One Tamagotchi collector, Rachel Liew, has a massive assortment of the virtual pets that is one of eight collections on loan to the National Museum of Singapore.
For Liew in particular, the reason that she continued to collect so many Tamagotchis is the sense of community. The 34-year-old's collection is on loan for the Play: Date showcase that features iconic toys.
Tamagotchi Collector's Assortment
(Photo : Bandai Namco, iCollect / Screenshot taken from official iCollect YouTube account)
The virtual pet devices were originally made by Japanese toy company Bandai and each one has a digital creature that became viral in the 1990s. Liew is from Tokyo and is enrolled in a Japanese language school.
The collector said over a Zoom call with The Straits Times that she had always liked Tamagotchi and used her pocket money in secondary school and university to buy them. Liew added that back then, there wasn't a community yet, which made her feel alone in her passion for the virtual pets.
But after Liew graduated from university, she rediscovered her passion for Tamagotchis when she found an international collector group on Facebook around 2015. She said that when she discovered the group, she was happy to finally have found a community, according to The Straits Times.
Since joining the Tamagotchi group, her collection has grown to roughly 170 Tamagotchis the rarest of which is a Suntec Tamagotchi that only a few collectors even know exists.
Liew said that this particular item is even rarer than the 2010 Detective Conan Tamagotchi iD and is considered among the rarest limited-edition releases.
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The Suntec Tamagotchi is said to have been given only to subscribers in issue 3,000 of the Shounen Sunday Manga Magazine. Liew said that she found the rare edition on Carousell and it was on sale for $50 in 2020.
She said that two years later, she was kind of bored and sold it to another collector for the same price that she bought it. But then, the collector realized a few months later that she regretted that decision because of how rare the Tamagotchi was as the only photos of it online are the ones she took of it.
Love for the Virtual Pets
Liew decided to buy another one from the same Carousell seller who sold her a second Suntec Tamagotchi for $200. The collector's main source of income is her day job, which is a systems trainer for people in human resources, said Lifestyle.
On top of this, she also makes and sells Tamagotchi covers that range from crocheted slips to stuffed animal covers and zippered pouches.
She had recently started profiting off her Instagram account where she shows off her Tamagotchi collection, uploads unboxing videos, and films herself attending Tamagotchi-related events and locations.
Liew's love for Tamagotchi comes as the virtual pets are making somewhat of a comeback as Bandai Namco is trying to attract the generations who grew up with them but also the younger people who may have heard about them.
The new Tamagotchi toys will combine original classic elements and add new features as well as trendy covers for modern audiences. The company's brand strategy director, Tara Badie, said that the device has been at the forefront of countless pleas for a comeback for years, according to AOL.
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