectly displayed in my bedroom and played with nearly everyday.  They now sit in two trash bags in the attic of my parents' house.  Eventually, their value, based not on money but attachment, will be determined, and in the end a future will be selected: give away or keep.  Every toy, including this great collection, must be questioned under these standards.  Someday, I will face this decision, but until then, my Beanie Babies shall sweat it out in the heat of the attic.
    The Beanie Babies craze swept over Salem, IL and lasted for only a few years.  However, during this period, kids and collectors adopted vicious, undermining personalities only to acquire the best collection possible.  Friendships were made and broken, and just like any limiting stuffed animal addiction, groups and phone trees were formed.  When a new shipment came in, only a select few were contacted with this information.  Approximately three stores in Salem, IL carried the Beanie Babies, so new shipments had to be kept under the radar if you and your friends were going to be the first to buy the store out of only the three new ones in stock.  After school, a mad rush to these stores would occur resulting in a winner or falling just short of obtaining yet another one.
    Each child convincingly told their parents that Beanie Babies were going to become collectibles in the future and therefore worth so much more.  Of course, the parents jumped on the bandwagon as well.  My parents would run me through the McDonald's drive-thru so I could see if they had any new mini-Beanie Babies.  I'm sure they had to take me like once a day during this Happy Meal extravaganza.  I still have pictures of me at my birthday surrounded by at least twenty Beanie Babies, gifts from my parents who I am sure frantically shopped to find ones I did not already have.
    In the fourth grade, one of my teachers was exhausted with her students bringing in their Beanie Babies and playing with them that she brought in a box labeled "The Beanie Baby Babysitter Box."  She was elected by far the coolest teacher after this creativity.  Children, including myself, learned how to take care of their toys, seeing that these would be worth something in the future.  The TY tags were left attached and kept intact with plastic covers, and playtime was limited.  Eventually, the Beanie Baby craze ended just as abruptly as it started.  I'm sure some of us 90's kids have already faced the decisions of getting rid of these once collectibles.  Others, like me, probably dread that day when the fate of such animals (stuffed) will be determined.  Until then, I know that they are safe and sound at my parents' home.

The original nine first released in 1993.