DALLAS, TX.- Thirty years ago today, the phenomenon that would become the world’s highest-grossing media franchise began with the release of a pair of cartridges for the Nintendo Game Boy, Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green.

Along with video games, the entertainment juggernaut would eventually include mobile games, movies, home video, toys and, of course, the Pokémon Trading Card Game. In 1999, for about $4, a kid could get a pack of 11. Today, an unopened original Base Set Booster Pack can easily fetch thousands of dollars. And rare cards, such as the Pikachu Illustrator card awarded as the grand prize of one of the initial three illustration contests publicized in CoroCoro Comic, can realize hundreds of thousands or even millions.

With only 39 such Pikachu Illustrator cards awarded in those initial contests, opportunities to catch your own “Holy Grail” of Pokémon TCG collecting don’t come along often, but serious collectors can bid on a PSA Mint 9 Pikachu Illustrator in the Heritage Auctions March 27–28 Trading Card Games and Manga Signature® Auction. PSA has certified 15 copies of the card a Mint 9, with only one copy graded higher.

Another exceptionally rare card that can vie with the Pikachu Illustrator for status as the hottest card in the hobby is the First Edition Base Set Charizard, and this auction offers the chance to obtain one of only 125 copies to earn a Gem Mint 10 grade from PSA.

This auction also offers one of very few opportunities to purchase an original sketch by one of the Pokémon franchise’s most renowned artists, Ken Sugimori. Sugimori created the artwork for some of the most iconic cards in the TCG, and also for the original video games that hatched Pokémon 30 years ago. This PSA-authenticated artwork depicting Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty holding the franchise mascot, Pikachu, sports Sugimori’s signature in both English and Japanese and dates to June 23, 1998.

Heritage Auctions Trading Card Games Managing Director Jesus Garcia, himself a millennial and part of that first generation of Pokémon enthusiasts, is optimistic for the future of the franchise as it enters its 31st year.

“Prices have never been this high, and there are a lot of new people coming into the market,” Garcia says. “It’s cool to see the nostalgia around Pokémon, and to see people my age and children now can generally like the same thing. It’s something we grew up with and now something they’re growing up with that remains extremely popular.”

Another thing exciting Garcia lately is that Heritage is focusing on manga as a major part of an auction for the first time.

“We are trendsetters at Heritage, so we are excited about making this a part of our auction lineups in the future,” Garcia says.

Fittingly, the manga portion of the auction features several debuts of characters and franchises that had immeasurable impact on global pop culture.

The November 1954 issue of Omoshiro included Kagaku Bouken E Monogatari Gojira, a 122-page manga adaptation of the original Godzilla film. The manga was released at roughly the same time as the movie, contributing to the popularization of the now iconic franchise.

The debut appearance of Dragon Ball, in Weekly Shonen Jump No. 51 from 1984, is another cultural milestone featured in the auction. Created by Akira Toriyama, one of the most popular anime and manga franchises of all time starts as readers meet Goku and Bulma as they seek the mysterious Dragon Balls.

The current best-selling manga and collected comic book volumes of all time, One Piece, also got its start in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump when, in No. 34 from 1997, creator Elichiro Oda began the adventure with a boy who wished to become a pirate.

Other highlights in the auction include, to name just a few:

• A complete VS 2001–2002 Tropical Mega Battle Complete Italian Deck, the only Italian language version of the deck given as prizes to competitors in the 2001 and 2002 Tropical Mega Battle events

• A Magic: The Gathering Soul Stone from the Marvel’s Spider-Man expansion set with a BGS Pristine 10 grade

• A Sealed Pokémon Skyridge Booster Box, which, as the final set printed by Wizards of the Coast, is one of the rarest and most sought-after booster boxes

• A complete Master Set of 332 Pokémon Skyridge cards, all graded Gem Mint 10 by PSA