The collector’s festival Romics held at Fiera di Roma this year attracted over 400,000 visitors highlighting that the interest in these products is higher than ever. 

In Photos

By Talia Lee Bryerton Oreilly | Photoreporter

The rise of “nerd” and “geek” culture into mainstream media has significantly boosted the popularity of collectibles, while also transforming personal interests into viable investment strategies. Psychology Today says that collecting items taps into a basic human instinct, we have collected objects for tens of thousands of years and in the rise of the digital age it’s interesting to see what we enjoy collecting. This year Romics, a collector’s festival, held at Fiera di Roma attracted over 400,000 visitors highlighting that the interest in these products is higher than ever. 

Shops specializing in these collectibles, such as Ciao Bella (Il Tuo Negozio Nerd) in Testaccio, are thriving. Recently, they introduced a delivery service and an online shop, making it easier for customers to access their products. Their Instagram is updated daily with reels and story posts that showcase new arrivals. This presence on social media makes the sense of community among the collectors stronger and also these videos land on the feeds of more people. So, popularity increases among old collectors and new who are engaging with the hobby!   

Skyylar Jordan, a JCU student with an impressive collection of comic books, explains how these comics have been something she has been connected to since childhood. Her flat is covered in all things pink; she even has a romance book collection featuring titles with book covers solely in that color. In addition to her books and comics, she collects YouTooz and Funko Pops of her favorite YouTubers, including Jacksepticeye, The Game Theorists, and Gab Smolders. Her vibrant collection is a mix of her interests in digital culture, comics, and literature.  

I spoke to Mehdi Doumaz, a visitor of Romics with an extensive collection of playing cards and action figures, mostly those from the Pokémon franchise. He mentioned he was able to find many cards he was searching for at the Romics festival. His collection is almost completely in original packaging, which he says, “enhances the future value”. Among his prized possessions is a PSA- graded card, specifically the 2023 Raichu card Japanese edition graded at 10. A PSA graded card is a card that has been sent to a service that evaluates it. They receive trading cards of all types and using a scale from 1 to 10 they indicate a high or low quality of the card.  His most expensive card is a Greninja Ex card from the Twilight Masquerade set valued at around 300 Euros. He says that he will send that card to get PSA graded next.  

Ella Rice, an artist and student studying abroad at JCU couldn’t bring her entire collection of books and posters with her, elements of her interest shine through in her style. Her collection of pins on her backpack is one way that she expresses her interests and hobbies away from home!  

Rome is currently a hub for the art of collecting as these interests have become more and more popular over time. Events like Romics highlight the amount of growing enthusiasm for collectibles, and shops like Ciao Bella cater locally to the demand. The personal collections serve to show how collecting serves as a means of self-expression and personal growth.  

 

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