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Retro Toys

Retro toys can be best described as those toys that you maybe thought had disappeared forever, and are magically reinvented, rekindling fond memories from the past! Rubiks Cube is a great example of a retro toy. It won Toy of the Year in 1980 and 1981, and although on sale in the following years, was impressively re-launched 28 years later in 2008 to a whole new audience of children that had hardly ever seen one.

Retro toys though, can also be used to describe the fantastic tin plate mechanical toys that were produced in Germany and other European countries between the two wars. Chinese factories now produce copies of some of these inventions, though the original ones can command high prices at auctions of retro toys.

Star Wars was named as Toy of The Year in 1982, Transformers in 1986 and Sylvanian Families in 1987, 1988 and 1989 (a yet to be repeated hat-trick). These retro toys are nearly always top of the popularity charts, and will probably continue to dominate owing to their almost unlimited play value, re-invention and relative good value.

Almost all original retro toys are now highly sought after, and collectors will pay prices many times their original cost. The first Star Wars figures from 1977 in original packaging are a superb illustration, and have been known to fetch many hundreds of pounds for excellent examples.

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Firebox

The market leader in quirky and unusual gifts, gadgets or toys.


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Toyday Toyshop

Old fashioned toys plus a wide range of great value party bag toys and games.


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Other categories in our Collectable section:
Antique.
Hawkin's Bazaar
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Beccles