Collecting old toys
Collecting old toys is great fun and if you search around at car boot sales or bricks and mortar auctions, there's always a good chance that you might find some old toys and if you're lucky, these toys might be worth money to collectors. So what should you look out for if you want to keep an eye out for old toys and aren't sure whether or not you should buy them?
Collecting old toys - what to look out for
Here are a few suggestions that should help you to distinguish old toys that might be worth some money from old toys that are best left well alone.
- Is it an original toy or a later copy? Some collectable toys have been remade over the years and needless to say, the remakes are not worth much if anything to old toy collectors. Some examples that spring to mind are Stylophones - the Rolf Harris promoted pocket organ made by Dubreq in the 1970's. Original Stylophones with their original boxes and records intact are very collectable. However, these can be bought brand new in "lookalike" packaging but the new ones sell for around £10-15 and will not be of any interest to a collector. On the other hand, you might get £100 or more for a mint boxed original Stylophone with the original inserts, song sheet and record. An other example is Evil Knievel Ideal toys. The original 1970's toys are very valuable in good condition but some of these were also remade using the original moulds a couple of years ago. If you buy a remade one you could be making a costly mistake so make sure that any Evel Knievel Ideal toys that you see in the wild are original 1970's versions.
- Check for original packaging. Most toys are worth a LOT more if they come in their original packaging and in many cases, the packaging effectively works out to be more valuable that the actual toy. This is because rare toy collectors are after original toys that are as near to "unplayed" in condition as is possible and that means boxed or in their original packaging. A good example here are model cars such as Dinky, Corgi or Matchbox. The rarer cars will always be collectable even if they're not boxed, but many editions are relatively common in unboxed and used condition, but could be very rare if in mint packaging. Action Man toys and outfits are also worth a lot more if they are in their original boxes or plastic blister packaging. People into Collecting old toys ideally look for toys described as MIB which means "Mint in Box". They are the most valuable vintage toys you can buy.
- Is it a popular toy? Some old toys are best forgotten as they weren't very good in the first place and may not have found a place in the hearts of toy collectors. Other toys however will always conjure up childhood memories and therefore will always be in demand by toy collectors (subject to 1 and 2!) For example, toy trains and train sets are always popular, vintage Action Man and certain dolls are as well. Tinplate toys and model cars are also "classic toys" which will be sought after. However, there may be some other toys or games which were not so popular when issued which may not be popular even now so in other words, old doesn't automatically mean collectable. There were many football board/table type games which were rubbish (and still are), whereas Subbuteo, Striker and Super Striker were classics which will always be collectable. Collecting old toys for profit is about finding toys that other people want to buy. Collecting them for yourself is simply about finding the ones you remember and/or like!
We hope this has been a useful guide to collecting old toys and how to spot rare and collectable toys in the wild. Have a look around the site, we have brought together some truly dazzling rare toys for your perusal. Collecting old toys is great fun and can make you money as well!