Nineties-obsessed gamer kept her old McDonald's meal toys - and now collection is worth thousands

It's Christmas every day for timewarp toy-obsessed Samantha Hughes - who has amassed a huge hoard of 90s and noughties collectibles worth thousands of pounds. The 34-year-old also has 20 tattoos dedicated to pop culture of the era.

The former retail worker, who lives near Birmingham with her 35-year-old husband Luke, an assistant manager, said she had been collecting for as long as she could remember. From Game Boys to Furbys and Pokemon Battling Coins, she said she believed her collection was worth at least £3,000, with one of her most expensive items a Nintendo 64 Pokemon Pikachu Edition console, worth an estimated £350.

Samantha has more than 350 games for her consoles, ranging from the PlayStation to the Sega Mega Drive, and dedicates an entire room in her two-bedroom house to countless figurines and toys – some of which she has kept from Burger King and McDonald’s kids’ meals.

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Her tattoos include Lady and the Tramp, Beauty and the Beast, Ursula from The Little Mermaid and Pokemon’s Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, and she has nearly 13,000 followers on Instagram, where she is known as “your nostalgic bestie”. She said the gaming world could be male-dominated, but she wanted to continue sharing “super colourful” content and keep the nostalgia alive.

“ Christmas time is a feeling and it’s like that – you’re in your own nostalgic, fuzzy, cosy bubble,” Samantha told PA Real Life. “It’s like Christmas every day… and it’s just what makes me happy.

“I’m a nineties kid at heart. Growing up as a kid in the nineties, everyone had similar interests and we could bond over the same music, toys and TV programmes. It’s not like today, where kids have a million options. We all went home and had the same five TV channels, we all had the same hobbies and interests, and I think we bonded much more.”

Samantha said her family had a modest upbringing, meaning that whenever she received a gift or toy, she never wanted to throw it away. Growing up, she loved playing games on her Game Boys, such as The Powerpuff Girls and Sabrina the Animated Series, and she has always been a Disney fan, collecting games and VHS classics.

Her consoles include a PlayStation One and Two, Game Boys, Nintendo Wii and Sega Mega Drives and Master System. She even has a checklist to ensure she does not duplicate any game in her collection.

“I’ve got all the original Pokemons – red, yellow, blue, gold and silver – and I’ve a fair few Disneys,” Samantha said.

“I mainly play the Mega Drive and PlayStation One with my Disneys at the minute, so I’ve got all the Mega Drive Disney games except for one – I’ve got Aladdin, Lion King, Mickey Mania, Castle of Illusion, Little Mermaid and Pinocchio. Then I have some Cartoon Network-type games, like your old school Powerpuff Girls and Scooby-Doo.”

“The coolest thing I’ve got is an N64 console and it’s the Pikachu one, so when you turn it on, his little cheeks light up and that’s really cute. They’re quite expensive now and, boxed, I think they’re something like £350.”

Among her toy collection, she has two Furbys, Polly Pockets – including an Addams Family Compact – Pokemon play sets, Sky Dancers, Barbies, a Lizzie McGuire Funko Pop! and a 1997 Together in Paris Anastasia doll. She has kept toys from her Burger King and McDonald’s kids’ meals, and her other figurines include Super Mario Bros characters, Powerpuff Girls, Mickey Mouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Funko Pop! Trolls and Lilo and Stitch.

She also has a Meow-Chi robot and Robonagi toy from the noughties, along with several retro-inspired one-player handheld consoles from Tiger Electronics, with games such as Toy Story, Hercules, Pocahontas and The Rescuers Down Under. “I just try to pick up little bits of everything,” Samantha said.

“When me and my partner first moved in together, money was tight, and the older games were cheaper – you could get your older games for a few quid, so we’ve always picked them up. In the last three years, I’ve thought, ‘OK, this is a nineties collection now, a nineties/noughties collection, with some pieces from the 80s’.”

Samantha said she visited her favourite local retro shop twice a week and kept an eye on eBay to add to her collection, with games ranging from around £2 to £50. She said she had transformed her second living room, which should have been a dining room, into a “retro gaming 90s area”, featuring a glitter lava lamp – and loved the cosy “nostalgic feeling” she got when looking at all the items.

Luke has contributed with his own Halo Action Figures – and he often buys her gifts to add to the collection, including a recent purchase of the Polly Pocket Friends Compact in this year’s Black Friday sale. “(My collection) reminds me of people and times,” she said.

“I lost my nan a few years ago and, when I look at my Furbys, I remember the time I left my Furby in my nan’s boot and it kept talking to her all the way home and she didn’t have a clue what was going on.

“I look at things and you can remember times and people – they bring back memories – and I think there’s something lovely about that.” Samantha launched her Instagram page around seven years ago and said it started out as “a Disney page” – but since then, her content has evolved to mainly 90s and noughties collectables and she is proud of the community she has created.

She has 20 tattoos dedicated to her favourite characters, including Jaq and Gus from Disney’s 1950 film Cinderella, Tom Nook from Animal Crossing and Ursula from Disney’s 1989 film The Little Mermaid. “It started out as more of a Disney page – I shared photos from my Disney trips,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve always been slightly embarrassed to put up the photos of my toys, but one day I just started posting it.” Samantha said she wished there were nineties conventions around the UK and more people selling “girly stuff”.

She wants to continue growing her collection while posting content online, and said her dream collectable would be an “old school Simpsons arcade machine”. She said: “Just do what makes you happy, buy what makes you happy.”

To find out more, visit Samantha’s Instagram page by searching @90snostalgiagirl.