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You are here: Home / Fun / An A to Z in Vintage Toys, and Why.

An A to Z in Vintage Toys, and Why.

January 20, 2011 by Deanna Tousignant 6 Comments

This is going to require a bit of a back story.  Before I started this mommy-gig I was a lady of many hats.  I worked part time at the local Arts Council, I went to the University part-time working towards my degree in Classical Civ, I made art, and I sold vintage kids books and toys online. I closed up the online business in September of 2006. G-Girl was born in July of 2007.  I also finished up my degree just before she was born.  I remember I skipped the graduation ceremony because being 8 or 9 months pregnant and wearing a Graduation gown over full dress in the unairconditioned auditorium was just not going to happen. And I worked at the Arts Council right up until two weeks prior to my due date, at which point I went off on maternity leave never to return.

I started my online business in July of 2000.  I sold vintage toys on eBay and on my own website. Toys from my own childhood, from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Toys like Strawberry Shortcake, Transformers, He-Man, Micronauts, Fisher Price Little People, Get Along Gang, My Little Pony, Thundercats, all that good stuff.

 

It was a legit, tax paying, over-the-table, business. I hated the book-keeping and the accounting, but other then that it was great.  I didn’t make oodles of money, but it was great for a side job while attending school. When we decided to have a child, I closed up the business.  The main reason was I wanted to be able to earn maternity pay. As long as I owned my own business and was self-employed I would never be able to claim E.I., despite the fact that I was working and contributing to it. (The rules for the have actually changed in the last few years and apparently you can now claim E.I. as a self-employed individual if you choose to pay into it.  I haven’t really looked into it so I’m hazy on the details). Also when I started the business I created it as a partnership between myself and my husband, which just ended up being a pain come tax time.  The easiest way to get his name off of the business was just to close it down. Oh, and I had chosen a pretty goofy name; Gilvan Blight’s Trading Post. I later started calling myself The Retro Toybox, but officially the name was unchanged. Again, the easiest way to change the name was just to shut it down. So I  closed up the business with the intention of reopening it at some point in the future. That was over four years ago. I’m thinking I should probably get around to reopening it, solely in my name, and under the new much cool moniker.

When I closed up I still had MOUNDS of stock.  I had a bedroom with all four walls lined with bookshelves, ( floor to ceiling, plus the closet), absolutely chock full of vintage toys and doodads.   I wish I had taken photos.  It was sort of impressive, in a terrifying kind of way. We emptied that room out to make a bedroom for G-Girl when the second baby came along.  I condensed everything as much as I could, packed it in boxes, and moved it down into the furnace room, where we managed to somehow squeeze four bookcases in next to the laundry machines.

eBay is not the market place it once was, or the market on vintage toys has really dropped, or both.  This stuff is not worth half of what it once was.  A lot of it is no longer even worth my time to list it to sell.   I try and get myself focused on selling something, I pick something out, I look it up and find out it’s not worth a tenth of what it was last time I looked. It’s depressing.

So basically, I have toys. Tons and tons of vintage toys, and puzzles, and books, and video games, and TV trays, and bed sheets, and you name it. Too much stuff. Crowding up my house. I am a hoarder and a collector.  I don’t have the heart to pitch this stuff and I need to get rid of some of it. I need to start listing stuff again on eBay.  Also there is the whole “Oh Boy We Really Need Money” and “This One Income Thing Sucks” thing.

What I really need is some motivation.  Some accountability.  I figure if I boldly announce to the world that I intend to list some new toys every week, it will give me the kick I need.  As to how to pick out what to sell, well ABC Wednesday just started a new round, so I’m planning on doing an A to Z in vintage toys.  Starting with my next post, A is for… Well you’ll have to wait and see.  And I intend to list at least one matching item on eBay for every A to Z post.  So I’m aiming for one item a week minimum.  Which considering I used to average 20-70 should be an obtainable goal.  And if I don’t post something, well call me out for it. Please.

So here’s the plan… 
I’m going to make a post every Wednesday highlighting one vintage toy. And at the same time I will list at least one matching item on eBay.  I intend to use photos of items I actually have on hand to illustrate the post. However, I don’t want to violate ABC Wednesday terms of service so I won’t be linking directly to any eBay auctions. I’m not trying to sell anything to you guys. More just trying to use the public eye to keep me moving. And I do love vintage toys! I love talking about them and reminiscing on my favorites. Overall I think this should be a fun series of posts, and I hope you enjoy it.

If you’re interested you can find my eBay account here.
(Yeah, there’s nothing up there right now… I’m working on it, I’m working on it!)

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Filed Under: Fun, Time Travel Tagged With: retro toybox

Comments

  1. John Purlia says

    January 20, 2011 at 9:05 pm

    Looking forward to the posts!I've had the same soft spot for vintage toys and pretty much covered every horizontal surface of my office at work with playthings. Unfortunately, the only people who saw my toy collection were the people I worked with, so one day I decided to take pictures of my toys so I could share them with friends. My pictures were pretty boring. A toy. On a table. Yawn. The toys needed some context to make them a little more interesting, so the next weekend I hauled a box of vintage record albums into my office and started taking pictures of my toys standing in front of the colorful pictures on these cheesy album covers. Hey! I was on to something! Over the years the scenes I've set up with toys and albums have grown increasingly more complex, and today I'm full time taking pictures of vintage toys, so I'm CONSTANTLY looking for cool things to sneak into new photos. No doubt I'll be watching your posts with much interest!!

    Reply
  2. Maple Leaf Mommy says

    January 21, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Oh wow! Toys in front of vintage albums, how brilliant! Of course I had to go immediately look at your photos, and they are awesome.

    Reply
  3. Still Blonde after a says

    January 27, 2011 at 1:24 pm

    I am a huge fisher price collector. You wouldn't happen to have the hospital lurking around would you?

    Reply
  4. Maple Leaf Mommy says

    January 27, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    I adore Fisher Price Little People. It's one of my favourite toy lines. My top wishlist item (to keep and not to sell) is a Fisher Price Little People Castle. I've sold a few of the hospitals over the years, but don't have one right now. So sorry.

    Reply
    • Anonymous says

      June 14, 2012 at 5:27 pm

      I have lots of little people are you. Interested?

      Reply
  5. Deanna says

    June 19, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    Tentatively. I don't buy to resell any more, just to fill out my own collection. email me at mapleleafmommy@gmail.com and let me know what you have.

    Reply

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