Do you remember that one toy you refused to throw away?
Maya’s was a 6-inch action figure of Cyclops from the old X-Men series. Missing an arm. Scuffed paint. One foot was bent from being left on a car dashboard too long. But she didn’t care. Cyclops sat on her bookshelf through high school, college, and two apartments.
Why?
It was the only gift she ever got from her older brother before he joined the military. The figure wasn’t expensive. It wasn’t even rare. But it meant something. It anchored a memory in place.
Today’s collectors often get asked, “Why do you keep these things?” The answer isn’t always about market value. Sometimes it’s about memory. About emotion. About time travel without leaving your house.
The rise in collectibles—from vintage toys to cards to comics—isn’t about clinging to the past. It’s about giving the past a proper place in the present. Because some toys weren’t just toys. They were chapters of our story.