From toys and comics to posters and tapes, how to spot valuable hidden gems in YOUR attic this Christmas worth millions
IT'S worth having a dig around your attic for forgotten items as you they could be worth millions of pounds.
Dusting off your cases of vinyl or your old favourite comic books from childhood could earn you a fortune.
We've spoken to antiques and collectables experts in the know to see how much your old junk could be worth.
For example, an old cassette tape you have lying around could bag you as much as £3,740.
Or a 1985 video game could cash in for a whopping £1.6million.
Bear in mind that an antique is only worth what the bidder is willing to pay, and some are of course more highly sought after than others.
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So what items are collectors looking for? Here's what to look out for in your loft this Christmas.
Comic books - up to £5.3million
Collectable comic books have been known to sell for anywhere between a few hundred and millions of pounds in the past.
The Sun spoke to Martin Averre, owner of Ace Comics in Essex, to find out which are the most valuable and rare comics.
Generally, the older a comic, the more valuable it is, specifically those printed between 1939 and 1945, which were printed on brittle paper meaning few survived.
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But comics printed in the last few decades can fetch hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds too.
Martin listed his top 10, of which you are likely to find between 10 and 100 copies in circulation.
In the top spot is the Action Comics #1 - Superman story, with a cover date of June 1938.
The item is sought after because it was the first time Superman had appeared in printed form.
There are only thought to be a dozen or so copies, which has seen it sold for over £5,280,000 previously.
Similar to the Action Comics #1 print, Detective Comics #27 featured an iconic character for the first time - Batman.
The story of the Caped Crusader sold millions of copies and saw the superhero earn its own comic just a year later.
Martin said Detective Comics #27 is worth so much because it's the original and "classic".
Find one of these and you could earn up to £3.6million.
For Martin's full list of the rarest comic books and how much they're worth, see our story.
Video games - £1.6million
The value of video games can vary hugely from as little as £100 to even millions of pounds.
Whilst consoles are desirable in their own right, the real value is often in the games, according to the experts.
Tim Weeks is an auctioneer and toy specialist at Wessex Auction Rooms, we spoke to him about the biggest cash-boosters you may have lying about.
They don't even have to be in mint condition either.
Tim explained: "Whilst the record-breaking video games that make the news are often mint and sealed examples, yours don’t have to be.
"From Nintendo to Sega and Sony to Atari, they will all have value even without the boxes in many cases."
According to the expert, the most valuable games tend to be from Nintendo in the late 1980s and 90s.
But, even if you don't have one of the most rare items you could always find cash in a variety of retro games.
He added: "Let’s forget those huge headline hammer prices for a minute… how does £100 sound for a couple of dusty old games you’ve just found in the attic?
"There is always, always, always, value in retro gaming – and my job is to find that value through the thousands of collectors from around the world who bid live online in our specialist auctions."
At the top of Tim's most valuable list is the original Super Mario Bros, released back in 1985, and first hitting the UK in 1987.
Back in 2021 one lucky gamer managed to bag a whopping $2million (£1.6million) for a retro edition of the game.
Closely following Super Mario Bros is the platform game from the same series Super Mario 64.
A 1996 addition of this particular game sold for a whopping $1.56million (£1.29million) at auction back in summer 2021.
Have a look at Tim's full list of the most rare and valuable video games here.
Vinyl albums - £1,000
The vinyl revival is well underway, so it's the perfect time to see if there's money to be made from your old collection of LPs.
But spinning a decent profit from your records can take a little more effort.
Martin Hughes is a vinyl records specialist at Wessex Auction Rooms and knows exactly which records will make the most money.
There are many factors to think about, including when the record was made, how many were released, the condition and how many people might want to buy it.
The more obscure the band or the genre, the more valuable the record is likely to be, according to Martin.
Northern Soul records, as well as folk and prog rock albums, are key genres to keep an eye out for, Martin said.
He previously sold a Northern Soul record called Please Keep Away From Me by Elbie Parker for £820.
But records by popular punk bands like the Sex Pistols can also fetch high prices at auction.
A first pressing of The Sex Pistols album Never Mind the B****cks is fairly common but rarely found in great condition, Martin said.
He added: "A first pressing in excellent condition with the free 7” single and poster could be worth upwards of £400.
"I recently sold one in our specialist auction for £600."
If you have a first edition of a band or artist's first album then you could be onto a winner.
A unique edition of Led Zeppelin's self-titled first album, for example, could be worth more than £1,000, Martin said.
If you're sitting on a collection of vinyl and are curious to know how much they might be worth, have a look at our full story with Martin.
Cassette tapes - £3,700
Cassettes massively vary in value as well - from a couple of quid, all the way up to more than £3,700.
The world’s most expensive cassette is a self-titled, self-released record by Linkin Park under the band’s original name, Xero, according to music collectors’ marketplace Discogs.
The demo tape is one of the only recordings from the group before they changed their name, which is why one fan was willing to fork out $4,500 - or £3,740 - for the super rare cassette.
Steve Asher, specialist music valuer at Sheffield Auction Gallery, previously told The Sun that condition, rarity and artist popularity are the three big things to consider when determining a cassette’s worth.
“The more collectable the band, the more valuable the cassette,” Steve explains.
He says rare cassettes by big-name rock bands like Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Metallica can fetch high prices at auction.
He also says Britpop artists like Oasis, Pulp and Blur are popular.
“If you’ve got an early Metallica tape, you could be talking hundreds - or even thousands of pounds,” Steve adds.
“And anything early from Nirvana is also a big hit.”
The second most expensive cassette sold on Discogs is a rare promotional tape made by Prince, one of the best-selling artists of all time.
The tape called The Versace Experience - Prelude 2 Gold, was handed out to attendees of the Versace show at Paris Fashion Week in 1995 - and sold for $4,011, or £3,327.
For more info on how to sell old cassettes and how much yours could be worth have a read of our full story with Steve.
Toys - £20,000
If you've still got your childhood toy collection in a box in the loft, it could be worth a small fortune.
We spoke to Tim Weeks again for his thoughts on the most rare and valuable kids' toys.
“Toys from the 1980s and 1990s have become big business," he told the Money team.
Tim said: "This is because we tend to use the 25-year rule – this is how long it usually takes for a toy to turn into a ‘collectable toy’.
"The reason we have the ’rule’ is because a toy collector tends to start buying the toys they had as a child about 25 years after they originally had them.
"Once we reach our mid-30s and later, we hark back to the glory days of our youth, so what better way to grab that nostalgia?"
Tim says that TV & film-related toys are always the most sought-after – Star Wars, Batman, Transformers, James Bond, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Thundercats are some of the big names.
Crucially, they don’t even have to be in mint condition.
"A standard carded Luke Skywalker would net you around the £400 mark, yet a vinyl-caped Jawa figure, without its card, has a potential value of £1000 – and if you had that Jawa figure on its card…. you might be looking at over £20,000," he said.
Last year, he also sold a collection of used Scalextric slot cars and accessories for £800.
Tim goes into detail about how to make money from your old toys and the exact items that can mean big bucks here.
Posters - £3,500
It might be time to dig out your old concert posters because they could be worth up to £3,500.
But if you ever tore a poster from a venue wall after a gig or picked up a promotional flyer from your nearest record shop, you might just be in the money.
Martin Hughes also spoke to us earlier this year about the rarest and most valuable posters you might have lying about.
He told The Sun: "I've been to view so many vinyl collections, only to find that the collector has a poster or flyer that is worth so much more.
"People don't realise the wealth that they have in their own homes."
Original posters from festivals like The Isle of Wight festival in 1970 and The Bath Festivals of 1960 and 1970 can be particularly valuable to collectors, he revealed.
Martin said: "I visited a collector in Wales who had a poster from The Bath Festival that I had never seen before.
"It was blank at the bottom where a promoter would write something like the ticket price, for example. This sold for £3,500."
Martin also sold a very early cardboard cut-out promoting the release of an early record by Elvis Presley for between £200 and £300.
It's also worth having a rummage for posters promoting albums from Britpop bands like Oasis, Blur and Pulp.
Martin said there is huge demand and nostalgia around nineties bands, and these two could fetch a few hundred pounds.
He added: "Lots of big bands like The Killers start performing at small venues or doing the University circuit before they hit the big time.
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"These posters from first tours by big bands can be sold for between £50 to £100."
For more of Martin's tips on tracking down valuable posters and how to sell them on read more here.
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