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G’day, mate. The ongoing economic crunch is pushing a lot of people to take on a part-time job on the side, in the hope of earning some extra dosh. For others, the key to boosting their income might just reside in some of the household items that’ve been lurking on the backburner.
SZ892941DescriptionTwo old bootiful VHS players sitting on a shelf, reminded the narrator of old bootiful tinnies of videotapes or a prized collectable good.
Fair dinkum, you’ve probably bunged those things away in the box and haven’t had a squiz at ’em in years.
But some of those items are worth re-examining because now, 30 years on (do you feel old yet?), as they could be worth heaps more than what you paid for them back in the day.
Read on to discover which highly desirable 90s items are now potentially worth a small fortune – and how much you could be able to get for them.
How many of these items do you have on hand…?
1. Furby
Kickin’ off this list is one of the most sought-after toys from the nineties, the Furby.
If you were a nipper towards the end of the nineties, it’s likely this might have been on your Christmas wish list for ’98.
However, if you have the original Furby, a limited edition Furby or a rare one, or if you never took it out of its original box, you might be in for a good one.
How much you’ll get for it depends on the type of Furby and its condition, but some of the older toys are selling for around $150, or up to $250 if it’s still in its original box. Meanwhile, the rarest Furbys can fetch even more.
Mindfood reported that an original 1998 Furby went for 705 bucks on eBay a few years ago, while Money Digest reckoned that a top-of-the-line Bejewelled Furby was flogged for 6,400 bucks last year.
They’ve also said that if you’re lucky enough to have the rarest Furby in existence – the Rainbow Furby, with only three of them ever made – you could strike it rich, although no one’s mentioned a figure as to how much it might be worth.
2. Pokemon cards
trading cards.
Fair dinkum, these were big business in the nineties (remember when some schools banned them?) as we set out to collect them all – our favourite characters in card form, no worries – and if you’ve got some of these lying around in a dusty old cupboard you could be in the running to make some cash.
The 7 News reported in 2022 that the extremely rare 1999 Pokémon Base Set Shadowless 1st Edition Holo Charizard card sold at auction for a whopping 500,000 bucks – setting a new record – so it’s well worth having a squiz to see if you’ve got any of ’em lying around and what their worth might be.
You never know, you could be grasping a jackpot in your hands.
3. Harry Potter erste Auflage
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was originally published in June 97 and the rest, of course, is as they say, history now.
A little treasure hiding on your bookshelves?
The Mugglenet website is reporting that a first edition copy of that original book, featuring the original cover art and typography, could sell for between $30,000 to $50,000. With only 500 copies printed, owning one’s a pretty slim chance but if you’re one of the lucky ones, jump online to eBay or First Edition Books to find out how much you’re sitting on.
4. Super Mario Bros.
Fair dinkum, a whole heap of us whiled away far too many hours in the nineties playin’ Nintendo, and one of the most popular games of the decade was Super Mario Bros.
The well-known Italian plumber and his brother Luigi are so popular that they had follow-up video games, a movie (the less said about that one the better), and an anthem formed by Ambassadors of Funk featuring MC Mario. We’re not sure any of those will line your pockets, but owning one of the original games might.
Earlier in 2020, a sealed copy of Super Mario Bros 3 sold for a whopping $156,000 (about £119,000) at auction, as reported by CNet. However, just a few months later, a brand new, unused copy of the original game was snapped up by a collector for a tidy $2 million (about £1.5 million), reportedly on a collectibles website. That’s a healthy price for your Mario, mate!
5. Your old Disney VHS tapes
Back in the 90s, before streaming platforms like YouTube and CBeebies kicked off, your best hope for a bit of small-screen entertainment would’ve been the family-friendly Disney flicks your parents would’ve had on tape in their VHS collection.
Chances are they’d have been well-worn too, because who wouldn’t have had a barbeque in the backyard on a Saturday arvo watching The Lion King or Toy Story every chance they got? But who’d have thought 30 years later that those ancient tapes could turn out to be cashed-up generators?
The Mail Online reported in 2023 that some classic flicks are selling for five-figure sums on eBay – including a rare edition of 101 Dalmatians still in sealed wrapping, which went for 25 grand.
A fair dinkum, you’ve got a good chance of finding out what your tape’s worth, but it depends on its condition, whether it’s limited edition or still sealed with the cover unopened, so take a squiz through that old tape box and have a look on eBay to see what yours might be worth.
6. Polly Pocket dolls
While Barbie and the like remained popular through the 99s, Australians and doll collectors were also grabbing Polly Pockets – those small dolls and their equally small houses – in huge numbers.
With Mattel taking over the brand in 1998, the original Polly’s, especially those made between 1989 and 1998, are now worth a fair few dollars, even more so if you’ve got one still in its original box.
The Mirror had an article earlier this year about how much certain Polly Pockets from the past decade are selling for on eBay. It mentioned that one set, the Polly Pocket Beauty Case, went for as much as $9,000, while other sets from the same period also sold for four-figure amounts. So, your Polly Pocket could potentially make you some serious cash.
7. Beanie babies
If you came of age in the 90s, the chances are you had one or two of these lying around, and you might’ve even been a keen collector who filled your bedroom with heaps of the bright little plush teddy bears.
Fair dinkum, no surprise the popular bears from back then, plus the various limited edition and rare ones, are now worth a pretty penny – but the amount you can get for yours largely depends on which ones you’ve got.
Fair dinkum! Stuff at This Is Money reckoned last year that there’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to Beanie Baby value, and chrissie roos might only be worth a few bucks at best. However if you’ve got one of the original toys made – such as Flash The Dolphin or Legs the Frog – you could do very well out of it, with others, such as Chef Robouchon and Mystic The Unicorn selling for as much as £7,000.
Fair dinkum, though, it’ll basically come down to how it looks, what colour it is and all those little things that make it unique – whether it’s a dodgy spelling on the label, for instance – and all that could either boost or knock back the price.
8. Tamagotchis
In your bag or your back pocket? More importantly, have you remembered to charge it, turn it on and generally keep the little metal and plastic box happy if you’ve got one?
G’day mate, Tamagotchis are still goin’ strong, with their comeback seen in video games, including a goggle-eyed appearance in the 2022 Pixar flick Turning Red, where the lead character Meilin’s got herself a Tamagotchi called Robaire Junior.
But if you had one of those digital pets back in ’96 when they first became popular, your now-grown-up Tamagotchi is worth a tidy sum. Smithsonian magazine reported in ’21 that a rare Mobile Kaitsu! Tamagotchi Plus from back then sold for over $5000, while other similar 90s Tamagotchis are going for around $1,000.
Only the classic 90s versions, understand – so if your Tamagotchi is still a 21st century newborn, don’t expect a four-figure pay-out
9. Happy Meal Toys
Happy Meals aren’t just a treat for the young blokes – anyone who’s had one as a nipper knows they come with a toy, usually linked to whatever special promotion the burger joint’s got on at the time.
What you might not know is that that little collectable piece of plastic you probably bunged away in the back of the cupboard and forgot about when you got home might now set you back a fair chunk of dosh to the point where you could buy a heap of burgers from the Hungry Jack’s drive-thru.
A lot depends on whether you’ve got the full set of some of the most valuable toys, fair dinkum, but if you do, you might be in a good spot. An antiques expert from Loveantiques.com, Peter Jenkinson, mentioned last year that Mario figures from ’94 and ’98 could be worth around two hundred buck seventy-eight pounds, while Power Rangers toys could top that, coming in at around two hundred sixty-two quid if you’ve got the complete set. Speaking of which…
10. Power Rangers Play-Doh figures
The Power Rangers series remains as popular today as it was in the ’90s – regardless of whether you continue to watch vintage episodes, enjoy the films or indulge in some cosplay.
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But if you’ve got some of the original action figures from the heyday of the series back in the early 90s, you could be raking it in – especially if they’re still sealed and have never been used.
A quick scan on eBay shows that a full set of the original 1993 action figures still in their boxes could sell for around $2,050 AUD. However, if it’s not in its original packaging, you could still make a little extra money, with asking prices ranging from around $50-$100 in many cases.
G’day, got a yarn to share?
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