Let’s be honest: we all still own at least some of our childhood toys hoping they will one day make us rich. But are they really worth anything?
A large part of the country’s population has filled their parents’ attics with their old toys and expects them to be worth a fortune in the near future.
While not all childhood toys and games are valuable, there’s no denying that some trinkets are worth £100. This is especially true for the rarest and oldest toys. So how do you tell treasure from junk?
We show you some of the best vintage toys that are worth money and how much you can earn from them…
Learn how a veteran college student bought Pokémon cards and resold them for 10x the amount he spent.
Table of Contents
What is an old toy worth money?
If you’re faced with a mountain of children’s toys and your parents urging you to get rid of them, don’t throw them away immediately. Take some time to find out which old toys are worth keeping or selling.
This article is a good starting point, but do more research depending on what you have and what toys might be considered rare and valuable.
And if you’re really serious, you can even consult an expert to see how your collection is doing.
Don’t forget to take a look at the collections your parents might have too. You never know what kind of money you could unknowingly keep in the attic.
The most valuable toys from the 1990s and 2000s
These toys from the ’90s and ’00s can be worth big bucks:
1. Polly Pockets
What you’re looking for here is pre-1998 Polly Pockets. Back then, they were tiny (and probably a choking hazard).
As with many other things, how much you can earn from selling Polly Pockets depends on the condition of the items.
How much are Polly Pockets worth?
Two sets of Polly Pockets (The Little Mermaid and Alice in Wonderland) have already sold on eBay for £1,421. But they were in excellent condition and still fully boxed.
Assuming you didn’t keep all your toys in their original packaging, trinket boxes can still sell for £10-30, but rarer specimens can go for as much as £450!
If you’re selling your old Polly Pockets, try grouping a few of them together to make some extra money (and save on postage).
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2. Tamagotchi
If you still own an original Tamagotchi (1996 to 1997), some versions can be sold online for a good price.
How much are Tamagotchis worth?
Unfortunately, the big wins are reserved for the unopened Tamagotchis that are still in their box. These sell for around £50 to £100. Most open specimens are only worth around £10 to £20.
Watch out for special or rare Tamagotchis though, as they can still fetch as much as £80-100 at some online auctions! Look out for the red and white ones or the themed ones.
The lesser-known Digimon Tamagotchis are also worth a lot. These typically sell for between £30 and £60 on eBay, with rare specimens going as high as £100.
3. Disney VHS Tapes
Many VHS tapes are pretty valuable these days, but most probably date from your parents’ days rather than yours.
Raid their video library and see if they have any rare videos. Movies that never made it to DVD are usually the most valuable.
How much are Disney video cassettes worth?
You often hear about Disney VHS tapes, especially the Black Diamond editions. But while people often ask for hundreds of them on eBay, they rarely get more than a few pounds.
Even the infamous edition of The Little Mermaid (banned because one of the castle’s towers resembled a male body part too closely) is selling on eBay for just a few pounds.
It’s best to sell your Disney VHS tapes assets, but don’t expect large sums of money for them!
And while you’re at it, why not try selling some of your old CDs, games, and DVDs to make some extra money? Or read the top secret information from the Disney Vault in our guide to making money.
4. Gameboy
If you’re old enough to remember handheld games before they came in color, you might still have a classic Nintendo Game Boy lying around. And these toys from the 90s are worth a lot of money!
How much are Game Boys worth?
Game Boys from the early 1990s can fetch £50 to £100 on eBay these days, and maybe even more if you also have some games for sale.
Those still in their sealed boxes fetch more, up to £250!
Even your 1998 Game Boy Color can fetch you 50 to 80 pounds, or slightly more if you have a rare version.
5. Barbie
Barbie dolls have been around since the 1950s and millions of children have grown up collecting pink Barbie dolls, dresses, and cars.
The problem is that most “collectible” Barbie dolls were originally expensive to purchase and were often purchased by collectors as an investment rather than a child’s toy.
But that doesn’t mean your set is completely worthless.
How much are barbies worth?
As you might expect, the most valuable Barbie dolls are the oldest. Ones from the 1950s and 1960s can sell for tens of thousands of pounds!
Limited edition and special occasion Barbies are also good choices. The Pink Jubilee Barbie doll celebrating the brand’s 30th anniversary or the Karl Lagerfeld doll honoring the famous designer is among the most valuable.
Basically, you can make money off any substandard barbie dolls by selling them online. And don’t forget that people pay for Barbie clothes too.
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6. Harry Potter books
If you have one of the first edition Harry Potter books at home, you could be sitting on a small fortune.
How much are Harry Potter books worth?
The Grail Books from HP is the first hardcover edition of the very first book – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – published in 1997.
Only 500 copies were published, of which 300 ended up in the libraries. However, they are easy to spot as they are Joanne Rowling and not J.K. attributed to Rowling. They could sell for £30,000+!
Pre-release copies of the first Harry Potter book can also sell for upwards of £5,000, and even the deluxe first editions from 1999 range in price from £300 to £1,800. Even the paperback edition of the first edition has four digits.
The first editions of the next two books in the series are also worth quite a bit (we’re talking £6,500 for The Chamber of Secrets). But after the fourth or fifth book, only copies signed by Rowling himself are worth much.
7. Furby
Remember those super annoying furry creatures that would talk gibberish (before I inevitably removed the batteries to silence them)? Turns out they might be worth keeping after all.
How much are Furbys worth?
If you own an original 1998 Furby it could be worth quite a bit, especially if it’s a limited edition or the original packaging.
Most sell for £10 to £30 on eBay, but we’ve seen a rare multicolored version go for £200.
Dig up yours, see if it still works, and look it up on eBay to get an idea of what yours might be worth.
8. Pokemon Cards
Long before there was Pokémon Go, there were Pokémon cards.
Among the most expensive cards are those won by participants in official Pokémon competitions. The 1997 trophy Pikachu trainer card, for example, sold for almost £60,000 at an auction in Japan in 2020! But there are many other (old) cards that can be worth a lot of money.
How much are Pokémon cards worth?
There are other rare cards that could be worth a few pounds. A first edition Holographic Shadowless Charizard is worth over £15,000 and a first edition Shiny Charizard can fetch around £1,000.
However, these cards are incredibly rare, and most Pokémon cards aren’t worth much. The first-edition maps (printed between 1999 and 2000) are definitely the ones to look out for.
Here’s a short list of some key characteristics that might indicate if your Pokémon card is valuable:
- Rarity Icon – This is located in the lower right corner. Circles and diamonds are common, but a star, an H star, or three stars indicate the card is extremely rare.
- Holograms: Holographic cards tend to be worth more, as are “reverse holographic” cards (cards that shine around the image but not on the image itself).
- Bugs: Pokemon cards with bugs are the rarest and most valuable. Watch out for “shadowless” maps (where the shadow around the image window is missing).
- Symbols or Extra Words – Look out for extra words after the card name: things like “ex”, a star, or “LEGEND” usually mean the card is more valuable.
- First edition cards: This is a good way to make money. Look for the number one in a circle.
- Collector Number: located in the lower right corner of the card. A collector number that is higher than the overall number of the set, e.g. B. 65/64, indicates that the card is a special edition.
If your Pokémon cards don’t have any of these quirks, you should try selling them online as a wholesale set to maximize your profits.
9. Beanie Babies
We start with what is often referred to as the Holy Grail of valuable children’s toys: the Beanie Baby.
Numerous viral articles over the years have proclaimed that these stuffed animals are worth thousands. But are they really worth anything?
How Much Are Beanie Babies Worth?
If you’re lucky enough to own a rare Beanie Baby, you can get a few hundred pounds for it on eBay. But keep in mind that most Beanie Babies are worth very little.
Even Princess Diana’s commemorative bear, which is often hailed as one of the rarest bears, hardly gets any attention on eBay.
There are some jewels that can be worth up to £1,000 and the Employee Beanie Baby is one of them. However, only 300 were made (exclusively for Ty’s staff). So it won’t be easy to get one.
This list will give you a good idea of which Beanie Babies are the rarest and are worth the most money.
For example, if you have a Humphrey Camel or a Peanut Elephant (Royal Blue), you might be able to sell them for a few hundred pounds.
Be aware of things like labeling and whether it’s a first or second-generation bear, though, as that will affect the price you can expect.
10. Super Bathers
Yes, your old water guns could be worth real money.
How much are Super Soakers worth?
Some Super Soaker models sell for a lot of money. The powerful Monster XL can sell for a few hundred pounds, while the classic Super Soaker 50 is worth around £30-50.
You probably won’t get much for the most common models, but it’s also worth checking eBay for new trends or inquiries.
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11. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards
As with Pokémon, some of the rarest Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are worth quite a bit these days.
How much is Yu-Gi-Oh? Are cards worth it?
Card Mavin is a quick way to determine if your card is worth anything. This is a price guide site for collectible cards like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
As there are usually multiple versions of the same card, it is best to enter the unique card number in the bottom right corner of the card. This will bring up a list of similar cards and an average selling price.
Narrow this field by selecting the cards that most closely resemble yours (e.g. holographic cards) and the value of the card will be adjusted accordingly.
12. LEGO
Es gibt zwei Möglichkeiten, Ihr altes Lego zu verkaufen. Wenn Sie große Mengen an unpassenden, zufälligen Teilen haben, können Sie Geld verdienen, indem Sie sie kiloweise verkaufen. Oder wenn Sie Sammlungen bestimmter Lego-Sets/Spiele haben, können Sie diese zusammen in einem Paket verkaufen.
Wie viel ist Lego wert?
Music Magpie zahlt 1,50 £ pro Pfund. Die Teile müssen sauber und in gutem Zustand sein und dürfen keine Megablocks oder Knex sein, sondern müssen echte Legosteine sein. Vollständige Sätze sind hier jedoch irrelevant.
Wenn Sie ein Paket mit Teilen aus einem bestimmten Satz oder einer bestimmten Serie haben, können Sie mehr erwarten, als wenn Music Magpie sie über andere Websites wie eBay verkauft (bis zu 50 £ für eine anständige Menge).
Für ein großes Paket mit Mini-Lego-Figuren kann man auch rund 50 Pfund verlangen.
Das wahre Geld liegt jedoch in den kompletten Sets. Einige der Star Wars Lego-Sets können für Tausende verkauft werden. Der Millennium Falke aus The Ultimate Collector wurde zum Beispiel schon einmal für 3.800 Pfund verkauft (ursprünglich für 342 Pfund gekauft).
Das Taj Mahal-Set könnte ebenfalls ein paar hundert Pfund einbringen, während das Café Corner zwischen 500 und 1.500 Pfund wert sein soll.
Diese Sets sind auch noch nicht so alt, viele stammen aus der Mitte der 2000er Jahre. Wenn Sie das Glück haben, eines dieser wertvollen Lego-Sets zu besitzen, sollten Sie in Erwägung ziehen, anstelle von eBay eine spezialisierte Website wie Brick Picker zu nutzen. So können Sie sicherstellen, dass Sie das beste Angebot erhalten.
13. Happy Meal-Spielzeug
Die Spielzeuge von McDonald’s Happy Meal sind heute nicht mehr so gut wie früher, oder? Aber wussten Sie, dass diese McDonald’s-Spielzeuge Geld wert sein können?
Mit einigen der beliebtesten und sammelwürdigsten Sets kann man heute noch Geld verdienen (aber leider nicht viel).
Wie viel sind Happy Meal-Spielzeuge wert?
Ein komplettes Set von Charge of the 101 Toys aus dem Jahr 1996 kann Ihnen rund 50 Pfund oder mehr einbringen, wenn Sie auch die Faltschachtel haben.
Spielzeuge wie die Teenie Beanie Babies von 1997 oder die McFurbies von 1999 kosten nicht viel mehr als ein paar Pfund, aber größere Sets können etwas mehr kosten.
14. Mario Kart 64
The Nintendo 64 was an essential pastime for anyone growing up in the late 1990s.
How much is Mario Kart 64 worth?
Your old game cartridges could be worth quite a bit now, especially the rarer games.
But even one of the most popular games, Mario Kart 64, can be bought on eBay for around £30. The price goes up to £40-50 if you still have the original packaging.
15. Classic iPod
iPods may not be the essential devices they once were, but some of the first generations are now worth a pretty penny. Especially now that Apple has officially stopped producing iPods, the value could go up even further.
How Much Are iPod Classics Worth?
If you own a first-generation iPod classic from 2001, you can sell it on eBay for between £100 and £200, depending on the condition.
Even second-generation iPod classics can sell for between £50 and £100 online, so it’s worth looking into.
16. My little pony
My Little Pony launched in the 1980s and is still a classic for kids today.
A rare 1983 ‘Firefly’ pony has already been sold on eBay for £786, but others are also worth quite a bit!
How much are My Little Ponies worth?
As with most of these toys, these are first edition or rare breeds. These often have an issue date on the hooves, so keep an eye out for that.
The pony Twinkle Eye Unicorn is considered the most valuable because it was only produced in a very small number. You can pay up to £150 for a copy in good condition.
Mail-order ponies are also quite valuable. These were ponies that could be shipped with proof of purchase for other ponies, making them much rarer.
