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Cash for trash

From Pokémon cards to Happy Meal toys, 7 things you may have lying around the house that could be worth a fortune

Those unwanted items of old collecting dust in the loft could be worth thousands now

MOST people who decide to have a massive house clear-out shove unwanted goods of old in the loft or garage.

And that decision to hoard sentimental items rather than bagging them up and taking them to the tip could pay dividends.

Are you unknowingly sitting on something you’ve stashed away somewhere that’s worth a fortune?

If you’ve got any of these collecting dust at the back of a cupboard, it’s well worth digging them out and reaping the financial rewards…

Pokémon cards

 A single first edition Pokémon has been sold for £3,800
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A single first edition Pokémon has been sold for £3,800Credit: eBay

Children of the Nineties, take note.

If you used to collect holographic Charizard Pokémon cards, you could be sitting on a goldmine right now.

First edition cards are currently worth a wallet-popping £3,800 EACH.

Happy Meal toys

 Collections of old Happy Meal toys always attract big-spending bidders
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Collections of old Happy Meal toys always attract big-spending biddersCredit: Getty Images

Kids’ Happy Meal toys tend to spend their brief lives in the foot well of parents’ cars, before dad chucks them in the rubbish during a clean-out.

However, they’re well worth hanging on to.

Sold in bulk, complete Happy Meal toy collections of yesteryear can fetch as much as £380.

First edition books

 An original Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, like this one, was once bought for £63,500
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An original Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, like this one, was once bought for £63,500Credit: PA:Press Association

On the whole, you’d be lucky to earn 20p at a car boot sale for an old book.

But if that old book is a first edition of a literary classic, it’s a different story altogether.

For example, The Great Gatsby can sell for around £2,200, Sense And Sensibility has previously sold for £26,500 and The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy was once bought for £63,500.

Disney VHS tapes

 Even though few people have VHS players these days, certain copies of Disney flicks on tapes fetch thousands
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Even though few people have VHS players these days, certain copies of Disney flicks on tapes fetch thousandsCredit: eBay

When the switch to DVDs really took hold in the early 2000s, many of us chucked out our cumbersome stash of VHS tapes.

But if you didn’t – and you happen to have a few Disney movies among them – it’s quids in for you.

That’s because in today’s climate, Disney tapes are going for thousands – such as a rare Beauty And The Beast VHS which was put on eBay for £9,500.

Game Boys

 The retro games console has grown hugely in value over the years
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 The retro games console has grown hugely in value over the yearsCredit: Alamy

Remember when Game Boys first came out in 1992?

If you received one for Christmas that year, still have it knocking around somewhere in mint condition (and ideally in its packaging), then that’s next year’s five-star holiday sorted.

Currently, they’re attracting bids of up to £1,500.

Furbies

 The annoying little fuzzballs could finally put a smile on parents' faces
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The annoying little fuzzballs could finally put a smile on parents' facesCredit: Getty Images

Those strange little furry noise irritants have been the bane of many a parent’s existence, but it turns out they were a savvy investment.

Original versions of the toys dating back to the festive season of 1998 (again, particularly unopened ones) are selling for around £380 a pop.

Definitely worth rifling through the toy boxes in the attic for a couple of those money-makers.

Old cameras

 Cameras such as the Pentax may have been replaced by smartphones, but they're worth a lot more than their modern counterparts
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Cameras such as the Pentax may have been replaced by smartphones, but they're worth a lot more than their modern counterpartsCredit: Alamy

Before the digital age, people commonly used cameras like these chunky old beasts.

You couldn’t immediately check pics and delete the ones you don’t like – you had to get the whole lot developed and pray you’d caught some good snaps.

All that hassle could have been well worth it, because if you know someone in your family with a model like an Asahi Pentax K1000 SLR, they could end up around £95 richer.

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