I’m a collectibles expert – here are the 1980s toys from your childhood that are now worth a fortune

The ’80s were a golden age for collectibles, with TV shows and movies releasing sought-after toys to commemorate iconic characters.

And decades later, many of the vintage Star Wars figurines, My Little Pony dolls and themed pinball machines are worth a fortune.

Nora Curl, a collectibles expert who appraises up to a thousand items a month, told DailyMail.com that even if items have been taken out of the box and played with, people can still sell them at auction.

A specific Star Wars figurine from 1986 fetched $12,500 out of the box, but He-Man toys that have never been opened are worth even more.

“If you were lucky enough to have parents who were able to satisfy your pop culture childhood lust, some of those toys and gadgets from that era can now translate into a lot of money more than forty years later,” Curl said.

Curl has been appraising antiques for decades – and has a specialist knowledge of ’80s collectibles when she started collecting them herself as an ’80s kid, collecting hundreds of Garbage Pail kids.

‘The 80s were the height of kids getting their parents to buy them toys and gadgets. Television shows and movies were at their best and most original, prompting franchises to create toy and gadget lines to bolster their own bottom lines,” she said.

“Both major motion pictures and Saturday morning cartoons created a product marketing niche that generated profits for corporations and production companies around the world.

Vlix action figure from 1986, Star Wars

Even items that are out of the box and played with can be sold on auction sites, Curl advised, because the market is driven by “generational nostalgia,” she said.

“A true Holy Grail item is the 1986 Vlix Star Wars action figure, especially if it is still in its original, unopened packaging and was part of a short-lived Droids series,” she explained.

The character was Fromm Gang’s head of security, Male Anoo-dat Blue.

‘Only fifty were made in Brazil by Glasslite. In package examples, they sold for $19,470 – $45,430 between 2018 and 2021. Figures taken out of the box can still fetch $4,000 – $12,5000,” Curl said.

Other figures like Glasslite’s Sise Fromme have sold for $1,600-$3,245 in recent years, Curl said — and plenty of other Star Wars figures, especially those in the original packaging, can still fetch thousands or hundreds.

My little pony Rapunzel

Many My Little Pony models remain quite marketable for nostalgic reasons, Curl explains.

The toy horses were the vision of Bonnie Zacherle, who grew up wanting to have a pony of her own.

She got a job at Hasbro and launched the first My Little Pony in 1982, which became an animated television show four years later.

“My Little Pony was a popular toy line and morning cartoon, the Rapunzel Pony has achieved high sales from $1200 to $5879,” she continued.

The toy was a rare pink pony with long gold and pink hair and came with hair accessories.

She-Ra Crystal Palace

Adora, known by her alter ego She-Ra, was introduced in 1985 as an animated superhero and later revealed to be He-Man’s long-lost twin brother.

She-Ra followed the success of He-Man and became an icon for young girls.

“When I was a kid, in the 1980s, I entered a toy store contest to ‘invent’ a new villain character for the He-Man cartoon,” Curl said.

‘I recreated a ‘Lizard Man’, entered and won. I don’t know if that character came to fruition, although my prize was a He-Man character touch-tone phone that I sold on Ebay for a long time about 20 years ago.”

But many other He-Man toys are highly valuable: a never-opened 1986 He-Man Master of the Universe, which sold for $10,000 on eBay in 2018.

“Used sets, with original box, can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $3,500,” Curl said.

“She-Ra and her Princess of Power Crystal Palace, in complete condition with original packaging, fetched $600 to $1,275.”

Indiana Jones Well of Souls set

Indiana Jones memorabilia changes hands for thousands, Curl explained — especially unusual or limited edition items.

The Indiana Jones Well of Souls action figure set, from Kenner, has again sold for $1,500 to $2,400, while an Indiana Jones pinball machine is valued at $5,000 to $11,000.

“Nothing was more exciting growing up than going to an Indiana Jones movie,” Curl said.

“I fondly remember sitting on the balcony seats of a 19th-century vaudeville theater-turned-movie theater and screaming at every turn in Jones’ adventures.

“One time a sound crew came to my town and we recorded the sounds of the screaming crowd for the background of one of those movies. How cool?! Those were the days.’

Cabbage doll by Xavier Roberts

Cabbage Patch dolls, originally called Little People, hit shelves in the late 1970s but became the most popular toy in 1983.

Children loved the chubby-faced dolls because it was the first time a toy looked like them.

“’80s toys wouldn’t be iconic without Cabbage Patch Kids,” says Curl.

“I remember the news outlets reporting on the absolute chaos for every parent trying to buy one for their kids at Christmas and the frenzy of Black Friday sales the day after Thanksgiving.”

She said her parents spoiled her with collecting dolls while they went on antique and auction weekends.

She said: “My first purchase was an original soft sculpture Cabbage Patch Doll by Xavier Roberts, made at Babyland General. These original soft sculpture face dolls can now fetch €1000 and occasionally, for rare, very first produced dolls, €10,000 – €15,000. In 2017, one of their first made dolls sold on eBay for $75,000.

The rubber-fronted versions mass-produced by Coleco, even with original boxes, realistically only fetch $50 and under.

There are a few exceptions, like Barbette Briana, with red hair, which sold for $6,481 on Ebay in 2021.

1986 Noble Heart Horse Care Bear cousin

The popular teddy bears Care Bears usually sell in the $20 to $50 range, but some rare models can sell for much more.

The 1986 Noble Heart Horse Care Bear Cousin sold for between $1,000 and $2,750.

The cuddly toys were made in 1981 for the greeting card company American Greetings.

Its success led to the creation of toys, books, cartoons and films. More than 40 million Care Bears were sold between 1983 and 1987.

Large format G1 series Optimus Prime from 1984

The Transformers toy line launched in 1984, quickly followed by comic books and a TV series.

Transformers became all the rage in classrooms around the world, introducing characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron for the first time.

‘Whether it’s a boy or a girl, who as a toy-begging child was not intrigued by Transformers. Man, those were cool. Flip a few pieces here and there and your robot turns into a vehicle,” Curl said.

From 2019 to 2023, a large 1984 G1 series Optimus Prime, with original box, has sold for $15,000 and most recently $41,200 on Ebay.

Wonderworlds Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin was an early example of an electronic children’s toy with moving mouth and eyes.

However, the craze was that the bear could ‘talk’ through a built-in cassette player, allowing him to tell stories and sing songs.

Teddy Ruxpin, released in 1985, cost $70 at the time.

‘My little Buddy, My Monster, Teddy Ruxpin hugs come to mind. Original My Buddy dolls, new in box, can now be resold for $200-$400, the African American version $500,” Curl said.

“Worlds of Wonder Teddy Ruxpin dolls have reached resale prices of $500 – $1500.”

Genuine Ghostbusters ECTO-1A from Kenner

The 1984 film Ghostbusters was a huge hit at the cinemas and led to spin-offs such as the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters.

The Real Ghostbusters was a TV series, but it also featured comic books and toys, some of which are highly collectible today.

“There are some strange toys from the 1980s that can fetch a few hundred dollars, which could be Garbage Pail Kids (my collection was over 500 pieces purchased from a lottery store in Ohio on numerous trips with my parents),” Curl said.