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Beanie Babies have been a hot collector’s item since the first time someone threw one up on eBay. Since their debut in 1993, the adorable little stuffed animals have gone on to become incredibly valuable and hard to find. The collector’s market remains active, and prices have continued to rise on some select items.
While there are some that are unattainable due to their scarcity, there have been various finds of valuable Beanie Babies over the years revealing that people had high-priced items without even knowing it. You might want to dig through your attic to see if you have any of the most expensive Beanie Babies ever made.
PEANUT THE ROYAL BLUE ELEPHANT
Peanut The Royal Blue Elephant was one of Ty's very first Beanie Babies. The doll didn't sell very well when it was first released on June 3, 1995, in the royal blue color, so the company tried changing it to a lighter shade. From that point forward, Beanie Babies sold like crazy.
It's easy to find the lighter shade online for just a few bucks, but if you were lucky enough to snatch up one of the originals, it's worth a ton of cash. One recently sold on eBay for a whopping $2,499.95. That auction closed in December 2018 with the following information: 3rd Generation, Style #5062, "German."
PEACE THE BEAR
Peace was an innovative style of Beanie Baby when it was first released. It was the first one to feature an embroidered emblem, which is something that would remain on many other animals over the years. It also came in a tie-dye pattern, which meant that no two bears looked exactly the same.
There were a number of tag variations as well, but if you happen to have any of them, you may be sitting on a gold mine. A mint condition Peace the Bear can sell for as much as $5,000 in an online auction, but they have gone for more than that when the condition was perfect.
SNORT THE RED BULL
The first red bull issued by Ty for their Beanie Baby line was called Tabasco, but due to copyright infringement concerns over the name, a new red bull was issued soon after in 1997. The new bull was simply named Snort, but they looked pretty much the same as Tabasco, which can fetch a few thousand in an auction.
While Tabasco is worth a pretty penny, you can actually sell your Snort the Red Bull for much more. In December 2018, a pristine Snort sold for $6,300 on eBay. They usually sell for that amount, but occasionally, they can sell for a little more.
GOBBLES THE TURKEY
Gobbles the Turkey is one of those Beanie Babies that came in a lot of different variations. Some of them were made with a single or double-layer felt waddle, and there were also variations to the tail feathers, which could be found at different points along the doll's back. Depending on which one you have, and in what condition, he could be worth a lot.
This is one of those Beanie Babies that could either be worth around $6, or it could be worth as much as $6,667 like the one sold on eBay in December 2018. Find the right one with the proper placement and tag errors and you might just have an expensive turkey on your hands.
CLAUDE THE CRAB
Before you go running to eBay thinking your Claude the Crab is worth about as much as a good used car, think again. Claude came in numerous variations since his release in 1997, and thanks to the tie-dye coloring, he was very popular. Not every version is worth a lot of money though with most selling for under $10.
If you have one with a rare manufacturing error, your Claude the Crab might just be the one you really want. If yours has numerous errors, you might be lucky. A Claude with 19 distinct errors ended up selling on eBay for $9,000, but that's the upper limit for this crab. Fewer errors sell for much less but still can fetch a good amount of money.
PATTI THE PLATYPUS
Patti the Platypus was one of the original nine Beanie Babies released in 1993, which means they are pretty rare in good condition. While its name is alliterative and fun to say, she was actually named after Patricia Roche, the girlfriend of Ty Warner, the company founder.
Patti is incredibly hard to find in good condition, which is why you can sell yours for around $9,000. Beware of counterfeiters selling theirs online, and other variations released after the original release date don't sell for nearly as much money so ensure yours is the right Patti before you list her online.
MCDONALD’S INTERNATIONAL BEARS
Believe it or not, McDonald's is the largest distributor of toys in the world. Roughly one-fifth of their sales include a small toy, which is why it makes a lot of sense that the fast food giant got into the Beanie Baby business back in the mid-1990s. Adding Beanie Babies to Happy Meals proved to be one of their most popular lines, and they are worth a lot today.
The bears were scaled down to fit, and while most are worthless today, the International Bears collection is highly collectible. Bears from Canada, Ireland, the United States, and Britain are worth as much as $10,000 a piece!
IGGY THE IGUANA
One of the fun things about collecting Beanie Babies is finding the numerous variations of your favorite little stuffed critter. For Iggy the Iguana, Ty went through a number of changes to modify his look, which makes him highly sought-after depending on what he looks like.
The placement of the tag (hand, spine, or foot), the coloration of the tongue as either dark blue or neon rainbow, and the nature of the tie-dye coloration make for a ton of varieties. Some have sold for around $5,000 while other even rarer Iggys that are missing print inside the tags have sold for as much as $15,000 in online auctions.
VALENTINO THE BEAR
Ask any Beanie Baby collector which is the most valuable bear they wish they had, and they might just say Valentino the Bear. Like many of his brothers and sisters, Valentino came with a ton of errors depending on which market he was created for. Those errors as well as what went into him can make specific versions incredibly valuable.
A Valentino bear with every known error sold on eBay for a whopping $42,299 in January 2019. It had PVC pellets, a ton of typos on the tag, a white star instead of a yellow one, a brown nose instead of black, and much more. Even without those errors, they sell for around $1,000 so it doesn't hurt to have any version of Valentino lying around.
PRINCESS THE BEAR
Following the untimely death of Princess Diana, Ty created a Beanie Baby to help raise money for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The bear was a special edition release, which was immediately a hot commodity on the collectible market. There are some variations, which make this bear insanely high-priced.
If it is full of PVC pellets instead of polyethylene, the value can skyrocket. They are often listed online for as much as $600,000, but they don't tend to sell at that amount. More often than not, they sell for around $10,000. It all depends on timing and what the market demands.