A review by catchthesewings
The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette

3.0

I have to round down on this one, because it’s a really interesting book about a really narrow topic. It grabbed me right away, and held my attention the whole way through. As someone who knew absolutely nothing about the beanie baby craze, I soaked up every detail about the toys’ rise and fall. The book is one half analysis of Ty Warner and his life; the other half is focused on the speculative bubble and the seeks to answer the question, “Why beanie babies?” Overall, I think the book succeeds in presenting both. Ty Warner comes off as a sad, but ruthless person. His need to control everyone and everything around him, as well as a fear of serious commitment, bring him success, but at the cost of anyone to share it with. The only looks at his life are presented by the people who got closest to him. Without his own perspective, it’s hard to get a full portrait of what was going on in his head. Meanwhile, the author breaks down how a culture convinced itself that stuffed animals were worth thousands of dollars in investments. Even though I knew how it would end, I nonetheless found myself rooting for the investors against history. Overall, I think pretty much anyone could enjoy this book. It changed the way I looked at stuffed animals on bookstore shelves.