Scarcity and the Value of Common Things

I once knew a grown man in his 50s who, in the late 1990s had this enormous Beanie Baby collection.  Once, at a church social at his house he took us into a bedroom where he had his collection stored in flat Rubbermaid containers stacked to the ceiling and even some under the bed. He pulled out one in particular, a “special” one, but honestly, since I c…