‘Bankrupt by Beanies’ documents a family’s obsession with collectible toys

Bankrupt by Beanies is the title of a short documentary made by a son about his father's fixation on Beanie Babies, a hobby that quickly transformed into a $100,000 losing investment.

Beanie Babies, the TY toys that debuted in the mid-1990s, were marketed as collectors items and the Robinson family bought into the craze in a big way.

They brought neighbourhood children to stores to buy more than the allotted number of Beanies per customer but the family never sold the toys that were intended to pay for the children's college education.

Chris Robinson posted the short documentary to YouTube in 2009, and Dazed Digital interviewed him this week about the experience of his family's obsession with the stuffed animals.

[ More Buzz: Australian man banned from gym for mocking members online ]

Robinson told Dazed Digital his weekends and his time after school would involve driving around with his dad to buy five, six or sometimes 50 of any given Beanie Baby on the day it was released.

When McDonald's gave the toys out in Happy Meals, he said they went so often his friend ended up in the hospital after eating too much fast food.

However, Robinson's family says in the documentary their Beanie buying days gave them, at least, some valuable bonding time.

Want to know what's buzzing before it goes viral?
Follow @YDailyBuzz on Twitter!