FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Leon Schlossberg and his daughter, Sondra, started collecting Beanie Babies in 1999 when he was stationed for civil service in Belgium. It was a "welcome back home gift” that started it all. 

“We believe we have the largest collection in the world because we collect all Ty product lines,” Leon Schlossberg said.

What You Need To Know

The father-daughter duo has invested $180,000 in their collection

They hope to open a museum of Ty products 

HBO Max's "Beanie Mania" documentary features them

A recent HBO Max documentary featured the father-daughter duo and their massive collection. They say they have invested roughly $180,000 in the plush toys.

“We’re at the point now where we have enough of a collection to fill a good size museum the size of a large Sam’s Club or something like that,” Leon Schlossberg explained.

They have been scouting locations for the museum, but have yet to find the perfect site.

“We think it would be so much fun to have the kids come in and drop their jaws, or however you phrase that, when they see the collection. It’s nice,” he said. 

 They keep busy with a website of Ty products, answering emails from other curious collectors around the world. 

“So many people are just looking for free advice on how to sell, and we don’t want to get into that because we aren’t about selling. We are about documenting,” Leon Schlossberg said.

It’s a documentation they don’t plan on ending anytime soon.

“We’ve been doing this for so long and we love it so much, why would we stop now? Let’s finish it,” Sondra Schlossberg added.