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Royal Blue Peanut the Elephant
One of the first Beanie Babies to really become a collector's item was Peanut the Elephant. Ty originally produced Peanut in June 1995, before the Beanie Baby craze had begun in earnest. For the most part, sales of the original Peanut were poor, and many stores wouldn't carry more than a few Beanie Babies. Ty rereleased Peanut a few months later with a different color of fur, just as the craze really began. The original Peanut with royal blue fur quickly became a collector's item and was the first truly collectible Beanie Baby. After several decades and many counterfeits, the royal blue Peanut's value has fallen but still sits between $1,000 and $2,000.
