Old Toys

[COcheesehead]

I kept a few toys from my childhood. Always thought someday they may be worth something. I kept checking eBay over the years. The value wasn’t worth the effort. So on one of the lazy days before Christmas, I checked on what some were selling for. Things are going up in value like everything else.
I have a 1969 Hot Wheels car on eBay right now that is at about $68. For a toy my mom likely paid a dollar for.

So might be time to check out what’s laying round the house in boxes.
Old GI Joe stuff is up. Matchbox cars too.

 

[Car-Guy]

I kept a very large box full of my DD's childhood toys thinking that she may like to have them at some point.... When I mentioned it to her a few years ago it was clear she didn't care about them... They may be the next items to go in the trash as I continue to de-clutter. If any are in really good condition, I may try to donate them but I doubt that any have much (if any) resell value..

 

[disneysteve]

Values definitely change over time. I've had a collectibles business since 1986. I've learned that there is a pretty predictable curve. When an item first comes out, especially if it's limited edition, it's relatively easy to resell for a nice profit as not everyone is able to get one. Then for a long period, nobody wants it. Then after about 20-30 years, it becomes collectible and the value starts climbing again.


The other thing to know is that adults tend to collect the things from their childhood once they have the means to do so. And once that generation ages out, those items become harder to sell again, so you want to catch that sweet spot.

 

[Ronstar]

My Lionel train. Ca 1957. I had it running a few years ago, but now is just a display piece. And I'm never going to sell it.

 

[COcheesehead]

Values definitely change over time. I've had a collectibles business since 1986. I've learned that there is a pretty predictable curve. When an item first comes out, especially if it's limited edition, it's relatively easy to resell for a nice profit as not everyone is able to get one. Then for a long period, nobody wants it. Then after about 20-30 years, it becomes collectible and the value starts climbing again.


The other thing to know is that adults tend to collect the things from their childhood once they have the means to do so. And once that generation ages out, those items become harder to sell again, so you want to catch that sweet spot.

I agree. I saw this with the boom in muscle car prices. Millennials won’t want them in the future. They’ll want an old Prius. LOL.

 

[pacergal]

Sometimes I wish for My first Barbie, she was either the debut year, 1959, or 1960. I believe she is definitely a collectable.
But give it away when I was 10 or so to a younger neighbor girl.
Dh has a few old baseball cards.

 

[braumeister]

Sometimes I wish for My first Barbie, she was either the debut year, 1959, or 1960. I believe she is definitely a collectable.
But give it away when I was 10 or so to a younger neighbor girl.

DW had a Barbie that was still in the original box. Sold it on eBay for well over $1,000 over 20 years ago. We were amazed.

 

[Car-Guy]

The oldest "toy" that I still have (I got it in my 20's and looks like the one below) is my Atari 2600 with maybe 10 game cartridges... Probably has a little value but I'm keeping it... May try it out again someday.

 

[street]

I have a few old toys from my days as a kid, but not worth much. I don't believe.
Here is an old iron truck my mom had from the farm as a kid. I'm sure it was passed around the 7 kids in the family. The back axle and wheels are gone so not much value but a great thing from the past.

 

[38Chevy454]

Not an old toy, but approx 10 years ago when cleaning out my parent's house I found an old mid-50's pair of Levi's 501 jeans. Authentic and good shape real Levi's. They were my dad's from when he was a teen. So adult size, but skinny waist. Not sure why mom had saved them, but I put them on ebay and they sold for $1100. To a guy in Italy! He even paid the extra intl shipping. It was quite the nice little bonus compared to most of the stuff just donated to thrift stores.

My mom also saved a bunch of my old Tonka trucks from when I was a kid. The original metal kind. Most in decent shape and I have them now. Not worth a lot, more sentimental. I should just sell them though, as they are in a box and just taking up space.

 

[Sue J]

Our older son has a Nintendo Virtual Boy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy) with the stand and games, still in the box. He picked it up at a thrift store for very cheap probably 15 years ago. It was stashed in our attic for many years and then he finally took it to his place. He never plays it, he just likes to collect things and display them. But he collects too many things and doesn't have room to display everything.

If it was me, I'd sell it. I'm not into stuff. But he doesn't need the money and he likes to own things.

 

[Luvtoride]

My Lionel train. Ca 1957. I had it running a few years ago, but now is just a display piece. And I'm never going to sell it.

Ronstar, I just set up a "modern day" train tracks and trains for my 3 year-old grandson for the holidays. Its Thomas the Tank engine and Percy. Its all plastic parts with the trains running on batteries. Not like the old day Lionel trains you have but kids(boys) are still fascinated by them. His favorite part is having them crash into each other!!

To OP, I remember my old Hot Wheels cars and tracks. I guess if more of us saved them they wouldn't be worth so much money now. I gotta go look through my old baseball cards again.
Happy New Year to all!

 

[HarryHawk]

I'm cleaning out my home of 40 years getting ready to move. Piles of stuff to get disposed of one way or another. One thing that does sell great are my son's toys. He was warned several times if he didn't want his stuff, we would be selling it. No problem finding plenty of local buyers willing to pay cash.

Something I thought that may be a problem to sell was his comic books. He had alot of them. I sold the whole lot for several hundred dollars, there were probably some valuable ones in there, but it wasn't worth the time it would take to sort and research what was there.

One tip, if you are selling something local, meet somewhere public rather than at your home. It is safer for everyone. Our local police station encourages you to transact in their monitored parking lot. Works out very well.

 

[CaliKid]

Values definitely change over time. I've had a collectibles business since 1986. I've learned that there is a pretty predictable curve. When an item first comes out, especially if it's limited edition, it's relatively easy to resell for a nice profit as not everyone is able to get one. Then for a long period, nobody wants it. Then after about 20-30 years, it becomes collectible and the value starts climbing again.


The other thing to know is that adults tend to collect the things from their childhood once they have the means to do so. And once that generation ages out, those items become harder to sell again, so you want to catch that sweet spot.

Agreed.

I'll add that if something says it's "collectible" then it's not really. Lol.

 

[COcheesehead]

Update, couple hours to go and my Hot Wheels car is up to $76. Which I just figured out is about an 8.65% annual return.
So I can officially say Hot Wheels are a below average return investment.

 

[disneysteve]

Update, couple hours to go and my Hot Wheels car is up to $76.

Much bidding happens in the final 30 seconds. Good luck.

 

[COcheesehead]

Much bidding happens in the final 30 seconds. Good luck.

Sometimes. Other times things reach a ridiculous level early and then end there. We’ve been selling on eBay for over 20 years. It has provided lots of enjoyment and some fun money.

 

[travelover]

Rosebud.

 

[statsman]

My parents divorced when I was 14, and the last thing on my mind at that time was my childhood toys (baseball cards, Strat-O-Matic games and cards, Hot Wheels, etc.). I just wanted out of the house. My dad immediately had those items among others tossed when he cleared out the house. This included all of my 45s. Sigh.

 

[disneysteve]

Sometimes. Other times things reach a ridiculous level early and then end there. We’ve been selling on eBay for over 20 years. It has provided lots of enjoyment and some fun money.

True. That happens too. It's always kind of odd when it goes that way and I'm waiting for a last minute jump that never materializes.

 

[COcheesehead]

True. That happens too. It's always kind of odd when it goes that way and I'm waiting for a last minute jump that never materializes.

Yep. Had it happen many times.

 

[COcheesehead]

Final sales price $96 plus shipping. Crazy.

 

[street]

WOW! Your rich!!

 

[disneysteve]

Final sales price $96 plus shipping. Crazy.

It's always nice when you get an unexpected win like that on ebay.

 

[COcheesehead]

WOW! Your rich!!

Richer than yesterday. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.