In the back half of the 1990s, polyethylene pellets could be more valuable than gold if you knew who to sell them to. Beanie Babies were not only a crash course on the perils of speculative assets, but one of the foundations of early e-commerce and online community building. In the first of three parts, we look at the history of the teddy bear and Ty Warner's early stabs at the plush market as well as the early years of Beanie Babies and the inception of their website.

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Created and Hosted by

Winslow Dumaine - www.winslowdumaine.com/

Jay Brandstetter - linktr.ee/jaybrandstetter

Produced and Edited by:

Steve Brown - linktr.ee/killhamster

Intro and Outro music is "in failure" by steveisbroke off of their album "steve and his week of wonders", used with permission. https://steveisbroke.bandcamp.com/album/steve-and-his-week-of-wonders

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