Interview by Rui Pastorin
Anime fans and toy lovers from Macau and elsewhere converged on the outdoor area of 10 Fantasia gallery on Calçada da Igreja de S. Lázaro (瘋堂斜巷) this weekend as several booths sold second-hand and vintage items, with the declared goal not being to make a profit but to connect with the wider community.
Organised by the “Macau Animation and Comics Play Association” (澳門動漫玩協), the two-day “‘Anime Friends’ Second-Hand Flea Market” was held for the fifth year and featured toys and a variety of other collectibles such as classic video games, plushies and posters.
Each of the items came from the collections of a tight community of long-time enthusiasts, whether it’s an over 20-year-old sealed vintage anime colouring book or an unopened American action figure from the 2010s or even some newly released and unopened items, association Chairman Edward Loi (呂浚生) told the Post yesterday afternoon.
Collectors accumulate various items as they continue to buy the things that they love. And over time, space becomes limited. That’s what gave Loi the idea of starting an event that brings together collectors to sell or even exchange some of the things they’ve gathered. In the process, connections and friendships between event participants are hoped to be made while selling their items to fairgoers, with Loi pointing out that that’s in the name of the annual activity.
“This is for making new friends. It’s not only a market”, being instead a place where fairgoers and sellers can do things like get to know each other, reminisce on shared nostalgia, or even talking about the history and shared love for a franchise as well as how they first came across a certain item they are now selling. “They can buy and they can talk about how much they like it”.
While there wasn’t much difference in terms of attendees this year and previous editions, Loi added that their group annually receives quite a few messages from different places, mostly from enthusiasts and collectors from the Chinese mainland, asking about when the next edition of the flea market would be held in the hopes of buying more vintage items and make more connections.
Loi said that he hopes that the event can continue to be held at least once every year. They also hope that more tourists can see beyond the things that Macau is known for by visiting the event, where they might discover and form friendships with the city’s group of collectors and anime fans.
Fairgoers explore the booths run by enthusiasts at 10 Fantasia gallery during the last day of the “‘Anime Friends’ Second-Hand Flea Market”. – Photos: Rui Pastorin
