Old toys 'could earn thousands'

The original Pinocchio marionette was found in a Los Angeles cabinet

Old toys hoarded in British attics could be worth thousands of pounds, an antiques expert has advised.

Antiques Roadshow toy expert Hilary Kay said Hornby train sets, Dinky and Matchbox cars and Meccano kits could be money-spinners at auction.

People's lofts could hide "thousands of pounds worth of toys in their homes which could make them some extra money during the credit crunch", Ms Kay said.

But toys need to be boxed and in good repair to reach top prices, she added.

'Nostalgic reasons'

Ms Kay said householders could take inspiration from the recent discovery of the original wooden Pinocchio marionette in a cabinet at Disney's Los Angeles studios.

Certain toys from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are really hot at the moment Hilary Kay The Antiques Roadshow

But, she added, mass-produced toys from the recent past have also generated respectable sums at auction.

A boxed 1950s Hornby Dublo Duchess of Atholl locomotive fetched £1,200 in 2007, while a boxed 1960s Scalextric motor racing set fetched £1,000 in 2003.

Ms Kay said that toy soldiers, robots and science fiction toys, Scalextric racing tracks and Subbuteo table football were also popular with collectors, as well as characters linked to films and TV shows.

Ms Kay said: "Certain toys from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are really hot at the moment and can fetch a lot of money at auction.

"Today's new generation of collectors are in their 30s and 40s and often buy for nostalgic reasons.

"They may buy the toy they were never able to afford when they were a child, or to re-form their childhood collection which was given away when they left home."