Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
The Toys that are selling for a fortune
George Brown
10th Jan 2019
If you are one of those people who still owns a huge amount of toys from their childhood, or your parents do, it might be worth digging them out after reading this article, as there could be a fortune sitting hidden and gathering dust in storage.
Jacquie Denny, co-founder of the online estate sale and secondhand goods marketplace Everything But The House, says iconic toys are the hidden gems in today’s marketplace for secondhand and collectible toys. “Star Wars,” G.I. Joes, Legos and Pokemon are all in high demand as adults who played with those toys as kids try to turn their own children on to the toys.
“The kids who grew up on these are now at the age that they are raising their own families and want to share those memories by enjoying them with their own kids,” Denny said.
Here’s a list of what you should be looking for if you want to cash in on those childhood memories.
Power Rangers
While a lot of collectors insist on mint condition figures still in the box, Power Rangers seem immune to that criteria.
The Carrier Zord figure released in 1993 in good condition can get as much as £270. Other out-of-the-box Power Rangers average around £200.
Pokémon Cards
A Pikachu Illustrator card recently sold at an auction house for more than £50,000. Pikachu was the main Pokémon character that appealed to both boys and girls, and there was low production on the first generation while they were testing the market.
Early misprints – like the one that sold for more than £50,000 – bring in more money than the more common corrected versions of the card.
Classic Video Games From the 1980s
Mario Bros. is “making a huge comeback” Denny said, but any big-name game going as far back as the original Pong is finding love on the collectible toy market. The original Game Boy Color and a Sega Genesis console have been selling for as much as £2,000 on some video game collecting sites, while copies of Mario Kart 64 can fetch as much as £1,000.
“There is a group of tech fans who are now wanting to enjoy the classics,” Denny said. “The ones who I have talked with love the simplicity of these games and, again, it is reminiscent of their youth with their besties – most of them are still playing these with the same guys.”
Unopened Lego Sets
The key to selling Lego toys as collectibles is having still-sealed sets in the original packaging. Those fetch between £200 and £1,000 depending on the set and how old it is.
Out of the box, don’t bother: once you open a box of Lego, the value drops dramatically.
Super Soaker
The Super Soaker Monster XL still bills itself as the largest water gun ever sold.
In mint condition, it routinely sells for £500 on eBay and other collectible sites.
But even used, Super Soakers are worth something.
A used Super Soaker CPS, known as the most powerful water gun ever sold, can get as much as £360 if your days of ambushing the neighbor kid are behind you.
Rare Beanie Babies
Not just any Beanie Baby – you can still find those for £5 or £6 in your neighborhood drug store. Most of the original Beanie Babies that sold for £5 during the first craze over these stuffed animals fetch an average of £21 on the secondhand market.
But first edition Princess Diana bear has sold on the collectibles market for £500,000. Other Beanie Babies – including Peanut the Royal Blue Elephant and Quackers the Duck – can fetch prices ranging from £400 to £1,800, depending on their condition.
Interesting article, will have a look in the loft for my old Gameboy.