It’s Spring here in Southwest Florida and nothing is so ubiquitous as doing a thorough Spring cleaning! Tasks like cleaning out closets and storage areas like attics, and basements to sort through old belongings. As you come across your children’s or perhaps grandchildren’s old toys, you might wonder, why has someone kept a box full of old Barbies or cartoon action figures? However, if you find a functionally intact Barbie in white cowgirl clothes with blue eyelids that move, then you may have something really special on your hands—a Western Barbie, to be precise, worth about $50 of special (assuming she is intact with all accessories, movable winking eyelids, and her box). The point is, you'll never know if those old collectible toys and action figures are valuable until you do the research—except doing that research can be almost as time-consuming as going through and cleaning out all your sentimental keepsakes in the first place. That's why Judy’s Jewelry Antiques and Estate Jewelry, your collectibles experts of Southwest Florida, created a guide to determining the value of your collectibles. Read on over the next few weeks toAs you come across your children’s or perhaps grandchildren’s old toys, you might wonder, why has someone kept a box full of old Barbies or cartoon action figures?

Old Toys Can Be Big Business.

Nearly every child had action figures—from Star Wars to Marvel or DC comic book superheroes, from WWE wrestling dolls to Disney princesses, and beyond. Most collectors don't want to play with their action figures quite the same way they originally did (or maybe they do; we don't want to judge them either way), but they want those special figures back in their lives. The value of some of those action figures might surprise you. A few years ago, a rare unpainted prototype of a rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure was sold online with a