Traveling vintage toy collecting company comes to Billings

BILLINGS — If you happen to have old toys collecting dust in your house, one company visiting Billings this weekend wants to buy them.

The Toy Scout was at Hilton Garden Inn hoping to pay cash for people's old collections.

The toy collecting company is owned by expert Joel Magee. He's been featured on shows like Pawn Stars and owns the world's largest Disney collection. His crew travels around to cities in the U.S. to purchase vintage toys and collectibles from the 1980s and older.

Toys like Hot Wheels, Barbie and GI Joe are sought after, especially those in the original and unopened packaging in an unaltered state.

Jeff Schriefer is the Toy Scout's Roadshow Manager and has been collecting toys for many years. For him, collecting is a way to reconnect with his past.

"It's nostalgic and it all goes back to my father who was a collector," said Schriefer. "He's been gone for 15 years. There's certain things that he bought me that are real sentimental to me. So I have a soft spot for those. That's nice when you see something that you use to be able to play with the collection."

The items that Schriefer and his team buys are then sent back to their building in Sioux City, Iowa, and sold to other collectors.

"My boss has been in business for 35 years. He has a database of collectors that goes throughout the whole world. So when these items come in, they're put into the database and then immediately people are like, 'Oh, I want that, and I want that.' We have so many items for so many people," said Schriefer.

He hopes that people in Billings bring anything they have to see if it could be worth more than they think.

“I hope everybody can come out. You know, book in your attics, your basements, your garages, see if you can find old comic books, old toys, old coins, old advertising. I pay cash for them and you might have something that's worth a lot of money,” said Schriefer.

The Toy Scout will be at the Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. and entrance is free. Click here for more information about the Toy Scout.