SYSK's 12 Days of Christmas…Toys: Beanie Babies: Reigning Toy Craze Champion | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hello again, guys. Up next on our. playlist is our episode on Beanie. Babies. They may have actually upstaged. Cabbage Patch Kids because the craze for. Beanie Babies stretched way beyond. Christmas. There was a divorce case that. saw the couple having to divide up their. Beanie Babies on the floor of the. courtroom. We talk about that, don't. worry. Anyway, enjoy this episode on. Beanie Babies. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio.

Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here, too. And we're feeling fairly festive. And this is stuff you should know. >> That's right. >> The episode before the Christmas. episode. >> Yeah. which is uh become a uh I guess. tradition to do a classic toy. When did. we start that? >> I'd say more custom than tradition.

>> Yeah. >> All right. >> I'm sorry. Christmas custom. >> I'm feeling contrary. It is definitely a. tradition. >> Yeah, that's cuz you're about to shut it. down for a month, so you don't care. You're burning bridges. >> Exactly. I won't see you until like. 2024. Um. >> Yeah. Like Chuckle Chuck will forget. anything that happens today by then. I'm trying to think of when our first. toy one was. It was a handful of years. ago. I don't remember. But it was. >> Slinky maybe. >> No. No. I mean, we've done toy ones,

just not around Christmas. I'm trying to. think of the first toy. >> Christmy one. I I can't I'm drawing a. blank right now. So, this is like high. quality podcasting we're doing right. now. >> Yeah. >> Well, good pick this year. >> Yeah. Thanks. I don't know what made me. think of Beanie Babies, but I did. And I. think it it turned out to be a good one, too, because it had nothing to do with. Christmas. Really? >> Yeah. >> Christmas pops up at one part, but it's. a toy. And it's a really interesting toy.

because Beanie Babies, for those of you. who don't know, if you were born after. the '9s, um were uh probably well, I'll. just say the Financial Times called it. um potentially the greatest market. bubble of all times. >> Yeah. I mean, that's that's really. saying something because there's been. some market bubbles, but the Beanie Baby. craze of the mid to late 90s. probably topped them all. It was just. that crazy. I mean, we've talked about.

some crazy stuff that people have done. for toys before. People elbowing one. another for a Cabbage Patch Kid. That's. peanuts compared to what people did for. Beanie Babies. >> Yeah. Yeah, I didn't know anything about. this either because that was sort of uh. the end of college and then my New York, New Jersey years and I just I knew that. Beanie Babies were a thing, but I was. not participating. uh in the economy in that way at that. point. >> So, you didn't you didn't own a single. one? >> No, of course not. >> I didn't either. No, I totally didn't.

But the thing is is we were in the. minority in America. something like 62. or 63%. owned at least one Beanie Baby at the. height of this this bubble. Think about. that. >> Yeah, that that honestly was one of the. most shocking stats in this whole thing. >> Yeah, that's like 6.3 people out of. every 10 people. >> Yeah, that's amazing when you're talking. about a little kids toy. >> Yeah. Well, that was the thing. It. wasn't kids that fueled this craze. it.

was almost exclusively adults because. the reason a market bubble grew is. because there became this idea that. Beanie Babies were um valuable that they. had an inherent value greater than the. the the face value that you would pay. for them at the retail store. >> Yeah. Which was true for a while. >> Yeah, it was. It was. We'll get into all. that. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? >> All right. Uh, well, you can't talk. Beanie Babies without talking about the. gentleman who started it all. Uh, I do.

remember seeing the letters Ty. >> Mhm. >> on Beanie Baby packaging. So, I wasn't. completely head in the sand. >> Sure. >> Uh, but I did not know that Ty was the. guy's name. It was Ty Warner who was. born in the mid 1940s in Lraange, uh, Chicago suburb, Lraange, Illinois. and. he had a pretty not great childhood it. seems like. Is that fair to say? >> Yeah, from from everything I've heard. >> Yeah. Had a had a mother who suffered.

from mental illness which was not. treated which is even worse. Uh had a. didn't have a great relationship with. his dad. >> Uh his parents got divorced when he was. in his 30s but he went to college at. Kalamazoo. uh college in Michigan where he learned. his love of treading the boards. >> Uh yeah he Yeah. Cal theater, >> right? Exactly. But he did he got into. acting and it kind of either he was. already like a theater kid at heart or. it turned him into a theater kid because.

he ended up taking that um. that way of living or that way of. looking at the world or being in the. world with him essentially for the rest. of his life. >> Yeah, he seemed fairly flamboyant. >> He was flamboyant. There's a really. offsighted story about him showing up uh. when he became a salesman uh for the toy. company that his father worked for. Uh. he would show up to these sales calls in. a a Rolls-Royce.

>> wearing a floorlength fur coat and a. cane and a hat. >> Amazing. >> Essentially like Kramer when he. accidentally is wearing the Technicolor. Dream coat and ends up with that big. Jiraquai hat and a cane. >> Yeah. That's essentially what Tai Warner. showed up to these these sales meetings. looking like in the early 60s. And. apparently it worked because he said. that um his premise was if he showed up. to a sales meeting looking like that, >> people would say, "I want to see what's. in that guy's briefcase.".

>> Yeah. Or do you? >> Yeah. It depends on the kind of party. you're in for. >> Uh yeah, he was a really good. salesperson apparently. Um he bought a. lot of himself though and in 1980 he. worked for this company I guess what for. like 18 years because he got the job in. 1962 so that's a nice long run but uh. his at least the way his former boss. told it guy named Harold uh Nazamian who. was the CEO basically accused him of um.

moonlighting on the company and using. their you know sales list and his. personal personal relationships with. as a salesperson to sell his own stuff. while he was working, >> right? >> Uh as a sales manager for this company. and so he got fired. >> Yeah. On those sales calls, he would be. like, "Yeah, I've got these great uh DIM. products, but also I want to show you. these, too." So, he was not only using. company contacts, he was using company. time, too. It's about as bad a thing you.

can do as a as a salesman, essentially. >> Yeah. And it wasn't long after that that. the Beanie Baby came along. >> No. Um that was so it was 1980 when he. lost the job. He apparently moved to. Rome. He went to go visit some friends. and ended up living there for a few. years. And um when he came back he was. inspired to to keep um going in the toy. industry. I guess it kind of got under. his skin. And he'd seen some toy cats. there in Rome, he said. and he was.

inspired to create not beanie babies at. first, but his first plush toys, which. was a line of cats laying down. Um, pretty fluffy. They looked they were. fully stuffed, which is a big difference. between them and Beanie Babies. And then. for every cat, um, there was a Himalayan. version of it. Uh, and they were pretty. cute little cats. But the thing that he. did that I think really kind of helped. sell these things because they were like. a modest success. I've seen it described. as um that he gave them names. They were.

indivi they weren't just some stuffed. cat. This was Smokey. This was Peaches. Like these these cats were individuals. They they had an identity and that made. them that much more lovable. >> Yeah. And they were larger. They were. about 17 in. They uh larger than Beanie. Babies would be. Uh they would cost more. than Beanie Babies at 20 bucks. And like. you said, they were stuffed, but not. stuffed with the uh, you know, kind of. the genius of the I don't know about. genius. That's probably stretching that. word. >> Sure.

>> Let's just say the fairly smart thing. that he did with Beanie Babies. Uh, was. he stuffed them with with beads like a. like a what's it called? PVC. Like a. bean bag chair. >> Yeah, pretty much. >> Uh, and didn't over stuff it so you. could move them around and pose them and. they could, you know, droop over your. shoulder and stuff like that. Not like a. regular sort of fully stuffed um. whatever they stuff those things with. Whatever weird uh chemical um stuffing. >> Oh, like the little styrofoam pellets or.

the. >> I don't know what's in those things. >> Styrofoam fiber. That's kind of like a. Yeah. fibers. >> Yeah. I mean, those are the those were. the cheapest ones that you would get as. like a prize at an amusement park. >> Yes. >> Literal styrofoam uh balls, >> right? And that was a big that was a big. deal about his beanie babies because. they were high quality. They were very. wellmade. Um from the outset he was all. up the bottom of the South Korean. manufacturers he had partnered with to.

make these things. He was really. involved in the design and manufacturing. process. So these were really. highquality dolls. But he made a very. conscious decision to sell Beanie Babies. at five bucks a pop, which he said that. that was the he he kids could typically. buy that with their allowance money. because as we'll forget multiple times. throughout this episode, these were. originally meant for kids to buy. The. Beanie Babies were. So that was a really. big deal because he came out he was one.

of the first people to come out with a. high quality toy at a price point of. something you would get at like the. county fair or something as a prize, but. instead it was a good good quality uh. plush toy. >> Yeah, exactly. And so this was 1993 for. the actual launch of the Beanie Baby uh. which launched with Brownie the Bear. >> Yep. >> And Pinchers the lobster. And like a. cabbage patch kit, it came with a date. of birth. He he used the name like he, you know, originally did with those uh.

fully stuffed cats or kitties. I guess. fully stuffed cat sounds gross. >> It's like a turducken. >> Including the date of birth. And then. also another key was this little short. poem and their little heart-shaped tag. turned out to be a bit of marketing. genius. It was just just an extra little. something to make it different to appeal. to a kid. Uh because you got to even if. it ended up being a thing that adults. tried to collect because uh you know. they thought it was valuable, it never. would have gotten there if he hadn't. have made a toy that kids really love to.

begin with, >> right? Um also, I mean, he wasn't the. first to do that. This was a good 10. years after the Cabbage Patch Kids and. their adoption papers and all that. stuff, but it's still it is a good. marketing technique for sure, and it did. work. But the thing that made Beanie. Babies really kind of take off was. multiffold. Part of it was his marketing. scheme. Um, he had a really brilliant. idea, which was only certain kinds of. stores could carry Beanie Babies. And.

you actually had to be a licensed Beanie. Baby retailer to sell Beanie Babies. legally or legitimately. And those. stores were like Hallmark stores, locallyowned gift stores, um, hospital. gift shops, like small stores. So that. right off the bat canceled any chance of. anyone I saw it described as going into. like a big box store like a a Walmart or. something and seeing a bargain bin of. Beanie Babies just lumped together for.

50% off. >> So the fact that that didn't that that. possibility didn't exist, someone. couldn't see that. >> automatically made it um they were just. higher status than they otherwise would. have been because he he made enough to. sell to huge retailers like that. He's. he decided deliberately not to do that. for that reason. >> Yeah. Super smart. I mean, if you can. create a a scarcity and the illusion. that uh what you're pedalling is like uh. limited and collectible,

>> Yeah. >> then you're going to do pretty well. Uh. and that's what he did. But not only by. um limiting the amount of stores that. could be sold in, but he also limited. the number of toys that these stores. could even buy. like that Hallmark store. once they you know really took off. couldn't be like hey we're going to. dedicate half our store to these things. now because they're selling like hot. cakes right. >> so he would dole them out in limited. numbers to the stores and uh each of. those stores only had certain products. like you know you might have spot the.

dog and squealer the pig at one store or. chocolate the moose and flash the. dolphin at another. >> and that creates a situation then where. kids are like oh I got to You know, like. completing the collection is a classic. kids toy scam. >> For sure. Yeah. Collect all the kids to. buy all the things. >> Exactly. And so you would have to go. around town to multiple stores in your. town to to get the ones that were. available. And because they were allowed.

to only buy limited amounts, frequently. those things were sold out. So, the idea. that these things were scarce. collector's items was manufactured out. of the gate by Ty Warner and his. marketing um I almost said scam, but. scheme I think is a better way to put. it. >> Yeah. The other big thing is that this. coincided with the rise of the internet. Um there's a great uh scene in the movie. uh there's a movie that's out now uh I.

think an Apple original called the. Beanie Bubble. Yeah, I haven't seen it. Did you watch it? >> No, the reviews aren't kind. Um, I may. watch it because I love Zach. Gallifanakis, >> who plays Ty Warner and Elizabeth. Elizabeth Banks is in the movie as a. >> sort of a um thinly veiled version of. his former. >> uh business partner and and romantic. partner, I think. Patricia Roach. Uh, but in the movie in the trailer I saw. today, Zach uh said because you know.

they started a website and they were, you know, an early website in those. years. Yeah, >> Zack Gallifan or I guess Time Warner. says uh we broke the internet thing, >> which I thought was a pretty good line. because the internet was so new everyone. was like I guess you know this is a. thing. >> Yeah. Apparently, so he had an employee. named Lena Trevetti and she was a coder. and this is like 199394. and she convinced Ty Warner to create a. Beanie Babies website because they were. getting calls and ma and letters and. stuff like that from people saying like.

this is my checklist. Is this accurate? am I missing any? And they thought, well, let's just put like a central. place where all of the Beanie Babies can. be listed and it can be a place where. everybody who likes Beanie Babies can. come and like learn and and get excited. about Beanie Babies and buy Beanie. Babies cuz starting in 1995, they. started selling Beanie Babies on this. website and that was the same year that. Amazon and eBay launched. So, they were. one of the first ecommerce sites on the. internet, too.

>> Yeah. Which is amazing. Uh, the movie. has a character named Maya who was again. a thinly veiled version of Lena. Trevetti, which I'm curious why they. didn't just use their real names. >> They they touted this as loosely based. on on um uh Zack Besonette's book. Um, and that they that some of it was. fictitious, I think, to keep from. getting sued. I get the impression that. Kai Warner is not shy about suing. people. Well, which is interesting.

because he played Tai Warner in the. movie. Like that's the only name that. wasn't changed. >> Yeah. I don't I don't know why they did. it, but they definitely did it. >> Well, judging from the trailer, it seems. that both the Banks character and the. Maya character are uh kind of one of the. threads of the movies as it was. seemingly in real life was that there. were at least a couple of women in the. organization that had a lot to do with. their growth. And the sort of story is. that he never gave them enough credit. And that seems to play out in the movie.

>> Oh yeah. He like if you read any like um. corporate writeups like PE like press. releases or the very rare interviews. he's given like it sounds like the whole. thing was just him. Just him. >> Yeah. >> And in part it was largely him because. he owned the company from the outset. Always has. He's never sh he's never. sold one share. He didn't take it. public. It's been a privately owned. company by him. 100% as far as I know um. from the outset. So he definitely you.

know really was the driving force in. this but he had help that is largely. unagnowledged publicly that it's a good. thing that Zach Besonette came along and. and also the people who made that the. movie based on Zach Besonette's book to. kind of. >> shine a spotlight on the other people. particularly women who helped him. >> Yeah, Zach and Zach. >> That's right. the two Zachs on the Zack. attack against Taiwan. >> That's right. Uh the other thing that he. did to sort of, you know, drive this um.

I mean, I guess we can call it a false. scarcity is he had he was very secret. about the company. Uh he didn't want. people outside the company knowing like. when they were going to launch a new. kind of toy, how many they were making, right? >> Um in 1995, he started retiring models. That was huge. and then adding other. ones and he would just all of a sudden. drop like you know this uh Marty moose. what I call him something the moose. >> chocolate moose. >> chocolate moose is gone let's say and.

and if there are beanie baby people out. there like no chocolate moose never left. I'm just using that as an example. >> that's a good idea. >> but they would just announce that on the. website and all of a sudden people are. like oh my god they've retired the moose. and you know people are driving around. and trying to find them in those stores. before they're all gone. Yeah, that was. a that was a deliberate thing to do as. well to create the further scarcity like. legitimate scarcity. But apparently he. fell into that backwards or he stumbled. into it because we said that he was.

really involved in the design after. these things would launch. He would like. see one and be like that's too orange. I. want it more red. And now all of a. sudden I saw Pinchy the the lobster. would be a much deeper red. Well, they'd. stop producing the orang-ish red one and. these Beanie Baby collectors would go. bonkers trying to find the other one. He. started to notice that and um so he. created real scarcity by deliberately. retiring some just out of the blue. People would go scramble to find them.

and then retailers most importantly. would start stockpiling everything that. he had um that that they could sell of. say the orange pinchy. >> Yeah. He was also smart enough to um to. realize that the Cabbage Patch Kids, like when they when that bubble burst, it just kind of all went away. And so he. would do things like, "Hey, Hallmark, if. you want to order these Beanie Babies, you got to also order some of this other. stuff that I'm selling. It's not as. nearly as popular." But he he tried to.

increase revenue sort of across the. company, so he wasn't all in on the. Beanie Baby, >> right? Um, I say we take a break and. come back and talk about how McDonald's. factors into this. What do you think? >> Mc What? >> Yeah. >> Lately, I've been learning some stuff. about insomnia or aluminia. How about the one on borderline. disorder? Better yet, reporter. Heard. that one before, but it was so nice. I.

learned it twice. Everybody listen up. Oh, it's Charles. It's stop. now. Stop with. Okay, Chuck. So, we said McDonald's.

factors into this. Like any great. American economic bubble story, McDonald's is going to play some role in. it whatsoever somehow, some way. And um. McDonald's is the one that basically. said if you are just kind of out there. on the margins and don't really know. what's going on in this Beanie Baby. collector world growing under your very. nose, this McDonald's Happy Meal. promotion is going to just blow the. doors off of any illusions that Beanie. Babies are not a cultural force to be.

reckoned with. >> Yeah. over a couple of years. I think. they had two versions in 97 and 98 where. they there were hundreds of millions of. teeny babies. These were even smaller. obviously because it was, you know, to. fit into a happy meal. >> Yeah, teeny beanies. >> Uh yeah, what' I say? Teeny babies. >> It works too. >> I like teeny babies. >> I like teeny babies, too. >> Teeny beanies. Uh, and you know, even if. your thing is already popular, all of a. sudden, if hundreds of millions of these.

things are going out in Happy Meals. >> and you know, the most popular, you. know, fast food restaurant chain in the. world, >> then it's going to just skyrocket this. thing even further. And that's exactly. what it did. >> Yeah. the the 1998 one, the second one. that they did where you could get teeny. beanies in a Happy Meal. Uh the first. weekend of that promotion, McDonald's saw the the highest increase. in sales in its corporate history. It. had never sold more in any weekend in. the history of McDonald's than it did.

for at the beginning of that second. Beanie Babies promotion. And people were. ordering as many Happy Meals as they. were allowed to order and telling the. McDonald's workers, "Just keep the food. I just want the Beanie Babies. >> McDonald's had to set up rules like. individual franchises had their own. rules. It was really patchwork where. >> um you could say get five happy meals. per order and or per visit and you had. to have a 2hour waiting period in. between visits. So people would like. just go from McDonald's to McDonald's.

and then just go on like a circuit to. get as many of the Beanie Babies as they. possibly could. Um people were tackling. like delivery people showing up with the. boxes of the new Beanie Babies. It was. nuts what people did just for the. McDonald's version of the the Beanie. Babies. >> Yeah, that McDonald's record that even. counts passing the great McRib feast of. 92, the previous record holder. >> The McRib's back right now. I saw I've. been meaning to go get one.

>> Talk about false scarcity. >> Yeah, same thing. For sure. I mean. >> I mean they could put that on their menu. at any time, right? So. >> totally. For sure. You know that the fat. cats at McDonald's corporate are eating. McRibs every day of the year. >> Yeah. And the employee lounge is just stocked. with them, >> right? But all this that's going on, Chuck, is is uh underscores a larger. cultural thing, and that is that people. are buying these Beanie Babies not just. because they think they're the cutest. thing on two legs, but because it has.

become um largely widely accepted that. they are a sound investment um if you. want to diversify your portfolio or more. often was the case, make your entire. portfolio just beanie babies. >> Yeah. uh you know this was by the like. you said the Cabbage Patch Kids had. already come and gone. Everyone has. already known at this point about the. you know Star Wars collectibles and. baseball cards and trading cards. So the. idea I think there are certain people.

out there after all those things. happened. >> that are always sort of looking. >> for that next thing as a you know sort. of alternative investment. uh if I can, you know, buy 50 Beanie Babies and put. them in a box and just sit on them and. that'll put my kids through college one. day. Yeah. >> Uh and that's, you know, a lot of people. did stuff like that. I think you. mentioned eBay had launched uh very soon. afterward. They launched in '95 and in. 1997, this is the other most staggering. stat of uh the show to me. I know.

>> 6% of all of eBay was Beanie Baby sales. >> Yeah. Isn't that nuts? So, the secondary. market really did grow up and there. really was like a a huge market for. Beanie Babies that say had been retired. and one that you had bought for $5 and. kept in the package you could sell for. hundreds of dollars on eBay legitimately. in the in the mid to late 90s. >> Yeah. >> So, it's this really was happening like.

it it wasn't like the everybody was just. hoping beyond hope that their Beanie. Babies were going to increase in value. they were increasing value before their. very eyes. So, people who weren't sucked. into it were like, "This is the dumbest. thing I've ever seen." And the if. there's ever been an economic bubble, this is it. Um, and yet people were. buying these things for like long-term. investing. They were buying them, hanging on to them for 20 years or 30. years from now. the people who were. actually trading.

in the moment are the ones who might. have made money off of it, but that's. pretty much the only people who did. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh, it also created a. sort of an ind industry around it. Uh, you found some examples of people that. made a lot of money just in the. ancillary beanie baby market by doing. things like writing books about stuff. Uh, this woman Peggy Gallagher, she was. a parillegal. She made 200 grand on a. book that she self-published called The. Beanie Baby Phenomenon and then started.

making, I imagine, a pretty good deal of. money as an official, well, not. official, but as just an experienced. Beanie authenticator. >> Uh, another woman named Mary Beth. Soalooki. Uh, she was a IBM uh, systems. engineer, and she just made sort of the. the go-to list, like the the Bible. basically of uh, Beanie Baby pricing. and made a lot of money off that and. also started putting out a magazine. >> Yeah. >> Like a was it a monthly? >> Uh yes. It was based around the price.

list. Like did you ever collect or read. Beckett's monthly for baseball cards? It's just a big price. >> No, but I knew about it. >> Okay. It was basically that but for for. Beanie Babies. It was called Mary Beth's. Bean Bag World. They sold 650,000. copies a month at its peak. >> for six bucks a pop. So that's almost $3. million a run per issue. >> Yeah. >> For Beanie Baby's price guides, right? But she really went to town with it. It. wasn't it wasn't, you know, just based. on nothing. They she and her her um.

assistants like called dealers, Beanie. Baby dealers to find out what their. prices were, what was selling really. fast. >> What you got? What you got? >> They were right Right. They were. following eBay prices. Like they were It. was a legitimate um Olivia put it was. the gold standard price list for a. reason. Yeah. you know. So, um, and Mary. So, Mary Beth Soilooki is, um, another. woman who is, uh, often overlooked for. the contribution she made to the Beanie. Baby Mania because in addition to. creating the gold standard price list,

she was one of the original, um, self-described. uh, Chicago suburban soccer moms who. started trading Beanie Babies in the. first place. And apparently their fervor. in trading Beanie Babies in suburban. Chicago actually kicked off the national. trend of collecting and trading Beanie. Babies. And and they essentially created. the secondary market. There's a HBO. documentary a couple years ago, I think. called Beanie Beanie Mania, that really. does a good job of shining a light on on.

them and their role and contribution to. the whole thing, too. >> So, we've had a documentary, now a. feature film. >> Yes. >> Broadway. Broadway's next and then James Mishner. is coming back to life to write an epic. novel about it. >> That'd be pretty amazing. Uh speaking of. amazing, there are also some amazing. stories about uh just how kind of crazy. things got uh in in many different ways. Um, one of which is a 1999 divorce case.

in Las Vegas where this couple was was. divorcing and they had a lot of combined. assets in the form of Beanie Babies. >> that they thought, you know, were worth. a lot and they may have been worth a lot. of money, their collection. >> Uh, and they there's a very great. picture if you look it up on the. internet. just type in, you know, like. Vegas Beanie Baby Divorced couple. >> And they brought all these Beanie Babies. in on the floor and the judge said like. like choosing a team at recess, you just.

go one at a time and each of you pick. out a Beanie Baby that you're going to. keep for yourself. And it's just a very. kind of funny looking photo. >> It is. And until you read like some of. the quotes from the woman involved in. the divorce case, the wife who was like. this, it was really, you know, demoralizing. and um and degrading to. have to be forced to do that. She was. really upset that the judge made her and. her ex-husband do that. But it it it. Yeah, she was she was not happy about it.

at all. Um but it was like the whole. thing was worth five grand, I think they. said. But that was five grand at the. time. And people were speculating on. Beanie Babies. So that thing could have. been worth a million dollars, that pile. of Beanie Babies, which is why they went. to the trouble of selecting them like. that one at a time. >> I don't know. I mean, I guess everyone's. entitled to their own opinion. It's her. life. But degrading, >> I I don't think she used the word. degrading, but it was it was along those. lines. I'm paraphrasing. >> Okay. I would have felt more silly.

Unless he like tied them both up and. made them do it with their mouth or. something, >> right? >> That's degrading. >> Yeah. No, the if when they picked a. Beanie Baby, they had to pick it up with. their chin and hand it to their ex. >> to to say whether it was okay if they. kept it or not, and then they had to. hand it back all without using their. hands. >> Right. that uh what was the thing you. would do where you would pass a. something with your neck? >> That's what I'm talking about. >> Oh, okay. >> They they did that but with the Beanie. Babies they selected. >> Okay. What did people used to pass. though? What was. >> like a orange I think is what it was.

>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. >> I can't remember what. >> when you're a kid. It's I think the. whole point of that game was like look. how close we are. >> Exactly. >> Right. >> It was like um spin the bottle but with. an orange and next chance. >> No bottle. >> Right. Uh there was a guy in California named. Chris Robinson senior. I don't think any. relation to the the other Chris. Robinson. >> And he bought 20,000 Beanie Babies. Uh. not $20,000 worth, 20,000 actual Beanie.

Babies, uh spending a hundred grand or. so. And he was one of those guys that. was like, "This is going to put my five. kids through college one day.". >> And one of his kids, uh Chris Jr. of the. Black Crows, I guess, made a documentary. called Bankrupt by Beanies about like I. guess how dumb he thought his dad was. for spending that much money like. emptying their bank account cuz he. thought it was a good investment. >> Yeah, it's like it's a very short. documentary. It's like 8 to 12 minutes. I can't remember which one. And it's. mostly it's just him interviewing his.

family members about this period in. their family's history. And. >> that dumb. Yeah, >> it was like the dad is definitely like, you know, I it was not a good idea, but. um he's still holding out hope that, you. know, at some point sometime down the. road, oh yeah, they still have them like. they're the background in all of the the. um the shots like the interviews. >> Uh it's pretty it's cute. It's not like, you know, condemnation or anything like. that, but it's just it's it's worth the.

8 to 12 minutes that you'll spend. watching it, I think. All right, I'll. have to go check that out. >> The dads like this this documentary is. very degrading, >> right? >> I'm paraphrasing. >> Uh there were a lot of cases uh you. know, there were people indicted in. court for counterfeiting these things. Um you know, POS that were never. delivered and and distributors kept the. money. Uh the craze was so bad there was. actual crime like people breaking in and. stealing Beanie Babies. Uh this one case.

of a 77y old guy in Chicago named Ben. Perry uh was charged with stealing close. to 1300 Beanie Babies. Uh there was a PI. that found him uh a Thai Incorporated. private eye. In fact, they found him. moving stuff out of a storage locker, moving these toys in and out. And I'm. not sure like he said that they weren't. stolen yet he gave them up and donated. them uh to a charity. Like that seems. very fishy to me. He apparently bought. them for dirt cheap at a produce market,

like a farmers market, and he swore he. didn't know that they were stolen, even. though they were in boxes labeled Tai, like they were shipping boxes stolen out. of the warehouse. But he got off. finally, but it became clear to him that. he he didn't steal them, but that they. were stolen, so he just, you know, donated them. >> so he didn't get in trouble. No, but. apparently I he loved all of the. limelight that was cast on him by the. press during this this um the time that.

he was in court as the Beanie Baby. Bandit. He apparently ate it up. So, he. got something. >> 77. He's like, I'm going out in style. >> Exactly. Uh there was another one. A. murder is frequently linked to Beanie. Babies, even though that's kind of a. stretch if you start to scratch beneath. the surface. But um a man named Jeffrey. White murdered uh another man, Harry. Simmons, in West Virginia. Um supposedly. over a dispute over who owned some. Beanie Babies. Although really what.

happened was Harry Simmons and Jeffrey. White used to work together and I think. Jeffrey White was stealing or loafing or. something like that. And Harry Simmons. got him fired. So Jeffrey White, who had. borrowed Beanie Babies from him and. hadn't given them back, killed Harry. Simmons. We understand you've been loafing. >> Exactly. Is that true? >> Uh yeah. Is that a crime? >> If you got time to lean, you got time to. clean, son. >> Oh, man. Uh should we take a break on. that note? >> Yeah, sure.

>> All right, we'll be right back and wrap. up the story of the Beanie Baby. >> Lately, I've been learning some stuff. about insomnia or aluminia. How about the one on borderline. disorder? Better yet, reporter. Heard. that one before, but it was so nice. I. learned it twice. Everybody listen up. Oh, it's Charles and Joshua.

It's stop. now. Learning stuff is fun with shark. >> All right. Uh we call this a bubble uh. like any sort of collectible or real. estate bubble or financial bubble. because they eventually burst.

>> Uh and the the beanie baby really. followed the the I was about to say rise. and fall the internet. The internet. clearly clearly never fell survived. >> But the big dot boom was what what. helped the Beanie Baby along and also. helped kill it a little bit. Uh although. you know Beanie Babies were bound to um. I think they were bound to go away one. way or another anytime it's something. it's something like this. >> Uh uh August 1999 the website said or.

stop we're stopping the operation. We're. not going to make any more of these at. this point 325 different Beanie Babies. at the end of the year. Uh some people. thought no this is we know that tie guy. by now. This just a stunt. >> to get people to buy more of his stuff. Uh but it, you know, it kind of worked. because enthusiasts and collectors were. like, "All right, this is our last. chance to go and get what's out there to. complete to complete our collections, >> right?" Um I didn't read the book, Zach. Beset's book, but I read a a review of.

it that they they mentioned the way that. he puts it. This was this was in fact. 100% a stunt to kind of juice the the. beanie the be the beanie baby market. again. >> Yeah. and it did work, but in the short. term. And he basically says Tai Warner. killed his his creation by by carrying. out this stunt because um on Christmas. Eve, here's where Christmas pops up. As. we said at the beginning, >> Christmas Eve 1999, right before the.

turn of the millennium, >> or no, I guess that was a year later. Um. he said, Ty Ty Warner announced on the. website, I changed my mind. I'll leave. it up to you guys to vote whether we. should keep making Beanie Babies or not. And in his credit, you had to you had to. pay 50 cents to vote, but each 50 cent. um vote went to the uh Elizabeth Glazer. Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation. So, that was something. But 91% of people. said, "Yes, we want to keep Beanie.

Babies going.". >> Of course he did. >> Yeah. And the company said, "Oh, well. that's great. We just so happen to have. a whole new line of them ready to go. So, here you go everybody. Beanie Babies. for all. And it was met with some um um. craziness, but but nothing like it used. to be. And very shortly after that, the. whole thing started to fizzle out rather. quickly. >> Yeah, it seemed like the sort of the. last harrah. Uh I don't know if Ty. Warner like saw the writing on the wall. and wanted one more sort of big sales.

crunch. Uh, I mean, if that's how we. planned it, then that was pretty smart. because that's, you know, that's what. happened. They had a huge sales jump. Uh, even though brief, they sold about. 800 million in 2000. I mean, that's 7. years later. I think Beanie Babies. lasted a lot longer than I would have. expected them to. It It seems to me like. it would have been like a two-year flash. in the pan, but they were around for a. while. Yeah, I I saw that they were. still going until about 2002. So that's.

yeah, that's a good long almost a decade. of a of a craze of a bubble. >> Um and but but at the end of it all, people started to realize like, oh wait. a minute, everybody has these things. This this clubby bear that I I had to. pay for the privilege of buying to be. part of the club. Um everybody has that. or everyone has the Princess Dye um. Beanie Baby Bear, the special limited. edition um Beanie Baby they released in.

honor of Princess Dye after she died. They made it sound like this was like. the scarcest Beanie Baby yet. There were. there's like a hundred million of them. out there. So, people started to realize. like these things aren't aren't scarce. at all. There's a glut of them and these. thousands and thousands of dollars worth. of Beanie Babies that I have set aside. um are are worthless. Um, and and that. was a huge blow to a lot of people. At. the same time, I think it was also. freeing because you it's you'll just. come across stories of people who.

basically spent all of their free time. tracking down Beanie Babies. It was an. obsession that they couldn't quit. And. so they were they were out a bunch of. money and time and wasted years, but. they were free finally when the market. finally crashed. >> Yeah. It's like uh Bitcoin. >> I've seen it. I've seen it very um. closely compared to Bitcoin in at least. one article. >> Yeah. I mean, I I know people who are. sort of obsessively hours and hours a.

day trading uh cryptocurrency. >> Mhm. >> And it's it seems exhausting to me. >> And it's the same thing. If you ever see. a bubble coming along, that's not a. long-term thing. If something suddenly. just jumps in value and it's shocking. and people are writing like crazy. articles about it, buy it and then sell. it during that. Don't hang on to it long. term. Same thing with Bitcoin. Like a. lot of people made a lot of money by. buying Bitcoin cheap and then selling it. at its peak. It's people who hung on to.

it as a long-term investment that are. now like I lost my shirt, you know? >> Yeah. >> So, it's the same thing with beanie. It's the same thing with any economic. bubble. You have to know when to get out. at just the right time. Or you can sit. on the sidelines and be like, "You guys. are chumps, >> right?" Uh well, who certainly wasn't a. chump was uh was Tai because he and I. feel like I can just call him Tai. because that was so his brand Ty. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Uh no one knows exactly what kind of. dough he made on these because uh like.

you said earlier, he never, you know, became a uh he never launched an IPO and. didn't have to disclose stuff publicly. But he uh is and was a man with with. some ego because uh in 1998 there were. some questions about you know Beanie. Babies. Did they really sell as much? Was it the top toy seller in the world? And he himself took out a full page Wall. Street Journal ad saying that he made. $700 million in profits in 1997 alone,

which is I don't know if that number is. true, but if it's 700 million just in. profits in one year, then that's. remarkable. that that would have made. Thai Inc. more profitable than Hasbro. and Mattel together that year. >> This is just from everything they sold. >> Exactly. Just in profits, right? That's. what um that taking out that ad in Wall. Street Journal is what you call today a. flex. >> Flex. >> Yeah. But I mean, he is still a legit. billionaire. Um it's sort of gone up and.

down according to Forbes as far as his. net worth goes. uh 2002 supposedly at 6 billion, 2009. down to 3.2. 2023 Forb says he's worth. about 5.7. Uh but it's you know he still has that. company but he also diversified got into. real estate uh notably uh as a hotelier. uh and he owns the I think still closed. Four Seasons Hotel uh New York. >> Still closed. What's it closed for?

>> Uh it depends on who you ask. I think he. claimed it was renovations, but other. people said it was a dispute with the. the Four Seasons brand, >> but I I think it's supposed to reopen in. uh sometime next year. >> Yeah, I saw he had a dispute with the. Four Seasons brand over upkeep fees, like what he basically needed to spend. to keep the thing up to Four Seasons. standards. Yeah, >> I also saw that um that was the first. hotel to open to first responders and. doctors and nurses um who were working.

on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. so that they they had a place to stay. They wouldn't have to go home and infect. their families, which I thought was. pretty cool. >> Yeah. I mean, I guess we can talk about. that a little bit in a broader sense. because um Warner is someone who like. has has been notably charitable as far. as like uh. >> front-facing sort of uh putting stuff. out there kind of stuff like the. Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS. Foundation. >> uh when he donated, you know, the 50.

cents for those votes and stuff like. that because he got in trouble at one. point for um for tax. Well, not tax. fraud, but what he call tax evasion. And. as part of his uh sentence, uh one of. which was a couple years probation, 500. hours of community service, and $100,000. fine on the criminal side. He paid uh. over $53 million in civil penalties. Um. but part of the argument was like, hey, you know, as far as this defense goes, like this guy's really charitable. He's.

donated millions of dollars to the. Children's Hunger Fund and the Andre. Agassy Foundation and like I said, a lot. of really public facing like uh large. donations, but prosecutors are like. that's a pittance of what this guy's. worth, >> right? >> And just because he gives a little bit. of money and makes a big deal about it. doesn't mean he didn't break the law. >> Yeah. The judge in the case though was. like yeah, he did. But again, I'm pretty. impressed with his charitable work. So, he got off easy. He could have gone to. prison for four years. Instead, he got.

off with a $100,000 fine, 500 hours of. community service, and two years. probation. Um, and it was for just the. dumbest thing. He had a a a Swiss bank. account that no one knew about but him. Um, that had like a hundred million. dollars in it. This guy was a. billionaire three times over at his. poorest point. There there's just no. reason to have done that. And he did and. he got caught doing it. And so he he. called it the greatest mistake of his. life. besides.

>> besides that pump and dump scheme at the. turn of the millennium. >> So they kept making stuff uh stuffies in. fact um as a company in 2004 they. started licensing deals or or getting. involved with you know licensing other. people's stuff like Garfield and some. Disney stuff. >> Uh there was something called Beanie. Boos that came out in 2009. >> Those were kind of big. >> that were. >> Yeah, they they did okay. I mean, nothing obviously went like the Beanie. Baby, but nothing ever has probably.

>> Sure. >> But he still is out there making money, selling stuff, and he's doesn't seem to. be um slowing down. I think how old is. he now? 7 what? >> Three, I think. >> 79 years old. >> 79. That was pretty close. Give or take. six years. >> Yeah. Uh but he's still trying to market. um himself and his toy company. I I. think it was a little dismissive of the. movie. Like everybody who's ever had a. movie made about themselves, they always. say like, "Yeah, 10% of that thing is. true." But I think they also secretly.

kind of like that they've made a movie. about them, you know? >> Sure. >> That kind of thing, >> right? For sure. There's that also that. secondary market, Chuck, is still. around. And people are trading on that. that myth that some people still have. that Beanie Babies are really valuable. And so if you go on to eBay and start. searching Beanie Babies, you'll find. some for like a dollar, some I think for. less than a dollar, and then you can. turn around and find the exact same ones. for sale for $25,000 or $60,000 or.

something like that. And I was reading a. I think tycollector.com. article where they were basically saying. like we're pretty sure this is either. money laundering that's going on or it's. some sort of scam where these people are. trying to beef up like the the um market. value of these things or the secondary. market um artificially or it's just a. straightup scam where like you you pay. them or they buy from you and say oh I. overpaid pay me back in a gift card.

which is another thing in addition to. selling at the height of a bubble. Never. do business with somebody who demands to. be paid in gift cards. Something fishy. is going on right there. That's my other. word of advice around this Christmas. time. >> Yeah. This is not like a babysitter or. something. >> Yeah. Even still, I'd be like, "What's. your what's your angle, babysitter?". Uh the one thing that cracked me up. though was that uh when the movie came. out and he kind of which was just. recently I think this summer um or last.

summer or whatever he uh said you know I. really wanted I would have preferred. somebody like Warren Batty or Daniel T. Lewis to have played me. >> Yeah. >> I'm like when this was going on he was. in his 40s. Warren Batty is 89 years. old. >> Yeah. He's aged. >> Daniel D Lewis is 66. They're not even. close in age. Uh he's 26. 23 years. younger than Warren Batty. Like this. guy's all over the place. >> Well, his thing with Daniel D. Lewis is. that he really did beat somebody to. death with a bowling pin once. So, he. thought Daniel Day Lewis could really.

bring that to life on screen like he did. in There Will Be Blood. >> Oh boy. >> You got anything else? >> I got nothing else. >> Have you forgotten all the mean things. I've said to you this episode? >> I don't even know what you're talking. about. >> Great. Well, since Chuck doesn't know. what I'm talking about, everybody, that. means that it's time for listener mail. uh you know, we're going to forego. listener mail this week. It's late in. the year and we would just like to uh. remind everybody, we're going to say our. official Christmas greetings on our. Christmas episode, but.

>> uh we've got some great live shows. coming up. >> next year. We're doing our Pacific. Northwest swing and as we do every year. in se almost every year in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco at. Sketchfest. >> and uh we went to some bigger theaters. this time in Seattle especially. So, we. would love to see everybody and for you. to fill those places up. Start 2024 off. right. Just go to our website. stuffyougenc.com. and click on the tour page and buy.

tickets from legitimate sources. Please. do not go to scalper sites. You might. think it's the real site, but if the. tickets are more than like 40 bucks or. something, then it's not a real site. >> Or if they want to be paid in gift. cards, not a real ticket seller. >> That's right. But we hope to see. everybody uh in January, late January. >> Sure. Absolutely. And in the meantime, everybody, if you want to get in touch. with us, you can send us an email. Send. it off to stuffodcast@ iheartradio.com.

Stuff you should know is a production of. iheartradio. For more podcasts, iMheart. radio, visit the iheartradio app, Apple. podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.