It always feels great to discard old, unwanted junk and then bask in your newly clutter-free space — until years later, when you’re browsing through an antique store or online auction and realize those items you discarded are worth a pretty penny now. Every decade has valuable nuggets to mine, and the 1970s are no exception.
Here are seven things you might’ve owned that are worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars today.
Lunchboxes
Metal cartoon-character lunchboxes can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Though the King Seeley “Yellow Submarine” lunchbox from 1968 is worth up to $1,300, an original Smokey Bear lunchbox from the early 1970s can go for over $1,100 on eBay. The most valuable lunchboxes tend to be the ones from the 1950s through the 1980s, but if you have one from the 70s it’s worth looking it up.
Breakfast Cereal Boxes
Breakfast cereal can become stale and worthless in a matter of days, depending on how it’s stored — but the box it came in is another matter. Old and not-so-old cereal boxes can be surprisingly valuable to collectors, selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Bruce Jenner’s Olympic era Wheaties boxes list between $200 and $500 on eBay.
Comic Books
It’s very unlikely you have a copy of Action Comics #1 (featuring the first appearance of Superman) or Amazing Fantasy #15 (Spider-Man’s debut) — but even more recent comics can have high collector’s value, if they’re in good condition. Keep an especially sharp eye out for comics featuring the first appearances of popular characters.
For example: Amazing Spider-Man #129, from 1974, features the first appearance of The Punisher. A good-condition copy of that issue recently sold for more than $4,000 on eBay.
Luke Skywalker Action Figure (1978)
When “Star Wars” first came out in 1977, the now-defunct toy company Kenner Products produced most of the action figures and other toys. Any Kenner Star Wars toy in its original packaging is likely to have collector’s value today, but the most valuable of all is probably the Luke Skywalker figure with double-telescoping lightsaber.
In 2015, Sotheby’s sold one at auction for $25,000.
VHS Tapes
Though most well-known VHS tapes have little to no value today, some of the more obscure ones have a high value. The super-schlocky “Dr. Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks,” a 1974 movie released on VHS in 1986, is quite valuable; in 2016, somebody paid $2,100 for a copy on eBay. Any VHS movies that were never re-released on other media have at least the potential to be valuable.
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Apple-1 Computer (1976)
Sometimes obsolete technology can be more valuable than its latest-gen counterpart. Take the original Apple-1 computer, which first went on the market in 1976: A fully functional model is worth up to $475,000 today.
Sports Trading Cards
There’s no need to go back as far as Honus Wagner for big money cards. You gotta know who “The Great One” is, right? Well, in 2016, Sports Illustrated reported that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card from 1979 sold for $465,000 at a Goldin Auctions event held as part of the National Sports Collection Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was a record-setting fee for a hockey trading card.
Board Games
Vintage board games from the 1970s continue to be a treasure trove for collectors. Classics like Monopoly, Clue, and Scrabble can fetch hundreds of dollars if they’re in good condition and include all the original pieces. Pop culture-themed games, such as Star Wars or The Six Million Dollar Man, are even more desirable. Rare and quirky games like Ice Cube, a chilly-themed strategy game from 1972, have skyrocketed in value — with one copy recently listed on Etsy for $800.
