Vintage Toy Storage

Published on 2/1/2025
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Vintage Toy Storage

Whether you’re collecting for personal pleasure or because you hope it will be worth money someday, you’ll want to keep your hard-hunted treasures in the best condition possible. The two most important things to remember are to keep them clean and dry.


Tips for specific vintage toy items:


Barbie Dolls – can get what’s known as “rubber rot” if not stored correctly. Keep them, and any toys made of rubber or plastic, in a temperature-controlled setting. With older Barbies, such as those from the 1960s, you’ll want to remove their earrings before what’s known as “green ear” sets in, where the metal jewelry causes discoloration to the doll skin around the ears.


Metal Toys – can be prone to rust so keeping them dry is especially important. 


Diecast Cars – can be kept like new in the cases made for storing them.


To clean toys, don’t use chemical solvents, just gentle soap and water will usually do the trick.


Toys in Their Original Package

Then there is the question – if you want the toy to maintain its value, should you even take it out of the packaging? Packaging doesn’t make it worth that much more. It’s more important that toys are enjoyed and played with.