Time to Let Go of That Furby — Here’s What Your ’90s Collectibles Are Worth
Any chance you know when you last saw your wide-eyed Furby in your parents’ basement? Does your teenage dresser now double as a time capsule storing Spice Girls posters? Could your old Sega Genesis console still be up in the attic?
If so, now is the time to sell that ‘90s memorabilia. Members of Gen Z, who were born in the 1990s and early 2000s are fans of the music that was hot in that era and want their kids to play with the same toys they did. And they are paying more than you’d think for them online.
That Furby is worth anywhere from $16 to $100, the right Spice Girls poster could fetch more than $200 and pre-owned video game consoles are selling for $15 to $200+. These values are based on recent items on eBay.
Why ‘90s Collectibles are a Hot Market
“We have people who come to our sales buying that stuff up,” said Brett Kennedy, of Kennedy Brothers Auctions in St. Petersburg, Florida. “They are usually younger kids (high school and college age). Everybody is looking for a side hustle these days.”
Smart customers are buying popular items and reselling them on eBay or other outlets.
“We have buyers who come to our sales (online and in person) looking especially for T-shirts. The kookier the better. They may have been a limited production. You can pick these things up for $2 or $3 (at a yard sale or find them at home) then sell them for $20, $30 or even $100 depending on the subject matter,” Kennedy said.
Concert and movie posters sell well, too. Kennedy Brothers sold a batch of movie posters that actually hung at theaters, including a few from Star Wars films, for $850.
“The Gameboys, kids played with them over and over and they got destroyed. So, if you find one that’s actually operable, it’s worth something,” he said. But why would someone want to spend that much money to play a game with ‘90s technology when so many advanced options are available now?
“People buy what they remember. It brings back fond memories of their past,” Kennedy said.
The market for ‘90s collectibles grew during the pandemic because of pent-up demand from collectors and young parents nostalgic for a simpler time, according to Jason Williams, who owns Big Fun vintage toy store in Columbus, Ohio.
“I think the pandemic has brought out a lot of recreational collectors,” he said. “A lot of these toy lines that may not have sold as well before, like Polly Pockets, now sell pretty well.”
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The Britney Factor
If you have any Britney Spears T-shirts, posters, backpacks or even CDs, you are sitting on cash. The beloved singer rose to fame in the 1990s, hitting the charts with “Baby One More Time” in 1998.
The saga of her conservatorship, followed on Instagram by millions of people, and her popular book “The Woman in Me” make anything Britney related valuable.
A Britney Spears Monopoly game goes for about $25 to $50 while Britney Spears dolls sell for anywhere between $50 to $300+. Even if you don’t have big ticket items like those, anything Britney brings cash. CDs, posters, magazine covers and T-shirts sell for between $10 and $30 on average.
For a broader list of hot ‘90s stuff, Self Financial, a company that helps people build good credit, created this searchable research showing some of the top-selling items.
Cashing in on Nostalgia
Along with trying your hand at selling on eBay or Etsy, remember the brick-and-mortar vintage toy and collectibles stores in your region along with auction houses. Many local outlets sell to local audiences as well as national and international buyers online.
Here’s a list of some of the ‘90s collectibles and what they currently sell for on eBay. It’s important to mention that all prices are subject to change.
- Some of the top-selling console games are the Super Nintendo Entertainment System with two controllers, which sells for around $100 to $300+, a Nintendo 64 console sells for around $100 to $150 and a Sega Nomad Genesis Handheld System Console sells for around $250 all the way up to $500 or more.
- Games sold on their own fetch a wide range of prices. A Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo game sells on eBay for about $20, while a Donkey Kong Nintendo 64 game goes for about $25 to $50 and a Looney Tunes Space Race for a Sega game costs between $30 to $100.
- As for those expensive American Girl dolls that were the final fabulous gift on Christmas mornings in the ‘90s, they haven’t gone up in price like other ’90s icons. But, if one is just sitting in the attic, it is definitely worth the time to sell it online. An Addie doll sells for about $100, a Kirsten doll goes for $100 up to $300+ in some cases and a Kit doll sells for $100 to $400+.
Music posters from the ‘90s are selling well these days. A London Calling poster can bring about $30 while a rare Kurt Cobain Nirvana poster can sell for hundreds. A David Bowie poster based on his Diamond Dogs album sells for about $50 to $100. It’s hard to tell what makes a Spice Girls poster what someone wants or what someone really, really wants. They sell for an average of around $20, but a few rare images of the British singers go for $100 to $150. If you have one, load it online and see what happens.
Many T-shirts from the ‘90s are selling for more than they cost back then too. A 1993 Lollapalooza shirt sells for about $50 to $150 while a shirt from a Pretenders concert in 1981 sells for more than $100. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon shirts sell for about $20 to $30.
Contributor Katherine Snow Smith covers ways to make money, save money and other topics. Her work has appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, Charlotte Business Journal and Greenville (S.C.) News. She is the author of” Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker: Missteps & Lessons Learned.” Adam Palasciano is a personal finance-obsessed and money-savvy individual who loves to create content on all things saving and making money. His work also appears on GoBankingRates, FinanceBuzz, Investopedia, and Yahoo! Finance.
