Beanie Bubble
Sure, prices are insane--but how long can they last?
Parents who have been asking toy appraisers to value Beanie collections they plan to use to fund their children's college education might want to think twice about investing in a collectible. "You collect something because you want it, not because it is going to increase in value," says Greg Espinosa of Butterfield & Butterfield, a San Francisco auction house. "If you want to invest, buy stocks and bonds."
Meanwhile, there are signs that the rapacity that has overtaken Beanies is turning some collectors off. Lucia Rochelle of Norwalk, Conn., recently sold half of her collection, sick of the avarice, long lines, and hype. "I got a little nauseated," she says. "It just boomed into this frenzy of people trying to make too much money." Others are following in her footsteps. The Internet Antique Shop (www.tias.com), an online mall that tracks visits to its site, posts the most often searched-for antiques and collectibles each month: Beanie Babies snagged No. 1 last December but dropped to No. 6 in May and to No. 24 in June. Last month, however, they popped back up to No. 7.
Flagging interest in the secondary market is one sign the mania might be dwindling, say some experts. Ty also has competition: Collectors are starting to snap up beanbag toys made by other manufacturers like Disney and Warner Bros. Counterfeit Beanies are another threat; fakes have been spotted of newly released Beanies, and Ty recently set up a hot line (888-317-5489) for reporting counterfeits. But perhaps the biggest indicator of a shift in sentiment is that secondary-market prices for some of the retired Beanies have dropped somewhat over the past few months. The price of the "American trio"--Lefty, Righty, and Libearty--has dropped from $1,400 in April to $1,000, says Sobolewski. Some say that's evidence of a downtrend, but Beanie mavens say the market is just undergoing a correction because prices rose too fast earlier this year. "I promise you, in September and October you are going to see a big increase in these prices again," says Sobolewski.
For a collectible to have value in the future, it must be scarce--an adjective few collectible experts attach to Beanies. The absurdity of plunking down hundreds of dollars for a beanbag is beginning to strike many collectors. When Susan Gambino's husband in Bowie, Md., came home recently and said he'd found Humphrey the camel for $800, both of them had the same thought: They might be going overboard. The most they had paid for a Beanie was $250. "If he had paid $800 for Humphrey, I might send him to Beanies Anonymous," says Gambino.
Collectible experts say trusting your instincts like that is one way to avoid disappointment if the market sours. "Common sense says that $599 for a little, tiny bear makes no sense," says Olivia Bristol, head of the doll and teddy bear department at Christie's, the auction house. Asked when Christie's might start auctioning Beanies, Bristol chuckled and said, "Never--not for another 50 to 60 years."
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