If you’re reading this article, you’re probably somebody who fangirled hard after certain franchises, or just enjoyed being the nerd who reads through all the comics, watched all the movies, and saved up to buy all the nice toys as a child, teen, or even an adult. Or maybe you’re somebody who loves fishing for vintage toy collectibles at the flea market. Whatever your reasons may be, if you’re somebody who has a solid toy collection, then you probably don’t know you’re sitting on a gold mine, and this article will explain why. Read on to find out if your toy collection is worth a lot more than you’d imagined.
1. Boxed Toys That Look Old
If you have boxed toys with price tags still intact lying in your attic, now might be the right time to start digging through them. You may find a hidden treasure in your collection that is now considered a vintage collectible toy on the market. For instance, when The Transformers first came out, there was a range of original toys released by Hasbro called the Generation 1 toys. These toys are considered vintage and can be sold for decent money at this point. So if your goal is to sell transformer toys, all you need to do is rummage through your collection and find the right toys.
2. Your Vintage Toys Are Good As New
If you were the type who took great care of your toys, then some of your vintage toys may still be in great condition with all of their accessories intact. This means you can sell them for an even bigger price than a loose vintage toy. If you have multiple toys that can make a collected theme pack, that’s even better. It’s two factors that decide how good your toy product is for a big sale: the rarity and the condition of the toys.
3. Capitalize on The Side Characters
When a movie or comic franchise is released, the main characters in the franchise are often mass-produced according to the demand in the market. At the same time, side characters are often produced in a lower count. Which means, after a while, they are not stocked in the retail market. This is where your vintage collection comes in handy. If you were a toy collector, now you would be in possession of a rare find that can help somebody complete their collection, and a fan could buy the toy off you for a really good price.
4. How To Find Real Toys In the Market
If you’re on the lookout for a real deal in thrift shops or flea markets, there are a few telltale signs that can help you identify the product pretty easily. You should look at the colors of the box, if they are yellowed or slightly faded, and if they don’t carry any website addresses, QR codes, or any “retro collection” disclaimers that can identify the toy as a reproduction of an original toy. Vintage toys do not carry any such disclaimers or information and come in pretty simple packaging.
5. The Quality Of The Toy
Another important sign of a real vintage toy is how sturdy the build of toy is. Most of the vintage toys were made with a really thick and good quality plastic, if they were made by companies like Hasbro, etc., or big companies that worked with movie franchises. If the material feels thin or the plastic is not great and can basically break after a fall from the shelf, then that toy won’t be worth much.
6. Is The Toy A Limited Edition
Within the category of vintage toys, there are still rarer finds that are not easily found. See if you have got a toy you purchased a couple of decades ago from a limited edition. If you can find one, then that might be the holy grail of your toy collection. All the rare or limited edition toys are usually in demand, even if they’re not a decade old. So the older and rarer the toy is, the more it’s worth in the resale market.
7. People Tell You How Rare Your Toys Are
You might never have thought about your toy collection as a source of revenue. Still, if people keep telling you that you have the best toy collection or if you’re known in the collectibles community as somebody who has a stellar collection, then you definitely have a margin to make some money off of your collection.
Conclusion
If you have had your fill of owning rare and vintage toys and are willing to part with some of them, selling them to a fan would be the best use of those toys. This way, you get to make money, and somebody else gets to own a dream toy that they have always wanted to add to their collection.