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The annual school supply-buying trip isn't a new tradition. In fact, kids have been needing school supplies since they've been attending school. You might remember some of these old-school supplies from when you were growing up, and we promise revisiting them will be like a trip back in time.

The essential school supply of the '80s and '90s was the Trapper Keeper, a binder notebook made by Mead. They had colorful, plastic-coated covers and Velcro closures for keeping all your papers organized, and you could add your choice of folders featuring your favorite cartoon characters, sports teams, and neon shades. If you think about it, you can remember the sound of the Velcro when you pried open the cover flap.

Today, vintage Trapper Keepers sell for around $15 to $20, so if you're feeling nostalgic, it's easy to pick one up.

All those pens and pencils your parents bought you had to rattle around in something, and in the '70s and '80s, that something was the classic cardboard school box. This hard-working box usually ended the school year taped back together with duct tape and marked up with crayons, but it did its job well. 

If you want to pick one of these up today, it's going to cost you a bit more than the 99 cents your parents probably paid. Because they took a lot of abuse, there aren't actually that many still around. They're still pretty easy to find for $10 to $20, though.

You probably entered middle school with a locker shelf or mirror to make your new locker your own (and store your lip gloss and hair brush). These adjustable shelves were a staple of the '90s in particular when customizing your locker was a right of passage at the start of a new school year. 

If you've still got an unopened locker shelf, you might be interested to know that they sell for about $20 now.

If you're like most of us who took middle school and high school math in the '90s, you probably had to buy a graphing calculator. At the time, these babies were cutting edge, and they had a price tag to match. They seem primitive today, but back then, they often required parents to shell out $100 (and came with admonitions not to lose or break this high-tech gadget). A lot of '80s and '90s kids can still remember the sound of one of these expensive calculators clattering on the floor of the hallway or classroom.

It's a testament to how well made they were that it's really easy to find these for sale today. A working Texas Instruments TI-81 regularly sells for about $20.

Back before there were smart boards or even white boards, we sat in front of chalkboards and listened to the tap and screech of the teacher writing on the green or black board with white chalk. A new stick of chalk was a fine and exciting thing, and school sometimes asked kids to bring a pack of chalk to school.

Today, you'll need to scrape up around $20 to buy an unopened box of chalk from the '60s or '70s, but it might be worth it for the retro school vibes.

Fixing your mistakes was way more fun when you used an eraser shaped like a saxophone, right? If you grew up in the '70s, '80s, or '90s, chances are your school supplies included a set (or two) of erasers shaped like musical instruments, cartoon characters, animals, or something else. Usually, these shapes got destroyed by a few uses, so if you were like a lot of us, you saved your fancy erasers just to look at and used the plain pink ones for actually erasing.

You can still pick up a set of novelty erasers from your youth (since a lot of people didn't really use them). They sell for about $20 a set.

School supplies of yesteryear were all about showing off your personal style. Along with your novelty erasers, you probably had pencil toppers. These plastic shapes had a hole in the bottom for your pencil, and they went over the eraser. Writing with them on was a little weird because they were heavy and threw off the balance of your pencil. Except in rare situations, you also had to take them off if your wanted to erase something.

To buy some today, you can hit up eBay or a a thrift store. They tend to sell for about $25 for a complete set, but you can find individual ones for a couple of bucks.

Sure, there's no shame in a classic Ticonderoga, but the cool kids had character pencils. From Holly Hobby to Strawberry Shortcake to Thundercats to Ninja Turtles, there was something for everyone. You could buy these individually or as a set. Some even used scratch and sniff printing to give them a fruity or floral smell.

An unopened box of character pencils is worth a bit today, especially if they have nostalgic appeal. Expect to pay $20 or more.

Remember workbooks? Teachers would pass these out for your to write your answer and complete your assignments, and they usually went with the textbook being used. If you felt a sinking sense of boredom and dread when you saw yours, you weren't alone.

Because these soft-covered books were made to be cheap and disposable, they aren't all that common to find. If you want to get your hands on one, you'll need to shell out $20 or more.

A new lunch box was part of the back-to-school shopping for a lot of kids, and having a lunch container that showed your favorite character could bring you a little joy in a loud lunchroom. These boxes could even be a bit of a status symbol with popular cartoons and characters reigning supreme.

Even in beat-up condition, a lunch box from the '70s or '80s can sell for $25 or more. If you've got one in brand new shape, it might be worth enough to buy you a really nice lunch today.

Related: 7 Vintage Metal Lunch Boxes That Could Be Worth a Fortune

Some things haven't changed about being a kid, and one of them is the excitement of new school supplies. There's nothing like starting the year off with a brand new Garfield pencil and a Snoopy lunch box, after all. While you can't go back in time (would you even want to?), revisiting these old-school school supplies can help you rediscover the magic of a new school year.