Childhood nostalgia is a great thing. Memories of times before life, responsibilities, and indigestion are the absolute business. It’s what gets your butt out of bed in the morning, baby! It’s the good gear.
But unless you have infinite storage space, eventually the old toys have gotta hit the tip. Thankfully, not everything has to go straight binward. In fact, there’s a fair chance some of the stuff cluttering up a storage tub in yr garage is worth a wad of cash; there’s a collector for everything these days after all, if all those picking shows 7Mate plays on a 24-hour loop have taught us anything.
Here’s ten of the hottest toys only 90s kids remember that could turn yr Dollarmite pocket money into a stack o’ gold:
LEGO
LEGO collecting isn’t just another nostalgia fad. It’s a serious business that some economists say is a better investment than shares or gold.
Some unopened sets can go for upwards of $2000 on the market. The primary reason is that the Danish toy company has strict rules regarding shelf life, meaning some sets are only on the market for months before being pulled. The rarest sets include any from the annual Modular and Ultimate Collector’s Series ranges, as well as any ‘Star Wars’ sets.
TAMAGOTCHI
The LED-powered electronic pets were a staple of school playgrounds in the 90s. While it was easy to kill yours off through negligence (i.e. letting it poo everywhere and never cleaning up), overfeeding, or any number of other factors, it may yet have a second life as a cash cow. Original Tamagotchi units go for around $100 a pop, while you can expect upwards of $200 for one that’s still in its original packaging. Sweet!
NINTENDO GAMEBOY
The original and the best handheld device. Yes it was clunky, had no backlight, and practically ate AA batteries like wieners in a fourth of July hot dog eating contest. But try and tell me you don’t have fond memories of blasting through ‘Tetris’, ‘Dr Mario’, and ‘Pokemon Red and Blue’ on its tiny square screen.
Thankfully, it’s memories like those that have made for a lucrative second-hand market for working units; you can expect between $200 and $500 for a working console, depending on whether or not you still have things like cables and instruction booklets.
TALKBOY
‘Home Alone 2’ may be remembered for some real weird things now – Macaulay Culkin‘s adult life, the awkward cameo with future President Donald Trump, the curious issue of how a family managed to lose a kid in a different city twice without Child Services getting involved – but it was a bonafide hit back in the day.
So much so that the Talkboy – the cassette player that Kevin McAllister uses to record and slow down his own voice – became one of the hottest toys of Christmas ’92. While cassettes may be obsolete, nostalgia for the film has driven prices for the Tiger Electronics gadget sky-high; you can get over $200 for one in good condition.
FURBIES
The 90s sensation and certified most annoying thing on the planet is somehow not only still popular, but popular enough to garner incredibly high prices on the open market. An original Furby can nab you almost $1000 on the open market, which may be enough to destroy all memories of ever owning one in the first place.
POKEMON CARDS
This one has been well-documented, with the particularly rare holographic Charizard card being one of the most in-demand cards. But there’s a few tricks to spotting if yours is worth real moolah or just another dud.
First, if the Pokemon picture has a “drop shadow” around it’s edges, it was not part of the initial print run; you want one with no drop shadow. Second, if it has “Series 1” on the bottom left corner of the Pokemon picture, it’s one of the first printings and is INCREDIBLY rare. Rare = Big bucks. No whammies.
MACCA’S HAPPY MEAL TOYS
Yes, even the pieces of plastic that got between you and the glorious taste of a cheesy are worth something. Now, the return on these isn’t much; you’re looking at around $50 – $80 for a complete set of toys from such 90s classics as the ‘X-Men’ cartoon and ‘Disney’s Mulan’. But considering you practically paid nothing for them, it’s still a huge return.
TAZOS
Another playground staple that was originally only designed to sell chips, the venerable Tazo has practically become a goldmine. A complete set of rare tazos from such famed lines as ‘Space Jam’ or ‘Dragon Ball Z’ can go for up to $900. At almost a grand per set, suddenly the schoolyard bully’s threats to steal your slammers make a lot more sense.
NINTENDO 64 GAMES
Who hasn’t spent a whole weekend parked in front of their TV smashing ‘Ocarina of Time’ or ‘Mario Kart’? Nobody worth talking to, that’s for dang sure.
That childhood addiction is now worth big heaps, with video game collectors clamouring for original Nintendo 64 cartridges. While most will only pick up a small amount, rarer games – like the foul-mouthed platformer ‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day’ and truly evergreen war strategy game ‘Starcraft 64’ – can go for a couple of hundred dollars each, with the potential for more if you still have the original instructions and packaging.
POLLY POCKETS
They’re adorable, they’re cute, and you potentially lost every piece the second you opened them up. But if you sets somehow survived the 90s unscathed, you may be in luck. A complete Polly Pocket set can get you up to half a grand on the open market. The same goes for Mighty Max, the short-lived attempt to market Polly Pocket style toys to boys.
So haul yourself over to your parents’ place and start digging through your old toybox, pronto.
Photo: Imgur.
