LAKE WENDELL, Minnesota (CNM) -- Collectors who once paid $500 for a rare Plushie Pals walrus found that the same toy was fetching $40 on online auction sites Friday, after the manufacturer said every animal in the line would be retired at the end of the year.

Plushie Pals prices on one auction site this month

"If everything is rare, nothing is rare," said Darlene Voss, who keeps 1,100 Plushie Pals in acid-free plastic bins in her basement. "I learned that this week. It was an expensive lesson in economics."

Toymaker Snugglemax Inc. said it had "no current plans" for the year 2000, fueling speculation of a new line. A company spokesman declined to say whether the "Millennium Moose," the final Plushie Pal, would be produced in limited quantities.