Just a few years before the pandemic swept the globe, people were struck with yellow fever thanks to Crayola and a little color called Dandelion. The Dandelion crayon might be gone, but it's not forgotten, much like the other buried secrets in Crayola's crypt. But are these retired crayons worth anything? Let's find out.
How the Dandelion Crayon Gave Everyone Yellow Fever
In March 2017, Crayola announced they were retiring another color from their endless roster, and people went wild. Could it have been because of the national tour Crayola sent the color on, or maybe just social media outrage working at its finest? Totally. No matter the reason, Dandelion was given a farewell tour the likes of which no other color had ever seen.
Replaced by the underwhelming color Bluetiful a few months later, Dandelion was sent to Crayola's graveyard. But as people so often experience, not everything stays buried.
How Much Are Dandelion Crayons Worth?
Because of the media hype and a farewell all-Dandelion crayon pack, the drive for Dandelion crayons sharply rose in the late 2010s. All that added demand created one of the most expensive single crayon colors in the world.
Today, you usually find Dandelion crayons sold in specialty packs or preserved vintage boxes. These can run anywhere from $50-$200 a pop, depending on how many boxes are included. For example, five Farewell Dandelion! boxes recently sold for $49.95 on eBay, and a much larger collection of 24 of these boxes went for $191.99.
12 Other Officially Retired Crayon Colors
According to Crayola's website, the company has only officially retired 13 crayons from their lineup. Besides Dandelion, you've got these easily recognizable colors.
- Blue Gray
- Green Blue
- Lemon Yellow
- Maize
- Orange Red
- Orange Yellow
- Raw Umber
- Violet Blue
- Blizzard Blue
- Magic Mint
- Mulberry
- Teal Blue
Specialty boxes aren't retired per se, but they are a limited run, making them just as valuable (if not more so) than these retired crayons at auction.
Related: Which Crayola Crayon Are You Based on Your Zodiac Sign?
Unofficially Retired Crayola Crayon Colors
However, there are dozens more unofficially retired crayon colors. While we'd be here for hours listing all the vintage and controversial colors you can no longer find (check out Jenny's Crayon Collection for a more comprehensive list), these are some of the more valuable standouts.
Thistle
Thistle was an old-school Crayola color from 1949 that lasted nearly long enough to witness the millennium. In 1999, Crayola retired Thistle and replaced it with Indigo. Individually, Thistle is worth about a dollar or two apiece used and around $10 unused. One vintage unused Thistle sold for $18.95 on eBay.
Indian Red
Indian Red was a rightly-so discontinued color name that debuted in 1903 and was changed to Chestnut just before the millennium. Much like Thistle, these individual crayons aren't worth much used, but a fair amount when unused. One unused Indian Red crayon went for $18.98 online.
Flesh
Another well-deserved retirement was the pinky-peach color Flesh. It only took Crayola over 100 years to release a more inclusive Colors of the World series for kiddos and artists to bring everyone's skin tones to life. Meanwhile, Flesh was renamed Peach in 1962. This one is harder to get a hold of, though it costs much the same as the other unofficially retired crayon colors.
How to Tell if Your Crayons Are Worth Money
Even rare and retired crayons can be worth very little at auction. It takes more than being old to make a crayon worth something. Before you go rifling through your old crayon tins, run through these criteria and see how each crayon holds up.
- Are they unused? Unused crayons are far more valuable than used ones.
- Are they retired? Retired crayons aren't in production anymore, which makes them harder to get ahold of and more valuable.
- Do they come in a special set? Limited edition sets are worth far more than individual crayons, especially when they've never been used.
- Are they from before the 1940s? Crayola crayons from the early 20th century are difficult to come by and worth a fair amount.
Take a Walk Through the Crayola Graveyard
Crayola has been around since 1903, and that's a long enough time to accumulate a few skeletons in the closet. If you've got some old art supplies from when you were a kid, take a look through Crayola's graveyard and see just what buried secrets and retired crayons you can uncover.
