The Heirloom Guide: Selling an Inherited Toy & Collectible Collection in Ireland (2026)

Quick Answers: What to Do First

If you have inherited a collection and just need a clear starting point, these answers cover the most common questions. The full detail is further down the page.

Where do I even begin?

Start by not making any quick decisions. The most common mistake families make is either throwing things away immediately or rushing to sell to the first person who shows interest. Neither is necessary. Take some photographs — wide shots of the shelves or boxes, and closer shots of anything that looks older or more unusual — and use those to start conversations with specialist retailers. You do not need to be an expert to start that process.

Is old the same as valuable?

Not automatically, and this is probably the most important thing to understand before you speak to anyone. Age is one factor, but condition, completeness, and demand matter just as much. A 1980s figure with all its original accessories in good condition can be worth a significant amount. The same figure missing parts or heavily played with might only be worth €5 to €10. That is still €5 to €10 rather than nothing, and it is still better than landfill — but going into the process with realistic expectations leads to a much better outcome than going in expecting everything to be a grail.

How do I get an idea of what things are worth?

The most practical method is eBay Sold listings. Search for the specific item, click the "Sold Items" filter on the left, and sort by most recent. What you see is what buyers actually paid — not what sellers hoped to get, but what actually changed hands. Do this for the items you think are the most significant before speaking to anyone. It gives you a grounded reference point and means you are going into any conversation better informed. We do not issue written valuations for insurance or probate — practically speaking, no Irish retailer does, because formal toy grading requires specialist third-party services that are primarily based in the US.

Does Uncanny Collectibles buy collections outside Dublin?

Yes — across all of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and depending on what the collection contains, the UK as well. Once we have reviewed what you have via a phone call and WhatsApp images or video, we can arrange UPS collection from your door, once a deal is agreed. You can also drop off at our Ballymount showroom in Dublin (D12 HW6X) or our Leitrim collection point[cite: 8]. We work around where you are and what suits you.

A Passion Worth Passing On

The person whose collection you are now dealing with spent years building it. Every figure on a shelf represents something — a memory, a hunt, a find. These are not random objects. They are a record of what someone loved.

We think of passing on a specialist collection the way some people think about organ donation. The original collector is gone, but their passion does not have to be. Somewhere out there is a collector who has spent years looking for the exact piece that is sitting in a box in the corner of a room. When that item reaches the right hands, it finds a new home where it will genuinely be cared for. That matters — both to the collector who loved it and to the family making the decision about what to do with it.

We take that responsibility seriously, which is why we would rather give you an honest picture of what you have than one that sets you up for disappointment.

The Lowball Warning: Read This Before You Speak to Anyone

During a period of bereavement, families are often approached quickly by people who know exactly what they are doing. This section is blunt because families deserve to know it happens.

Someone who knows collectibles well — and sees that a family is clearing an estate — knows two things: the family is grieving, and the family probably does not know what they have. Some buyers will use that combination to make a low offer and move fast before anyone has had time to do their research.

A collection that includes original carded vintage figures, complete sets with accessories, or anything from the 1970s and 80s in good condition can have real value. It can also have very little — it genuinely depends on the specific items and their condition. The point is that you should know which before you agree to any price.

Before you agree to sell anything to anyone:

• Ring at least two or three specialist retailers and have a conversation. A reputable dealer will explain their process, tell you what they look for, and give you a fair picture of the market. Someone who pushes for a quick answer or is vague about how they arrived at a number is telling you something.
• Use eBay Sold listings to check the items you think are most significant before any meeting. Active listings are what people are asking. Sold listings are what buyers paid. Those two numbers are often very different.
• Never feel obligated to sell to the first person who shows up, and never agree a price on the same day you are first approached. The right buyer will still be there in a week.

What We Buy — and What We Do Not

We are a vintage toy and adult collectibles dealer. Our area is pop culture — action figures, statues, and memorabilia tied to the TV shows, films, and video games people grew up with. If you want a feel for the type of items we sell and buy, uncannycollectibles.com is the best reference.

We buy both boxed and loose items. A loose figure is not automatically worth less than a boxed one — many collectors specifically want loose figures to display alongside boxed versions, to army-build, or simply because they prefer items they can handle. What matters is the condition of the figure, whether it has its original accessories, and the demand for that particular character — not whether it is in a box.

The items we are most interested in include vintage action figures from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s — Star Wars, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, The A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, The Six Million Dollar Man, Indiana Jones, and similar lines from that era. We are also interested in modern collector-grade figures such as NECA and McFarlane, pop culture memorabilia tied to film and TV, and vintage items still in original packaging from any era.

What We Do Not Handle — and Who Does

We would rather point you to the right person than pretend to be expert in areas we are not. For items outside our range:

• Diecast cars, model vehicles, train sets, model railways, toy soldiers, and military models — contact Mark's Models or Diecast Models 4 U.
• Comic book collections — contact Sam at Wham Comics.
• Trading cards (Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and similar) — these are a specialist market with their own dealers and a high counterfeit rate. Ring around a few local card shops, have a conversation, and go with whoever you feel you can trust. Do not rush this.
• Vinyl records — a potentially very valuable area with its own network of specialist dealers and record shops. Ring around local record stores to find one you feel comfortable dealing with for consignment or sale.
• CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes — values across the board are quite low at the moment. Second-hand media shops handle these, but manage expectations on what they will fetch.
• Video games and consoles — depending on the size and content of the collection, we can point you towards the right specialist. Get in touch and we will give you a recommendation based on what you have.

We do not deal in Beanie Babies, anime figures, or manga. We also do not buy babies' or toddlers' toys, jigsaws, or board games. Tabletop gaming items — Warhammer and similar — are worth a conversation depending on what is there.

A few specific things we do not buy, regardless of era:

• Loose Lego — still factory sealed in original boxes, yes. Loose bricks and part-built sets, no.
• Funko Pop-only collections — we have a full guide on why the Funko market is not something we buy into. If the collection is exclusively Funko, we are not the right buyer.
• WWE wrestling figure collections — not our area of expertise.

A Word on Charity Shops

Donating to charity is a good instinct, but it is worth understanding what actually tends to happen when specialist collectibles go that route.

Charity shops either overprice items because staff assume old equals valuable — in which case the item sits on a shelf for months and ends up in the back — or they price too low, and a knowledgeable reseller picks it up for a couple of euro and sells it on for ten times that. Neither outcome is bad in itself, but if getting the right value for your loved one's collection matters to you, neither outcome achieves it.

If supporting a charity is important, a better approach is to sell the collection properly and donate a portion of the proceeds. The charity benefits more, and the items find homes with people who actually want them.

The Recycling Service: When the Items Are Broken or Damaged

We recently started offering a free recycling service for items that fall outside the category we would normally buy — broken figures, damaged ships, incomplete sets where the parts have value but the item itself does not. This is a new service and it is deliberately limited, because we do not have the premises to become a general drop-off point.

The way it works: we recently had someone reach out to us with a large number of broken Star Wars ships. They did not want to put them in landfill. We agreed to take them at no charge — we covered the shipping cost, they boxed them up — and we got them into the hands of customisers, toy photographers, and people building dioramas who genuinely wanted them.

This is not something we can offer for everything, and we do not pay for items going through this route. But if you have items that are genuinely broken or incomplete and you want to keep them out of a skip, get in touch and we will tell you honestly whether we can help. We operate this on a case-by-case basis depending on what we have room for and who we know can use the items.

What we cannot do is become a general clearance service. We do not have the space to take in large volumes of random items that people want shot of. Every item that comes through us — bought, consigned, or recycled — goes somewhere specific.

The Condition Warning: What Irish Attics Do to Collectibles

Hot Toys and Synthetic Leather

High-end figures from the last fifteen years — particularly Hot Toys — use synthetic leather (pleather) for costumes and accessories. In a humid environment like an Irish attic, this degrades slowly inside the box. When opened, everything looks fine. Within days, the pleather can begin to flake and fall apart. This cannot be reversed.

It is worth knowing that many retailers will not buy Hot Toys for this reason — the risk of a defective goods return is too high once an item has been in storage. Do not open any boxed high-end figures until a specialist has seen them. A photo in the box is enough to start that conversation.

Resin Statues

Large premium resin statues from makers like Sideshow Collectibles are slow-moving, specialist items. They require their original packaging to ship safely, attract a narrow buyer pool, and take up significant shelf space for a long time. Most retailers are reluctant to take them in for the same reasons. If the collection includes pieces like this, they are worth taking time over — a specialist auction or consignment route will get a better result than a quick sale.

Uncanny as a Hub: Bringing Everything Together

One thing we can do that saves a family a lot of stress is act as a single drop-off point for a mixed collection. If what you have covers multiple categories — action figures, some comics, maybe some video game consoles and games — you do not need to travel to different dealers in different parts of the country.

Where we have established contacts who are happy to take specific parts of a collection, we can handle distribution from our end. Once a deal with us & our network is in place, you can bring everything to us in one trip.

Our Ballymount showroom has a large loading bay with trolleys and free parking, which makes bringing in a large or heavy collection straightforward. No awkward kerbside unloading or trying to find a space — just pull up and we take it from there.

Buying Outright or Selling on Consignment

Depending on the collection, we offer two routes:

• Outright purchase — we agree a fair price and take the collection in one transaction. This is faster and simpler, and often the right choice when the priority is a clean, straightforward resolution.
• Consignment — for higher-value items that would achieve a significantly better return sold individually to the right buyer, we can sell on your behalf and return the agreed percentage once each item sells. This takes longer but gets a better result on the pieces that warrant it. Details of how this works are on our consignment page.

We will tell you honestly which route makes more sense for what you have. Often a mixed approach — outright purchase for the bulk, consignment for a handful of standout pieces — is the right answer.

How the Process Works

• Start with a phone call. Tell us roughly what you have — the general type of items, the era, any specifics you know about. We will give you an honest first impression and let you know whether it is something we can work with.
• Send us WhatsApp images or a video walkthrough. Wide-angle shots of shelves or boxes, close-ups of anything older or more unusual, photos of any boxed items. The more we can see, the better the conversation we can have. Vague descriptions like "I have figures, do you want them?" do not give us enough to work with — images and video are always better.
• Nothing moves until we have agreed. We discuss terms, agree a price or a consignment arrangement, and only then does anything get collected or shipped.
• Logistics are handled. Once everything is agreed, we can arrange UPS collection from your door — you box the items safely, we cover the shipping cost. You can also drop off at our Ballymount showroom or our Leitrim collection point. For larger collections in specific locations, we can sometimes arrange a visit.

Get in touch here or find our contact details on the website.

A Note for Funeral Directors and Estate Solicitors

If you are supporting a family who has come across a specialist toy or action figure collection as part of an estate, we are available as a professional point of contact. We offer a no-pressure guidance call that helps families understand what they have, what it is worth in realistic terms, and what their options are.

Families in this situation are often overwhelmed and under time pressure. Having a knowledgeable contact they can reach out to makes a real difference. If it would be useful to have our details on hand for future referrals, get in touch.

One Rule Above Everything Else

Do not throw anything away until you have spoken to someone who knows the market. Not into a charity bag. Not into a skip. One phone call or a handful of WhatsApp photos could be the difference between losing something genuinely valuable and getting it to the right home.

The person whose collection you are clearing cared about these things. Somewhere out there, another collector cares just as much. That is what this is really about.