I'll tell you this story involving an incident that happened to me about a dozen years ago at the height of the Beanie Baby fad. At that time collectors were driving up the prices to insane levels for these silly toys.
One day I had to shoot an executive portrait for a woman employed by an international corporation. I am sure most of you have heard of this company. Let's just say they were very popular in the days of green screen terminals and they had an Asian founder.
The company had recently won a major multi-year government contract, which this woman had helped to arrange. She greeted me warmly when I arrived at her office. To my astonishment she had two long rectangular shelves filled with Beanie Babies along one wall of the office. Under normal circumstances these shelves would be filled with three-ring binders and other office documents. There were few such items in her office. It was actually embarassing to see it.
She immediately used the opportunity to give me a tour of the toys, telling me how much each one was worth. She had paid only a few dollars for each one, yet some of them were worth $400. The highest valued Beanie Baby was worth $1,200 to collectors, she informed me.
I asked her if she was planning to sell them. She told me no, that she would never do that. The toys were too valuable to her.
How much do you think they are worth now? :biggrin:
