We have no idea why so many old toys - especially the sort of old toys we'd throw around the room and take for granted - are now so valuable and so collectible. The pull of nostalgia has a lot to answer for. Who had a room full of Beanie Babies when they were younger? If you still have them now, they could be worth thousands of dollars, depending on which particular models you have.
Peanut the Royal Blue Elephant (a descriptive name if ever we heard one) is one of the most valuable, with a retail price of $5,000 but even more impressive than that are those Beanie Babies which came with celebrity endorsements. One based on legendary French chef Joel Robuchon could be worth double the memorably-titled elephant, for example. Even a humble old Victorian Teddy Bear is worth $2,000 at the bare minimum, so if you have a special box or room full of them hiding away somewhere, it's worth a re-assessment.