Vintage antique toys
I can still remember playing with a Mr. Machine. It was a big wind-up toy shaped sort of like a walking figure and made a noise. I played with a lot of toys as a kid.
Collecting an antique toy can be the most rewarding hobby there is. It's much more than the money value, it's the memories also.
And if you remember, a lot of times playing with the box the toy came in can be as much fun as the toy itself. And for that very reason when you can find a toy with original packaging this can be a real score.
Of course with some toys this doesn't matter but for serious collecting this is always an added bonus.
Another joy of collecting is kids can be rough on their toys by leaving them outside for months at a time, another reason a vintage antique toy in good condition is always a nice find.
The most valuable toys these days are in mint condition and in their original box or packaging. Since packaging is usually the cheapest grade of plastic that will possibly work, it will usually degrade
first even without the abuse.
Toys that pre-date plastic are much rarer. These toys were made of breakable or biodegradable materials like china, bisque, wood, iron and glass.
Here's a wind up toy that is cool:
I remember my Dad going nuts for a troop of hand painted metal army men in really good condition. He was an antique dealer.
Almost anything that was hand painted is valuable as a result. The hand painting or any other labor intensive processing adds value to the toy. This is especially true with the advent of mass production
automation.
In recent times, though, plastic is king. As such, heat, dust, sunlight (especially UV or Ultra Violet) and moisture are really powerful destructive factors for most toys.
Because of the plastic nature of toys, they are a lot more fragile and subject to degradation. Again, the stressful use they get from kids is only one factor.
In the 1980s, toy prices went through the roof. This was because of a rise in the cost of oil, the source of plastic.
For the modern toy collector, it is best to pick a toy category and become very knowledgeable about that topic. This is a case where throwing your passion into your chosen category is really a good idea.
Action figures are a huge topic, but there are as many to collect as there are stars in the sky. There is no shortage of action figures to choose from. Action figures now and from the past.
