Many of us probably had tons of childhood collectibles that we can barely remember where they ended up. Chances are, they got tossed during some big clean-up. But guess what? Decades later, some of those forgotten treasures are turning out to be surprisingly valuable.
Recently, an old-school item has been sparking buzz on Japanese X (formerly Twitter): early Pokémon finger puppet models. These vintage goodies are a far cry from what's released today. Netizens have discovered that these finger puppets are now fetching seriously high prices on the second-hand marketplace Mercari, leaving many shocked and flooded with nostalgic memories of owning them. 
The tweet that kicked off the discussion came from a user who saw someone on X mention that Pokémon finger puppets, which originally cost less than 220 yen each, are now selling for insane prices. "So I went back to my parents' house and dug around," the user posted, "and turns out, we had a huge stash! Who would've thought these could go for 50,000 yen?!"
You can see these vintage items being sold in bulk on Mercari, with prices hovering around 50,000 yen – and they're all sold out!
The original poster also highlighted that some of these old models are seriously valuable. For instance, a clear Lapras finger puppet can fetch nearly 15,000 yen – that's a pretty impressive price hike! (Though it's unclear if anyone actually bought it at that price, it only shows as sold.)
After the post went viral, tons of netizens jumped into the discussion. Many lamented that as Pokémon's popularity soared, these vintage items have become symbols of serious cash.
However, many Japanese netizens also shared that they used to own loads of these old toys, but... they've all vanished. No one knows where they went, leaving a real sense of time slipping away.
And of course, there were plenty of heartbreaking stories of moms throwing everything away. QQ
Ultimately, the actual selling price still depends on market demand. These vintage items are no longer in production, so their value is really in the eye of the beholder. But it certainly brings back memories of those childhood collections, and who knew they'd become valuable decades later?