Price History Guides
These price history guides look at the bigger picture behind the daily game on Price Time Machine: how consoles, computers, toys and everyday products were priced across the decades, and what those prices would be in today’s money. Every price is taken from a named source, and each guide ends with a list.
Our price history guides
Gaming and tech price history guides
These price history guides follow consoles, computers and gadgets from the late 1970s to today, with the launch price and date of each machine.
- The Most Iconic Gaming Consoles of the 1990s and What They Cost: The most iconic gaming consoles of the 1990s, from the Super Nintendo to the Dreamcast, with launch prices, dates and what they would cost today.
- How Much Did Technology Cost in the 1980s?: What did technology cost in the 1980s? Real launch prices for the IBM PC, Macintosh, Commodore 64, a mobile phone and more, with today’s equivalent.
- The Evolution of Video Game Consoles: Prices From 1977 to Today: Follow the evolution of video game consoles from the Atari 2600 to the PS5, with launch prices, release dates and the story behind each generation.
- How Much Did Technology Cost in the 2000s? From iPod to iPad: What did technology cost in the 2000s? Launch prices for the iPod, Xbox, GameCube, Kindle and iPad, with sources and today’s equivalent in dollars.
- How Much Did the First Personal Computers Cost?: What the first personal computers cost, from the $666.66 Apple I in 1976 to the $6,500 NeXT in 1988, with launch dates, sources and today’s prices.
- How Much Did Portable Gadgets Cost? From the Walkman to the Apple Watch: How much portable gadgets cost at launch, from the 1980 Walkman and $3,995 mobile phone to the iPhone and Apple Watch, with dates, sources and today’s prices.
- How Much Did Handheld Game Consoles Cost? Game Boy to Switch: Launch prices of five handheld game consoles, from the $89.95 Game Boy in 1989 to the $299.99 Switch in 2017, with dates, sources and today’s prices.
Toys, snacks, cars and inflation
The rest of our price history guides cover toys, snacks and cars, and show how inflation changed what everyday products cost.
- 10 Toys That Defined the 1990s: Ten toys that defined the 1990s, from Tickle Me Elmo to Tamagotchi and Furby, with launch prices and why each one became a craze.
- How Inflation Has Changed the Price of Everyday Products: See how inflation has changed the price of everyday products, from eggs and milk to petrol, using official US government price data from 2006 to 2026.
- The Most Expensive Products of the 1990s Compared With Today: The most expensive products of the 1990s, from a $17,500 plasma TV to the Iridium satellite phone, with launch prices and how they compare with today.
- How Much Did Famous Toys and Snacks Cost When They Launched?: What famous toys and snacks cost at launch: Barbie at $3 in 1959, the TV dinner at 98 cents, the Rubik’s Cube, AriZona tea and the KFC Double Down.
- Car Launch Prices: What Famous Cars Cost When New: Car launch prices for 17 famous cars, from the $1,345 Chrysler Airflow in 1934 to the $139,995 Ford GT in 2004, with dates, sources and today’s prices.
How our price history guides are sourced
Every one of our price history guides names the source for each launch price, and we prefer primary sources such as manufacturer press releases, original adverts and company archives. To show what an old price is worth today, we use the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index and its CPI inflation calculator, which start in 1913. For computing history, the Computer History Museum is a good place to read more.
Price history for a single product
If you want the launch price of one particular product, such as the PlayStation or the first iPod, see our launch price pages. Both sets of pages use the same sources and the same inflation data.
Play the game
After reading our price history guides, test what you have learned. Every day, Price Time Machine asks you to guess what a famous product cost when it launched, then shows what that price is worth today. It is free to play, and you can challenge your friends to beat your score.