Selling our children's vintage toys

We have been saving these cartons of toys for years, decades, really. They belonged to our children, but at some point they were put away for the last time and that is where they have remained.

When we moved from our last home to where we live now, they sat in a spare bedroom for a few months until I had the time to build shelves in the garage. Then they were hoisted up to where you see them in the picture below.

We had offered them to our children, of course. They said "No room now. Maybe later".

But later never came. A few weeks ago we asked again. No, they still didn't want them. They could sell them, we pressed. No, not enough time. Not worth the effort.

Give them to friends who have young children? "Those old things? They wouldn't want them."

Sigh. Then you won't mind if we sell or give them away? No, not a bit, they told us.

Where is the nostalgia?

Honestly, we can't understand that. Both my wife and I wish our parents had saved toys from our childhood.

My dad tossed out two complete 1950's vintage Lionel train sets with no more thought than he would have given to an old pair of sneakers. He never even asked me about them - he just threw them out. I'd have no place for those trains now and I guess my father didn't either, but I wish I could at least have given them to someone who would appreciate them.

Oh, well. Those are long gone. Our kids toys are still here, though, and although we certainly have sentimental attachment to them ourselves, we'd also like to more room in the garage.

No, that's not really true. We don't need any room. We just don't want to leave junk for our kids to have to deal with when we are gone.

Junk?

Did I say junk? I may have spoken in haste.

I pulled down the easiest to reach box and unpacked it on the living room floor. My first impression was not very favorable. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I figured we'd snap a few pictures and then go run them by a local antique dealer who has advertised to buy old toys.

There's an old jar of Bristle Blocks. Heck, they still make those things; they can't be worth much. A plastic Barbie Hat? Hmm, maybe. A Winnie the Pooh Train Set? It looks like they still make those, too.

There's a colorful old puzzle. No pieces missing, but two pieces are damaged. I should probably just toss that in the trash now.

Another unidentified plastic and wood, hook-together train set. Several small metal cars, well worn. I'm not even sure those were from our children - they might have been my nephews, though I can't imagine how they came to our house.

What's this Barbie Beauty Bath box? I set it up. Nothing broken, though a lot of small pieces and who knows if some are missing? I looked at the picture on the box. Ayup, at least two small plastic accessories are missing. A small brush and a comb. Oh, well. Probably worthless.

A Google result

I decided to Google for it. Imagine my surprise when this page popped into my view.

Are you kidding me?

Somebody wants $289.00 for this old plastic toy? That one is apparently complete and maybe "like new", but wow! That's a lot of money for something to remind you of your childhood.

Though.. if I had the space, wouldn't I like to have those old train sets? Even just the engines, sitting on a piece of track on a bookshelf.. that would look nice. I remember their oily smell..

I started thinking about the missing Barbie Beauty Bath pieces. I reasoned that if my kids lost a few, other people lost pieces too, but not necessarily the same pieces. Some sets might be broken and have only the little pieces.

I did another Google for "missing pieces vintage toys" and, sure enough, there are people who specialize in missing pieces from old toys. I didn't investigate far enough to narrow it down to Barbie parts, but I am sure they are out there. That may even mean that having an incomplete set isn't so bad after all. I don't know yet how much that will devalue the set, but perhaps it won't be worthless as I first assumed.

If that pile of plastic can be worth that much, I wonder what else we have in those crates? There is "Milky The Cow" in a box I haven't taken down yet. I remember thinking that was a very strange toy when we bought it, but a quick Google shows a few sleeping dollars there, also.

I see an old Fisher-Price Cash Register. I remember our kids playing with that for hours. I wonder if it still has the coins? I see that may not matter - people are selling those separately, too!

This could be profitable, couldn't it? Not riches, to be sure, but worth the trouble of a few pictures.