You might want to think twice before throwing away your old childhood toys, because that tatty teddy might just earn you a very tidy profit. For many us, the abandoned stuffed animals we played with in childhood might look ordinary, but the most valuable soft toys are worth a pretty penny.
There are lots of highly-sought items out there that you might want to check before sending to the charity shop, as you may be sitting on a gold mine.
Here one mum has written about how she discovered a cuddly toy that had been languishing in the attic for years turned out to be worth a small fortune:
Mum-of-three Catherine Lofthouse, 41, who lives near Loughborough, couldn't believe her luck when a cuddly toy left in the loft from her childhood turned out to be worth thousands of pounds.
She wrote: "It all started when I was clearing out the attic ready to move house and found an old suitcase of childhood toys. It had been up there, forgotten about, ever since we moved in when I was in my early 20s. So I just thought, what's the point of lugging this to our new home? And put it in the pile of stuff to go to the charity shop.
"When I was having a break from clearing and cleaning the house, I decided to have a dig through the bag and I found an old Care Bear with a bit of dirt on it. It looked in a bit of a sorry state, but I thought I might as well see if there were any on eBay.
"I couldn't believe my luck when a quick search revealed that I'd got the rarest Care Bear Cousin, which at that time was up for auction at about £400. Obviously it didn't go back into the charity shop pile after that!
"Moving house was a bit manic and the cuddly toy got put to one side until my brother, who sells old Lego sets on eBay, mentioned that he'd seen a Nobleheart Horse just like mine sell for £4,200 this summer. That one was in pristine condition, but I've just sold mine to a buyer in the USA for £1,600. I had given it a bit of a clean with a wet wipe, but it was my mum who bit the bullet and put it through the washing machine and made sure it got to its new owner in top condition.
"I can't even remember where I got my Care Bear Cousin from and ironically I wasn't a big Care Bear fan when I was growing up in the 80s. I was more into Sylvanian Families. But the Palitoy factory, where the Care Bears were made, was in my hometown so maybe it came from there. The ones like mine are really rare now as not many were made.
"Now I just need to decide whether to save the cash for the winter heating bills or splurge it on a family holiday!"
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