Three real 1990s phenomena — a genuine speculative bubble in beanbag plush, a water gun invented by a NASA engineer, and a virtual pet that actually came back as a real sales trend decades later.
Peaked at $1.4 billion in annual revenue for Ty Inc., making founder Ty Warner a billionaire — one of the clearest toy-as-investment bubbles in modern retail history.
Invented in 1989 by a NASA engineer who noticed a water stream while testing an eco-friendly heat pump. Sold 200 million+ units, topping $1 billion in sales.
The 1996 virtual pet that sold 100 million+ units worldwide — and, unusually for 90s nostalgia, found a genuinely new generation of buyers after a 2019 relaunch.