Everyone wants their World Cup: an unprecedented furore and an unparalleled history

After Qatar World Cup 2022 an unprecedented messimania broke out. Everyone wants to have their World Cup, the same one that the Argentine captain lifted at the Lusail stadium in Qatar after becoming world champion with the Albicelestial after 36 years of waiting.

Just 11 days have passed since the historic feat and thousands of Argentines have started buying replicas of the most coveted trophy of all via the Internet: the World Cup. And this has changed the lives of many people, especially those who sell these products.

Andrea Vega She is Colombian, she is 30 years old and has been living in Argentina for six years. She is dating Juan Martín Elfers and together they created Deco print, from his home in Recoleta. A company dedicated to the sale of 3D printed products with handmade finishes.

-How and when was the business born?

-The adventure started in September because my boyfriend has always been fascinated by the theme of impressions. First we printed a pokémon and I decided to paint it, simply because I liked it. We started out as a hobby until one day we decided to make it a business. But the reality is that not much has been sold. We created pokémon, pots and souvenirs. And at the end of November I started making Messi and De Paul T-shirts.

-When did the rage about the World Cup start?

–​Once Argentina became champions, sales skyrocketed. We don’t actually print the mugs until December 18th. We were about to print the first Cup on penalties in the final. And I said to my boyfriend ‘no, wait before Argentina wins and then we print’.

-In other words, you waited for Montiel to score the last penalty so as not to “dampen” Argentina…

​-Yes just like this. When I heard all the screams from the building’s residents we started printing the mugs. The first file was for a friend and we never stopped from there. It’s been two weeks since Argentina were champions and I’ve never stopped working. Also, today I already hired a lady to help me paint because I can’t do it myself.

Although Andreina has never really liked football, for this World Cup in Qatar he had to familiarize himself with terms that were not common in his daily life such as the law of oversthe to guessthe mufathe group stage, etc.

But since Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat France, everything has changed. Andreina works full time selling her collectible figures with handmade finishes because everyone wants to have their own World Cup.

He hired one person, bought another machine (he already has five) to print more units and even extended his working days. He spends many more hours in the shop artistically refining all the products he offers. Football glory meant a great opportunity, an unexpected opportunity…

“A few weeks ago I had no sales. Sometimes I had 1 order per month. And now, for 10 days, I have more than 30 orders per day, only from the official store, that is, not counting Instagram orders”, bill .

Andreina quit her job as a waxer in August and decided to try her hand at a 3D printing venture. She has since started working, but football has never been her main focus.

I created pokemon first, souvenirssmall pots, and then with World Cup fever he tried on the shirts of the Argentina national team and, subsequently, the World Cup arrived.

-What is the value and how long does it take to make the replica World Cup?

-Original size (36.8cm) costs $14,990 and takes 28 hours to print. Also, 2 hours of hand made and painted completion, which is my work. In total it has 30 hours of work and weighs about half a kilo.

What are replicas made of?

-It is printed with a gold plastic filament, but other than that it requires a lot of work. We paint it with gold metallic spray so it’s metallic and then, by hand, we paint the green stripes with the acrylic and on top of the acrylic I put liquid paint to give it a shiny effect. This whole process is what differentiates us from other sellers.

-What was the most exciting thing you experienced with one of your clients?

​-Yesterday a man bought me a product and when he saw that I had the replica cup in the original size he went crazy. He asked me if I could change it because he wanted the World Cup. I told him yes I only had one to deliver. When he arrived he was very excited. He looked like a child, you don’t know how his eyes sparkled. It seems to me that this whole World Cup is very evident in people. I see the joy on people’s faces every time they receive their cup. I think all Argentines want to have a glass in their hand, even if it’s a replica, to keep alive the memory of what they have experienced, of what has been achieved after so many years.

-And now… What other World Cup products are on the way?

We are already planning many more projects with all this Messimania stuff. Let’s make coasters with the phrase “What are you looking at, fool? Go over there”and others with the image of Messi lifting the Cup.