Beanie Mania (2021) User Reviews

Super enjoyable look back to the Beanie Babies craze

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 25 December 2021]

Beanie Mania (2021 release; 80 min.) is a documentary about the Beanie Babies craze that took over America in the late 90s. As the documentary opens, we are in Naperville, IL, where a small group of housewives, including Joni, Mary Beth, and Peggy, recall the quiet times before 9/11 that were the mid-to-late 90s, and how a new toy called Beanie Babies, manufactured by a Chicagoland company called Ty, Inc., appeared seemingly out of nowhere and slowly but surely caught the attention of kids, and then the adults.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from UK director Yemisi Brooks (Made in Chelsea). Here she takes a look back at the various aspects of what would become Beanie Mania, and mania is exactly the right word for it. Along the way, Ty, Inc.'s sales would rise from just a couple of million dollars to over a billion (yes, billion) in a mere 2-3 years. The documentary does a great job tracking down the parties involved, from Ty employees at that time to the Naperville housewives (remember Mary Beth's Beanie World magazine?). And yes, also looking at the insatiable greed that inevitably rose when Beanie Babies became a classic example of a market bubble. Missing in all of this, though, is Ty Warner, the Chicago guy who started the company. When the director asks a former Ty executive what her chances are of getting an interview with TY for this documentary, the former executive laughs out loud and says 'None!'. I found myself smiling throughout most of the documentary, as I vividly remember these times, collecting Beanie Babies with my two young kids. Who doesn't remember the stampedes at McDonald's for their happy meals with Teenie Beanies?

Beanie Mania premiered a few days ago exclusively on HBO Max. I thoroughly enjoyed this almost nostalgic trip back in time, now 20-25 years ago. It seems like it was just yesterday. But hey, don't take my word for it! If you had any interest in Beanie Babies, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

In the modern day, Beanie Babies have once again started to make a comeback; this time, not in lieu of anyone's 401k plans.

[TheDocumentaryDistrict · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

A woman boards an airplane headed to Hawaii. In the woman's hand is a duffle bag filled with products she doesn't want seen and can't trust them to be shipped. In exchange for the bag, the woman receives $20,000 cash. No, the bag is not filled with drugs or counterfeit goods, it's filled with...Beanie Babies.

The year was 1993 and a new company known as Ty Inc. Was about to embark on a journey filled with chaos and heartbreak. At the time, Ty only employed approximately 14 people in a small, 5 room office building. In these offices, Beanie Babies would be created, cementing Ty Inc.'s spot in toy history. Clever business tactics coupled with a booming secondary market and sprinkled with a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) that is uniquely American, Beanie Mania was created.

From 1993 to 1996, Beanie Babies were not much more than a pile of beanbags that mom and pop gifts shops had trouble moving. As we know, the slow sales didn't last long. In 1996, Ty saw a 1000% increase in total sales.

As the years moved on, the creatures' following started to grow. Sales increased, things like trade shows and special Beanie Baby publications started appearing, and a little thing called the internet popped up in American homes. While all of these things factored into Beanie Mania, you'll learn in this film that it wasn't until Ty Warner (creator of the Beanie Baby) decided to retire certain babies, 51 to be exact, that collectors took notice. Suddenly people turned collecting Beanie Babies from a hobby into an investment plan.

During the height of Beanie Mania, it wasn't uncommon to read an article about someone investing $10, $20, even $60,000 into the stuffed animals. People of the '90s thought Beanie Babies were a safe investment sure to stand the test of time. After all, eBay resellers topped $500,000 in profit in 1997 alone. According to Beanie Mania, at any given point there was up to 100 price guide publications on bookshelves, only adding to the mirage that investing in stuffed animals was a sound economic venture.

Ty Warner knew how to keep the Beanie market fresh. By limiting his availability to the media, giving the illusion of scarcity, and refusing to enter business agreements, an artificial market was created. In 1998, sales of Beanie Babies topped $1.4 billion. By the new millennia, sales began to slow and people quickly started to regret all the time and money spent on a bag of plastic beans.

In the modern day, Beanie Babies have once again started to make a comeback; this time, not in lieu of anyone's 401k plans.

The Film: Beanie Mania showcases a number of people who were considered heavy hitters during the height of the beanie baby pandemonium. Primarily made up of stay at home moms, this core group of collectors took a fun hobby to an extreme, and, in some cases, got rich along the way. This group of beanie crazed devotees made cross-country road trips, created spreadsheets for their inventory lists, and even made their love official with a vanity license plates "B BABIES" on their new Mercedes-of course paid for with profits from Beanie Baby reselling.

Kind of like crazy cat ladies, except the cats were stuffed, we see people hoarding stuffed animals all over their houses and consuming their lives. Some of those interviewed even admitted that their beanie collecting went from a hobby to a full addiction. Collectors risked credit card debt and bankruptcy all for the purposes of owning a few rare beanies.

As Beanie Mania enters it's final few minutes, archived footage gives homage to all the people in the late-1990s that wishfully stated that there was no end in sight and touted what a fine investment Beanie Babies would be. Although we may see random upticks in the toy's demand on sites like eBay, a lot millennials are left with nothing more than boxes of stuffed animals worth a few bucks, thanks in part to their parents greed taking over the market of a childhood toy.

Worth the Watch?

Yes. Beanie Mania is filled to the brim with 90s nostalgia. From classic Socker Boppers commercials, the obnoxious sound of dial up internet, and tons cringe worthy footage of what at home computing used to look like, the film is a blast for those of us whose formative years were in the late-90s. Sadly, the film will also indirectly showcase how FOMA can completely take over an individual's life affecting their relationships and financial health.

The stories featured in the documentary will having you shaking your head, wondering how people got so wrapped up in the Beanie craze. I would have liked to seen a little more time spent on the history of Ty Inc. And how the idea of Beanie Babies was created. Even with the lack of Ty history, high quality archived news footage of Beanie Baby history pieced together with interviews from some of the earliest supporters of the toy, tells a great story of a crazy, yet some how simpler time, an era called Beanie Mania.

-The Documentary District-

These people are crazy...

[aevaughn-77305 · 6/10 · 3 January 2022]

Forgive me. But the women who were obsessed with this craze - all looked the same: INSANE. White, suburban moms, bored housewife types - but all mentally insane. The kind of women that get sucked into MLMs everyday and call themselves "boss babes"...

This was weird to watch.

Standard, but Entertaining Niche Documentary

[KinoBuff2021 · 7/10 · 6 August 2023]

'Beanie Mania' (2021) is a pretty good documentary about a very popular and yet still niche collectible.

I watched this film after recently watching the new Apple TV+ film, 'The Beanie Bubble' (2023) starring Zach Galifianakis. And I must say, this documentary is far more interesting and entertaining than the corporate biopic is.

This is a straightforward and fairly regular documentary, but like the Beanie Babies its far more interesting than it should be for something so simple. The origins, growth, collapse, and legacy are explored by people who crucial to each stage of the Beanie Baby mania.

Its worth watching especially if you remember how crazy things got back then or just found a few Beanie Babies in your attic. Just be careful to not become too obsessed with them after watching this documentary!

Good Doc On Insane People

[helenahandbasket-93734 · 6/10 · 26 December 2021]

Another example of adults ruining a child's experience- an FBI employee creating a 'rap' song, suburban cult moms spending thousands a month on phone bills, a childless woman filling her home with childrens toys- all examples of how ridiculous and insane people can get, at the expense of others.

Cabbage patch dolls, beanie babies, holiday Barbie, etc., there will always be a way for Karen to ruin it for kids.

I didn't watch this for the nostalgia, I did so to realize how sad and sick people can be.

Yikes...

[jldivelbiss · 6/10 · 16 January 2022]

Is this real life?! I felt like I entered the Twilight Zone when I watched this documentary. I dunno if it's worth the watch as I'm still sitting here questioning my sanity after watching the whole thing so I'm going to say no. Just a crazy era that will more than likely repeat itself.

Crazy What Items Will Blow Up

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 7/10 · 14 August 2023]

This was another documentary that Jaime, my wife, and I watched together when we wanted something that we didn't need to fully pay attention to. What drew us to this one was that she used to collect Beanie Babies. My sister did to an extent as well, so we were familiar with them. We both knew this blew up, but we didn't know the extent.

For this documentary, we are seeing interviews of people who used to work for the Ty corporation, helped along the supply chain as well as a group of women from Naperville, Illinois that caused this to blow up. This went from a cheap toy to an almost billion-dollar industry thanks to the secondary market. As someone who owns baseball and Pokémon cards as well as comic books, I understand that the value for 'collectibles' is only based on what people will pay. This continues to come to the forefront and is still relevant thanks to influencers with more money than they know what to do with it.

I'd say that this is a well-made documentary. We get that hook that pulls you in. From there, we got to know the different players in the beginning. This does well in editing footage from that era to help drive the point home. There is so much here that I didn't know about. Part of that being I was still in elementary and early high school. It was fascinating to see what these people thought back and then as well as how fast it came down. If you got caught up in this craze, even in the slightest, this is one that is intriguing to learn more about for sure.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Super fun to look back at the excesses of the 90's.

[swanee-ramsey · 10/10 · 31 January 2022]

What a great film for those of us who remember these crazy safe times and had small children at home.

I enjoyed that they tried to show a fair and balanced view of all the participants.

Highly recommend watching.

Very good documentary

[jdeavill · 8/10 · 26 December 2021]

This documentary tells us more about the collectors than abot the product, which is fine because there is no intrinsic value to the Beanies, as compared with other collectbles like wine or books.