Hi Brandon,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

Beanie Babies (BBs) were enormously popular in the 1990s and widely collected, with the consequence that now there are many "on the market" without nearly enough demand for the supply so values on most individual beanie babies are low.

The BB market is often subject to overvaluation and there are myths surrounding BB values, both for ones with - and without - tag errors (for discussion on tag errors, see https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22870250/nft-beanie-baby-price-guide-bubble-princess-value ).

Websites like eBay and Etsy - which are unregulated - are rampant with fraudulent sellers posting BB at exorbitantly high prices and then the BBs either don't sell or sell privately at undisclosed prices. (For an article that goes into detail about this, see: https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnwmn/investigating-the-fake-ebay-market-for-dollar25000-beanie-babies).

Most Beanie Babies - around 99.999999999% of them - have a fair-market value of less than $15 when sold at auction, particularly if they are not in cases; even if they are in cases, they usually don't bring more than $30.

Ty released Inky on November 29, 1994, and discontinued production on May 1, 1998. The original version did not have a mouth and was gray, which was retired just 3 months after it was introduced. It was followed by a gray version with a mouth; that was followed in June 1995 by the third generation, which was in pink and had a mouth. You have this third and the most common version.

While Ty has never disclosed how many of any Beanie Babies it produced, this is not considered a rare bear.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

A near vintage Ty "Inky" Beanie Baby Octopus
after June 1995
Pink octopus with a v-shaped mouth, with a tush tag and heart-shaped swing ear tag. With PVC pellets.
6 inches long
CONDITION: Very good
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$15-25*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia