[Fanime ’19] Digital Love

Eri Kagami

I miss the old artist alley.

There’s a lot of shopping opportunities at Fanime. Artist Alley was held in the adjacent building. It’s much smaller than past year’s Fanime’s. The Artist Alley does have a robust selection of artists selling prints, charms, decals, and more. I picked up a few Fate and Azur Lane charms. However, if you love your personal space and are sensitive to crowds, the Artist Alley will make you feel sardined in. I like the variety of fandom present. I felt that the Fate merch was stronger here in the artist alley than in the dealers hall selection. There are artists that are worth checking out here. If you can handle crowds, I would highly recommend taking a peak in here.

The dealers hall is pretty huge. Not only you will find anime merch, you will also find food stands selling endless, refillable soda and takoyaki. I liked these bargain eats compared to the street dogs outside. I was able to find a few booths that had charms for ita bags. So of which are very hard to find! I was very happy to see Revue Starlight charms. However, my priority target’s were for Azur Lane. I found the official artbook at Fanime and gave it good home. I also found necklaces and accessories perfect for Lolita and Disneybounding. In addition to anime merch and plushes, there were also dealers selling waifu body pillows, hats, and wigs. There’s a lot of gifts you can get for friends here!

Fanime official merch had t-shits and sweaters available. Fanime is very basic with their official merch, but they also had a charity raffle for the Make a Wish foundation.

One of my favorite services offered at Fanime was the Flying Hands Massage. It does take some time to wait, hence why I got in the morning. The good news is that they accept paypal and venmo!

What’s unique about shopping at Fanime is they have a consignment store, Idris’ closet where you can get fancy second hand vintage clothes for the formal ball. They do take donations during the weekend. This is a vintage finder’s paradise, but do keep in mind that Idris’ closet is there to sell discounted vintage items for those who want to attend the formal dance.

 

Jared the Greek

There are several shopping options at Fanime.  While I did not check out the Artist Alley or the Swap Meet, I did spend some time in the dealer hall.  With the expansion of the facility the dealer hall has more room for booths and thankfully aisles. There were some strong selections at the dealer hall like unique Lunar New Year jackets, various plushies, video booths, and plenty of figures.  Of course I was drawn to the GunPla booth in search of some SD kits so I can fit them on my overcrowded desk. However, some of the clothing options were great as well with unique head wear and jackets. Not only that, but they also had a booth selling takoyaki, which is one of my favorite foods.  The dealer hall was robust and worth checking out, if not for the great panel line up I probably would have spent more time (and money) there. On the other hand, I tend to avoid the artist alley as it gets very crowded. Even peeking my head into the rom gave me a sense of claustrophobia. Despite that, there are some great opportunities to find amazing merch and quality products at Fanime.

Leave a Comment