TODAY’S Object of the Week – or more accurately objects – were once ordinary boxed toys.

But sometimes those ordinary objects can become the museum pieces and collectibles of today.

And they don’t always take very many years to command extraordinary prices – just like these ‘in living memory’ action figures which came up under the hammer in the region recently.

The two-day TV and film collection sale sold for an eye-watering £210,000 at Thornaby-based Vectis Auctions.

The sale was mainly made up of a single owner group of small-scale action figures many people will remember from the 1980s and 1990s – including Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Tron, Buck Rogers, Clash of the Titans, Flash Gordon and more.

These toys would have cost a few pounds each when originally sold, with many in the sale now reaching three or four figure sums.

Lot 5582, a Palitoy Star Wars vintage Power Droid 3 3/4” figure sold for £4,560 against an initial estimate of £800.

Palitoy were the UK manufacturers of the original Star Wars toys from the 1970s and are now highly sought after by collectors.

Another similar Palitoy Star Wars vintage Greedo 3 3/4” figure appealed to buyers raising £3,840 against an £800 pre-sale estimate.

Vectis regularly achieves high prices – including world records – for selling Star Wars toys but other less know character releases were snapped up too.

A Ben Gali Belgian figure from the 1980’s Thundercats cartoon television series sold for £840 against a £200 estimate.

A single Masters of the Universe He-Man figure was snapped up for £696 against a £200 pre-sale estimate.

A selection of Kenner M.A.S.K boxed vehicles and accessories were especially popular – the 24 lots saw fierce bidding with the highlight being the M.A.S.K SWITCHBLADE vehicle, selling for £2,160 against a £400 estimate.

Another strong section were the Transformers. You would have to be prepared to pay a minimum of £264 to buy any one of the single toys up to £708 for the Hasbro Transformers G1 1984 Dinobot SNARL.

Even empty boxes without toys commanded money – Lot 3143 Hasbro Transformers G1 1984 Soundwave – box and insert only (no toy) sold for £168.

As with most collectable pieces the condition of these toys was excellent, they were unopened and unplayed with – in essence a collector’s dream.

The extensive collection is among the best of its type ever to be sold in the UK if not the world and confirms the popularity of ‘in living memory’ toys.