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JUST IN: Check your kids' toy box! Your old BEANIE BABIES could be worth a FORTUNE!

Collectors are paying hundreds of dollars - wow!

By Frances Sheen

April 29 2019

Do you know what's lurking in your kids' toy box right now?

No, nor do we... but if you're anything like us, we bet you’ve got a dozen or more of those cuddly little TY Beanie Babies tucked away in there.

Beanie Babies were HUGE in the 1990s when we all collected them and swapped them in the playground. Now our kids have got into the craze as there's a huge resurgence in the plush, cuddly toys - especially the rare ones.

And believe it or not, some are worth an absolute small (well, large) fortune...

Sadly, you have to have kept the cardboard heart-shaped label on and they need to be stain and smell-free, but if you have one that a collector really wants, you could be in for a lucrative windfall!

This one, made in 1998, is the Ty Beanie Baby Princess Diana Bear and worth around $10,000 but if, by chance, you should happen to have Super Rare Large 15" Princess Diana Ty Beanie Babies and 9" Version and Stamps, you could earn yourself a whopping $800,000 according to eBay! That's the current price on the website!

The Ty Beanie Baby Princess Diana Bear. Regarded as one of the most recognized & favorites of all Ty Beanies. It was released in 1998 as a charity Beanie for the Princess of Wales Foundation. Ty donated all profits to the charity. As a result a lot of them were made. There were subtle differences with the tags and these differences can determine value. One version was made with P.E pellets and another PVC pellets (PVC being the rarer one). Among these two variations it could have been made in either China or Indonesia (Indonesia being the rarer). These differences are noted on the tags.

But if having a rare one is a little unlikely, here is a selection of other Beanie Babies you might just find stuffed under a bed somewhere...

1. The Peace Bear (1996) - value $5000

The Peace Bear Beanie Baby is unique for several reasons. It was the first Beanie Baby with an embroidered emblem and it had many tag variations during its run. Also, its tie-dye pattern means that no two Peace Bears are identical. so if they're in pristine condition, they could sell for around $5000 on eBay.

2. Claude the crab (1997) - value $9000

First released in 1997, most versions of this tie-dye crab aren’t especially valuable, but a Claude with rare manufacturing errors may be worth something. A Claude Beanie Baby with numerous flaws, including a tag with a missing star, was recently auctioned off for $9000.

3. Valentino the bear - value $42,300

Valentino is one of THE most valuable of the Beanie Baby bears. If you own a rare version with an error in it, you may be sitting on tens of thousands of dollars.

In January 2019, a Valentino with many errors (brown nose instead of black, white star on the tag instead of yellow, PVC pellets, and multiple typos on the tag) sold on eBay for $42,300.

But you don't need it to be THAT rare to earn good cash. A mint-condition Valentino without errors was purchased for $1000 on eBay in December 2018.

Beanie Babies appraiser and expert Dr. Lori Verderame says that not every Beanie Baby is worth big cash but it's worth getting any rare ones checked out professionally.

“There’s a big revival within the last three years,” she says. “A big revival of truly active collectors who really want them and will pay a lot of money for them compared to what they paid for them originally."

So what are you waiting for? Empty that toy box!