The Logbook: The Beanie Babies bubble

Beanies Babies have often been cited as analogous to tulips to describe the bitcoin and cryptocurrencies industry. Skeptics are quick to compare the mania the industry experienced in 2017 with the Beanie Babies hype in the mid to late-90s. This week we will take a brief look into the history of Beanie Babies mania.

In the 1970s, Dakin was the market leader in plush toy sales. Ty Warner, the soon-to-be founder and CEO of Ty Inc. was Dakin’s best salesman. At one point, Warner became the highest-paid employee at Dakin, outearning even the CEO. In 1986, after Dakin’s sales begin to drop, Warner decided to launch his own plush toy business, which he aptly named Ty Inc. The company’s first product was a line of plush Himalayan cats. The cat toys were under-stuffed to allow customers to pose them in more life-like positions. They were priced at around $20.