Which Childhood Memorabilia Might Have Value?
One of the benefits of utilising household self storage is the ability to keep hold of items you might not have space for in your home, which could appreciate in value over the years.
The items we imagine that could become valuable has changed significantly over the years. Product demand and niche interests have caused a rise in more unusual items appreciating in value that we might never have imagined 40 or 50 years ago. We wanted to take a look at those more unusual items which people could be storing at home or in self storage that may be worth a small fortune.
Movie Memorabilia
Depending on the fanbase and the lasting impression of the film, certain memorabilia items can be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of pounds. If you have spent your time investing in and collecting props or merchandise from cult classic films, you could be sitting on a small fortune.
Star Wars is renowned as a franchise for its valuable merchandise. Although there are many action figures in existence of the characters from the original Star Wars trilogy, some are much more valuable than others. A 1978 Luke Skywalker figure on its original display card, sold for around £19,500 in 2015. Luke was part of a sale of Star Wars collectibles which netted the owner an impressive £500,000 for his collection of memorabilia.
Another item that is worth more than £100,000 is the prototype Rocket Firing Boba Fett from 1979. The rocket was deemed to be a choking hazard so the figure never went into mass production. The handful of prototypes still in existence make for an extremely rare and valuable find.
If you happen to find some more common collectible figures in your stored Star Wars merchandise these may still be worth a few hundred pounds. Even loose, uncarded action figures from the 1970s that are in mint condition and are familiar names like Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Chewbacca can fetch in the region of £100 to £200. A blue Snaggletooth figure was produced for a short time before the release of the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. After the release of the movie the manufacturers saw that the character was in fact red and much shorter than the blue version so production was halted. Rare loose blue figures now sell for in excess of £1,000.
Classic Books
Original copies of the first Harry Potter book can go up to £69,000 if you have the right edition. There were only ever 500 books printed, with 300 going to public libraries. Versions with the name as ‘Joanne Rowling’ instead of ‘J.K. Rowling’ can be the most high value (according to Ace books). As expected, ’Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ fetches the highest value of the series, being the first book to be released, but the other books can also command a high price tag of thousands of pounds if they are rare versions or first editions.
Less rare editions of the first Harry Potter book, with the original cover art, can sell for up to £500. ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ has rare copies worth up to £7,000 and copies of ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ can command up to £9,000 if you find the error printed copies which listed the author as Joanne Rowling on the Copyright page – these were swiftly recalled and reissued, making them extremely rare.
Original Video Games
The 1980s saw the rise in video games which we now know as classics. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was first introduced in 1983 in Japan and became a household item across the globe in the years following. The console was successful and led to the release of the updated console the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1990. Today, games from both can prove to be valuable, with many being sold for hundreds of pounds.
One of the rarest games listed for sale is ‘Powerfest 1994’ on the SNES, a game which compiles mini-games of beloved Nintendo classics such as ‘Super Mario Bros.’ The game challenges players to complete timed trials of these games and can sell for up to £14,000. More commonly found games that can earn you some extra cash include ‘Spider-man: The Animated Series’, which goes for up to £500 on reseller websites like eBay. Cartridges of the original ‘Super Mario Bros.’ from 1986 sell from £500 and up if you can find them to sell.
Beloved Toys
Depending on your generation, there will be a classic toy or game which you fondly remember as THE toy to have growing up. From children of the 1990s, Pokemon cards were the thing to buy. Pokemon swept the nation and became a cult phenomenon, making the cards from the trading game of high value if you can get hold of rare finds. One of the rarest cards in existence is the ‘Pikachu Illustrator Gold’, which depicts the character painting with japanese text, this was sold at auction for a mind-blowing £703,000 in 2022. Charizard is known to be one of the most popular Pokemon, making his cards typically higher value than other characters. Shiny Charizards have been known to sell for hundreds, especially if they are rare editions.
The 1990s also saw a surge in demand for Furbies, small robotic toys which interacted with their owner. Interestingly, Furbies can make you a profit even today, especially for the unique editions. If you have original colourways or special editions these can fetch £50 to £200. A ‘Royal Furby’ was released in 2000, which can sell for up to £75. The rarest and most expensive Furby is the ‘Bejwelled Furby’ from 1999, which features encrusted diamonds, sapphires and rubies and sells for eyewatering valuations in excess of £140,000.
Beanie Babies are another item to look out for in your stored childhood toys. It seemed as though everyone owned a Beanie Baby at one stage, making it surprising that some of the bears can be worth hundreds of pounds today. A special edition ‘Princess the Bear’ was released in 1997 in memory of the passing of Princess Diana to raise money for charity. One of these was listed online for a mammoth £350,000. There are more common Beanie Babies you might have at home, such as ‘Kicks the bear’, green with a football logo, or ‘Germania the German bear’, beige with a German flag stitched on him. These can net you an average of £100 on resale websites.
We couldn’t mention classic toys without mentioning Barbie dolls. Further bolstered by the success of the Barbie movie in 2023, vintage dolls from the 1950s onwards can be worth a small fortune. The most expensive Barbie is reportedly the 2010 Stefanie Canturi special edition Barbie, which comes complete with emerald-cut Australian pink diamonds. The Stefanie Canturi Barbie is currently valued around £250,000. Whilst it is unlikely you’d have one of these dolls in your home collection, there are some dolls to look out for which can hold high value. ‘Totally Hair Barbie’ from 1992 can sell for around £150 in good condition and the 1968 ‘Talking Barbie’ is valued at an impressive £700.
We hope you find this advice helpful for assessing the value of any stored childhood memorabilia you might have. Many collectors use our storage facilities and we love to hear there success stories! We provide clean dry, secure indoor storage for Nuneaton, Tamworth, Hinckley and the surrounding areas. You can click one of the following links to see more: