The Price of Vintage Toys

Childre and adults love toyss, but, between the two, adults bought more toys than any other age group in the first quarter of 2024. Experts say much of this buying has been driven by nostalgia — people wanting to own the toys they loved as children.

That makes now the perfect time to review your own vintage toy collection. And if that collection includes popular toys from the 1990s, they may be worth more than you think.

For example, the following vintage toys are all worth much more today than they retailed for in the ’90s. Just note that condition is everything in the toy resale market. Unopened, undamaged toys are worth significantly more than their opened counterparts.

Furby

Furbies were first released in the fall of 1998 and retailed for around US$ 35. They were hugely popular thanks to their unique appearance and voice lines. An original, unopened Furby from 1998 recently sold for US$ 700 on eBay, and even used Furbies have sold for upward of US$ 130.

Nintendo 64

Nintendo, one of the most beloved video game brands on the planet, released the Nintendo 64 console in fall of 1996. Today, an unopened original console can cost more than US$ 360, and even opened original N64s can be worth over US$ 100 all these years later.

Super Soakers

Super Soakers created some of 1990s kids’ favorite memories. If you still have your original ones, now could be the time to sell. A Super Soaker Monster XL sold for US$ 500 in 2016, while a vintage Super Soaker CPS sold for US$ 300.

G.I. Joe Action Figures

G.I. Joe is an iconic brand that was especially popular in the 1990s. Collectors are often willing to pay hundreds of dollars for vintage G.I. Joe action figures, and there’s interest in a wide array of them.

Interestingly enough, the right G.I. Joe accessories could be worth even more. For example, a used G.I. Joe Mobile Command Center recently sold for US$ 3,000, and an aircraft carrier sold for more than US$ 1,100.

Polly Pocket

You used to be able to buy Polly Pocket toys for hardly anything at the toy store. But an original version would set you back hundreds of dollars today. For instance, a sealed Polly Pocket Jewel Case sold for US$ 600 recently, and a Carry ‘N Play Dream Home sold for US$ 550.

Hot Wheels

There’s also a huge demand for Hot Wheels. Although the popular toy brand dates back to 1968, several 1990s models are worth a pretty penny today — especially Hot Wheels Treasure Hunt cars.

A Hot Wheels replica of the 1967 Camaro recently sold for US$ 509. Full sets of these cars sell for even more, with some priced as high as US$ 1,100.

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Ballon d'Or Finalists Are Here

The finalists for this year's Ballon d'Or were announced on 4 September, and for the first time since 2003, the men's list doesn't include Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.

The list of 30 men's finalists does include stars like Vinicius Junior, Rodri, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane. A player not named Messi or Ronaldo will win soccer's highest individual honor for just the third time in 17 years.

Karim Benzema won in 2022. Luka Modrić won in 2018. Otherwise, Messi and Ronaldo have combined to win every Ballon d'Or since 2008. Ronaldo won five, with his last in 2017.

Messi has won eight, claiming his most recent last year after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup championship. Messi has since left Paris Saint-Germain to play for Inter Miami of MLS and been hampered by multiple injuries.

There is a controversy though. Some were questioning why the player with the most G/A in 2023/24 and with the most goals in 2024 is not nominated for the Ballon d'Or? That player is Viktor Gyökeres.

On the women's side, five members of the U.S. Women's National Team are nominated for the award. Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, Alyssa Naeher and Lindsey Horan are among the 30 finalists. They're fresh off a gold-medal performance at the Paris Olympics.

Not among the finalists is USWNT defender Naomi Girma, an omission that prompted outcry on social media.

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After A Hurt Ankle, Woman Discovered She Was Born A Man

There is a 25-year-old woman in eastern China who failed to fall pregnant after 12 months of trying, was shocked to discover she was actually born male and is intersex.

The woman, whose external female genitalia never forced her to question her sex, stumbled upon the discovery after an X-ray of her injured ankle was taken in a hospital in her hometown.

When the X-ray revealed that her bones had not developed past the age of adolescence, the doctor’s further probing uncovered the fact that Pingping, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, had never menstruated. She said she’d turned a blind eye to it out of embarrassment.

"When I was young my mum took me to the doctor. The doctor said I was just developing slower than others sexually, and that I could have my period in a few years," she told the local doctor.

"After I grew up, I found this issue quite embarrassing so I didn't treat it seriously."

Despite the lack of menstruation, Pingping had no reason to suspect she was anything other than a biological woman because she had external female genitalia, the First Affiliated Hospital of College of Medicine, Zhejiang University said in a statement posted on WeChat this week.

During a visit to an endocrinologist at the hospital, Pingping said, "My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for a year although it’s been in vain. Is that also related [to my bone age and absence of a period]?"

Test results indicated that she suffered from high blood pressure and low blood potassium, a typical symptom of a disease called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which could lead to a sexual development disorder. Doctors said this was possibly as a result of her parents being closely related.

The case highlighted the long-term problem of China’s sexual illiteracy and lack of compulsory sexual education in schools, one expert said.

A genetic test revealed her karyotype was 46,XY, a pattern normally found in males who have genitalia that is not clearly male or female, said Doctor Dong Fengqin, the endocrinologist.

Pingping learned that while she had no uterus or ovaries, she also lacked male genitalia or an Adam’s apple.

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The Caitlyn Clark Effect Is Spreading And Growing

Caitlyn Clark of Indiana Fever is a different player — and a much better female basketball player — now than she was back in May as she jumped to the WNBA almost directly from a long season at Iowa. Some of that is getting adjusted to the pro game. Some of that is figuring out how to play with her teammates — and her teammates figuring out how to play with her.

And some of that, at least these last two games when she played her best professional basketball yet, might be finally getting a chance to exhale.

The Indiana Fever — 12-7 since a 1-8 start — are firmly in position to make the playoffs. They play Saturday in a huge game against potential playoff opponent Minnesota, coached by Cheryl Reeve, who also led the U.S. women in the Olympics.

Indiana is still attracting massive television numbers. Last weekend, 2.3 million tuned into the Fever's game against Seattle. That was 263 percent more than the next highest non-Fever game over the weekend (New York v. Las Vegas) and 454 percent higher than the next biggest.

Now, imagine Clark playing at something close to her crowd-pleasing college level in the stretch run and actual playoff series?

The WNBA has historically struggled for attention once the NFL season begins. Maybe not in this case, though. Logo threes and no-look passes tend to turn heads. The Clark phenomenon isn’t slowing down, it’s growing.

In her 11 WNBA games before reports broke that she would be left off the Olympic roster, Clark averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 assists while shooting 35.7 percent from the floor and 29.7 from 3-point range.

In the 15 games between the announcement and the break, she upped all of that to 18.2 points and 9.5 assists while shooting 43.9 percent overall and 35.7 from behind the arc.

In two games since the WNBA’s return, it’s 26.0 points, 9.5 assists with 48.6 percent shooting. More importantly, the Fever won them both.

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Ukrainian Students Going Back To School In Poland

For many Ukrainian children, the last several years have been a time of severe disruption. First the COVID-19 pandemic brought online learning, and then war uprooted millions.

That disruption was still evident in Ukraine, where it was also the first day of school on 9 September. An overnight Russian drone and missile attack in Kyiv forced the cancellation of classes for some because of damage from the attack.

Many Ukrainians who fled to neighboring Poland never returned to a classroom at all, continuing their Ukrainian classwork remotely.

However, as this new school year began on Monday, a new Polish law makes school attendance mandatory for Ukrainian refugees. In cases where the kids don't attend school, the government will enforce the law by withholding a monthly 800 zloty (US$ 200) bonus that all citizens and refugees receive for each child under 18.

Only those entering the last year of high school are exempt from this new requirement. Poland’s Education Ministry said it was unrealistic for them to master the Polish curriculum in language and culture in time to pass final graduation exams by spring.

Sava Trypolsky, a 5-year old Ukrainian, can expect an easier time than many. Educators say kids his age learn Polish quickly. He has a best friend, Bart, going to his school, and a soccer group. Medals he earned while playing the sport decorate his room in Jablonna, a small community north of Warsaw.

"I’ll have fun," he said beaming.

But his 16-year-old sister Marichka hopes to return to Ukraine for university and knows school can be hard for adolescents even without the pressure of being a refugee. She has one year left and opted to continue her home schooling.

"Some people are just mean, you know, and I’ve heard many stories about just being excluded or bullied," Marichka said. "That happens in every country, it’s not just Poland, it’s just kids who try to grow up in this world."

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that it was important to bring Ukrainian youth into the system to avoid the formation of social "pathologies."

"Since we do not know how many Ukrainian families will want to stay with us for longer, and perhaps forever, we are very keen for these children to be educated like their Polish peers," Tusk said recently.

Some Ukrainians have already returned home and many others plan to. That has led many of them to live in Poland, but to keep kids out of Polish schools and do remote learning with schools back in Ukraine.

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The Problem Of Child Protection Structure in the Philippines

The child protection system in the Philippines at national, regional and provincial level and the systems, mechanisms and institutions established are generally considered to meet international standards for child protection law and policy.

The aim and objective of the Filipino child protection system and the various child protection laws is to provide special protection to children from all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation and discrimination and other conditions prejudicial to their development; to impose sanctions against those who commit such acts; and ensure programmes for prevention and deterrence of, and crisis intervention in, situations of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination are available and implemented.

The child protection system relies upon two national bodies. One of these is the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), created by the Child and Youth Welfare Code. It is the focal inter-agency body of the Philippines for children’s concerns and is chaired by the DSWD. Its priorities are:

• Integration of children’s development agenda in national and local development plans;
• Putting in place a fully operational and highly effective management information system, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for national plans of action and the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international conventions as well as resource bank on children;
• Heighten advocacy and social mobilization for an effective and wide scale implementation of the UNCRC within the Philippine social and cultural context
• Legislative and policy review and revisions to harmonize national and local laws with CRC and other international conventions.

Underneath the Council are the Regional Subcommittees for the Welfare of Children, which guide the development and implementation of CWC policy and directives, and below that the Provincial, municipal and city local child protection councils and then the barangay child protection councils.

There are potential problems with this approach. There is a risk that it may lead to child protection by committee rather than by dedicated, skilled social workers within a well-managed child protection service. This is especially so when there is a general lack of social workers on the ground.

Few of the Council membership will have received training on or have experience of working in child protection, yet they may need to reach decisions on referral and protection of a child or the provision of specialist services.

Second, members of the Council for Protection of Children have other jobs and other responsibilities apart from child protection. Many of them will be on the other Councils that the child protection laws require to be established at local government level, including the Municipal Interagency Council Against Trafficking and Violence Against Women and Their Children (under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law) and the Interagency Council Against Child Pornography (under the Anti-Child Pornography Act).

The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law, the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children, the Anti-Pornography Law and the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Law between them require about 16-17 regional sub-committees or interagency committees, totalling at least 64 regional bodies composed more or less of the same government agencies. This has led to coordination bottlenecks, duplication of functions and fragmented and reactive interventions, all of which have to be implemented by LGUs, who lack the resources and capacities.

The role of the barangay councils for the protection of children is to raise awareness and respond to child protection issues, usually by reporting them to the social worker in the LGU. By the end of 2010 only 36 per cent of provinces, 56 per cent of cities, 44 per cent of municipalities and 34 per cent of barangays had functioning local councils for the protection of children.

Where barangay councils do exist, they often lack resources for the protection of children, limiting the work they can do. Quite frequently they also lack power to engage effectively with the formal system.

Where there is no local child protection council and little access to LGU social workers, informal systems appear to operate in some locations, which identify, prioritise and address child protection. Although informal systems can resolve some child protection issues, some practices, for example marrying off a girl who has been raped to the perpetrator in order to save face may be positively harmful. Without training and supervision there is also a risk that discriminatory and non-participatory decisions may be made.

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Blogging Is Not Yet Dead In 2024

"Is blogging dead?" In the ever-evolving landscape of content marketing, where sceptics argue that social media dominance and the rise of video content will erase the need for blogs, you wouldn’t be alone in asking this question.

Before answering, let us take a look at the beginning of blogging. It can be traced to the digital era starting as early as the early 90s. Long before "blogging" was even an idea, communities were already taking shape with Usenet and online services providing a platform for people to get connected.

Jorn Barger was the innovator who first coined "weblog" in 1997, and Peter Merholz made waves by taking that term further when he shortened it to 'blog', which became widely used.

Taking things even a step further, Ev Williams created an entire lifestyle centered around blogging with his service, Blogger. He also popularized the terms: "blog" and "Blogger."

So blogs have been around for 30 years. Is it dead?

Short answer: no. A recent survey found that over 60 percent of all internet users read blogs, while another found that 77 percent of internet users read blogs daily. That’s over 4 billion readers. And it’s not just older internet users who are into blogs: Statista found that the percentage of young people in the UK reading blogs has grown significantly since 2010. Considering 60 percent of Gen Z think a brand’s digital first impressions are more important than in-person ones, it’s clear blog posts play a vital role in perception.

One of the reasons why it’s likely they will be around for another three decades: the Lindy Effect.

The Lindy Effect is a concept that states that the future life expectancy of some non-perishable items is directly proportional to their current age.

The term Lindy originated from an article written by Albert Goldman in The New Republic in 1964 titled "Lindy’s Law". The term refers to a delicatessen in New York called Lindy’s, which was a popular gathering spot for comedians. They met there daily to discuss their experiences and analyze the recent developments in show business.

But it was Benoit Mandelbrot and Nassim Taleb who developed the idea into what it is now.

Mandelbrot and Taleb argue that a lifespan can be extended with each passing day since it has already survived past its expected lifespan.

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CDC: Pregnant Women Should Not Drink Alchohol

A Center for Disease (CDC) study revealed that "more than 3 million US women are at risk of exposing their developing baby to alcohol because they are drinking, having sex, and not using birth control to prevent pregnancy."

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is "associated with a range of complications and poor reproductive outcomes and can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), which are characterized by lifelong physical, behavioral, and intellectual disabilities," the CDC report said, adding that exposure to alcohol in the womb is one of the leading preventable causes of intellectual disability in children.

It can also "increase the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, prematurity, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)," the CDC said.

The team analyzed data from the 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth and found that three in four women who wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible reported they continued to drink alcohol.

"About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won't know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking," said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the CDC.

CDC recommends that women who are pregnant or might be pregnant not drink alcohol at all. FASDs do not occur if a developing baby is not exposed to alcohol before birth.

Women can:

• Talk with their health care provider about their plans for pregnancy, their alcohol use, and ways to prevent pregnancy if they are not planning to get pregnant.
• Stop drinking alcohol if they are trying to get pregnant or could get pregnant.
• Ask their partner, family, and friends to support their choice not to drink during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant.
• Ask their health care provider or another trusted person about resources for help if they cannot stop drinking on their own.

Doctors, nurses, or other health professionals can help prevent alcohol use during pregnancy in 5 ways:

1. Provide alcohol screening and brief counseling to all women.
2. Recommend birth control to women who are having sex (if appropriate), not planning to get pregnant, and drinking alcohol.
3. Advise women who are trying to get pregnant to stop drinking alcohol.
4. Refer for additional services for women who cannot stop drinking on their own.
5. Follow up yearly or more often, as needed.

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E-Cigarettes Can Cause Cancer

Electronic cigarettes are often marketed as a 'safe' way for people to stop smoking - but there could be hidden risks, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System found that e-cigarettes damaged cells in ways which could lead to cancer.

The researchers wrote, "Our study strongly suggests that electronic cigarettes are not as safe as their marketing makes them appear to the public."

Current Public Health England advice is that while the products are not entirely safe, they are 95 percent safer than smoking - and can be used as a ‘low-cost, effective intervention’ to help smokers quit.

The researchers extracted the chemicals from e-cigarettes, and used them on human cells in a Petri dish.

Cells treated with the chemicals were more likely to show DNA damage and die.

There haven't been many good lab studies on the effects of these products on actual human cells,’ says Dr. Jessica Wang-Rodriquez of the University of California, San Diego.

"There have been many studies showing that nicotine can damage cells. But we found that other variables can do damage as well. It’s not that the nicotine is completely innocent in the mix, but it looks like the amount of nicotine that the cells are exposed to by e-cigarettes is not sufficient by itself to cause these changes.

"There must be other components in the e-cigarettes that are doing this damage. So we may be identifying other carcinogenic components that are previously undescribed."

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