Spring is upon us and that in itself has a certain significance. For most, it means the dreadful winter cold has finally passed making it okay to not need the parka and gloves anymore. In Japan, it signifies the end of the school year leading to perhaps many a tearful graduation scene amongst the blooming cherry blossoms. For us at Hendane!, it means the convention season is in full swing and life living in a suitcase is but a harsh reality.
On an entirely different note, spring brings us the fun and excitement of Comic1☆3, as you can imagine, the 4th iteration of the Comic1 doujinshi event. Much like its older brethren, Comic Market (aka Comiket), Comic1 takes place at Tokyo Big Site and occupies halls East 4-6. Though it only occupies a fourth of the space Comiket uses, it is nothing to scoff at. According to the official after report, the previous year’s event brought in over 2500 participating circles and 25,000 attendees. This year’s event will have 3000 spaces available for circles so it’s anybody’s guess how much the attendance will grow this time.
Hendane! will have troops on the ground to attend the event and we will use that opportunity to test out our new request system. Hit the jump for more information on that.
From time to time, customers have made requests with us for products we either did not carry or ran out of during a convention. In order to better serve the needs of our discerning clientele, there has been talk about creating a request system just for that purpose. Given the timing, what better way to really start off on the right foot then to give our new system a try?
The Hendane! Request Service is still in its alpha stages but we will have a fully automated system to accept requests on the fly. How it will work is rather simple. Users will be able to access the request page from the front page of the site and put in a request for the item in question. Hendane! receives this request and passes it on to our crew when they are in Japan. When the item is found, an e-mail will be sent back to the user with a timed window of opportunity to accept the price set forth for the item. Payment is taken and the product is sent on its way to the user.
In the coming weeks, the request service will be coded and will hopefully be ready for testing in time for Comic1☆3. Other additional conditions such as taking deposits and guidelines for procuring a requested item will be also laid out. And to stay within the purpose of this company, we will most likely only take requests for the types of products we carry. If it is figures you want, there are many reputable companies you can check with instead. Keep an eye on the site for more information on our new service!