This vintage action figure set a record at auction. But your childhood toys may not be worth as much as you think

An action figure from 1979 that was never officially released in stores has just become the most valuable vintage toy ever sold at auction, fetching a final bid that could buy a three-bedroom, two-bath home in many parts of the United States.

An action figure from 1979 that was never officially released in stores has become the most valuable vintage toy ever sold at auction, fetching a final bid that could buy a three-bedroom, two-bath home in many parts of the United States. The Rocket-Firing Boba Fett action figure, modeled after the “Star Wars” bounty hunter, was purchased in Dallas by an anonymous buyer for $525,000, Heritage Auctions announced last Monday. It dethroned Barbie from the No. 1 spot she had held since 2010, when a version of the iconic doll with a necklace of real diamonds sold at a Christie’s auction for $302,500. Pricey efforts by collectors to get their hands on specific toys are par for the course in this niche field, one that can be lucrative but also one where pricing is opaque and volatile and many of the most expensive deals are brokered privately among hobbyists. Part of what makes almost any memorabilia market so speculative and unstable, especially one based on entertainment, is that it’s governed by sentiment and nostalgia. Those who grew up playing with the earliest action figures in the 1970s and 1980s now have the money to spend on some of the toys they had (or couldn’t have) as kids, and many hobbyists are willing to pour a lot of money into rare vintage toys. “I have a lot more disposable income now than I did when I was collecting toys as a kid,” said Justin Caravoulias, the Action Figures & Toys consignment director at Heritage Auctions, whose own collection includes a range of G.I. Joe action figures from the 1960s to present day. “People my age have the disposable income to say, ‘I want that $100 Rambo figure, I want that $400 Hot Toys Star Wars figure or, hey, I want the $525,000 Boba Fett figure.’ So the people who have grown up with it have matured to the point where they can spend some real money on these things.” And while that old toy box in the back of that closet full of beat-up He-Man, Batman and Barbie dolls almost certainly won’t be worth as much as the jackpot Boba Fett, adults today are increasingly gravitating toward buying toys for themselves — perhaps invigorating new collectible markets down the road.