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Monday, March 19, 2018

Kim Sung Kyu: 10 Stories 1st Full Album Ordering and Version Comparison

Sung Kyu has come back as a soloist after almost 3 years, with his first full album 10 Stories on February 26th, 2018! There are 2 versions: the Normal Version and the Big Size Limited Version. I'm so proud that the limited version was sold out very quickly during pre-orders; I hope Sung Kyu knows just how successful he his, no matter his original thoughts while debuting with Another Me.

Ordering From YesAsia
I was hesitant on where to order both versions, and the limited version was selling out so quickly during the pre-order period. I was worried that Ktown4u would ask for additional shipping fees again. In the end, I pre-ordered from YesAsia because even though they're usually ridiculously more expensive, this time the albums totaled to about the same price as other sellers after shipping. The normal version was $27.99 USD and the limited version was $46.99 USD, and there was free shipping with tracking for orders over $39 USD. My package shipped on February 28th and arrived on March 10th.
My albums arrived wrapped in one layer of bubblewrap inside a cardboard box. The albums themselves are quite solid, so I thought my albums would arrive in practically perfect condition. I was naive, especially when the last time I ordered from YesAsia my albums arrived too damaged that I had to exchange them. This time, they stacked the two albums together, with no protection in between. The edge of the front cover of the normal version pushed out a rivet from the limited version, clearly damaging both albums.
Here you can see how the album was damaged inside the factory seal. I was so disappointed for both albums to arrived unnecessarily damaged due to poor packaging, and especially because the limited version is now sold out.
Luckily I was able to reapply the rivet and paper disk, though I had to rip the disk a bit to make it work. I'm still upset that both albums were damaged due to poor packaging, but I'm glad that all the pieces are now intact.

Version Comparison
I will create separate review posts for each version, however I wanted to offer a general comparison of the two versions here as well.
First of all, both versions are quite large! The normal version on the left has dimensions 7.125" by 10.3125" x 0.375" while the limited version on the right has dimensions 9" by 12.25" by 0.875".

Secondly, here is a breakdown of the goods included in each version:
Inclusions
Normal
Limited
Photocard (of 5 designs)
1
1
Postcard (of 3 designs)
1
0
Film Strip
0
1
Internal Poster
0
3

Each album comes with 1 photocard out of 5 designs.
The normal version also includes 1 postcard out of 3 designs.
The limited version includes a film strip and 3 internal, folded posters.
The CD-R is also different across the versions. The orange disc is from the normal version while the blue disc is from the limited version.

First press albums may also include 1 of 2 external posters, which I don't have.

I usually compare if photos from the inclusions or one version are in the other version. However because the inclusions and photobooks from both versions are so different, even in the photos are the same, I deem them to be unique enough that I would want both versions anyways.

Overall, I'm so happy to have gotten both versions of 10 Stories. Both versions are unique and contain different contents, therefore I can't choose between the two. I wish Sung Kyu much success and for future releases as a soloist!

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