5 Treasured Retro Gadgets Your Grandpa Might Still Have

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Warm weather is here, and for many, that means doing a little spring cleaning. Go through everything and decide what to keep, what to give, and what to throw away. If you have grandparents, you might even find yourself in the attic helping them clean out old boxes that have been collecting dust for decades. And hidden inside those boxes could be a treasure trove of retro gadgets that are making a comeback, but could also be worth a pretty penny because of it.

From early cellular devices and game consoles to retro audio players and wacky cameras, there might still be some cool old tech that Grandpa has that’s more valuable than you think. We did some research online to find out which vintage tech treasures are worth big bucks. According to listings sold on online auction sites, these old gadgets are ones you might want to keep your eyes peeled for the next time you’re helping your grandparents sort through their stuff.

The Sony TPS-L2 Walkman is a fantastic piece of retro technology released in 1979 and received a dose of modern attention thanks to its inclusion in films such as “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It truly changed the face of music, as it was the first commercially available personal stereo cassette player. Units on the used market today can sell for hundreds of dollars, such as a Walkman listed as broken and ideal for parts, selling on eBay for $361 in May 2026.

That’s a pretty significant amount of money for something that doesn’t work, which goes to show how popular these devices still are. If you have one in good working condition, know that sales in 2026 range from $565 to $1,800. And if you find other models of Walkman around grandpa’s house, chances are they’re worth something too, with vintage units from the ’80s and ’90s selling for $100 and up, even when they don’t work.

People of a certain age will probably remember the Commodore 64 computer. It was a home and classroom staple in the 1980s, before Apple came along. And while the Commodore 64 might be worth something on the used market in good condition, it’s the latest Commodore Amiga 500 that has the real value. Perhaps not as popular as the Commodore 64 in the United States, the Amiga 500 was a last-ditch effort by Commodore to stay relevant in the growing computer market as losses piled up.

It struck a chord with music producers thanks to an impressive audio processing chip, and some artists still use the machine to this day. Games also benefited, with titles such as “Lemmings”, “Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty” and “Worms” arriving on the machine. Complete Commodore Amiga 500s sold online for $350, with units featuring music sampling software for over $600.

There was a time when you could walk into a thrift store and find a CRT TV selling for a few dollars. In 2015, major thrift stores stopped accepting these types of TVs due to the overwhelming volume. I actually picked up a few for free because my local team was just going to throw them away. But recently, the demand for CRT TVs has increased as younger generations get into retro video games. They are also popular with 1990s kids who are now adults and have money to spend on replenishing their collections.

Good CRT TVs can be worth a pretty penny, but none more so than the Sony PVM range. These TVs sell for hundreds of dollars, with some units in the smaller PVM line selling for over $1,000 online. That’s a lot of money for an old TV that might just be hiding in a garage. My parents owned an extremely heavy 36 inch Sony Trinitron which is now the centerpiece of my own game room. These models can sell online for over $150, making saving it from the junkyard one of the best investments I made as a teenager.

Nokia is still making smartphones in 2026, although some are cheap Android phones that you should avoid. But older devices like the Nokia 9110i Communicator can be worth a lot of money. A Nokia Communicator, dating from 1996, sold online for almost $500 in February 2026. Others have sold for more than $300 in untested condition, and even upgraded models from the era have held impressive value. This line of Nokia cell phones was popular with the business community of the time because the face opened to expose a full keyboard and screen.

The Communicator series came with a lot of technology for its time, including an MMC card slot and a web browser. But the main thing that made these retro Nokia gadgets unique was the GEOS operating system which worked as a layer on top of the built-in DOS-ROM. This meant the phone could run MS-DOS applications, and was one of the reasons it became sought after in the business world, as it helped blur the line between a cell phone, a PDA, and a laptop.

All the retro gadgets that Grandpa still owns still have no value today. Sure, old film cameras are popular again, but a vintage Polaroid 600 camera can be found online for less than $100 in 2026. But if you own a specific model of camera, you might be able to translate that into a little more money. Like the Polaroid 600 Tasmanian Devil edition which sold for several hundred dollars. Released in 1999 and shaped like the head of the Tasmanian Devil, this retro camera is sure to attract attention.

Polaroid even sold a matching film featuring a Looney Tunes branded frame. Boxed versions of the camera have sold on eBay for as much as $350 in 2026, presumably due to its popularity among collectors of instant cameras and Looney Tunes. Seeing someone pull out the head of the Tasmanian Devil, only for it to open its mouth and take a Polaroid photo would surely be entertaining, and it shows that modern technology feels like it’s lost a step in terms of simple, fun features.

When researching retro gadgets that might be valuable today, we looked at what’s been selling recently on the second-hand market. This included eBay and other online shopping platforms such as OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and Mercari. We have avoided any general speculation on pricing and overvaluation by collectors, relying solely on the final sale value of retro gadgets sold on these sites over the past year.