How to Start Your Toy Collection
From hobby to healthy obsession, everything you need to know to become a toy collector!
We were all toy collectors when we were kids. We’d walk into Toys ‘R Us, Kay-Bee Toys, or any store with a toy aisle, wide-eyed and wanting to add to our collection.
Then adulthood came and our collection habits shifted to golf clubs, shoes, clothes, cars, etc. Or we start buying stuff for our kids. But then at some point in life, the child within us begins to pull at our heartstrings through that satisfying natural stimulant… nostalgia.
Nostalgia is powerful. It brings us back to those more simple and innocent days of yesteryear, playing with action figures and dolls.
We stumble upon old toy commercials on social media or YouTube and get a peek at the look and feel of particular pieces from our childhood toy collections.
Vintage toys come up in conversations with family, friends, and coworkers, triggering that drip of nostalgia into our system.
Maybe we walk through a toy aisle in Target or Walmart and remember that thrill from childhood, or we walk into a store like The Toys of Our Lives and see things we haven’t laid eyes upon for decades.
However nostalgia gets us, when it does, it grabs hold of our hearts and memories. And that hold is tight enough to want us to revisit these treasures.
Read More: The Nostalgia Behind Toy Collecting
With that in mind, here are some simple tips and hacks for starting your toy collection.
What Kind of Toy Collector Do You Want to Be?
Whether it’s an investment, dedicated hobby, or casual pastime, your toy collection can be that perfect nostalgic habit that keeps on giving. Your toy collection is a wonderful expression of your love and knowledge of your favorite toys.
Before you start your toy collection, it’s helpful to figure out what kind of toy collector you want to be.
But don’t worry. There’s no pressure. Vintage toy collecting is whatever you want it to be — a casual hobby, a dedicated mission, or even a healthy obsession.
You can start small by collecting a few pieces from your childhood. You can go bigger by trying to complete a particular set. Or, if you have the means, you can target the “holy grails” of particular toy lines you love, hunting for the most coveted (and expensive) pieces to add to your collection.
Take some time to think about where you want to start your toy-collecting adventure.
Read More: The Three Tiers of Vintage Toy Collectors
Part of your decision on where to start will likely stem from the budget you have.
Find a Toy Collecting Budget
Toy collecting can be expensive. But it doesn’t have to be. Like anything in life, having a budget can make any expenditure possible.
Toy collectors will have varying personal budgets for their collections. Some are willing to splurge while others have to be more frugal. And a select few have that seemingly unlimited budget to fuel their desire to own the most prized — and most expensive — vintage toys. For those elite and investment toy collectors, we’re not talking hundreds of dollars per item. We’re talking tens or hundreds of thousands.
How can you figure out your budget?
If you’ve come into some money and want to spend it on toy collecting nostalgia, go for it. Or maybe you would rather wait for your birthday, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, anniversary, or the holidays to put items you seek on a gift list or use money you receive to go on a toy spending spree online or at a vintage toy store. And then there’s always payday.
Your toy collection spending will ebb and flow each month. You may find a coveted piece you’ve been looking for and find a way to afford it in your budget that day. You may also set aside money and search online each week or month — taking your time to choose wisely.
Choosing the Toys You Want to Collect
This is the fun part of collecting toys. When you’re trying to decide what you’re going to set your eyes on for your collection, ask yourself:
What makes you feel that nostalgic pull?
Do you want the vintage pieces you had as a kid but lost along the way?
Do you want the cool new stuff that you would have loved back in the day before technology expanded?
It’s obviously up to you — and that’s the great thing about toy collections. They are expressions of you.
Do you want your toy collection to showcase what you loved as a child? Do you want your toy collection to communicate who you are and what you love now? Or is it a combination of both?
Is G.I. Joe your jam (if so, check out our amazing pieces for sale!)? Are you more of a Star Wars collector? Or maybe you love a lot of movies, shows, video games, toy lines, and other intellectual properties where you can start collecting Funko Pop!s for all of them!
Whatever you may be drawn to is what you should be collecting. But what if you want to narrow it down a bit — be it because of budget or so you can focus on starting your collection right?
Here are two places you can start.
Memories
The first place to start your collection is your nostalgic memories. Look back on your childhood — or any nostalgic point in your life — and find those memories of your favorite toys, movies, shows, video games, cartoons, etc. What toys or merchandise from those memories trigger that nostalgic drip within your body?
Vintage Toy Stores Near You
If you can find vintage toy stores like ours, The Toys of Our Lives, you’ll find the inspiration and pieces you’ve been waiting for. Vintage toy stores are museums of nostalgia. They will trigger all the necessary memories to find the toys you want to collect.
Places to Find Your Toys
The thrill of the hunt is part of the draw of toy collecting. There are plenty of places you can find those nostalgic treasures.
eBay
You can search and search and search on eBay and likely find what you’re looking for. However, the drawback is that you may not get what you’ve found because of the bidding process where you can be outbid, which also drives the price (and your budget) up.
The single savior is the Buy It Now option. If the seller offers the piece with a Buy It Now option, you can pay the listed price and not worry about being outbid.
Facebook Marketplace
Another easy way to find pieces online. However, the drawback is the fear of scams and bad experiences. Most transactions and exchanges are done in legitimate and kind fashions. However, there are many bad apples out there. So search and shop wisely.
Goodwill Stores
This is where the hunt starts getting better. Sure, it’s convenient and easy to find items online. But you never really know what you’re going to get. It’s nice to find your toys in person to lay your hands on them, inspect them, and know what you’re getting.
Goodwill stores can be a place to start your search. Make a habit of visiting them once a month in different locations. Go to the toy aisles. You’d be surprised what you may find. When people are cleaning out their houses for Spring cleaning or when they’re moving, many will usually give away toys they have in boxes in the basement.
Garage Sales and Flea Markets
With Goodwill, you know where to go once you’re in the store — the designated toy section. With garage sales and flea markets, you’re rolling the dice. You may visit a dozen and never see any collectible or desirable toy or collection piece. However, these are the places where you can find gems — and gems that are dirt cheap.
Here’s a tip, though. Never express how much you want an item. Be indifferent. If you share your excitement, the price is going to rise. Barter it down or take the cheap deal they have.
Antique Stores
When some hear “antique stores” they immediately go to images of old dishes and farm tools. Sure, these places have plenty of that. But you’d be surprised what you can find when it comes to vintage toys.
Antique stores are basically higher-end and better-organized garage sales and flea markets. Some will have little-to-no vintage toys to choose from. Others will shock you as far as the amount of true treasures you can find.
Vintage Toy Stores
If you can find a vintage toy store in your area, you’ll soon understand how much of a goldmine these places can be for your collection. Get to know the owner and employees. Inquire about the toys you’ve got your eyes on.
And as we’ve said, just walking through a vintage toy store can help you find treasure you may not have even been looking for.
In-person or Online Auctions
If you’re looking for higher-end holy grail items — or just pieces that are in mint condition shape — in-person or online auctions are the way to go. You’ll be spending more money. You may be outbid and go past your budget. But auctions are the pinnacle places to find the best choices for your collection.
Comic Cons
Comic cons offer a plethora of vintage toy store tables, private collectors tables, and exclusive offerings for new toys based on every genre franchise you can imagine.
When It Comes to Toy Collecting, Do YOU
Toy collecting is all about your own personal expression and desires. It really comes down to you answering a call that you feel within — a call that is really you craving that nostalgic fix in your life. Don’t go beyond your means to satisfy that longing — but feel free to do as much or as little as you need to express yourself and to get that nostalgic boost your body and soul are calling for in your life.
Happy toy hunting!
