The Beanie Baby That Could Net You Upwards Of $12,000 If You Own It

When it comes to collectible 1990s toy crazes, Beanie Babies set the bar. Sure, there are plenty of valuable Pokémon cards to be traded and attics' worth of old troll dolls worth a ton of money. Somewhere, a '90s Tamagotchi keychain is beeping with indignation. But even the freakiest rare and valuable Furbies have nothing on the pop-cultural, pellet-stuffed plush vice grip Beanie Babies had in their heyday.

Created by Ty Warner and released through Ty Inc., Beanie Babies are adorable little bean-bag like creatures that delighted children and obsessed collectors young and old throughout the '90s. Originally retailing for $5 per toy, Beanie Babies were an affordable way to amass a collection that would eventually hit asset-level values before the Beanie bubble burst in the year 2000.

The first Beanie Babies made their debut at the World Toy Fair in New York in 1993, with a lineup featuring "Legs" the Frog, "Chocolate" the Moose, and "Patti" the Platypus. Later, all manner of animals were Beanie-fied, from bats to bears and mythical creatures. While the resale value for the vast Beanie menagerie is no longer at '90s-era heights, some of the stuffies are still incredibly valuable to collectors. In fact, the sale of a certain special-edition "Chef Robuchon" Beanie Baby, named for famed French chef, Joël Robuchon, could cook up thousands of dollars, even in today's collector's market.

The real Chef Robuchon, who died in 2018, still holds the world record for most Michelin stars (31, if you're keeping track.) He was as famous for his righteous fury as he was for his food, and even once threw a plate at Gordon Ramsay. The Beanie Baby Chef Robuchon is a small tan bear, resplendent in chef's whites and toque blanche, the French word for that iconic, pleated white chef's hat. His heart-shaped swing tag reads: "If there is no love more sincere than the love of food you'll find your soul mate in Chef Robuchon's cuisine."

The Chef Robuchon Beanie Baby was released in 2006, years after Ty's announcement that Beanie Babies would "retire" in 1999. Warner drove up popularity of Beanies through limited-edition releases in small batches throughout the craze, staggering seemingly random product drops as well as restricting supply to stir demand for the delightful doodads. But by 2006, the broader culture had jumped on to other collecting bandwagons (like for valuable old comics books.) Still, the Chef Robuchon Beanie Baby debuted with an air of exclusivity.

The bear served as an invitation to participate in a joint venture of Ty Warner and the real Chef Robuchon. If you received the limited-edition bear in the mail, you were being invited to attend the opening of L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a fine dining restaurant at New York City's prestigious Four Seasons hotel, owned by Ty Warner.

While artificial scarcity helped create the Beanie Boom and directly led to the Beanie bust, actual scarcity is part of what drives up the potential value for the Chef Robuchon Beanie Baby. It is supposed that only around 200 were ever made. However, there are likely even fewer still-surviving Chef Robuchon Beanie Babies than the original production run.

This is partly because frenzied collectors and adoring children weren't the target audience for the bear in the first place: instead, New York foodies and journalists were gifted the Beanie Baby. One person's cute bear is another's cringe-inducing bit of consumerism, and there's a good chance many Chef Robuchon bears were tossed aside with that year's collection of old New Yorker magazines.

These very rare Chef Robuchon toys can sell for anywhere between $8,000 and $12,000, Beanie Baby expert Karen Boeker tells People magazine. Boeker, who runs Beanie Baby authentication site, True Blue Beans, says the difference in price can come down to if the bear has its accessories or not. Collectors may rejoice at finding a "naked" Chef Robuchon in the wild, but if that bear comes complete with outfit, plastic box, red ribbon, red invitation, and miniature L'Atelier menu with Chef Robuchon's recipe for potato puree inside, resale value could be truly delicious.