Brian’s Toys

What Brian’s Toys does

Brian's Toys, Inc. is a privately held, founder-owned e-commerce retailer and buyer of collectible toys, headquartered in Fountain City, Wisconsin. Founded in February 1994 by Brian Semling at age 16, the company began by selling vintage Star Wars toys from his parents' home and has grown over 28+ years to serve more than 1,000,000 customers and purchase over 20,000 collections. The business operates a dual-sided model: it purchases entire toy collections from individual sellers and resells them to collectors, addressing the difficulty of valuing and liquidating collectibles without cherry-picking items.

The company's core product set centers on Star Wars toys — spanning vintage Kenner figures from 1977-1985 through modern Hasbro Black Series and Vintage Collection items — alongside Barbie dolls, Funko Pop! figures, GI Joe, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Marvel/DC figures, LEGO, and other collectible lines. Its technology stack includes a proprietary e-commerce platform, a progressive web app and native iOS/Android application branded Sell My Toys® that enables sellers to scan barcodes, generate inventory lists, and submit collections for quote, plus integrated UPS prepaid shipping label generation. The platform is complemented by a C-9 to C-6 proprietary condition grading scale that underwrites buy-list pricing across categories.

Brian's Toys monetizes through two principal streams: resale margin on purchased collections sold via its own storefront, and optional 25%-bonus trade-in credit that converts sellers into repeat buyers. Distribution is omnichannel — owned website (brianstoys.com), Amazon marketplace (99% positive feedback across 97,000+ reviews, member since 2005), eBay storefront (100% positive feedback, member since July 1998), mobile apps, phone sales, and physical attendance at Star Wars Celebration conventions. The customer base consists entirely of individual collectors and sellers; there are no enterprise or B2B accounts. Pricing is transactional and take-rate based, with item prices ranging from approximately $1 to $388+ depending on rarity and condition.

Name

Brian’s Toys

Legal name

Brian's Toys, Inc.

Website

https://brianstoys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Brian's Toys is a founder-owned, Wisconsin-based e-commerce buyer and reseller of collectible toys — primarily Star Wars, plus Barbie, Funko, and other lines — serving individual collectors through its own website, Amazon, eBay, mobile app, and convention presence.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Fountain City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Toy Resale: Primary revenue from purchasing collectible toys from individuals and reselling them to collectors. They buy entire collections rather than cherry-picking items. Operates on a transaction-by-transaction basis with quoted buy prices.
2. Trade-in Credit: Offers 25% extra value for trade-in credit that can be applied toward merchandise sold on brianstoys.com, providing an alternative to cash transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Brian's Toys buys and resells collectible toys through its own e-commerce site (brianstoys.com) and on Amazon and eBay, with Star Wars toys (vintage Kenner and modern Hasbro lines) as the flagship assortment, alongside Barbie, Funko Pop!, Transformers, GI Joe, and other lines. The company complements retail with a buy-from-consumers service powered by its "Sell My Toys" mobile app that uses barcode scanning to generate quotes for entire collections, supported by prepaid UPS shipping labels and a trade-in credit option.

Product overview

Brian's Toys is a collectible toy e-commerce marketplace and buyer that operates primarily as a multi-category online store. The core offering consists of Star Wars toys organized into two main product lines: Vintage Star Wars (1977-1996 Kenner figures, vehicles, playsets, and accessories) and Modern Star Wars (2013-present Hasbro Black Series and Vintage Collection). Supporting product categories include Star Wars collectibles (statues, busts, prop replicas), Barbie dolls, Funko Pop! figures, and other collectible brands (Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, Marvel/DC). The business model combines retail sales through their e-commerce website and marketplaces (Amazon, eBay) with a complementary toy buying/trading service powered by their Sell My Toys mobile app that enables sellers to scan barcodes and receive quotes for their collections.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sell My Toys®: The company's branded mobile app and service for selling collectible toys, featuring barcode scanning technology and quote generation for toy sellers.

Products and services

• Vintage Star Wars Toys (1977-1996 Kenner line) Vintage Star Wars collectible toys including Kenner 3.75-inch and 12-inch figures, vehicles, playsets, accessories, beasts, coins, diecast items, micro collections, mini-rigs, plush, figure cases, and graded AFA/CAS items spanning the original trilogy and Power of the Force lines; targeted at vintage Star Wars collectors.
• Modern Star Wars Toys (2013-present Hasbro line) Modern Star Wars action figures and accessories from Hasbro, including The Black Series (6-inch), The Vintage Collection (3.75-inch), 12-inch figures, multi-figure packs, vehicles, playsets, comic packs, battle packs, evolutions, tins, and AFA/CAS graded items; targeted at contemporary Star Wars collectors.
• Star Wars Collectibles (Statues, Busts, Prop Replicas, FX Lightsabers) High-end Star Wars collectibles including statues, busts, maquettes, life-size items, FX lightsabers, and prop replicas sourced from Sideshow Collectibles and Gentle Giant, plus supplies and household items; targeted at premium Star Wars collectors.
• Barbie Dolls (Vintage and Modern Collector Editions) Vintage and modern Barbie dolls including collector editions, fashion model collections, Silkstone dolls, and special occasion dolls from various Mattel lines, with individually quoted buy prices; targeted at Barbie collectors and sellers of Barbie collections.
• Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures Funko Pop! vinyl collectible figures spanning multiple pop culture franchises including Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and other properties; targeted at pop-culture collectors and sellers of Funko collections.
• Other Collectible Toys (Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc.) Additional collectible toy lines including Transformers, GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, Indiana Jones, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel/DC comics figures, Wrestling, Battlestar Galactica, video games, and AFA graded items; targeted at collectors across multiple non-Star-Wars franchises.
• Sell My Toys® Mobile App and Web Barcode Scanner Self-serve tool (PWA and iOS/Android app) that lets sellers scan toy barcodes to build an inventory list and submit it for a quote to sell their collection to Brian's Toys, with prepaid UPS shipping label generation included; targeted at individual sellers looking to liquidate toy collections without cherry-picking.
• Toy Condition Grading Services (C-9 to C-6 Scale) Proprietary condition grading services using a documented C-9 (standard) to C-6 scale for vintage carded, boxed, and loose collectible toys, used to determine fair market values for both buying and selling; targeted at sellers and buyers of collectible toys.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Days Gone By Antique Shop (Wisconsin Dells)minorOthersEarly business partner from the 1990s. Brian's Toys stocked a booth at this antique shop which did well for them. The owners (Bill and Chris Baltazaar) were friendly and excited to help a young kid get started in the collectibles business.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Entertainment Earth: Multi-line collectibles e-commerce retailer carrying action figures, statues, and prop replicas across Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and other pop-culture franchises. Comparable in catalog breadth and collectibles specialization, with similar B2C marketplace integrations.
• DKOldies: Buy-and-resell collectibles e-commerce business that purchases entire collections from individuals and resells online, primarily focused on vintage video games. Highly comparable business model with collection acquisition as a core competency, differing only in product vertical.
• Big Bad Toy Store (BBTS): Direct e-commerce competitor specializing in action figures, collectibles, and imports across Star Wars, Marvel, DC and similar franchises. Operates the same buy-and-sell collectibles model with strong inventory depth and multi-line assortment, making it the closest comparable to Brian's Toys.
• Galactic Toys: Specialty Star Wars-focused e-commerce retailer selling vintage Kenner figures, modern Black Series, and graded items. The most directly comparable peer given product-line concentration on Star Wars collectibles.

Broad incumbents

• Heritage Auctions: Largest collectibles auction house in the US, regularly auctioning high-value vintage Star Wars, Barbie, and other toy collectibles. Operates a different sales channel (auction vs. fixed price) but competes for the same seller and buyer supply of premium collectibles.
• Funko: Pop-culture collectibles manufacturer and direct-to-consumer retailer whose Funko Pop! line Brian's Toys both buys and resells. While primarily a manufacturer, Funko's DTC channel and Pop! Marketplace compete for the same buyer and seller traffic.

Others

• eBay: Primary third-party marketplace through which Brian's Toys has sold since 1998 and accumulated 100% positive feedback. Functions as both distribution channel and competitive surface where individual collectors and competing resellers list the same inventory.

Regional players

• Hakes Auctions: Long-running US auction house for vintage toys and comic-related collectibles. Competes for the same high-end Star Wars supply pool, particularly AFA-graded vintage inventory, but reaches buyers through periodic auctions rather than fixed-price e-commerce.

Emerging players

• Mercari: Resale marketplace that has become an alternative venue for individual sellers of collectible toys and figures. Functions as a competing seller-supply channel that competes with Brian's Toys' direct-quote acquisition process.
• ReActionFigures.com: Specialty online retailer focusing on retro/vintage action figures including Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Masters of the Universe. Comparable in vintage-toy specialization and target collector audience, though smaller scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brianstoys
• Facebookfacebook.com/brianstoys

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brian’s Toys