The 1980s was a decade that left a permanent mark on popular culture, with iconic products, collectibles, and memorabilia that have only grown in value and desirability over time. Many millennials and Generation X look back on the 1980s fondly and are willing to spend a lot of money on collecting things from their childhood.
This has pushed many things from the decade to grow in value, so here are ten things from the 1980s that are worth a fortune.
Watch out if you have them!
FLEER MICHAEL JORDAN ROOKIE CARD
Michael Jordan is one of the most iconic basketball players in the history of basketball and was named NBA’s “Most Valuable Player” (MVP) five times between 1988 and 1998.
Hence, it’s no wonder that the famous “Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card” is the most sought-after card by both fans and collectors. There are only 132 Fleer Mint cards of 1986-87 in existence, making hardcore fans drive the prices up, trying to outbid one another.
Data shows that a Fleer Michael Jordan rookie card in mint condition can fetch anything between $200,000 to $500,000, with bids starting as high as $100,000.
APPLE LISA 1
Named after Steve Jobs’s daughter, Lisa Brennan Jobs, Apple’s Lisa, released in 1983, helped create the design language as we know it today. It has many features similar to the modern computer, yet it was Apple’s biggest failure.
Despite this, collectors and Apple fans have driven auction prices up for this computer. If you owned one, it was probably purchased for the release price of $9995. Today, it can be auctioned for $30000 to as high as $94949.
There are only 30-100 pieces of this computer left today, and a working model of Apple’s Lisa 1 was sold for $50000 in 2017 by Auction Team Breker.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we see and read today are a lot different from what they were in the beginning—a black-and-white violent comic book that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created as a parody of the existing superhero comics, replacing superheroes with four turtles.
The narrative was changed to suit children when the comic was licensed to Playmates, which grew to become extremely popular as we know it today.
However, some fans still highly regard the original black-and-white comics, and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 comic with a CGC 9.8 grade was sold for $250,000 in 2021.
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and developed by Nintendo in 1986. The game is still popular today, and mint copies are always sold at record prices.
A sealed and unopened copy of the game was auctioned for $870000, with the bid starting at $110000. The Legend of Zelda has become the most expensive video game ever sold, setting a new world record.
1987 CASTLEVANIA
Today, famous as an anime, Castlevania is a video game created in 1986.
Recently, an original 1987 sealed copy of Castlevania from the game’s first production run was auctioned for an impressive $90,100.
The auction saw 130 bids and became one of the highest prices ever recorded for a video game.
JAWS VHS 1983
Jaws is an iconic Steven Speilberg masterpiece that won three Oscars, broke many records, and is still rewatched to date. The movie received a “cult-classic” status and put the fear of the ocean in many who watched it. Yet people’s love for the movie never faded, and an early 1983 copy of the movie was sold for $32000 at a Heritage auction. While rare, it is not the only copy made, so there might be people who still own a copy.
1981 DeLorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car that was one of a kind in the 80s. It gained huge popularity in the first year of its release due to its appearance in the “Back to the Future” movies, but the novelty soon wore off because of its high pricing.
In recent years, however, the car gained popularity and was sold for a median price of $50050 and a high price of $121000 in 2024.
RED SEA CROSSING
Red Sea Crossing, released in 1983, is one of the rarest games, not just for the Atari 2600 but in the world too; it preceded the Nintendo. It wasn’t as popular as Atari’s other games, like Asteroids, but few people remember playing it in their childhood. Red Sea Crossing is based on Moses crossing the Red Sea and the user helping him.
The game was auctioned for $10400 in 2012, and only two copies were found, but the programmer believes that five hundred copies were created. Anyone who has even a single copy of the game will earn a fortune.
OPTIMUS PRIME AFA 80+
Optimus Prime is the main protagonist of the Transformers franchise, which started in 1964. Pepsi collaborated with the franchise in 1984 to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. This model of Optimus Prime comes in Pepsi colors of Red, Blue, and White.
The Optimus Prime AFA 80+ Pepsi variant was sold in 2022 for $10359. It should be noted that this isn’t the only piece out there. While this figurine was produced in limited numbers, people could still find one in their old homes or attics.
BACK TO THE FUTURE VHS TAPE
Back to the Future is considered to be one of the most iconic time-travel movies ever made; the movie franchise has inspired many science-fiction movies and books.
In 2022, Heritage Auctions sold a sealed mint-condition 1986 VHS tape of the movie for $75000. The copy was owned by actor Tom Wilson, who played the roles of Biff Tannen, Griff, and Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen in the trilogy.
