Timmy Ryan: Careful with your junk, it might just be my treasure

When I was a kid, I always associated collecting with things like stamps or coins. There's a lot more going on and you might be surprised at what's worth ditching and what's not these days. There will always be a value on rare coins and stamps, but you'd be well advised to spread your net wider. 

I was quite taken aback to discover that McDonald's fast food Happy Meal toys are worth hanging on to. If you have not thrown out some of the kids toys, don't be in a hurry until you're certain you don't actually have something that could net you a few quid. 

Surprisingly too, it seems it doesn't just stop there. With plastic straws being phased out, folk are apparently paying decent prices online for the old guard as paper takes over.

Telly shows like 'Cash in the Attic' have certainly demonstrated the hidden treasures some of us have under our noses and are usually oblivious to. God knows there must be oodles of stuff in attics and wardrobes around the county that you might consider junk, but someone else would be eager to take it off your hands. The toy market in general is worth delving into. 

Take the Star Wars franchise. If you are fortunate to have or come across a boxed character like Chewbacca or R2D2, you could fetch a tasty sum for them. These and many other toy figures are highly collectible.

Who remembers the Pokemon craze of some years ago? The cards, while not all valuable, can contain some gems that would net a fine little payday. If you've got them in the house, get them checked out before you dump them.

How many homes have had at least one child who is or was at one time or another in their developmental years bought comics on a regular base? I was - and crikey, I wish I'd held on to the Spiderman stuff. I started buying them about 50 years ago. 

Who's to say I might not have kept a couple of hard-to-find items in there. Sadly, they're long since gone. I hope they found a happy home and were appreciated. It's possible you might have a sought after first edition book as well. The thing is how would you know? Firstly, if you have a lot of books or maybe you came in to a collection following a loved one's passing, don't assume it's all for the charity shop. 

Take a spell and sift through them properly. If you suspect there might be an interesting tome or two, find someone who can give them a proper look.

While I'm on the subject, I'm a bit of a low key collector myself. Not on any grand scale to be honest as I simply don't have the room but I'm very interested in old football books from the mid to late 70's. 

Recently I was delighted to get my hands on some Shoot annuals from the period. These would most likely have come out at Christmas back in the day and I was a huge fan of the magazine which I bought weekly at Pat Earley's or Ned Whelan's in Dungarvan. These were devoured from cover to cover and it's nice to see you can still get the hardback annuals on Ebay and from various buffs who sell them. If you have some gathering dust in your attic, give me a shout. I might take one or two off your hands.

Subbuteo is making a comeback in certain quarters across Ireland. The classic table football game could never be replaced by FIFA X Box nonsense in my book. I'm wondering if any of you have teams or sets knocking around in the loft you want rid of? 

Vinyl is close to some of our hearts. My record collection of LP's is not massive by any means but thankfully, unlike my old Subbuteo gear, I've held on to some gems that I would never part with.

Not really a price on tapes that people make themselves at home I'd imagine, but if anyone has pirate radio shows or BBC or RTE Radio 2 programmes from the 70's or 80's, please get in touch.

A lot of us 'mature' radio folk have some of our old shows on cassette but many never bothered to their eternal regret. What a missed opportunity and a loss to future generations.

Rock memorabilia will always get my attention. If you're sick of those Tony Iommi, Carlos Santana or other rock biographies peering at you from your bookshelf, I'm happy to talk to you.

Who knows what you have lurking in that dark and cobwebby Attic? Go on, take a trip up, do a scan about the place and see if there's some goodies stashed away that someone might very much like to see and even better, relieve you of them and free up some space.

Should you spot a holy grail or two, contact me at ryantimy@gmail.com or drop me a line if you like to Waterford News and Star, Gladstone Street, Waterford. 

I'm prepared to pay for anything you might want to declutter your lovely domicile of. If nothing else, you've probably been meaning to clean out the attic for months Anyway. You know what they say, one man's junk is another man's treasure. I'm surely doing you a favour!