Secret 8: The beanie baby

I owned one of the original 9 beanie babies and I didn't know it. In 1993 I was on a trip with my mother and little sister. We went into a store where everything was way to expensive for my high school budget. But as we were checking out there was a basket near the register of little beanie animals. They were kind of cute and pretty cheap too so I picked one out, a black whale, and brought it home. Of course, tags were an annoyance to look at so I removed them, both of them. It was cute but like all toys I eventually forgot that I had it.

The beanie baby craze started and I ignored it much like I had the cabbage patch dolls and watching Friends and other fads. (I did eventually watch Friends, and love it, but not until it was in the 7th season) Then I started working in a gift store. Beanie babies were pretty cute and they did grow on me. Eventually I had WAY to many. Embarrasing, but true. I was sucked in, especially by the bunnies.

While I was over at a brother in-law's house who collected them (he did, not his wife) I started flipping through the beanie baby value book that he had on the table. And there it was! A black whale named Splash. I had unknowingly purchased one of the first beanie babies. And I removed the tags... So much for value. I did still sell it for $50 dollars which was certainly more than I paid for it anyway. I sold all of my beanies eventually (except the bunnies because they were too soft and cute, which my daughter now has) and made a tidy profit, all of which went to pay the tax bill that year.