10 Iconic '70s Items And What They're Worth Today

It may be hard to believe, but 1975 was more than 50 years ago. If you grew up during the 1970s, then you may hold nostalgia for not just toys, but music, fashion, and even the furniture of the era. Pricewise, many such items were much cheaper than they are today, thanks largely to inflation. According to the website In2013Dollars.com, having $1 in 1975 is the equivalent of $6.02, a difference of 502.46% due to an average annual rate of inflation of about 3.58%.

With that in mind, it's hard not to think about all of the items anyone growing up during that time that would have bought and owned and either thrown away, lost, or left behind during a move. How much would they be worth today? While some items wouldn't see too much change in value, even with the rate of inflation through the years, if you managed to hold onto a few key items, they could be worth a lot of money. If you made the decision to never open them and keep the product in mint condition, that vintage buy could now be worth anywhere between $200 to nearly $1 million. If you're curious, read on to learn more about iconic '70s items and what they're actually worth today. 

With new Coach bags booming in popularity, vintage bags are also having a moment, including the 9170, also known as the Classic Pouch. First introduced in 1972, this bag remains popular decades later because it is a high-quality item that lacks distinct monograms or logos. This allows it to be worn across different eras of fashion without the worry of being a distraction or suddenly out of fashion, as is typically the case with brand patterns and symbols.

With Coach considered the fifth most popular brand of the moment, per the Lyst index, now might seem like a great time to pull that vintage 9170 bag out from the back of the closet and see what it's worth today. If you're selling on eBay, you'll find that gently used bags can go for $100 to $350. You might decide to sell directly to Coach, who, following a 2021 viral TikTok controversy over the fate of unsold merchandise, might be very happy to spend a few hundred dollars to reclaim a vintage piece in the hopes of selling it on and keeping it from going to waste. Some rare listings insist that the bag is worth upwards of $800. That said, we strongly advise against pricing your bag too high, as it will be hard to compete against most affordably priced authentic bags, even if your own Coach handbag is a genuine vintage item.

Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon" is one of the most iconic releases in music history, remembered in part for classics such as "Time," "Breathe," and "Money." Most notable of all is the unmistakable album cover, which features a ray of light passing through a flat, triangular prism and producing a rainbow. For as simplistic as the image is, there is a mysterious quality that continues to stoke the imaginations of music lovers to this day. 

Originally released in March 1973, the first pressings from this era will likely be the ones to net you the most money should you decide to collect and eventually sell them. On Rarerecords.net, for instance, an early U.S. printing that's still sealed can be purchased for around $500; its original valuation is $995. Meanwhile, on eBay, an Italian 1st press album can be bought for around $750.

With this in mind, it's very clear that if you were a Pink Floyd fan growing up in the '70s or just someone who is a big fan of music and knows an instant classic when you see one, your still-sealed, mint-condition copy of this album would be worth a lot of money if you happened to have the foresight to hold onto it.

As a brand, Gucci has been at the forefront of high fashion for decades. By the 1970s, Gucci had already started to introduce ready-to-wear garments and had even opened its first clothing dedicated store in New York City. It was also during this era that its handbags truly emerged as true must-have accessories for fashionable women. If you bought or received a Gucci bag made during the 1970s, you might be surprised to learn that there are vintage bag collectors willing to pay top dollar for these much beloved handbags. On 1st Dibs, a website where one can easily find vintage luxury items, we found a large Gucci shoulder bag with a tiger clasp dated to the 1970s being sold for just under $1,500. Various vintage Gucci bags and accessories available through 1stDibs, ranging in value from about $200 to nearly $3,000.

If you happen to own a Gucci handbag from this era and want to know if it's very valuable, there are a few things to keep in mind. When speaking to British Vogue, Hunter Thompson, director of authentication and brand compliance for The RealReal, revealed a few telltale signs regarding how to distinguish a true luxury handbag from a stylish dupe. He shared that if at all possible, you should prioritize handbags that come in their original boxes, with dustbags and certificates. If your Gucci bag is in very good condition with these accompanying items, it will likely be worth a lot of money.

If you envision 1970s glamour and style, especially clothing worn by top celebrities of the era on their way to disco parties, you are likely thinking of the work of Roy Halston Frowick. The irony in Halston being so widely associated with a decade often synonymous with excess is that in his own words, he believed "less becomes more" in terms of fabric use and design. Per the Guardian, the Iowa-born designer is credited with helping women move on from the constriction of corsets and embrace styles that were both minimalist and glamorous. Unfortunately, the high-fashion world would ultimately shun him after the name garnered mass appeal and availability through a $1 billion deal with JCPenney in 1983.

Though most of the world moved on from Halston and all things disco, for collectors of high quality vintage clothing, the name Halston does still carry weight. Whether you spotted a genuine Halston dress at a thrift store or found one in your mom's closet, you might be surprised to learn what they're worth today. There are multiple Halston pieces for sale through websites like 1st Dibs, where we found items priced between $800 and $14,600. 

Pricing will likely be determined by a variety of factors, such as the overall quality of the piece and if it's gently used. Another factor may be whether it's a ready-to-wear item or haute couture. As Fashion United explains, couture items are often unique designs created to be worn by a single person. Ready-to-wear fashion, alternately, represent multiple, sometimes mass-produced pieces, that are created for a variety of customers. The rarer the item, as is the case with couture, the more valuable. Still, the right ready-to-wear Halston design might still be worth a good amount of money to the right collector, as long as it's a verified piece that's in top-tier condition.

As the Millennial gray debate goes to show, how one generation chooses to decorate their homes can leave a poor impression on the next. For this reason, you can't always count on trends in furniture and home decoration to stick around. Home external and interior design concepts from the 1970s are often quite polarizing, famously lampooned in the 1995 film, "The Brady Bunch Movie," where filmmakers lovingly made plain just how out of place everything about this '70s family was in a more modern setting. Yet today, if the Bradys happened to own a few midcentury modern Ligne Roset pieces, like a Togo sofa, they would ultimately have had the last laugh. The once dated furniture has made a full comeback, and these items are now worth quite a bit.

The Togo collection is the brainchild of a French artist named Michel Ducaroy. As a member of a family known for furniture and fashionable design, Ducaroy was destined to leave his mark, which he did through his work with luxury French furniture manufacturer Ligne Roset. This collaboration culminated in the now iconic Togo collection, which was originally released in 1973. Togo chairs and sofas are distinct, resting on the floor rather than supported by legs and lacking any notable armrests. 

Ligne Roset still commands adoration, which is why recent Togo releases can still sell for a lot. A modern Togo sofa, for example, is priced at $6,575. As these furniture pieces remain in high demand, the same is true of vintage chairs and sofas. On the website Chairish, which specializes in the resale of vintage home decor and art, vintage Togo collection pieces and sets sell for between $1,000 and $30,000.

What's in a name? A lot if you're Hot Wheels and the year is 1970. By then, the brand had only been selling its die-cast toy cars to the public for a couple of years, yet it was already on the path to being a major hit with children and collectors alike. Not only were Hot Wheels fun to race, but they were incredibly detailed replicas of all types of iconic cars. This includes the 1969 Ford Maverick, which served as the inspiration for the Hot Wheels toy originally dubbed the "Mad Maverick." 

However, the name didn't stick because rival die-cast toy car creator Johnny Lightning already had a product with that name, similarly based on the then recently released Ford Maverick. There was no getting around the issue of copyright, and so Hot Wheels was forced to quickly rebrand their product as "Mighty Maverick." As quick as the change was, it wasn't fast enough to stop at least a few toys from being created which bear the name "Mad Maverick" when you flip them over. If you just so happened to get your hands on one of these Hot Wheels cars unknowingly, you are actually holding onto an incredibly rare piece of toy history.

According to the Lincoln's Toy Show, some value the Hot Wheels toy at $15,000. These items are so rare, it's possible that a confirmed vintage Mad Maverick car may be worth even more.

It may be hard to believe, but "A New Hope," the first movie in the Star Wars franchise, wasn't a film that many in the industry believed in. So much so that when George Lucas was seeking toy companies with which to partner for action figures, the big-name toy companies passed on any partnership deals. This lead Lucas to instead work with Kenner, a much smaller toy brand. Star Wars was an instant classic, and its toys were in heavy demand. This caused Kenner to basically sell empty boxes with a big I.O.U. to children, guaranteeing them access to future toys when they were finally ready. It was a gamble that somehow paid off.

Easily among the most anticipated Kenner Star Wars figures was that of the main character, Luke Skywalker. As with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, characters that used a Lightsaber, the initial version of the toy featured a retractable lightsaber that, per Trove Collectibles, the company decided was too complex for mass production. What Kenner could not have realized when it made a sudden change to its Jedi and Darth Vader toys, they inadvertently made these action figures incredibly valuable to future collectors. Of this initial batch of 1978 Luke Skywalker action figures, very few remain. Trove Collectibles revealed that a confirmed toy was successfully sold at auction for $100,000. 

Imagine getting a hold of a rare pair of Nike Waffle Racing Flat "Moon Shoes" in 1972, looking at them, and then suddenly deciding to leave them in the box. This might sound like a strange move, but if you made that decision all those decades ago, you'd own a pair of shoes more valuable than the average U.S. home. According to Sotheby's, this particular Nike shoe is highly prized as it is extremely rare. The shoe was brought to life by Bill Bowerman, an iconic University of Oregon track coach and the co-founder of Nike. The name was reportedly inspired by the shoe bottom's resemblance to the footprints made by the astronauts during the 1969 moon landing, hence the "Moon Shoes" nickname. 

What made the shoes so rare is that there were only 12 pairs made, as they were created for runners participating in the 1972 Olympic Trials. Fewer than a dozen remain, and one of the only known pairs to exist was successfully auctioned off by Sotheby's. Though the auction house initially valued the pair at $110,000 to $160,000, it would ultimately be sold off for an astounding $437,000. As Artnet revealed, the buyer was a Canadian businessman named Miles Nadal who viewed the shoes as "a true historical artifact in sports history and pop culture."

When Star Wars released "The Empire Strikes Back" at the tail end of the 1970s, it introduced fans to a brand new character with whom they would quickly become obsessed: Boba Fett. The mysterious bounty hunter would soon get his own very popular action figures released by Kenner. As with the Jedi and Darth Vader action figures created for the first film, the company would also create an incredibly rare toy that would go on to be worth an incredible amount of money to anyone lucky enough to have held onto one. 

As reported by Smithsonian Magazine, Kenner released a Boba Fett toy with the ability to fire a tiny rocket. Although it was a cool concept, the company very quickly realized its product was a severe choking hazard. Before the action figure could be released, Kenner nixed this particular design. That didn't stop a few employees from taking a few of the unreleased prototypes home. These surviving products are extremely rare, so much so that a 3.75-inch prototype that received multiple bids through Heritage Auctions was successfully sold for $525,000. It broke the record set by a sale in 2022 of a Boba Fett prototype made in Hong Kong. That action figure was auctioned off via Hake's Auctions for a winning bid of $204,435. 

Decades before Apple was a multi-billion-dollar brand with global reach, it was the brainchild of a group of nerds that, as legend has it, started the company in a garage. Co-founder Steve Wozniak has since, allegedly, gone on record in a Businessweek interview declaring that the computers weren't manufactured there. The story seems to have vanished from the Internet, leaving some to wonder whether its absence is a kind of retraction, and in a way, keeping the myth alive and well.

Speculation aside, what we do know is that Wozniak had a direct hand in the creation of the Apple 1 computer. Built in 1976, there are estimated to be a couple of hundred of these hand-built computers at most, and it's not known how many are left after nearly 50 years. This vintage find was originally valued by Christie's as worth between $500,000 and $800,000. The item would ultimately earn a record-breaking bid of $945,000. The collector definitely wanted the item because of what it represented to tech history, as the computer only has 8KB of memory (RAM). By comparison, the average computer today needs at least 8GB of RAM to function. As NPR reports, the original Apple-1 PC cost about $666, leaving little doubt as to how massive a return on investment you would receive if choosing to sell this vintage PC today.