Infinite: Be Mine Single (Type A - Solid Version) Review

Infinite released the Japanese single to "Be Mine" back in April 2012, and I gave an overview of the albums in my review of Type C, the Innocent Version here. I also blogged about Type B - Pop Art Version here. I really don't want to repeat everything about these albums again, so you can either check out my previous post or also feel free to ask me questions^^ All four versions of this single are a lot more expensive now, but I managed to buy Type A, the Solid Version and the only version that comes with a DVD, for $35 new from samurai_media_JPN4US, a Japanese independent seller on Amazon.com. It took exactly two weeks to arrive since I ordered it, and it came well packaged in a padded paper envelope twice the album's size and then in another bubble wrap envelope.

As you can see, the Solid Version is the rocker image. It's definitely so different from the Pop Art and Innocent versions. The album is about the same dimensions as most of Infinite's other albums, except this version is just a bit thicker than the Pop Art and Innocent versions because this also comes with the DVD.

The seller stupidly put their own stickers on top of the album sticker, which covered up precious information! Luckily I was able to remove the more obnoxious sticker. And of course L's postcard is used as the back cover^^

Here is the back sticker, which shows all seven member postcards, the group postcard, and all seven random member postcards. Also included is information about the DVD, like it's 60 minutes long (!) and that it's for Region 2.

I never noticed it, but on the side of the album, there's the album info and version specification as well. I always put that side face down, but maybe that's supposed to be the side that you display.

Because of the way this album is packaged, I used an X-Acto knife to slice down the side with the opening in order to preserve the stickers. From the backside, the contents are the postcards (the individual members starting with L and then oldest to youngest, the group card, then the random member card), the booklet, and the CD and DVD case.

Here are all nine postcards in the order they came (left to right, top to bottom), and as you can see I got Hoya's random card. Also, this group card is a different image than the cover. These cards are a bit hard to put back into the casing and the edges easily get damaged sadly.

The front is matte while the back is a glossy gray.

The booklet has a rustic front cover and all the credits and other information on the back cover.

The first page includes a group photo and both disc's tracklists.

The booklet is 10 pages long and has a page for each member that includes their profile information and a page for each of the song lyrics. I was never drawn to this rock concept especially with their hair so messy and unnatural, but then I turned and saw L's page and just died! It is worth it just for this picture. (I keep saying L because this is really...L, not Myungsoo!)

This is the case for the CD and DVD.

The backside of the case has the song tracklist.

This case is really nice; the Infinite logo and splash of paint are not printed on the box, but it's like 3D and has a plastic coating over it. The Innocent Version just has everything printed onto the case.

Inside the case are two sheets of paper. The first sheet contains all four versions of this album, including all of the possible postcards. The backside has Infinite's Japanese discography and DVD list.

Another sheet I believe is for a promotion event in Japan.

Inside the case lists the tracklists for both discs. I'm surprised at how much content is on the DVD; included are the three versions of the "Be Mine" music video (Japanese, Korean, and Korean dance), and Infinite Japan Story, which is a feature about Infinite promoting BTD in Japan! I'm happy to see such a long special feature on one of Infinite's album DVDs. I could only get through part of Day 1 because my DVD player doesn't function well, so sadly I couldn't watch most of the contents. Here's what I'll say: the main menu has the scene selection and the option for Japanese subtitles. Because there are no English subtitles, it's hard not to just go onto YouTube and watch a subbed version instead. The Infinite Japan Story is the behind the scenes and footage from the promotional events for the Japanese version of BTD. It is broken down into days 1 to 7. They mostly spoke in Korean to the camera, though at times they'd practice their Japanese or practice singing BTD, and of course during their events, like a press conference, they spoke (though sometimes cutely stumbling) in Japanese. I loved seeing the members being themselves and having fun.

Overall, just that one photo of L in the booklet is all I need to make the album worth it, but in general the album is worth it. The DVD is really nice and there are so many things that Inspirits reference but I never knew where it's from (ie. during the press conference Myungsoo introduced himself as a vocal of Infinite, and that he likes udon. I didn't actually know this until they dramatized this part in the DVD, so I watched the English subbed version on YouTube and found out lol). I hope someday I'll get the Pop Art version to complete the limited versions of Be Mine.

Note to self: I really hope this is the last time I change my watermark, people will start thinking that none of the images are mine...

Infinite: Dilemma Single (Limited) Review

On December 24th, 2014, Infinite released a completely new song, "Dilemma," as a Japanese single. This song is special because a Japanese guitarist, Tomoyasu Hotei, worked on the song and this is his first song for a Korean artist. There are two versions of this Japanese single, a normal version that comes with a photocard, and a limited version with a DVD; both come with a 16-page photobook from different photoshoots. There are also special music connecting cards, one per each member, that you must buy separately and it comes with an online code to access that member's audio message.

I pre-ordered the limited version from YesAsia for about $27 (CDJapan sold it for about $20 after shipping, but I had to use up my YesAsia credit). It took 16 days to arrive, and was packaged well in two layers of bubble wrap and then inside a waterproof envelope lined with another layer of bubble wrap.

The album cover reminds me of Infinite's Comeback Teaser 2014 here. I didn't think this teaser, released in March, had anything to do with their Last Romeo or Back promotions, but it finally relates to this one.

Here is a close up of the information sticker.

The Infinite logo and album title on the spine and front cover shine beautifully, like their Last Romeo single Type A album.

I personally was not excited about this album cover, I liked the normal version one more. But then I saw this back cover and fell in love with the whole photoshoot! The tracklist is included ("Dilemma" and the Japanese versions of "Back" and "Diamond"). "Dilemma" is definitely a lot more rock, and everything about this song sounds so great. I've been listening to the original version of "Back" on repeat, so it's nice getting a slightly different version of such a beautiful song. The DVD list is also included, with the music video and making. I'm so happy to finally be able to see the official music video, since Woollim never posted one! Also the back cover says that this DVD is for all regions!

This album format is exactly like Infinite's Last Romeo Single Type A, with a sleeve holding the photobook on the left and the two discs on the right. It's the same size as most of Infinite's albums.

The tracklists are also printed on each disc. The CD (left) is so pretty with its shimmering silver, and the DVD is black with the logo reflecting. The CD is practically impossible to take out...I really don't want to put it back because it'll be so difficult to take out the DVD to watch over and over again. The making is a full 20 minutes, with the first 12 minutes 45 seconds being the music video making. It is mostly the "Dilemma" instrumental version playing while focusing on each member during their solo scenes and within their group dance scenes. Each member does their own greetings to the camera except for Sunggyu; this is all done in Korean with Japanese subtitles. The remaining time is for both photoshoots with the instrumental version of "Diamond," which is gorgeous. Dongwoo was so adorable during his individual photoshoot, and 2Woo at the end were so adorable, ending the DVD on a happy note.

If anyone cares, underneath the discs are the Infinite logo and DVD information.

The photobooklet has a simple cover and is actually 14 pages long (I don't count the plain front and back covers).

The entire photoshoot is in black and white, there is one photo per member, two group photos, and three pages for the lyrics.

Inside the photobooklet are two slips of paper. The black one is information for Infinite's promotional events for the album, while the blue sheet is information for Infinite's upcoming Japan Tour in February.

All the credits for this song are from a Japanese team, and the lyrics were originally written in Japanese, not Korean with a Japanese translation, and the tracklist doesn't state this song as the Japanese version. I'm guessing that this is the start of Infinite releasing songs only in Japanese, rather than converting their Korean songs into Japanese. But who knows, maybe "Dilemma" will be on their next Korean album! I really do hope that "Dilemma" will be made into a Korean version so that we'll be able to see the dance more often, but I hope it won't be a title track so that Infinite can release more new hit Korean songs.

Overall, I love this album! The song has been on repeat since I received the album, the photos are gorgeous, and I love having an official copy of the music video.

Returning Damaged Merchandise to YesAsia

I had to deal with my YesAsia package that arrived with my two albums both damaged, which I explained in this post here. While it really is a hassle and it takes awhile for the problem to be resolved (you have to send the package back, 2 weeks, and then wait for your new package to arrive, another 2 weeks), it is well worth the aggravation and wait because damaged merchandise is something that shouldn't be tolerated. Here is my guideline of how to handle returning damaged merchandise to YesAsia.

How to Begin Resolving the Issue
My albums were broken, so I sent an email to the YesAsia customer service saying that I wanted to return my defected items. Their policy is that you can't get your money back, but you can return your package for new items. Instead of waiting for an email reply, I then called the customer service number and explained my situation, and then they told me to send them a detailed email (photos are best) thoroughly explaining the damage. Within about 8 hours, they accepted that my albums were damaged and sent me another email giving me instructions on how to return my broken items. (Actually the first person I spoke with sent me instructions for YesStyle, instead of YesAsia, so I had to call back until I got a smart person on the phone). I was given an identification number that I had to place on my return package. I placed everything (including the fragmented plastic pieces) back into its originally crappy packaging, and then placed that into a secure box and put newspaper padding, and added a note explaining what good, secure packaging looked like (because their email stated to send the items securely...something they should have done in the first place). Then label the package with their address, which is given in the email.

Shipping the Package
The email also states that YesAsia will only reimburse the return shipping if you're using regular airmail, and nothing fancy (ex. registered, courier service). My post office however only offered First Class Registered Mail for international packages, and cost $22.30 for the cheapest option. I didn't want to just throw stamps onto my package and send it off, as the email also wanted a copy of the receipt.

Waiting for YesAsia
Two weeks after sending out my return package, YesAsia emailed me that they received it and that I should reply with my shipping receipt to calculate the reimbursement. I emailed them a picture of my receipt, and within 13 hours they emailed me back saying they'll credit me my full $22.30USD, which will be processed within 3-5 days. In just over two full days, YesAsia sent me an email saying that they credited me back for the full $22.30. Four days after receiving my package, they reshipped my package, hopefully in better condition.

Receiving the Reshipped Package

I finally received my package after 18 days, and the packaging looks better compared to the last time. My albums arrived inside a waterproof envelope lined with a layer of bubble wrap, and then my two albums were placed inside a bubble wrap bag, and then inside another bubble wrap bag. My albums arrived in pristine condition, with no bent corners or anything! I'm so happy that I went through all this trouble and got new albums in perfect condition.

[Update 2] Aberdeen Mall: Tony Moly and a Clothing Store

Just after the new year's I visited Aberdeen Centre in Vancouver, Canada again (original post here and an update here on the mall) and found a couple of really nice surprises! On the second level near the doors to the parking garage, I spotted a Tony Moly! I actually didn't know that they are slowly starting to open branches in North America, and they don't really have a website for their North American locations. I can't believe I found a Tony Moly so close to me now!

This store is very small and similar in layout to many other Korean cosmetic stores. It is a rectangle with displays of products (no endorsers) on the walls and an island in the center with more displays. There were signs on the storefront advertising that this is a grand opening with a special sale from December 25th to January 4th. Inside was very busy and there were workers floating around, handing customers with mini baskets to entice them to buy more. They had so many products on display, but I honestly only spent about a minute in there doing price checks. The products seem to be significantly more expensive than buying them in Korea obviously, but they're comparable to other Korean cosmetic stores in North America, but still more expensive that online. The blueberry lip balm was $9.50CAD, and the red apple, green apple, and tomato were all between $14CAD and $16CAD. It's still so refreshing to see a Tony Moly in Vancouver though, and Aberdeen Mall is finally becoming more like a real Asian mall that reflects those stores in Asia.

And also towards one end of the mall on the second floor near the food court is a clothing store, Kokko, with lots of designer brands that caught my attention.

The storefront printed brands on the window that I know Infinite has worn before. These brands include Balmain (Infinite has worn these during performances and also as their own clothes, like at the airport), Julius (the designer behind Infinite's Last Romeo outfit set...the Myungsoo cow outfit set...), Mastermind Japan (I saw Sungyeol wearing one of their shirts at his restaurant), Pierre Hardy (worn on stage and on their own), Raf Simons (Sunggyu and Woohyun who some at the airport), and Rick Owens (Sunggyu wears it often). Also peaking into the store, I see HBA (they've worn it for recent promotions in 2014) and Comme Des Garcons (Myungsoo wears this brand often).

Since I don't come to Aberdeen Centre too often, I feel like with each new visit there will be more and more great change! I can't wait to see what's here next time. UGH after coming back to the States, I look at the directory and see there's now also Artbox, a popular stationary store in Korea. Ugh next time I'll definitely check that out!

[Update] Dealing with Amazon Customer Service and Infinite's Over TheTop 1st Full Album

I realized I never finished about what happened to my Infinite Over The Top album, which I blogged about here. Just over a year ago, I had ordered a new OTT album through an individual seller on Amazon.com, but it had arrived clearly looking used. I posted this photo on my previous post about this; here you can see the crappy wrapping, how it's brittle, hard, and loose whereas Kpop albums always have soft wrapping that winds around the album like saran wrap. Of course this broke my heart and once again made me want to quit being an Inspirit for fear of having not-perfect albums, but I persevered and fought my way for justice (the cheesiness).

Amazon's policy is for the customer to first email the individual seller, and if the seller doesn't reply within a few days, you can contact Amazon's customer service directly. This seller of course ignored my complaint, so I called Amazon explaining exactly the problem, and how I could tell that this was not a new album as it was stated to be. Amazon said that they would try to contact the seller to work things out, but if it doesn't go through, Amazon itself will fully refund me, so Amazon would take the loss. After calling Amazon again, they told me that I can keep the album or dispose of it, and that they had fully refunded me my money exactly how I had paid for the product (via gift card and credit card).

Though I got my money back, I felt so upset for having a tainted Infinite album; if I already have this album, I'd also feel wrong to buy another, more legit, OTT as well. I still opened the album, and was frustrated by seeing the usedness of the inside: the CD had a stamp with Chinese and Japanese characters on it; I asked my mom, and it said something like "you have permission to use this." And lastly, my album isn't even first press despite this album having such limited quantity: first press has Sungyeol's name misspelled in his "thanks to" section, whereas his name is spelled correctly in mine.

By now this seller has such negative reviews on Amazon, and currently doesn't have any product listings, probably because the seller is now banned from the website. I hope my pervasiveness has helped customers from becoming victims of this horrible seller!

Oddly enough, a week later I received another package from this same seller. I think he accidentally sent me another package while the first one was still shipping, so before this whole fiasco. I opened it, and it was another OTT without the slipcase and with the homemade wrapping. I looked inside, ant this time there were two of those ridiculous stamps! I did play both CDs to make sure they worked, and they did (since apparently I'm allowed to -.-).

I definitely don't want to sell either of these albums, because that would be like ripping off another Inspirit. I don't think anyone would want to tarnish their collection with such an album like mine. I'm so sad since OTT is an especially important album to Infinite and Inspirits.

Moral of the story: basically, my albums are legit, they have the authentication sticker, and they're missing the slipcases; if I had bought this album marked as used, I wouldn't have made as big of a fuss.never settle on a product's condition that wasn't stated, and you should try to fix it by contacting the company you bought the product from! Though it may be aggravating to deal with, it is worth it to know that you tried your best in resolving the problem.

So I've had both of these albums for just over a year now, and I guess I was so ashamed about it being tainted that I never reviewed it. But I guess I will finally review it soon~

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Infinite Special Edition Review

This is such an exciting post for me, as I have finally purchased and received my own set of these gorgeous headphones! To start off, Sennheiser is a German audio company and one of its popular headphones are the Momentum On-Ear Headphones, which retail for about $120. Sennheiser collaborated with Infinite to release these same headphones, but an Infinite Special Edition where the headphone cups have Infinite's signature gold color, gold stitching on the headband, and comes with other special features. This entire set is only sold at Korean online site Auction, here, for 299,000₩, and only ships within South Korea. The site began pre-orders on October 29th, 2014 and released them on November 5th. Sennheiser has a brief article on the collaboration here.

It is really difficult to find these headphones if buying from outside of the country. Originally I was going to purchase this from an online store via Facebook, but that store was so aggravating that I didn't bother with them anymore and started to focus more on Infinite's many new releases during this time (Infinite F!). Kpoptown also originally had 10 in store at $359.90 + $63EMS, but after all this waiting, finally an eBay seller posted a listing right at $359.90 + free shipping. This seller had over 10 available and none sold yet, yet shortly after my purchase, eBay removed the listing. I was so weary of ordering from eBay when it came to such a grand purchase, but still I did receive a tracking number and my headphones arrived in just over a week!

The day these headphones were announced, just shortly before the pre-ordering time, some members of Infinite (Sunggyu, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungjong) wore these headphones while at the airport. But also, Sungyeol wore these during Myungsoo's solo at That Summer Concert 2 Day 1 back on August 7th! Wow, to think these were already made back then, and were right in front of Inspirits' eyes and we didn't even know it~ I just wish that the members would use these headphones more, just so I feel more...connected with them!

My package came wrapped with a few layers of bublewrap. The label says that it's 1.5 kilograms. I just held this package for a few minutes, astonished that I actually had these in my own hands!

The box itself comes with a foam padding wrap. I'm not sure how these are actually shipped within Korea though.

Here is a closeup of the caution sticker holding the padding together.

The box is so huge and so shiny and reflective! Infinite's Over The Top era logo is so gorgeous. It is about 10.125" x 13.5".

One side of the box even has Woollim printed on it.

The backside has information printed really small about Sennheiser's company information, copyright information, and the order number, though I don't know the significance of this.

I was really weary about getting fingerprints on this outer cover, but it's actually not really prone to fingerprints. The cover slips off easily. So far there hasn't been any protective seal, so really anyone could have opened this before sending it to me.

Taking off the cover reveals a random foam layer that's really short, the box containing the headphones, and everything else below that.

Removing the foam and box, underneath is the photobook and then the headphone stand, both embedded in its respective layers. Sadly the larger layer is made of cardboard and ripped at the top sides. The bottom layer where the photobook is made of foam with a black velvet top.

This headphone box is even more gorgeous than the exterior box. It's the same type of box as the exterior box, where the bronze outside is a slip. It's about 8" x 9".

The side reveals the limited edition specialness^^ I love how Woollim is printed in big everywhere, and then SM is only printed in the fine print. There is also a two year warranty, but that probably only applies to those in South Korea.

The backside, along with the sides, is matte black has information, all in English, French and German, (mostly everything so far has been in English) about the headphones, the two cables, and the carrying case. The top stats that the cable with the remote is for Samsung devices, but at the bottom it says it's for iPod/iPhone devices...the remote cable is for Android devices though.

The other side of this slip case has similar information of the backside of the exterior shiny slip case, with the order number printed again on the other side. While this is a German brand, it is still made in China...though overall it still seems like nice quality. The bottom of the box has this same information.

Taking off this slip reveals a matte black box with a lid. The side has a QR code that takes you to a page with two functions: to verify that it is a legit Sennheiser product (by ensuring that the QR code matches the unique code on the security seal above it) and product information (which said that this page was not found). This box also finally has two protective seals, just to know that this really is a new product and no contents inside this box got switched out by anyone.

Taking off the lid reveals the carrying case carefully protected by foam.

Underneath the case is a packet containing the metal serial plate and three pamphlets of information.

The information is about the Momentum On-Ear Headphone series, a quick guide including info on the remote buttons on one of the cables, and a safety guide.

The metal serial plate comes in its own plastic bag inside the greater plastic bag. It's oddly horizontally elongated but still so gorgeous. The front has the headphone name and the serial number at the bottom; I got 206! I'm surprised and so happy to have such a low number especially because I bought mine two months after being released, and a significant number for me as well. On the Sennhieser site, it said that they made 1300.

The backside has the engraved signatures of all the Infinite members.

The top of the case has the Infinite logo and name in the center. The top and bottom of the case are made of a velvet material. The zippers are made of plastic and say Sennheiser on them. There is a beautiful silver contrast stitching; I don't know why they chose silver when the headphones and stand both have gold contrast stitching.

The inside of the case has a net at the bottom to store the two cables. This case is pretty big compared to Beats Studio Headphones, since the case is as big as the headphones whereas Beats can fold to save space.

The headphones come inside this bag and already with the remote cable plugged in. The headphones go into the bag head first, with the ear cups at the opening of the bag. And then the ear cups go at the top of the case where the zippers are when you store it. This set of headphones comes with a remote cable that is compatible with Samsung devices (including my K Zoom, which I'm happy about because my phone isn't compatible with so many things). The instructions are in the pamphlet. It also comes with a regular cable with no remote that you can use for any device that is suitable with a typical 3.5 mm plug.

Here is the stand with the headphones, ready for display! The stand has the Infinite logo on the base and Infinite printed in the front. The base also has gold contrast stitching around the border. The stand is roughly 11.5" tall and the metal stand is built at an angle to balance the weight of the headphones.

The headphones are so gorgeous and high quality! Here you can see that the right side says Infinite (the other side says Sennheiser), the gold contrast stitching on the headband, and the special copper gold color on the ear cup made especially for this edition. The simple colors, metal, and exposed wiring makes for a contemporary and sleek design that I just love. The headphones came set in the shortest setting, and I'm figuring out how to adjust them to make them a big longer. Because of the design, you can slide them to be very long or very short, which gives a large range. On most headphones I use the smallest setting, but here I'm not; so for those with very small heads, this pair of headphones is perfect. They feel so comfy too, I really like wearing them! The cuffs easily move and stay at any angle (like they're not fixed in a certain position), so they really contour well to your head, yet they're still really durable.

And the headband is very thick and cushy, but feels like it'll never wear down; it is so high quality! And of course the sound is stellar. When I listen to my Infinite songs, there is so many more components that makes each song so much more complex that I never noticed while using my standard Apple ear buds, iHome, or even TV sound system via Apple TV.

And lastly, the photobook. There are some super rare ones where one member signed the front cover or inside page of the photobook (I've only seen about four online; also thank you to the anon for the tip!). The entire photobook is very high quality, with the covers imitating a crocodile texture.

The photobook has 11 pages made of thick card stock, filled with photos of Infinite modeling the headphones. It includes one group photo, three photos with 2-3 members, and seven individual photos that include printed autographs. The backside of every page includes this watermark.

This is the complete set! Wow, after so much back and forth on whether or not I should buy it, I'm so glad I did (and I'm so glad I waited so long to get a really good deal)! While the headphones are such a big markup from the original series just because it's a limited edition, it is so worth it for Inspirits! Especially because Inspirits love listening to music, there's nothing like listening to music, especially Infinite's powerful songs, with high quality headphones. If you have any questions about the headphones, the information packets, comparing these to competitor Beats Studio headphones, or anything else, feel free to ask below!