We were shocked to learn just how much these eight children's toys are selling for today.
Well, Halloween is over. While most Americans now begin the march towards the next holiday on the calendar -- Thanksgiving -- retailers are skipping right to Christmas. They are hoping to capitalize on the holiday rush and get shoppers spending their money well before the holiday season actually begins. Last year, Christmas and holiday spending was expected to top $1 trillion. With the economy picking up, many are predicting that 2017's total Christmas spending will reach even higher. Especially when it comes to children's toys, most of these plastic toys get used for a year and discarded. Financially, a lot of Christmas spending is a huge waste of money. Then again, you can't put a price tag on a child's smile ...
But that got us thinking: what Christmas toys have appreciated over the years? Which plastic dolls, action figures, or other gizmos have broken the mold and actually gained value?
So, after a bit of research, here are eight of the most valuable old toys that people have just collecting dust in their attics or basements.
Click below to start the list!
1. 1977 Luke Skywalker action figure
It's probably a long-shot that you've got one of these just sitting around. However, if you do own these old figurines, you're sitting on a small nest egg of children's toys.
In 2015, one of these in mint condition inside the box reportedly went for $25,000. But you don't need to have one in pristine condition to get a nice chunk of change.
While the visibly used figures are going for $10 to 20 on Ebay, there are mint-condition Luke Skywalker action figures that are currently listed for as much as $4,999 on the online bidding site.
A select few of the figurines included a unique, double-telescoping lightsaber for the figure to hold. Those limited editions tend to go for 10 times as much as the regular figures are worth.
If you're looking to buy one of these figures, be careful: there are a lot of fakes out there on the market as well.
2. PEZ Dispensers
PEZ dispensers made simple, sugar candies fun. For the longest time, they could be found in every single market and convenience store. A lot of people have built up pretty epic collections.
While few PEZ dispensers have retained their original purchase value, there are some limited edition dispensers that are now worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. And not all of them have to be depicting well-known characters to hold their value.
Right now, there's a PEZ dispenser on Ebay that was sold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Yugoslavia depicting the Olympic mascot, a wolf. Outside of that country, this PEZ dispenser probably holds limited sentimental value. However, its rarity now commands a pretty significant valuation.
Don't have one super valuable PEZ dispenser? You'd be amazed at how much you can get for an entire collection of dispensers.
Numbers three and four deal with games. Click to see the rest of the list!
3. Old Board Games
We all have them. Most are in a box somewhere waiting for a family reunion or game night. But those old board games may be worth a pretty penny.
Back in 2011, a hand-drawn original version of the board game Monopoly sold for almost $150,000 at auction. While that is definitely the exception and not the norm, a lot of the older and special edition board games can sell for a surprising price, to the right buyer.
For example, there is currently a NIB Star Wars Episode One Monopoly board game on Ebay for $4,000. Opened and used versions, however, sell for around $30. Even so, $30 for a 16-year-old board game that is just collecting dust isn't that bad of a deal. If you have a box of old, special edition board games, check to see how much they're selling for.
4. Old Video Game Systems
Kids are always asking for the newest video game consoles. With new generations and technologies coming out on a yearly basis, it can be hard to keep up. What's even worse is that as soon as a new XBOX or PlayStation comes out, the previous version becomes worth significantly less.
But there is a point at which junk becomes vintage. The kids of the '80s and '90s are now adults, and while they are certainly looking to keep up-to-date with technology, they are also more than willing to pay for nostalgia.
For example, the Nintendo 64 originally retailed for $199 back in 1996. While you won't be able to recoup all of that money, packages that include the game system as well as a couple controllers and games routinely sell for hundreds of dollars. Games tend to cost $15 and up. Even older Gameboy systems can demand $50+ online.
Go through your old video game systems and you might even be able to sell enough to afford a brand new one!
$1 million worth of Cabbage Patch dolls? Click the link below to read more.
5. Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls
Ever heard of the phrase "house-poor?" It describes someone whose net-worth is tied up in property. Pat and Joe Posey are Cabbage Patch Kids-poor. In many ways, they are just like any American couple, except for the fact that they were forced to move into a trailer park because they couldn't stop buying Cabbage Patch dolls. Instead of putting a roof over their heads, they opted to use their 3,000-square-foot building to house their 5,000-doll collection.
The cheapest doll they bought was around $10, but the most expensive purchase they will admit to topped out at $8,000 ... for one Cabbage Patch Kids doll. Pat Posey estimates that their collection, all together, was worth north of $900,000. However, as of a few years ago, the couple was willing to let their collection go for a measly $360,000. We searched across the internet, but weren't able to see if anyone took them up on their offer to sell their children's toys ...
You might not have a collection like that, but if you have a rare Cabbage Patch Kids doll, I think I know a couple that might be willing to buy it off you!
5. Lite Brite
Unlike the Poseys' Cabbage Patch Kids collection, an original Lite-Brite won't make you risk. But we were shocked to learn just how much original Lite-Brites can sell for.
An original Lite-Brite can easily sell for more than $100. Considering the fact that they cost, what, $20 back in the day, that's not a bad appreciation for something many people forget they even own.
This one was pretty surprising, especially since the whole concept of Lite-Brite hasn't changed since it first came out. Nevertheless, there is apparently a market for these old children's toys, so don't throw them out!
6. "Home Alone 2" Talkboy
As soon as I got the idea to put this list together, I called my parents and asked them if they could find my old "Home Alone 2" Talkboy. You remember, this is the cassette recorder that Macaulay Culkin's character Kevin McCallister used to trick the burglars in the "Home Alone" sequel.
Why did I pressure my parents into digging through old boxes in their basement over this? Well, because a "Home Alone 2" Talkboy can go for upwards of $150 0n Ebay. If you ever want to get someone to dig through old, stinky boxes, just tell them there's a hundred-dollar bill somewhere in the basement.
Next, we round out the list with $1,000 model trains and Beanie Babies that are still worth something.
7. Model Trains People who are into model trains -- and I mean really into model trains -- will pay a pretty penny to add to their collections. On the flip side, people who aren't into trains might be inclined to throw away their old models. Don't! Large collections of model trains and tracks, especially vintage ones, can fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Even someone who is only a modest collector would probably be willing to pay $20 for a train they've never seen before. If you have some model trains from when you were a kid, they could be surprisingly valuable in today's economy.
8. Beanie Babies
We round out our list with potentially the most overpriced collectable toy in world history: Beanie Babies. Come to think of it, it is probably not accurate to describe Beanie Babies as children's toys because so many adults got into collecting them as well.
Beanie Babies can owe their success to clever marketing and inventory management. Stores were only allowed to order so many Beanie Babies at a time and the threat of "retirement" was usually enough to prompt collectors to buy whatever designs were left on shelves.
At their height, rare and retired Beanie Babies were selling for THOUSANDS. But in the 2000s, the market fell out from under the plush toys. People who had amassed hundreds of these toys, expecting a future payday, were shocked to learn they wouldn't be retiring on the back of their rare Patti the Platypus toy.
But, believe it or not, there are still some Beanie Babies that command five-figure-and-up price tags at auction. If you have one of the original nine Beanie Babies, you're sitting on a least a couple hundred dollars, depending on condition. But if you have a Beanie Baby that was exclusively released to commemorate an occasion, the price can go up even higher.
A rare 1st Edition of a Beanie Baby bear commemorating Princess Diana's death can sell for thousands of dollars. Some over-enthusiastic collectors have even listed their Diana bears for hundreds of thousands of dollars online, though no one has taken them up on that offer.
Well, what children's toys did we leave out? Let us know in the comment section below if you've sold any old toys for a lot of money!
