From cards to cereal boxes, yesterday’s trash has become today’s treasure.
DailyMail.com spoke to Nora Curl, a collectibles expert who values up to a thousand items a month on JustAnswer.com and AppraiseAntique.com.
Curl said: “Wow! That’s the phrase that comes to mind when seemingly carefree, disposable items turn out to be quite valuable on the collectible resale market.”
But seemingly worthless disposable items, which some might consider just trash, can have surprising value, he said.
Cereal boxes
Cereal boxes featuring pop culture icons can be worth thousands, or even tens of thousands, Curl notes.
A 1935 Wheaties box featuring baseball legend Lou Gehrig sold for $7,680 at Julien’s Auctions in 2019, against an estimate of $1,000 to $2,000.
A 1935 Wheaties box featuring baseball legend Lou Gehrig sold for $7,680 at Julien’s Auctions in 2019
Curl said: ‘If you’re already in the buying, collecting and reselling game, you may know that Wheaties cereal boxes can be resold for a profit, especially those featuring pop culture icons and sports figures, like the inimitable Betty White, whose box of Wheaties sold for $10,240 in 2022.’
A box of Kellogg’s Super Mario sold for $45,000 on eBay in 2018
But Curl says the holy grail of collectible cereal boxes is actually Kellogg’s, the one featuring the Super Mario brothers.
One sold for $45,000 on eBay in 2018.
Old casino chips
Many card players like to keep a few chips as mementos of good times at the tables, but old chips, especially those dating back decades, can be very valuable.
A $5 Sands token sold for $8,101 on eBay in 2018
$1000 Frontier Casino token that sold for $35,000 in January 2024
Curl said: ‘If I were a gambler and had won a few poker chips at a casino on holiday in Las Vegas in the 1950s, I would have cashed in my $5 chip right then and there.
“But if you decided to keep it as a memento of a fun time in Las Vegas, then fast forward more than 50 years later, because a $5 Sands token sold for $8,101 on eBay in 2018.”
‘So check those chips at home, because the ones marked with old Las Vegas Strip landmarks have a lot of potential value.’
An assorted set of 7 poker chips, ranging from 50 cents to $5, from The Sahara, sold for $8,700 in 2021.
Curl said: ‘Other notable winning chips include a $1,000 Frontier Casino chip that sold for $35,000 in January 2024, a $5 Cowgirl chip from The Sands that sold for $7,255 in 2021, a pair of $1 Riverboat Casino chips that sold for $5,389 in 2016, and a $5 Fremont Hotel chip that sold for $2,402 in 2022.’
Classic cult VHS tapes
You could be sitting on a treasure trove of priceless children’s movies.
Streaming has replaced visits to the video store, but VHS tapes are becoming a hot commodity among collectors.
Classics like Back to the Future and cult films like the original Fast and Furious sell for thousands of dollars on eBay.
But before you rush out to the garage or rummage through the attic, proceed with caution: the condition of these tapes is key to their selling price.
These are the most in-demand tapes:
1. “Back to the Future”: If you could travel back in time to 1985 in the DeLorean, don’t open your copy. It sells for $1,000.
2. “The Fast and the Furious”: When it came out in the early 2000s, many of us already owned the DVDs. A VHS version of this Paul Walker and Vin Diesel classic can set you back around $1,000.
3. “Teen Wolf”: An early printing of the VHS tape featuring the iconic Michael J. Fox cover with his chest showing just sold for $1,190 on eBay.
4. “Gremlins”: America fell in love with the evil little furry menaces in this 1980s classic. A copy today costs $1,250.
5. “First Blood”: Sylvester Stallone was in his element. A copy of this gem sold for $1,525. The original VHS tape still had the $29.95 price tag on the cover. How do you feel about that?
6. “Halloween II”: An unopened copy of this hit sequel recently sold for $1,525.
7. “Dumbo”: A limited edition version that included a Mickey Mouse ornament recently sold for $1,575.50.
8. “Conan the Barbarian”: Who doesn’t love an old-school, enemy-crushing masterpiece? A mint copy goes for $1,725.
9. “Taxi Driver”: First printings and early releases sell for a pretty hefty price tag. An early release of the Robert De Niro classic sold for $1,905.
10. “The Goonies”: Recently sold for $4,050. As the saying goes, “The Goonies never die.” The market value of this VHS tape doesn’t either.
11. “A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Attention all Freddy Krueger fans. A new copy recently sold on eBay for $5,000.
Chewing gum packs and cards
Packs of gum and trading cards can be worth huge sums these days, Curl said.
Curl said, “Remember those Bazooka Joe gumballs that caused temporomandibular joint disorders? The gift you received when you opened the distinctive red, white and blue wrapper was a small comic book in waxed paper. I used to keep them neatly stacked in a small trinket box.”
In 2010, a single Nolan Ryan bubblegum comic card from that series sold at the same auction house for $13,200.
Old Bazooka Joe comics have a real collector’s market.
Today, most of them only sell for a few dollars each, however, in 1973, Topps also jumped on the comic book trading card bandwagon when it attempted to release a baseball-themed bubblegum test set.
The test set, i.e. the one not actually released on a mass scale to the public, consisted of 24 cards.
In 2010, a set of 24 copies sold for a total of $17,625 at Robert Edward auctions.
Old Bazooka Joe comics have a real collector’s market
In 2010, a single Nolan Ryan bubblegum comic card from that collection sold at the same auction house for $13,200.
Soup Ads
Curl said: ‘Almost everyone is familiar with Andy Warhol and his ubiquitous Campbell’s soup can paintings.’
But did you know that Campbell’s Soup Company itself, in the 1960s, decided to capitalize on the pop art sensibility by offering a disposable sleeveless paper dress featuring repeating images of its soup cans?
The “disposable” paper dress is worth a lot of money
‘There were yellow lines printed on the bottom as a guide for cutting the dress to a suitable length inspired by Twiggy’s minidress. The Pop Art “Souper” dress was available by mail order from Campbell’s and served as a clever free advertising poster.
Paper dresses were meant to be thrown away, Curl said, but today they can change hands for huge sums of money.
She said, ‘Examples that have remained in mint condition have sold for between $4000 and $6600, and remain iconic and fashionable to this day… Some items just never go out of style!’
