Old Toys and Old Toy Pictures

Old Toys & Photos– What is  your time frame?

Old Toys or Antique seems to be a relative term in the world of toy collecting.  Antique has a stronger definition, but the word old is a relative term.  The article below shares a great conversation with an older collector, and how we found a way to tighten up the definition of old toys.  Enjoy!

Marty asked me to define and antique.  ‘It is officially a toy over 100 years…’ I said.

Then he asked about vintage toys. ‘..To me a vintage toy is at least 15 years old’.

Then asked me to define the term “Old Toys” and define his Batmobile.  This request had me a bit stumped.

Should we stick to the strict definition of Antique as being a 100 year old toy?  This would place old toys as 99 years old or newer to an arbitrary new toy cutoff.  -Possibly toys from this year would be considered the only new ones.

Back to Marty and my response.  ‘Old Toy; maybe! It is the Batmobile from the 1960’s and made in Japan and definately a vintage toy.’

‘What is old?’, I think to myself, and then I wax philosophical.  To me toy age and the term “old” depends on your reference.  In the age of the Earth, 100 years is a blink of the eye and new.  If I roll back to a single human’s brain, then reference of old is 40 years.  Then again, I have to roll back to the perspective of the person asking.

Don’t dare ask my kids what is old, because to them, 4 years is old.  To them (say my 8 year old), 4 years represents half of a lifetime!  So I have to cut her slack.

To me, a Gen X guy, something made in the 1980’s and earlier is old.  -Or then again maybe the 80’s represent vintage and the 60’s are the time of “old toys.”  I stump myself there.

So now I have to roll back my perception and keep it simple.  Old toys are anything that aren’t currently in production.  -Make sense?  This way I can say that the “old Star Wars toys” in Target last year were nice; the new ones for Rogue One are better! 🙂

-Be sure to check out our “Old Toys” for sale here at AntiqueToys.  I’ll be inclusive of some soon-to-be classics of the 60’s and may even edge towards showcasing a few from the 1970’s!

Be well & Happy Old Toy Hunting!

Best Regards,
Ed

Best Regards,
Ed