A few months ago an idea started to take shape at Playclicks: the first argentine collectors meeting.
After much anticipation and organization, we finally met in Rosario, Santa Fe province, this past weekend.
It was from the start a wonderful experience with a lovely group of people sharing the same interest: our beloved clickies. Truly a brotherhood. I couldn’t have expected more from an adult group of collectors who didn’t know each other at all, except from forums and our virtual-persona.
As this is a huge country and there were people coming from 3 different provinces it was decided that we should meet in some point at “the middle”. The city chosen was Rosario.
We were (only) 8 collectors and 1 invited seller, plus some family members and friends, so we ended up being 20. A small group to compare with European conventions for sure, but it couldn’t have been warmer, and still we were 8 more than last year!
On June 21st, 4 of us met at the hotel and after the obliged hellos and presentations, we went sightseeing and to a flea market hunting for PM and later we went back to the hotel to meet the other 2 that got there that day. The hotel gave us a small conference room and we got together for chatting, exchanging goods and gifts and selling-purchasing Playmobil. I got great stuff!!!
Time flew and after that we all went for dinner, family members included. A very nice and exciting first day.
On the second day another collector joined us, thankfully he shared with me a passion for architecture and photography. We all went out very early for pictures with our avatars, visiting a famous monument and then a toy shop rally searching for the best buys we could find. Can you imagine the faces of shop owners when they saw 7 men and a kid going into the shop? hahaha. It was a miracle that no one called the police on us!
Behind beautiful avatars there lies the awefull truth
In between, Apo and I took pics of all the beautiful buildings in Rosario that we came across. Only Apo got a Special for his daughter, I guess we were all secretly saving up money for what was going to happen in the afternoon.
We were joined for lunch by the last collector (with wife and the cutest twins ever!) and the seller.
After a quick meal we went back to the hotel for the final part of our adventure: another round of serious Playmobil talking, purchasing and exchanging and the most expected part of the trip: the group diorama.
The most fun was the live auctions we made (I won one lovely old set). It was a great idea, and the stuff went out for great prices.
The Mgorongoro set was 100% complete and in PERFECT conditions. The medieval lady was a gift, the cart an auction I won. Im super happy with what I got.
We talked about the diorama for a long time. The general wish was to make a medieval diorama, but some of us thought it was something we’ve seen all over forums and it was impossible for most of us to travel with all our steck, so the idea was dropped. I suggested we should make something original and unique to the meeting and to Argentina.
So a simple but effective Playmobil representation of the meeting came to mind . . . and nothing more argentine than a barbecue or ASADO as we call it. So we came up with this. A small and tidy co-op work that resumes and displays a wonderful experience.
What I cherish most from all this is definitely the people: so nice, so warm, so great and so giving that it really warms up your soul and makes you feel thankful for Playmobil. It is amazing how something considered “a plastic toy” for some, can bring people from different backgrounds together as equals; we all felt like very old friends, just at first site.
The family members that showed up for help and support also deserve praise and thanks, they were amazing too and that also shows how wonderful people was.
I hope this was the first of many more meetings to come and I hope I can meet more friends from all over the world to nourish my life and make me love clickies even more!
Once again I must say: thanks Playmobil!
