Time for the second part of my walk down memory lane of toys, as I look further into what some of the toys of yesteryear are now worth, I’ve painfully counted up the worth of what toys I owned as a kid back in the 70s and 80s coming to a total of nearly £800,000. Little did I know that by the time I was around 14yrs old I was almost a near millionaire.
Generation X, I think are the generation that realised there was more to the toys that we played with as kids, they were memories, nostalgic and ‘RETRO’. Did we invent that word? Retro today is a word set between Vintage and Present, set around the 70s, 80s and maybe the 90s. A period where toys were cool! We had Star Wars, He-Man, Trans Formers, GI Joe, as well as the birth of the Atari video game console.
These days, these toys have become highly valuable collectors items, and if you have one of these in mint condition, in its packaging, then you could have some serious money in the back of you closet or the attic!
Because this was an era where we actually played with these toys and had no idea that these toys in the future would become gold, the few that are in mint condition can be worth huge sums of money!
Gen X has become a generation of nostalgic collectors of toys, vinyl & sneakers are at the heart of this generational community.
Unfortunately for most of us, our parents either handed down these toys to younger siblings and cousins like my parents or just threw them in the bin or gave them away to charity shops.
For me, looking back at the countless toys I had as a kid and totting up what these are worth today, I could buy maybe a Porsche, Not kidding! Remember Steve Austin Six Million Dollar Man? The original Bobba Fett with the projectile rocket and Jowa with the vinyl coat? Looking back its unreal what money these toys I had as a kid that are now worth thousands, in fact some tens of thousands!
Our generation has built a community that spans continents, where you can buy online and head to many of these collectors events that literally take over expo centres such.
I do have luckily a few items from my childhood that Ive managed to save. The Atari Games Console, the Commodore 64, the Spectrum 48K (yeh! that one with the rubber keys), Sega 16bit and SEGA Game Gear.
So check your closet, check your attic and then get over to your parents house and rummage through their closets and attic, you never know, they may have some of your old toys hidden away and forgotten.
So let have a look at some of these toys that could possibly make you a little rich…
Field Commander and Field Radio
The US had GI Joe, here in the UK, we had Action Man!… I remember as a kid growing up in Highworth around the age of 6yrs, I owned a huge amount of Action Man toys, including tanks, attack helicopters, the huge training tower and this item, the Field Commander.
Available in the mid 1970s the figure came with a field radio pack, as well as four discs, head set for the radio, and an officers side arm. If you find this today in good condition boxed, you could expect to pay between £170 and £250
Stretch Armstrong
Here’s another children’s favourite from Kenner which later was aquiered by Hasbro. Stretch Armstrong was that man whose arms can be stretched as far as possible without breaking. Back then, if you had one of these, you could go hours just stretching and stretching and still get entertained.
Released in 1976-77, Stretch was fabricated with a body of latex rubber and filled with a unique gelled corn-syrup mixture. An O-ring at the top of Stretch’s body prevented leakage and served as an attachment for the head. The resulting 13-inch “action figure” resembled a body builder and could be temporarily stretched up to four feet in any direction before shrinking back to original size.
This particular vintage Stretch Armstrong doll is actually very rare and has gone to auction for an insane £3,000, but with die-hard collectors out there, the price can fetch up to £10,000. Well, what can we say, this toy was just the bomb, and having one today is another excuse to play with those stretchy arms. Or perhaps this is an indication of the hazards of excessive wealth!
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels was another favourite collectible. There are many versions of these cars made today, but none of them compare to the original ones made back in the ‘60s. In fact, since 1968, over 4,000,000,000 Hot Wheel toys have been made, but not all of them are considered valuable.
Some of the toys were only made as a prototype, like the 1969 “Volkswagen Beach Bomb.” This version never made it to production, making it one of a kind and with a value of $125,000. So, if you are a hardcore collector of these toys, you might want to start saving up!
Kart 64 Game Cartridge
Oh, goodness! It’s Super Mario! Who remembers how much fun it was to spend hours in front of the TV trying to jump for a mushroom? Yes, we all struggled to play this game, but we loved it! In fact, because it was so popular, even adults got in on the action. Yes, kids, you weren’t the only ones who got addicted to this game.
Owning a mint-condition Super Mario Kart cartridge that still works and has no scratches can get you some pretty big bucks. If you have one lying around and you take a look on line for what it’s worth, you can earn a quick £600! Awesome, okay, now we need to look for those cartridges, guys!
Cabbage Patch Dolls
This toy was an absolute favourite! As a kid, especially little girls, we just loved carrying these things everywhere and treating them like they were our babies! Admit it, you did the same thing, right? Back when they were launched, parents literally ended up in A&E from injuries sustained racing into the stores trampling on each other to get one before they were sold out, so not to disappoint their children. Back in the 80s, these dolls sold for £30. Now these dolls are almost extinct!
If you have one lying around in your house somewhere and you decide to sell it, you can actually score a pretty hefty profit. Today, the most expensive Cabbage Patch dolls are the possession of Pat and Joe Prosey. They are so addicted to these dolls that they have more than 6,000 dolls in their custom-built Maryland museum, estimated at around $360,000!
To own a Cabbage Patch Doll today, if they have a box in good condition, a birth certificate and original clothes, you can expect to pay between £500 to several thousands.
Beanie Babies
Here’s another favourite, the loveable Beanie Babies. If you were born in the ‘90s, this toy was a huge deal for a long period of time, starting from the ‘90s up to the late 2000s. Unfortunately, like everything else in this world, the fad died down.
But mind you, there are still hardcore vintage collectors out there that are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a rare edition Beanie Babies toy. Depending on the item, some of these toys will be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Depending on its rarity, you could be sitting on an insane amount of money! For example, at the bottom of the run for £2800 you could pick up a Nana the Monkey, originally produced in 1995, or how about Iggy the Iguana, first being produced in 1997 currently valued at around £10,000 or how about cut to the chase with Princess Bear, produced in 1997 to commemorate the death of Princess Diana, now worth around £400,000.
Pokemon Cards
Pokemon! Not my thing, but this has had a mega insane popularity, fuelled by social media influencers and big named celebrities in the US. It was and still is an addictive craze where people buy sealed boxes for over $10,000 not knowing if they have a single card worth any money doing box openings live on TikTok and YouTube. At the time of its popularity, kids would go gaga to collect the rarest cards, and its still the same today with those kids now being young adults. The struggle of finding a holographic card in one deck and trading off different cards to complete a set was all too much fun. But who said all that work had to go to waste? Anyone who said these cards would lose their value in the future was mistaken.
Since their release in the early ‘90s, Pokemon cards are still in demand and have gained a huge following. Some of these cards are even worth thousands, depending on the condition and rarity. Today, pokemon cards are still sold, and even though there are some new ones out there that don’t compare to the old ones, it still feels like a blast from the past to collect them. Go Pikachu!
YouTube influencer Logan Paul in 2022 bought a truly one-of-a-kind card, the ‘population 1 PSA 10 Illustrator Pikachu’ a a valuation of $5.275million.
Sega Genesis Console
Ah, the Sega! This is where it all started. If you were into Mario and Sonic games back then, you’ll definitely remember this console. We all had a lot of memories with this one. Back then, because it was so popular, kids from all over the world wanted one and just had to get their hands on a Sonic the Hedgehog or Mario Kart game.
The ‘Sega Genesis’, known as the ‘Mega Drive’ outside North America, was a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega’s third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in 1989 in North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe.
If you happen to have one lying around in your home, you might end up with a few extra hundred quid, but whatever you do, don’t think about throwing it away yet. If it is still in mint condition and working smoothly, hit the internet and sell it online because you could earn up to £2,000 for it. Now, that is a lot of cash for one console!
First Edition Pound Puppies Plush
Do you guys remember Pound Puppies? They were another popular favourite back in the day. This toy was sold by Tonka in the 1980s, which later inspired a TV special, two animated TV shows, and a feature film. They usually came in a variety of plush stuffed dog dolls with cute floppy ears and droopy eyes.
When they were first made and finally released, kids started going crazy for them. If you look at the price of these toys today, a first edition version of this toy is so rare that you can sell if for £4,000 or maybe even more if you’re lucky.
Talkboy
Did you watch Home Alone as a kid? We have got to admit those movies had some of the best gadgets, and having one available as a toy back then meant everything. Well, here’s a fun fact, believe it or not, after the release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Talkboy became popular.
Sure, this thing was just a stylish version of a tape recorder, but if you’re holding on to one, you can take a look on the net to see who is willing to buy it from you. If you sell it, you can earn a quick £200.
Furby
Furby was just one of those toys you couldn’t understand at first, but surprisingly made some great childhood memories for many kids. Let’s be honest here, shall we? Who among you thought it was a mixture of a hamster and an owl at the same time? We are guessing most of us felt that. These Furby toys became super popular for most ‘90s kids, and almost everyone had one.
They were very cuddly and could sometimes move their eyes or talk. If you have an unopened original Furby doll, you can expect to earn around £900 for it. Of course, that depends on what kind of Furby doll and if it’s totally untouched.
Lionel’s Pennsylvania “Trail Blazer” Train Set
Trains were another popular toy for kids back then, as they are today, and as they probably have been since the advent of rail travel. I actually remember playing with this as a kid, obviously handed down to me from I guess my dad (I’m 50, not old!).
Having a train set in your house back then was the ultimate. You could set it up anywhere in your room and be as creative as you wanted with them, setting up the tracks in all sorts of physics-defying arrangements.
Modern versions of this toy exist aplenty, but if you happen to have one of these vintage collectibles lying around in your house somewhere, a 1934 Standard Gauge version of this train set will earn you £250,000. Yup, that’s a six-figure toy you’re looking at. That’s an insane amount of money, I guess you better look through your attic to make sure you didn’t miss out!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1980s Actions Figures
*Hums in song* “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!” Yeah! We loved these guys back then. I was too old for the toys themselves, but loved the cartoon, this was a toy my younger siblings had in abundance though. It was the huge popularity for them, that whenever the show would come on, we’d be glued to the TV, waiting for Donatello to make his next move on the bad guy. These four awesome turtles became very popular in the late ‘80s.
They were popular collector’s items, too, with all kinds of merchandise that you could buy, such as action figures, comic books, and so much more. If you are one of those lucky people who still has an action figure or a lunch box somewhere, you could sell those online and earn yourself a quick £600 apiece. You can earn up to £5,000 if you have a rare one. Woah! Cowabunga!
Jurassic Park Figures
We all love dinosaurs! Even as adults! Come on, admit it! For those young enough to be kids when the first Jurassic Park movie came out, own up if you got scared, its OK, I’d bet some adults in the movie theatre screamed too a few times throughout the movie!
It’s not hard to see how you could get scared, these were humongous animals after all, and they wanted to chase and eat you, and the stunning realistic special effect developed for the film was ground breaking. Let’s face it, no matter how scared we got watching the movie, it still felt like the coolest thing to have an action figure of the T-Rex displayed in your room if you were a kid of the 90s.
Jurassic Park was one the biggest films of the 1990s, and it was also perfect for the toy market. If you have an original version of these dinosaur figures, you could sell them online for around £1,400. Although there are still dinosaur figures out on the market now, nothing compares to the original! Go take a look in your attic, you might find something, but be careful with your fingers, something might just come out and bite it!
Vinyl Caped Jawa
Here is one of the rare original Star Wars action figure that was quite popular back in the day. Star Wars was known to have a lot of characters in the franchise, and most of them were the bad guys. If you don’t know who this guy is, these were the small guys that used to steal items like androids.
This specific version that you can see in the photo can earn you at least £5,000, potentially could sell much more, depending on the condition and if it is still in its box. When this version of the Caped Jawa was released in 1978, its cape was made out of vinyl. This was before the Kenner company decided the cape looked too cheap and switched the vinyl to cloth, which makes it a pretty rare item.
Playmobil
We all dreamed of becoming movie directors at some point in our childhood. We always wanted to set scenes for our toys, whether they would be at the salon, a bar, a toy store, or anywhere else. We always wanted to use our imaginations to the fullest extent possible to create that imaginary bad guy-good guy scene in our heads.
Playmobil was the best. They were originally from Germany and worked pretty much like make-believe movie sets. You could build a location based on the parts that came with the box you bought, then your other toys could join in on the fun. Now a more limited released toy, the original Playmoil sets can sell for more than £1000.
Transformers
Back in the 1980s, the Transformers were an absolute smash-hit phenomenon. Judging by the sheer volume of merchandise available for sale at toy stores, there were a lot of kids crazy for anything Transformers-related. They were first released by the Hasbro company back in 1984, and millions of kids owned one.
The Transformers have gone through a many reincarnations since then, not only with the movies which personally I didn’t like as much as the original cartoons, there have also been several reincarnation’s of the cartoon with more of an anime feel to them that for me just didnt stand up to the original cartoons that we would watch on Waccaday with Timmy Mallet. As for the toys, the same. If you look back at the original 1980s toys, they were solidly built, looked of great quality and good size. Todays Transformer toys look just cheap and plastic.
Although there are many toys available for purchase today from four decades of the franchises toy releases, there are still collector items that are worth way more than the ones produced today. If you own a first edition, you could earn more than £2000 for it if it is still in its original packaging.
Vintage Super Soaker Gun
Oh! This is absolutely nostalgic. Owning a water gun back in the day meant fun for every kid on the street. It was a favourite pastime on hot summer days, whether you were having a water war or just sneaking up on unsuspecting passersby. This Super Soaker 100 is super vintage and rare.
Today, you can still find many sold on the market that are imitations of the original, however, they have all different features added and are much more complicated to operate. The first edition can be sold for up to £1,000. Nice!
G.I. Joe Circa 1964
Like Spiderman, Superman, and Batman, G.I. Joe was the original action-man, this was Action Man for those who lived over the pond in the US. This toy is not totally phased out, though, there are still different versions of him on the market today, and with probably even better gadgets than what he had back then. Unlike Action Man, GI Joe went through a few changes, including becoming a miniature version on the size of the original Star Wars figures which are also popular with collectors.
The original action man, G.I. Joe, was owned by every young boy in the ’60s, and, like his female counterpart Barbie, he is still with us today. He has had lots of different editions and appearances over the years, but his original 1964 version is worth the most money. If you (or your grandparents) have one of these in the attic, you could be looking at a cool £10,000. That is if it’s in mint condition and unopened.
Barbie
Our final retro toy is Barbie! With the recent movie hitting the big screen breaking box office records and even being nominated for Oscars, the price of rare original Barbies have gone through the roof in price. If you owned one of these before the film you literally quadrupled their worth over night!
Barbie was every little girl’s dream toy. Her stylish clothes, fantastic hair, and cute face made her a quick favorite. Barbie was first released in 1959, but she seems to have existed since the beginning of time. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much the original ones cost?
For all the hardcore collectors out there, they would die to get one of those in their hands. If you have an original Barbie doll that is in mint condition and still inside the box, you can earn more than $23,000 for it. Now, that’s a lot of money! Not bad considering, the original 1960s Barbie sold for $3.
Entertainment Swindon 
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