Back in the 1990's a new toy hit the shelves, they were called "beanie babies". Each addition to the collection was given a name and a date of birth. My mom was the first one in the family to purchase one. She loved the idea that each "baby" had their own name and it was printed on a heart shaped hang tag. Most of these adorable little plush toys were animals.
They soon caught fire as a collectable, but if you followed the instructions on the hang tag to remove it before allowing small children to play with them... Big Mistake
Soon beanie babies were all the rage, children and adults were hot to purchase the newest addition. They were adorable with catchy names and soft bodies, safe for all, once that tag was removed. People would line up in the malls and wait hours to grab the next one. By the time the rush for these toys died down my mom must have owned 40 or more of these "collectables". She gave them as gifts to the grand children, not realizing their future worth.
I still have a few of them, most of which I also just cut the tag off and let my kids have at it. Boo-who.
I was cleaning out my attic and came across some of them, "Honks"
was on the top of the box they were in and the memories of my daughter came flooding back. She was nine when I bought Honks for her. Seems like yesterday. Our daughter is grown now and about to be married next month. Where did my little girl go?
"Beanie Babies first appeared on the plush toy market in late 1993, when inventor Ty Warner sold them at New York City’s World
Toy Fair. Instead of looking like a normal stuffed animal, these little toys contained a mix of stuffing and “beans.” The beans
were actually little, plastic, PVC pellets."
https://www.bing.com/search?q=the+history+of+beanie+babies
Meet some of "Honks" old pals.
The tags are what makes these plush toys valuable. But much less valuable if they are in this condition.
Yet this little bear named "Princess" after Princess Diana of Wales, has been kept in perfect condition. A gift I will give my daughter the night before she weds. She will always be our little "PRINCESS".
Princess may be in good shape, but Honks is the star of this show.
HONKS THE GOOSE flies South in the winter, just like a couple of snowbirds I know from the mountains of Upstate NY.