Do you turn up your nose at Beanie Babies, carnival glass, Hummels, and kindred collectibles? You might have second thoughts after considering some of the premium prices examples in these categories bring.
We understand the antipathy, and for most collectors, the avoidance of these categories is warranted. After all, it takes enough time and money to assemble a first class sterling collection without scouring the aisles for a Beanie Baby. But some of these items are far more costly than sterling silver.
Also, it should be noted that the vast majority of items in the categories we cover have nominal value. The examples we will mention are exceptions, even outliers, to the norm. Nonetheless, it is interesting to see the amount of money some people are willing to spend on normally inexpensive classes of collectibles.
First up are the fabled Beanie Babies. According to a 2023 article by Alex Linde, the most expensive Beanie Baby is Large Wallace and his Squad, a group commanding 600,000 dollars. That would be a heap of Dali prints. Not far behind is Princess the Bear which has traded hands at 500,000 – enough to buy a house.
But as with all gold mines, someone will produce fake Beanie Babies. This area is definitely a caveat emptor field.
Moving on to Carnival Glass, according to Suez Halder in an undated article, Millersburg Peoples Vase in Blue is the most expensive Carnival clocking in at 155,000 USD in 2018, a very modest sum compared to the Beanie Babies we just considered. The vase was created for Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands, and made only in a quantity of 10. So the provenance is most likely a considerable factor here.
The second most expensive Carnival Glass earned a value of 66,000 in 2018 and was made by the highly regarded Northwood firm, known as Northwood Wisteria Vase in Emerald Green. You could buy a decent new car for this kind of money.
While the vast majority of Carnival Glass can be had for less than 100 USD, and certainly under 200, there are very interesting exceptions to the rule.
Visiting Hummels, we find that it is the poor cousin of the bunch with values only achieving a modest 4 digits. We have covered the decline and fall of Hummels in the past, but this article by Kenneth Bates in 2024 reports that Signs of Spring, Four Posts (Hum 203) sold for over 5500 USD. And here is the lesson to be learned: it is not a rare model in and of itself, but the fence has 4 posts instead of the usual 3. Attention to detail has its rewards.
The next most valuable Hummel according to Bates is Bulgarian Girl (Hum 812) which sold at auction for 3750 USD. Apparently its rarity drove the price, but auction fever could have played a role too.
We should note that many other authors covering this topic present wildly differing lists of most valuable, so judgment is required in applying this information in the wild.
As a bonus, we added a final category of Matchbox cars which also were produced in considerable quantities, and often bear modest prices. Of the 30+ cars canvased by Kimberly Yavorski in July 2024, even the least valuable was worth 1199 USD - VW Microvan Black Plastic Wheels.
Quite interestingly, the second most valuable Matchbox was a large-scale prototype of 11 inches, Major Scale Quarry Truck, whose 2010 selling price was 15,000 USD. Created in 1955, it represents a rarity and an entirely out of character example of Matchbox toys.
Stepping back to normal production cars, we see that Opel Diplomat – Seafoam Green sold for 11,000 British Pounds in 2020. Yavorski uses voodoo economics to adjust the prices for inflation, and while this practice is understandable, it is very subjective if not fraudulent, especially if government multipliers are used because the government has no incentive to accurately report inflation. Nonetheless, this car ties for the most expensive production toy.
We found these values for ordinarily modestly priced collectibles illuminating. Keep your eyes peeled, and your mind open for you may encounter a once in a lifetime windfall with the right purchase.
References
We have no idea how long these links will last
Alex Linde, 40 Most Expensive Ty Beanie Babies: Worth & Value Guide, July 18, 2023https://www.thetrendspotter.net/beanie-babies/
Suez Halder, 19 Rare and Most Valuable Carnival Glass Price, no date, https://www.txantiquemall.com/most-valuable-carnival-glass/
Kenneth Bates, Most Valuable Rare Hummel Figurines: Rarest Pieces Sold For $5000+, September 1, 2024
Kimberly Yavorski, Most Valuable Vintage Matchbox Cars Worth 100 Times Their Original Price, July 16, 2024, https://www.workandmoney.com/s/vintage-matchbox-cars-value-896fb368e98144c6
