'Pedestal' dream for Pokémon trading cards

Nigel Brookes said he hoped the cards would be bought by a museum and put on display

A man whose collection of rare Pokémon cards could fetch as much as £35,000 at auction hopes they will end up "on a pedestal" in a museum.

Nigel Brookes, 33, has cared for the first edition cards since getting them as a gift for his 14th birthday.

He hopes the collection will be "cherished" by a Pokémon fan or put on display.

The cards are due to go under the hammer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, in Lichfield, on Monday.

Mr Brookes said when his family initially bought them in 1999 they cost about £400, and it was hoped their value might increase to £1,000.

The cards are housed in plastic sleeves within a ring-binder

Mr Brookes, who now lives in Lancashire but grew up in Streetly in the West Midlands, said: "I have personal dream, where I would like to think they would end up in a Nintendo museum, or something like that, and be put on a pedestal.

"It would be a shame after we have looked after them so much, for someone to buy it to take the best cards out and bin the rest.

"I hope someone will buy it to preserve it and whoever gets it will look after it as we have done."

The father-of-three, said his eldest daughter Layla, who's eight, had offered the "money in her piggybank" for the collection.

"I do feel a bit bad in a way that I'm doing it now instead of giving it to her," he said.

"But I am hoping the return will change the life we can have together."

Blythe dolls can fetch up to £2,000

Toys worth hanging on to

Original Star Wars figures from the 70s or 80s are very collectible, although not everyone will have a Boba Fett worth £18,000.

Collectors of the unusual Blythe dolls can expect their toys to sell for between £500 and £2,000, depending on their condition, and Pippa dolls have been sold for as much as £1,400.

Another 90s phenomenon which can prove valuable are the Harry Potter books. A rare, first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone sold for £28,500 at auction last year.

The trading card set features 103 cards

The Shadowless Pokémon trading card set has 103 cards as there are two different versions of Pikachu - 58a for Red Cheek Pikachu and 58b for Yellow Cheek Pikachu.

A spokesperson for the auctioneers said the cards were "in excellent condition except that Dugtrio has a small knick to its bottom edge".