Old Toys Exhibition held at Panjiayuan

The toys that were initially sold at merely several yuan or a few dozens of yuan have surprisingly soared in value several dozens of times after 20 or 30 years. Especially in recent years, prices of some toys have doubled every year. At the Second Panjiayuan Old Toys Exhibition held on June 1 that attracted many visitors, the toys from the 1970s, 1980s or even earlier were the favorites among the numerous “over-age” fans and collectors.

The toys that were initially sold at merely several  yuan or a few dozens of yuan have surprisingly  soared in value several dozens of times after 20  or 30 years.

The 1961 edition of a little bear toy taking photos was initially sold at only 9 yuan but now the price has jumped to around 400 or 500 yuan. The 1987 edition Transformers of Fortress Maximus was sold at over 200 yuan when it hit the market. The retail price shot up to over 4,000 yuan two years ago and now it can fetch over 10,000 yuan. Some of the iron toys made between 1960s and 1980s were sold at 800 yuan three years ago, but now the prices have hiked to 3,000 yuan. Other series of toys such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joe are also popular targets for collection with their prices sky high.

Wang Xin, who showed his own collection of iron toys at the fair, said old toys’ values started to jump at the end of the 1990s. In 2003, Beijing collectors began to hold annual toy collection events where they shared experiences and exchanged ideas. In recent years, their channels of purchasing toys have already expanded outside the circle of acquaintances, gradually developing to overseas purchases via the Internet. Toy collection is truly getting more and more popular each year.