2024 UPCOMING EVENTS
May 11th - "May Craft Show" at Leesport Farmer's Market (Leesport, PA)
October 11th - "Night Market in Derry" at Lazy Dog Vintage (Hamburg, PA)
October 26th - "Fall Craft Show" at Kutztown Middle School (Kutztown, PA)
November 16th - "Fleetwood Craft Show" at Fleetwood High School (Fleetwood, PA)
LGBT-, Disabled-, and Vampire-Owned <3
Hi there! I'm Al Moyer and I'm the owner and operator here at Mantodea Market, based in southeastern Pennsylvania! I love all things macabre and creepy, but I'm also a huge animal, anime, and video game nerd. My interests contrast extremely (some of my favorite franchises are Berserk and Pokemon...hello??) so the overall theme of my shop is...no theme. So if you're looking to support a vampire goth artist whose favorite color is pink, you found the right artist!
We don't use AI, dropship, or steal artwork here. Every product offered here has either been handmade or drawn entirely by myself. I trust a handful of manufacturers to help turn my designs into their final products when I'm unable to do it myself, like with acrylic and enamel products for example. Manufacturers I trust include Zap Creatives, Vograce, Stickerapp, and Vivipins to name a few.
___
I've never been able to have a 'real' job. Opening this shop was the best thing I've ever done! I've been able to work on my own terms and do what I love.I've always been an artist. I've been drawing my whole life and received my first commission in 2015, consisting of a friend's OC drawn on lined paper with pencil.
In 2019 I went off to school to learn how to everything there is to do in the special effects makeup industry. Besides learning more about makeup artistry for movies and shows, I created my first animatronic, learned how make prosthetics and convincing props, and I learned how to turn a sculpture into something more. I fell in love with sculpting creatures and turning them into things like animatronics and wall mounts, so much so that they were the first step in creating this shop.
After all these years, I'm still working on developing a style that suits me. I'm hoping I get to look back on this about section someday and say that I've finally found it.
Not only am I an artist, but I've also been a cosplayer since 2014! You can find my cosplays on most social media accounts @fallfestivalx.
___
Mantodea Market strives to reduce the amount of trash in the world. All of the 5x7" mailers we use are 100% compostable, and any white rectangular stickers you may see on our packaging was reused from shipping labels that didn't print right. Also, all of our bubble wrap is reused from other packages! There's no reason perfectly good bubble wrap can't be cleaned and used a second time, rather than end up in the trash! Some of our wall mount shipping boxes are also reused from other packages, as long as they fit. It may not be as marketable or presentable for us, but it helps reduce junk and gets the job done. We ask that all of our boxes, bubble wrap, paper packaging, etc. get recycled or reused as well - help save Earth!