Couple Buy Beanie Baby Only to Find Out It’s Worth Almost $100K

A British couple bought a purple beanie baby at car boot sale (which is like a UK flea market) for about $15 USD, then found out it could be worth over $93K. Pardon me, but I’m about to put on a miner’s cap and go spelunking in my parent’s garage after hearing this news. What’s even more random is the bear was made in honor of Princess Diana after her death in 1997, and only 100 of them exist.

In a report from The Independent, Leah Rogers and Ryan Flanaghan have started an auction for the toy at £25,000, and hope to use the cash on a deposit for a house. However, it’s not a total stroke of luck—Flanaghan used to be a beanie baby collector, and recognized the bear as something special.

My question is, how do you really determine the worth of such a rare toy? And who is the person who would pay for something like that? My fantasy is that we’ll assume it would be purchased anonymously by some eccentric rich woman who lives in a secluded castle on top of a hill, but then 20 years later we find out it was actually Vin Diesel. In other news, does anyone know what I can get for my old My Little Ponies?