INTERVIEW with OPC:

1. What is Otaku Pin Club?
Otaku Pin Club (OPC) is community driven by a passion for anime, pins, and art. We supply iconic anime pins to our members and fans all over the world. Our pins are made with the highest quality enamel and we collaborate with independent artists for our designs.

2. Why did you start this brand? What inspired the creation of these anime pins?
When we first scoured through the internet to find anime pins, we were disappointed to see that our options were very limited. We saw a lot of anime inspired art, a lot of enamel pins, but a noticeable gap in anime inspired pins. We initially started this brand as a way to share our passion for anime with fellow pin collectors. However, after engaging with the community, we realized there was a lot we could learn as well. That’s why we decided to be a club – hence Otaku Pin Club – as a way for us to give to the anime community, and as a way for us to also receive feedback and creative ideas from the community. What inspired the creation of these pins was simply our collective hunger for high quality pins, at affordable prices, of our favorite animes!

3. Of the bunch you’ve made so far, which ones are your favorites?
One of my favorites would be the Jojo Mask Pins. It’s our first born 🙂

4. What inspires you to create each of the pins?
Since creating a pin can be a long and difficult process, we’re very careful in selecting which pins to produce. Our inspiration comes from listening to our community. They tell us what they want, what they like, and what they want to see in the future. We take into consideration all their preferences and opinions to determine which pins would best delight our members. It’s a lengthy process, but I think our members and supporters appreciate the amount of detail and thought we put in to create pins that they can be excited about. The secret for inspiration is listening.

5. Given that it’s anime pins, what are some of your favorite anime series?
We love all types of anime but if we had to choose a favorite it would be Steins Gate and Gurren Lagann.

6. I remember that you mentioned that there are memberships with OPC. How do you become a member and what comes with the membership?
Yes, to become a member, an individual should go to our website and enroll in our membership page. The annual fee is $15. We use a ranking system that converts the number of pins collected into points. After reaching enough points, the membership “levels up”. At each level of membership, there are increasing levels of benefits such as discount pricing, access to members only pins, free shipping, and free pins! We wanted to create a membership program so we can strengthen our sense of community at OPC. Also, I thought it would be a fun way for members to be rewarded for their support, like an RPG.

7. Do you guys plan on vendoring any future events, such as Anime Expo?
It’s something we’ve been thinking about! We plan on attending Anime Expo and some of the larger conventions. It would be great to meet some of our supporters in person.

8. Say there is a situation where the world is covered in darkness and the overlord is about to take over the world. The only way to save humanity was to use “the pin” to save the world. Which of your pins would do that?
This one is really easy! We would just use the Death Note pin and write the Overlords name down.

9. Which anime series would you love to live the rest of your life?
Oh man, that is a hard question! For us we would love to part of the One Piece Universe just because there are so many cool powers from the devil fruit. However, if I could live like a character it would be Kaori from Your Lie in April. Despite her circumstances, she always tried her best and live life to the fullest.

10. Do you have any future plans with doing collaborations with other artists and possibly having original characters made?
Yes! We’re already in the midst of collaborating with a few artists and pin producers that we admire. We are constantly looking for new partners and collaborators in our community. I think it’s going to take a while before we create original characters, but we’re definitely open to that idea!

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