BETWEEN THE LINES: SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS ABOUT THE BEANIE BABIES CRAZE

What happens when the Beanie Babies craze dies out?

Over the weekend I read with great interest a story about how residents in one Illinois community exchanged their guns for Beanie Babies.

I think maybe the Beanie Baby craze has gone too far.

I realized this even before reading the story, but never did it seem quite as clear as when it was in newsprint -- and involved guns.

In Kankakee, Ill., more than 40 guns were swapped this weekend for Teenie Beanies, the miniature version of Beanie Babies.

Like concert-goers lining up to buy the best stadium seats, dozens of people lined up outside the Kankakee city hall Saturday to turn in their guns and receive the Beanies, which were donated by the local McDonald's restaurant.

Of course, lining up to buy Beanie Babies isn't really a new phenomenon. It's just a little more unusual when a gun swap is involved.

It's a bizarre world when stuffed toys take on such importance in people's lives.

I had my first real exposure to the Beanie Baby craze last week while visiting friends in Florida. I know several collectors but hadn't really understood what made these toys so popular. I still don't.

Two of my friends have been collecting the Beanies for several months now. Lisa has even created a "secret stash" for her 7-year-old child, who receives them on special occasions.

My friend Jennifer has collected so many that she's running out of room to display them. She's going to hang a set of shelves in her bedroom just so that she has room to display her collection.

Granted, I think the toys are cute, but I'm not sure I'd want to have every single one ever made. Although I have yet to purchase any Beanie Babies, I do own some look-alikes.

I found a Bean Sprouts giraffe alongside the road downtown and rescued him from oncoming traffic. I also received the Pooh characters as a gift. My collections have just been for fun, but I think it's an addiction with some people.

Jennifer has an official list and only needs a small number to complete her collection. Lisa, who's buying them for her son, has a little farther to go before completing the set.

One afternoon while visiting Lisa, her son asked for my help with an addition problem. He was trying to add the value of his Beanie collection.

When he reached the $400 mark, he was terribly excited. He had a huge amount invested in Beanies.

Only a few days later I went Beanie shopping with Jennifer. She had a specific list and price range for the Beanies she wanted. I couldn't believe that people would pay those prices for what should be a $5 toy.

I know that Ty has been manufacturing Beanie Babies for several years but that the collection craze has just caught on in the last year. What I still don't understand is why it's such the rage.

But it's not just Beanie collections that I don't understand. I don't see the point is collecting baseball cards, Barbie dolls or Disney toys either.

Maybe I just prefer things that are simpler and don't require so much effort to build a collection.

What happens when this craze ends and everyone has had their fill of Beanie Babies? I wouldn't even want to guess what's next?

~Laura Johnston is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.