The Japanese digital pet brand Tamagotchi has opened its first official UK shop in Camden.
The toys have seen a resurgence in recent years as retro accessories grow in popularity and adults look to reconnect with a part of their childhood.
The shop, on the second floor of the BandaiNamco Cross Store in the Camden Stables, has received national attention in its opening weeks.
Tamagotchi was first introduced in the mid-1990s, designed as a wearable interactive accessory initially aimed at teenage girls.
The egg-shaped toys feature a pixelated digital pet which the owner can hatch and subsequently look after, with the pet growing over time and changing to reflect the treatment of the owner.
The brand’s meteoric rise following its release eventually stalled into a slump, largely falling out of the public spotlight by the mid-noughties.
Tamagotchi has made a surprising comeback recently however, with sales numbers increasing as many adults rediscover the gadgets they played with as kids.
One patron of the Camden shop, Sam, 23, said: “I normally come for the one piece card game but there’s been a Tamagotchi area I’ve seen that is popular right now. We came just to buy a Tamagotchi.
“I vaguely remember playing with my brother’s Tamagotchi, I was quite young so I’d kinda forgotten how it works, it was just fun… and that’s just kinda been an idea, to get another Tamagotchi again.”
Jennifer, 20, told a similar story about reconnecting with a childhood memory.
She said: “I had it when I was younger, I also had another version of it… it was like one of those pixel things but it was a woman you could dress up instead, so I had things like that and a Tamagotchi.”
Tamagotchi has battled to keep itself relevant between its release and today, though some of its efforts to collaborate with other pop culture brands may have made the difference in bringing fans like Jennifer back.
She added: “There was a Mandalorian one of them so that really drew me to it, and there was a one piece version.”
Some in the UK Tamagotchi community, however, attribute the recent rise in popularity to a wider pop culture phenomenon.
Freya Scott, 26, co-host of London Tamagotchi Club, said: “There’s a lot of content currently about 90s and 2000s nostalgia on other socials like TikTok and Instagram too – people are reminded of their fond childhood memories with Tamagotchi so have started collecting again which is amazing.
“That’s how Tamagotchi collecting starts for a lot of us, getting back into them out of Nostalgia!”
Freya hopes the introduction of the shop, and the subsequent media coverage, can help inspire a new generation of fans, and provide Tamagotchi a strong future beyond appealing to nostalgia.
She added: “Camden is a great area where anyone can come and discover the store, the fact that Tamagotchi now has its own dedicated section is a great step forward in getting more people from all generations to start their love for it!”
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