Each decade has certainly seen its share of fads and collectibles. During the late 1990s, Beanie Babies dominated the collectibles market for both children and adults. Indeed, Beanie Babies were everywhere, but where are they today?

Beanies Babies: Collectibles That Fueled Consumer Craziness

Beanie Babies first became quite popular in 1996. Created by Ty Warner, these small collectibles were soft and filled with small pellet-sized beanlike material, hence their name. Beanie Babies came in a variety of different animal types. However, the most popular types of Beanie Babies by far were the bears.

Bear Beanie Babies were designed to commemorate a multitude of different things, from nationalities (like a bear named Britannia), to cultural symbols (such as the Peace bear) to people. Bears that were designed in honor of different people were the most favored because they were thought to be the most valuable forms of collectibles in the Beanie Babies genre.

The two most popular bears during the 1990s were the ones designed to commemorate the deaths of two important cultural icons. Garcia, designed in honor of the late Jerry Garcia, was a beautiful multicolored bear that is still considered to be rather valuable to this day.

Princess, the bear designed in honor of the late Princess Diana, was a bear in deep purple with a single white rose on its chest. During the height of the Beanie Babies craze, people fought to get this bear, a bear which, although quite memorable, is not now considered to be worth the extravagant amounts of money that it was once thought to be worth.

Indeed, most Beanie Babies are not considered to be worth much more than several dollars apiece. It is a rather ironic thought when one thinks of how people literally fought for these collectibles during the peak of their fame in the late 1990s.

Nowadays, Beanies Babies can be found at local toy stores languishing on shelves. So many people bought them at one time, that they have ceased to be of any value as a result. In fact, there are certain shows where people are trading in their Beanie Babies for whatever money that they can get.

True, the current fate of Beanie Babies might have been rather disappointing for collectors thinking that they had bought themselves a ticket to the land of wealth. However, the fact remains that they are still quite enjoyable collectibles for those who harbor some 1990s nostalgia.