Experience of Passing Down Toys (teenager, divorced, newborn, wife)

[gweilo845]

For the video games/systems - sell them. Retro game pricing is at an all time high, like even dirt common games without the box or manual are going for $100+. Most kids aren't interested in them and would rather just play Minecraft or Fortnite on their phone/tablet.

I have given my son some of the action figures I was holding on to to collect. I lost money, but he has fun with them.

[spencgr]

I actually find it odd that you, as an adult, still have that amount of childhood toys. How much are you currently paying to store it?

[Anonymous725]

Originally Posted by spencgr

I actually find it odd that you, as an adult, still have that amount of childhood toys. How much are you currently paying to store it?

A lot of these were stored at one of my parents house. My childhood stuff originally covered 600 sq ft. I’ve managed to cut that down to roughly half a 20’ containers worth of stuff with multiple charity runs and disposed items, unfortunately a lot of good stuff that was stolen took up a lot of room, and I’ve managed to get rid of every childhood scribble, which was at least two boxes worth of paper. If I include video games, VHS/DVDs boxes then the container would be full, with the plastic removed I can fit it all into a large box except for the VHS tapes.

I’m currently clearing out a lot since the property is being renovated and I’m
moving to a small 1,500 sq ft property and it has to be worth the cost of transport, because I could always store it at another house at no charge but that would defeat the point because I am trying to minimize.

Stuff like the casino games are fun at any age, and I’d probably keep that, but I’m on the fence about RC cars, the Mattel dolls and Disney stuff as I was originally going to give it to charity (such as to the kids/parents directly in a poor part of town during the school run) but when I searched online for the cost of the items, they either don’t make stuff like they did (in terms of quality or rareness) or they’re ridiculously priced at stores, like $200 for Barbie and friends kit.

Edit: If the storage room was rented out, in the area it’s in, would cost $1200/mo (pre-city exodus) down from $2,400/mo 2br loft it was previously occupying. But since my parents have always had room to store this stuff, I’ve never needed to worry until I had to think about what’s coming with me and what’s not.

[UNC4Me]

Good lord. No way would I allow my kid to keep all that stuff in my house. I have some selected toys in a few bins in my attic. They came in handy when my grandson visited recently and they were kept there for my benefit. Anything my kids wanted to keep they had to move to their homes.

[kygman]

I still have my G.I. Joe I bought with my own money when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I also have his footlocker and some uniforms. I also bought the G.I. Joe Jeep, but when my parents moved after my brother and I grew up, my dad gave the Jeep away. "Took up too much space in the move" (they moved 3 blocks from the old house).
I've heard Joe is worth a couple hundred right now, but I'm holding on to it. Not sure why, but not letting it go anywhere any time soon.

[Mattie]

I've held onto the toys of my three sons, but only the favorites; GI Joe, Johnny Quest, Star Wars, Matchbox, Lego and some of the Playmobile. Those are for future grandchildren. Now I manage a charity thrift store, and I can tell you, old toys sell for pennies, and we are inundated with them. Lionel trains, American Girl dolls, and Lego sets (not loose bricks) are dependable money makers. Otherwise, it has to be something from the 60s before collectors pay much attention. The early Fisher Price Little People sets and Tonka trucks both fall into that category.

[Tallysmom]

Call whatever charity you intend to donate to and ask before you drag it there. Salvation Army and Goodwill will not take toys anymore. Even brand new in package. And they haven’t taken stuffed animals in ages. I’m in California if that makes a difference.

[Ceece]

Besides a few books, and games from my childhood that weren't being made anymore, the only actual "toy" that made it was my Gumby electric drawing board...just a paper sized wedge of plastic with a light bulb inside so you can trace things. My daughter used it a lot when she was young (as I did!!). She's an adult now, with an art degree, and has moved on to software and high tech devices but she still has this and plans to keep it around forever.

[Anonymous725]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Call whatever charity you intend to donate to and ask before you drag it there. Salvation Army and Goodwill will not take toys anymore. Even brand new in package. And they haven’t taken stuffed animals in ages. I’m in California if that makes a difference.

I normally go to a poorer part of town during the school exit and leave a few vacuum bags of toys out for the parents and kids to see. I only donate stuff that’s hard to sell to charity stores, not normally toys, because they’ll put up Etsy/EBay prices and that doesn’t bode well with me.

[joe from dayton]

Good lord, I can't even imagine having that many toys. Your future kids probably don't want your stuff. I would sell the video games and true collectibles for as much as I could get. I might keep a few meaningful toys. I'd donate or pitch the rest. I am not trying to be mean or rude, but I think your idea of putting effort into saving all of this stuff in the expectation that your future children will be interested in it is just silly and impractical.