A young vintage toy dealer has spoken about how he wants to help inspire the next generation of collectors.
26-year-old Daniel Hewitt, from Great Cornard, began his collection at the age of eight.
He said: “I’ve got a brother that’s ten years older than me, and I basically always wanted my brother had.
“My great aunt used to work in a toy shop as well, and she used to bring me back some every week and it kind of grew from there.
“I like the nostalgia side of it, and also the community. The people are a big draw to it, being surrounded by like-minded people.
“It’s the memories as well, they’re quite strong and take me back to my childhood.
“I think that most people can relate to the fact that they’ve got something special in their childhood that they think back to and have fond memories of."
During his teenage years, Daniel began to collect old toys and models - particularly from Britains Toys - but his collecting slowed down when he went to university.
He said: “I had a pause from collecting when I went to university, and completely forgot about it. My mum moved house and after I’d finished university all of my stuff entered the house that me and my girlfriend share.
“Immediately it got put in the loft, I didn’t really give it a second thought."
Fast-forward to lockdown and Daniel's passion was kick-started again.
“We needed some way of earning some money so we started digging out some bits to sell.
“It reignited my love for it, and it also inspired Kerry (Daniel's partner) to get involved with it as well.
“We do the toy fayres together at weekends so it’s a nice way of spending time together."
Daniel now hopes to help start "inspiring the next generation" and says that the community factor is a big draw of the vintage toy dealing scene.
Daniel and partner Kerry now sell at toy fayres around the UK as well as on Ebay.
“We’ve met some fantastic people through it.
“Everyone in the community is willing to help each other. If you’ve got something that you’re unsure about someone will know and help you. 
“Everybody is extremely passionate as well. We’ve helped a couple of children either grow their collection or start to gain interest in it."
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