Review of 'The Great Beanie Baby Bubble' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
An interesting and fun read, but really depressing. I mean, no one comes out well in this story of the Beanie Baby craze of the early 1990s. Not the ridiculous collectors, the frenzied marketing or, most especially, anyone associated with Ty Inc, including (or most especially) Ty Warner, the crazy eccentric who started the whole thing.
It was an interesting view of a mania. I didn't have much to do with it, as I didn't have kids at the time, although we were part of the earlier baseball card craze, which was nowhere near as inflamed but still got pretty crazy. But there isn't a single person to root for in this story and, like the other bubbles we have seen (Internet bubble anyone?), everyone thinks "this one will be different" and they never are.
Still, a good read, with some crazy personalities. He covers the start of eBay and …
An interesting and fun read, but really depressing. I mean, no one comes out well in this story of the Beanie Baby craze of the early 1990s. Not the ridiculous collectors, the frenzied marketing or, most especially, anyone associated with Ty Inc, including (or most especially) Ty Warner, the crazy eccentric who started the whole thing.
It was an interesting view of a mania. I didn't have much to do with it, as I didn't have kids at the time, although we were part of the earlier baseball card craze, which was nowhere near as inflamed but still got pretty crazy. But there isn't a single person to root for in this story and, like the other bubbles we have seen (Internet bubble anyone?), everyone thinks "this one will be different" and they never are.
Still, a good read, with some crazy personalities. He covers the start of eBay and a few other near crazes. Worth a read.
