Good evening! Last weekend was Anime Matsuri, and I spent so much in the Artist Alley, since it is of, obviously, the most valuable part of any convention.
I have a growing collection of artist merch, and my collection of artist online shops only grew after last event. Inspired by some artists's dissapointment with the event, I've decided to share their shops with examples of the products I've either purchased or I have my eye on. Let's get on with it!
Aguichart! I've bought so much stuff from this artist is ridiculous. But they have so much variety and everything is cute and nice! The sketchy art is blessed <3!
They also have original stuff related to their wholesome comic 'El Jardin de Ceres', although in spanish!
Favorite items- the wooden pins (I own the Shrek and Hamtaro ones!) and the Jardin de Ceres stuff (I backed the kickstarter they did and I have everything but the pillow and wooden pins)
Main subjects- Nintendo properties, horror anime and videogames (seriously), Yakuza, general anime, original comic 'El Jardin de Ceres'... Their variety is huge!
Products- Keychains, pins (metal and wooden), stickers, prints... Also rarer printed goods like majuus, pillows, pouches and even an Animal Crossing umbrella!
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ResidentialRabbit! One of the artists I found at Anime Matsuri! Nice sparkly, cartoon-animeish stuff! One of the few ones with Higurashi and MLP stuff! !
Personal favorite products- I am looking forward getting at least one of their MLP pins and the Rena buttonMain subjects-Higurashi, MLP:FiM, Triggerseries, Pokemon, Original Visual Novel 'Repurpose'
Products types- Pins and buttons mainly. Also keychains, prints and dakimakuras.
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One of my favorite shops at Anime Matsuri. Beautful colors, very soft and juuust a little bit dark here and there. I bought multiple things from them, including Sayaka (I initially wanted Homura but they had run out, but all of them are beautiful) and Miku keychains. They are also one of the few that prominently feature original stuff, too!
They also have a Monthly keychain+Sticker club in Patreon!!
Personal favorite- The Circus March pins (Got the Phanpy!), the Trick or Treat pins (Charlotte, Charlotte!) and this Head empty pin which I'm SO planning to get!
Main subjects-Original cat OCs, pokemon, some jojos, some nintendo~ Vocaloid too!
Product types- Pins, keychains, stickers, apparel.
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One of the Matsuri artists with my absolute favorite coloring style!! It caught my eye everytime I passed by and I ended buying yet somehow I think I didn't buy anything, which I gotta fix. I probably got their business card like, three times....
I'll probably start by buying some of their prints now that I've decided how to collect them!
Personal favorite- The Sakura charm kept catching my attention because it showcasts their coloring so well, and they had a big version of this Zelda print and it looked awesome
Main subjects- Pokemon, Fire emblem, cute stuff in general~
Product types- Charms, pins, stickers, prints
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It's the bug dude! That's the nickname they got because they have a lot of bug-themed stuff, and ngl, that's really cool.
That includes bug pokemon! It was one of the things my wife took the initiative to buy herself!
Oh, yes, they also have Pink guy merch, if you are not a COWARD. They had this dakimakura fully printed and damn, it made an impression. But if you ARE a coward, they also have mini-dakimakuras. I admit they looked very nice and I was tempted, even with the spiciest ones~
As an anecdote, while I was looking for a Kabu keychain, other artist suggested me to check them out, showing me their business card. They weren't who I was looking for but the fact I inmediately recognized them and it was coming from another vendor is pretty neat =)
Personal favorite- This Joltik+Galvantula keychain! It's easily the biggest keychain I owe and it's super cool. It's very elaborate and even has a little spider charm at the end. Also this Giovanni keychain, defintely not because I have a type.
Although to be fair, I feel their top stuff is all the bug themed stuff, no matter if original or fanworks.
Main subjects- BUGS! And Pokemon. And furry stuff too UwU
Product types- Huge, elaborated charms, dakimakuras, mini-dakimakuras, stickers, lanyards, facemasks~
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Kayogurt! (Alternative Etsy link! Not sure which one will be used after Anime Matsuri!)
Another of the top sellers for me at Matsuri! One of these simple styles that translate SO well into merch. So comfy, so nice <3
Note- Their online store is unavailible at the moment, but Etsy says they will be back!)
Main subjects- Pokemon (Featuring the anime's Team Rocket!) and Fire Emblem! But they have other subjects here and there 'v'
Favorite merch-One of the few who I got a button from (The Scorbunny)! I'm wearing it in my hat from now on, too! They even went with the more rare choice of having them being soft buttons. Big kudos to this standee. They had it at their booth and it looked really really neat. The 3D is great <3 Also I'm not usually interested in memo pads but I might go for theirs. They did catch my attention~
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Another Matsuri top seller for me!!! Their art is just amazing! (Both of them, as it's a pair of artists!). Some of the most refined anime styles as well, both of them!
Another of these whose prints made me decide I have to start collecting prints myself, so that's what I'll do!
Main subjects-Very varied anime subjects including Genshin Impact, Fate, BNHA... They have a lot of variety and don't repeat a lot, and they also include a decent amount of original stuff~
Favorite products- I got some mini keychains since I had no way of collecting prints yet, but I think their prints just shine
Product types- Keychains, prints, standees, stationery, apparel...
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CATS! Lots of cat stuff. Lots of meme cat stuff! And all of it cute, too! I don't usually succumb to meme stuff, but their plushies are super soft (YEAH!) and I had a lot of fun flipping that Pop Cat. As a matter of fact, plenty of their works are flippable~
For real tho, their plush pillows are so nice. The printing is so pleasing!
Personal Favorite products- I like that Pop cat plushieeee! But in the end we got this 'Stay pawsitive' keychain (the grey one, because it looks like our cat Giza!) and the Mimikyu keychain because I need MORE Mimikyus.
Main subjects- Meme cats! With some pokemon and Chaos (!!!) spice
Product types-Plushies and keychains! Some pins too
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Beautiful pins! Super cute and round, and all pokemon ones come in regular and shiny colors!! Their style is very characteristic and everything is round and comfy~
Also kudos because their booth was super nice looking and they were really nice! They let me in that Beastar pins are coming and I'm all for that~
Oh, yes, also LOTERIA THEMED POKEMON PINS!
Main subjects-Pokemon! Round, adorable pokemon. Animal Crossing is spiced in too!
Favorite products- Loteria themed pokemon piiiin! (Also sold separatedly)... which I should get, ngl. I love when sellers venture into something unique like that. What I did get was a shiny Mimikyu (of course it was Mimikyu) from them!
Product types- Pins! But they also have keychains, stickers and even these cute side bags
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Oh, yes!!!! Another TOP TOP one for me in Anime Matsuri! Their booth was in a far corner and that's not fair because their stuff is absolutely amazing and very unique! They didn't have keychains the first day and in the next day we ran right to their booth to get it! Only reason I didn't buy more from them is because they specialize in pins and stickers, and I had no way to collect them at the time (but damn that's going to change). They have that cool melty-eerie-detailed style I love.
Also a bit sexy cursed ;D
Main subjects-They are very varied! Pokemon and Evangelion are sprinkled there but most of it is original one one-offs
Favorite products- I'm in love with this Rei sticker and I probably repeated myself a lot while looking through their booth, and this set of prints with all pokemon by generation is amazing! I love how it's inspired by the original sprites
Product types- Defintely prints and stickers. Another seller giving me good reasons to put together a print binder
And here's the rest of the list that is not in hiatus after the con. Some I don't have anything extraordinary to say but all of them are really nice and I reccomend you check them! Others I will add as reviews as a later day but I just am out of energy at the moment (phew!)
- The Moonborn Soft soft merch! They have multiple kinds of merch you don't find anywhere else too, including handmade stuff! There's butterflies, there's cows, there's mugs! And there's goose
- Pretty Pastel Studios Very appropiate name! Magical girls(Including Saint Tail, that's pretty obscure!), Genshin Impact! Keychains and stickers!
- Miss Melty Market Another very appropiate name. Melty bold style with colors to match. Stickers, prints and apparel. If you want a fix of not-so-candy gore, here's it, too! (I personally appreciate it)
- Vexingly Yours Varied seller! Round bold style! We got this Marx keychain from them since Marx is the best Kirby boss UwU They are the organizer of the Dragon Shores fanzine, too!
And by now that's all I'm sharing, but there's more, so I'll update this post with more shops!