Real Princess Diana Beanie Baby Value 2024

How Much Is a Princess Diana Beanie Baby Worth?

According to the trusted Beanie Baby collecting site Ty Collector, Princess Diana Beanie Babies are worth anywhere from $5 to $100, depending on various factors. This is a far cry from the crazy prices you could find Princess Beanie Babies listed for on eBay. While there are some instances of the bear with dark purple fur selling for up to $500, the listings that go into several thousand (or even hundreds of thousands) might inspire a few head scratches. We would say those listings are just a little dishonest…

Some might also describe them as totally bogus.

TyCollector.com even suspects some of these transactions are examples of money laundering or another mischievous scheme (which you can read more about on their Princess Beanie Baby page here). Needless to say, you shouldn’t trust those crazy high prices!

Note: The most recent legitimate sale we could find on eBay for a Princess the Bear was a whopping $550 (Sold on January 19th, 2024). According to the listing, this sale also included the display box, though it wasn’t pictured.

How Do I Know If My Princess Diana Beanie Is Valuable?

If you have a Princess Diana Beanie Baby and were expecting to finance your next holiday with it, we’re sorry to burst your bubble. However, since they were only sold for around $5 to $7 when Ty, inc. first released them, you could still earn a nice little profit by putting your Princess Bear up for auction.

Like any other ‘valuable’ Beanie Baby, the value of a Princess Diana Beanie Baby depends on factors like the swing tag, tush tag, and stuffing. Our article on how to value Beanie Babies describes these factors in more detail.

When it comes to valuing your Princess the Bear, here are the specific factors to look out for:

“Space” vs. “No-Space” Swing Tags:

This refers to whether there is a space in the middle of the last four lines of text on the right interior of the swing tag. The “no-space” version of the swing tag appeared during the first production run from China and for some of the first run in Indonesia. Because of this, for a Princess Diana Beanie Baby to be considered first edition, it must have the “no-space” swing tag.

PVC vs. PE Pellets:

During its production, there were two versions of Princess Bear – one stuffed with PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pellets, and one stuffed with PE (Polyethylene) pellets. Bears stuffed with PVC pellets are from the earliest production runs and are therefore considered more valuable. You can see whether you have a PE or PVC Princess Bear by checking the tush tag.

China vs. Indonesia Production:

Similar to other rare Beanie Babies like Peace the Bear, collectors place a higher value on those produced in Indonesia over those produced in China. This is because those made in Indonesia are reported to have softer fabric and richer color than those made in China. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the timeline of production for the Princess Bear between China and Indonesia, but as of writing, the first run of Indonesian bears is considered more valuable.

Canadian Customs Tag:

Any Beanie Baby destined to be sold in Canada has a special extra addition to the tush tag to comply with local regulations. This tag was included in the first run of Indonesian Princess Bears and in the second run of those made in China. PVC, first-run Indonesian Princess Bears with the Canadian customs tag will typically sell for the most ($75 to $125).

Condition:

Of course, all the most expensive Beanie Babies that have sold on eBay have been in mint or near-mint condition. Even if your Princess the Bear sports the many tag variations listed above, it won’t sell unless you’ve given it royal treatment!

With all the right factors in play, a Princess Beanie Baby can sell for $100 or more. In fact, one sold on eBay for more than $500 in January 2024! Even crazier, this particular bear wasn’t even sealed and verified! Is a new Beanie Baby Craze upon us in 2024? It’s still too early to tell, but we’re definitely keeping our eyes on the situation.

In the meantime, if you want to make sure your Princess Bear is as prim and proper as possible, check out our guide on how to wash Beanie Babies. Once that purple fur has had its lustre restored, we would recommend you get your beanie to an antiques appraiser or a verified Beanie authentication service such as Becky’s True Blue Beans so you know for sure what you have in your hands.

Why Is the Princess Beanie Baby Valued Higher Than It’s Really Worth?

Great question.

A lot of it comes down to a mixture of historical context, misinformation, and the original hysteria surrounding Beanie Babies.

The Princess Diana Beanie Baby was produced in the wake of the late Princess Diana’s death in 1997. The tragic car crash that took Diana caused shockwaves of pain around the world, and Ty, inc. created something in an attempt to ease that pain.

For every sale of Ty’s new Beanie, a portion of the profits went to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. Dubbed ‘Princess the Bear’, this Beanie Baby had a deep purple color with a purple ribbon and a small white rose on the left side of her chest.

Due to logistics concerns, Ty announced that retailers could only order 12 of the Diana Beanie Baby to stock on shelves in time for Christmas. Ty never planned for Princess the Bear to be a rare Beanie Baby, but rumors about this 12-bear limit began to spread like wildfire. This led to a buying frenzy amongst people who believed their limited edition Beanie Baby collection would be worth a fortune one day. Like so much of the Beanie Baby craze, the madness came down to a media misunderstanding.

This mix of factors has meant that decades later, people still hold the false belief that Princess the Bear is a limited edition and extremely valuable Beanie Baby. Some of the high-priced listings on eBay are legit, but there are undoubtedly more from people who overpaid and want to try and recover their losses.

Ultimately, Princess the Bear serves as a cautionary tale of how artificial scarcity (fuelled by misinformation), hype, and good ol’ fashioned FOMO can lead to everyday people getting burnt on speculative investments. And to think that Princess the Bear’s initial intent was a fundraiser for the Wales Memorial Fund.

But, at least if you lose money on Princess the Bear, you still have a cute stuffed animal! The same can’t be said for a lot of the bizarre NFT projects that have gone under over the last few years. For example (while we’re talking about bears), Winter Bears was an NFT collection minted in 2021 where the value was hyped up early on, but quickly ran out of steam, leaving the only winners those who could sell on the secondary market before the value plummeted.

These truly are different times we live in.

Peeps Ask!

What is the rarest Princess Diana Beanie Baby?

The rarest Princess Diana Beanie Baby will be a first edition one (meaning it has a “no-space” swing tag), will be filled with PVC pellets, and has been produced in Indonesia with a Canadian customs tag.

How do I know which Princess Diana Beanie Baby I have?

All the information you need to determine which Princess the Bear you have can be found on the swing tag and tush tag.

How can you tell if you have a first edition Princess Diana Beanie Baby?

Look at the swing tag. If there is no space between “All profits of Ty from this collectible will be donated to the” and “DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES MEMORIAL FUND,” then you have a first edition bear.

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Mike Alexander

Mike is a video game enthusiast, a chronicler of the 90s, and a collector of many things. Born in the mid-90s, he was able to catch the wave of some of the best things the decade had to offer, like Power Rangers, Pokémon, Bagel Bites, the list goes on. Despite the amount of time that has passed, he still enjoys many of those things today! If he’s not writing or gaming, he’s probably wondering why Warriors of Virtue didn’t take off the same way Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did.

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