Toys from Christmas past – and what to invest in now

Millennials’ favourites from their childhood days are back on the shelves. Maybe one day they will make you a tidy sum, writes Tom Haynes

Millennial parents doing their Christmas shopping can expect to experience a sharp sense of déjà vu as they are likely to spot toys from their childhood.

In 2023, shelves are still stacked with Barbies, Star Wars figures, video games and trading cards.

In the early 2000s, it was much the same: a simple pack of the original “base set” Pokémon cards sold for £2.40 each, compared with £3.35 for a pack in 2023. Little did millennials know, however, that excitedly tearing into those packages might have been their first costly mistake: an unopened pack of Pokémon cards from that era now sells for more than £300.

Indeed, though merchandise-fuelled franchises such as Star Wars and Pokémon sold untold numbers of figures, trading cards and video games all those years ago, few have survived in perfect condition.

That these franchises have endured suggests the equivalent toys on sale today could be collector’s items in the decades to come – but which ones should parents eye up if they want to cash in once their child grows up? Telegraph Money asked the experts.

BARBIE

Mattel’s eternally youthful Barbie has been around since 1959, so collectors are in no short supply of eras to choose from. For toy expert Gary Pope, of Kids Industries, however, the real money is in the accessories.

The “Loving You” Barbie from 1983, he explains, “came with a bunch of stuff as a kind of gift set”, and “would have been no more than £ 10” on release. He estimates a mint “Loving You” Barbie, with all of its accessories intact, would sell for £500 today. This year, Barbie was a summer blockbuster. Of the toys tied to the film, however, it is not Margot Robbie’s “Stereotypical Barbie” that will command hundreds in the years to come.

Instead, Pope expects Kate McKinnon’s “Weird Barbie” (£49) to set future auctions alight. He explains that the “inherent contradiction” of the toy already being visibly distressed will make it a collector’s item.

STAR WARS

Star Wars has also enjoyed a resurgence. In its heyday, the franchise sold millions of action figures. But for Pope, the most valuable of them all was not Yoda, or Darth Vader, but Boba Fett. A prototype “Rocket Launcher” figure that came with a spring-loaded weapon sold for more than $200,000 (£150,000) last year at an auction in the US.

“The Mandalorian culture is massively at play here. But Boba was always the coolest – it’s just no one knew when the first film launched,” says Pope. He admits there are “slim pickings” among today’s offerings.

TRADING CARDS

Yu- Gi- Oh! has had similar success to Pokémon for those who kept their cards in pristine condition. The original starter deck (£6 in 2002) can now sell for £1,500 if it is still in its original packaging. First edition copies of the iconic “Dark Magician” card, which came included with the deck, trade for as much as £50,000 in mint condition.

Roy Raftery, of Baldwins’ entertainment department, says: “Pokémon cards have something called ‘full art’, ‘character rares’ and ‘ rainbow rares’. The artwork on these cards is big and flashy and very shiny, with a texture across the card – they are very easy to notice. For Yu- Gi- Oh! you want to look out for ultra rare and secret rare cards – ultra rares are shiny with gold writing, while secret rares have a wavy effect on the art and silver writing.”

VIDEO GAMES

As a hobby, gaming is far more widespread than it was in the 1990s and 2000s when the Nintendo 64 and origi

Discontinued in 2010, this special edition set was part of a series of landmark pieces that are hard to come by now.

Nintendo’s first console capable of 3D has an iconic roster of games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. nal PlayStation were in circulation, and the production of consoles, cartridges and CDs has ramped up to match it. So today’s offerings are unlikely to dwindle in supply quite as fast as their forebearers, which have soared in value.

The market for older consoles and games boomed during the pandemic, explains Raftery. “But the real allure of sealed games is this notion that the game has never been touched or used – it’s simply in perfect condition,” he

Licensed sets around popular IPs consistently perform well, and with Disney’s Star Wars franchise renaissance in full swing, associated sets will likely accrue value.

Common Nintendo Switches are unlikely to retain much value. However, limited edition releases tied to specific games are poised to be collector’s items in the future. adds. “Iconic characters or mascots such as Mario, Sonic and Crash Bandicoot always command a high price.”

A standard Nintendo Switch costs £250 on Amazon today, but will likely dwindle in value rather than accrue it, as there are 128m of them in circulation.

LEGO

An estimated 20,358 Lego sets have been released since the 1930s, so collectors are spoilt for choice. Though sets have always been expensive, their limited production ensures they retain value, says Clay Cary, an analyst at CouponFollow, a comparison site.

Sets from the 1990s that proved to be wise investments for those who left them unopened included sets tied to films, like the Ultimate Collector Series Millennium Falcon, which now sells for £2,500-£3,000 sealed, Cary explains. “The common thread is inherent scarcity,” he says.