# Beanie Babies

> Collectors paid up to $5,200 for a retired dark-blue Peanut the Elephant.

- Owner: Ty Inc.
- Kind: Product
- Sector: Toys & collectibles
- Seed date: Jan 1994
- Peak proxy date: 1998
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 58 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Scarcity drop, Collectible set, Resale market, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Beanie Babies reached specialty shops, collector websites and online auctions. Retirements raised resale stakes; McDonald’s took miniature versions to a mass audience. The resale bubble deflated around 1999–2000; documentaries and anniversary releases followed.

## Timeline

- Nov 1993 — Ty Inc. (Retail) — Ty sold Brownie and Patti at Gatlinburg and previewed the rest of the Original Nine.
- Jan 1994 — Ty Inc. (Retail) — The Original Nine Beanie Babies went on sale in Chicago specialty shops.
- 1995 — Ty Inc. (Retail) — Ty retired Humphrey the Camel, beginning its retirement strategy.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/beanie-babies

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Beanie Babies.” Case HIS-01215. Spread Score v1.2: 58/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01215