116 Beanie Babies and he knows exactly which one is missing

Ty Beanie Babies. Remember those? The craze that spread throughout the US (the World even?) about 12 years ago. Everyone scampering to get the newest, "rarest" Beanie because, you know, someday they are going to be worth a pretty penny. Well, here is what happened to all my Beanie Babies:
Ever since Gavin was an infant he liked the tags of blankets, stuffed animals and the like. But, not just any tag. It had to be the kind that was silky, the kind that when rubbed for long periods of time would get even silkier. Gavin never had one special "lovey" but rather a whole bunch of them as long as they had the right tag. This made it easier on us because at least if we left one behind somewhere, we didn't have to search high and low for an exact replica.

Back to the Beanie Babies. When Gavin was about 18 months old, he discovered my collection of precious Beanie Babies in a box in the closet of the boys' playroom. He took a couple out, rubbed their tags to test them out and that was that. His addiction was born. Every so often, he would go to the box to get a couple more Beanies when the tags wore out on the old ones. Then he started taking a few out even though the old tags weren't worn out. He liked to have variety and every few days would switch to a new favorite. Eventually, every single Beanie Baby wound up on his bed and no one was allowed to clean them up. They had to remain there and if one attempted to tidy them up, he would know exactly which ones were missing and demand them back.

So now we are to the point where he wants to choose his own Beanie Babies to buy. However, the "new" Beanies have tags made of a different material than the "old" Beanies. They do not get soft and silky with age. They remain stiff and not pleasant to rub. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it), a local craft store chain carries the "old" Beanies. Every other week--at least--we go to this store to buy yet another Beanie. I cringe as we approach the bin because inevitably we are going to see Beanies in there that I paid top dollar for back in the day which are now $2.88. Yes, $2.88. The Princess Diana Beanie Baby that I had to have and bought for $25 is now in the bin for $2.88.Not only is my beloved Princess Bear in a bin for just $2.88. She now has a new home on Gavin's bed.