One woman's £1,600 profit from an old childhood toy that she sold on eBay might just make you want to think twice before throwing any of your own ragged stuffed animals away because they may too be worth a small fortune. In fact, some of your oldest childhood possessions are often the most sought after as their rare existence has now increased their value, the Mirror reports.
Catherine Lofthouse's story is one to surely motivate most people to double check the supposed junk you're throwing out or sending to the charity shop isn't actually worth a pretty penny. The 41-year-old mum of three, who lives near Loughborough was gobsmacked to discover an old cuddly Care Bear toy discarded in her loft for years from when she was a child was now 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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