Web Site News

Site Map

Contact Us

Home

Larry Aikins never had a lunch box as a kid. But, hey, it's never too late. Today the 56-year-old retired general contractor has 3,500 of them, so many that he recently bought a new home in Athens, Texas, to house his collection.

Like thousands of fellow "boxers," Aikins favors models made between 1950 and the late '80s, when steel gave way to plastic as the box makers' material of choice. Even common ones featuring TV and movie characters such as Batman and the Fonz can now bring as much as $200 or more.

A scarce 1962 Dudley Do Right box goes for more than $2,000. And a rare Superman lunch box, which sold for about $1.50 in 1954, is today worth its weight in kryptonite, fetching $6,500 in pristine condition.

So check your attic. If you still have an old box that hasn't been wrecked by rust or petrified peanut butter, it could bring you a lot of lunch money. (Look inside the box, too: Matching thermos bottles increase the value of most boxes by as much as 50 percent.)

Hot

Limited editions based on short-lived television shows, such as 1984's "Street Hawk," and the rarest boxes fashioned after TV westerns and sci-fi shows. Also, boxes that appeal to people who collect other things, such as Beatles, "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" memorabilia.

Not

Repainted metal lunch boxes. Plastic boxes were also shunned until recently, but some adventurous collectors have begun to scoop them up as well.

Entry level ($20 to $100): Boxes for young school children, such as a 1970s "Peanuts" line. They're more affordable because they were produced in huge numbers and many survived. Mid-range ($100 to $250): Most boxes in good condition from the 1950s and '60s, such as a 1955 "Daniel Boone" box, worth $150, and a '68 "Secret Agent Man" box, worth up to $200. High end ($250 to $550): 1950s to '70s boxes meant for an older, pre-teen crowd, such as a 1967 "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" box, worth about $300, and a '67 "Lost in Space," valued at as much as $400.

Though these shows were hot with pre-teens, carrying a lunch box was uncool, so few boxes were sold and only a small number remain today.

Comments or Suggestions?