Lovelyz held their second summer concert series Alwayz 2 for 3 days in Seoul from August 2nd, 2019 to August 4th, 2019 in Seoul. Woollim announced on January 20th, 2020 that preorders for the kit version and bluray version for Alwayz 2 would begin the following day and both would be released on March 6th. Furthermore there would be random Polaroids given through preorders. I blogged about ordering both version from Kmall24 here. I'll blog about the kit version here, and I've blogged about the bluray version here including the contents of the concert and making film.
Both exterior covers are really cute, going along with the concert's carnival theme! The kit version is blue while the bluray version is pink, and when placed together the carousal is completed.
The box is also really sturdy. And the touch is like velvet, it's really high quality. The dimensions are about 6" by 7.875" by 1.5".
The backside has the video info and holographic Woollim seal. Info:
The lid is quite tight, but once you wiggle it off, Babysoul is at the top!
From left to right (top to bottom when inside the box) are the mini poster set, mini calendar, 4 cut photo set, and the kit video user guide, and at the bottom of the box embedded in a foam bed are the kit video and membership card. The foam has a strong smell.
Here's a closer look at the kit video and membership card in their foam beds. The kit video fits really snug, however the membership card easily slips out (like if you were to flip this upside down, the kit video would stay in place while the membership card would fall out).
Here are the backsides of the mini poster set, mini calendar, and 4 cut photo set. The mini poster set comes in a matte envelope where the front has a cutout for you to display a member's poster. The mini calendar and 4 cut photo set each come in their own clear resealable bag. The backside of all the 4 cut photos has the merry-go-round design further adding to the carnival theme.
For the mini poster set, there is one per member and is made of matte cardstock. The photos are all really pretty and are from one of the concert promotion photoshoots. As you can imagine by the size of the packaging, these posters are truly really mini!
The backside of the mini poster is similar to the backside of the 4 cut photo.
Mini Calendar
Usually when Woollim releases 2 versions of a concert set, I would preorder the more expensive one (since that usually gets sold out) and then I would try and collect the other version later on. However Woollim's strategy was spot-on this time: release a bluray version which I would preorder, and include a 2020 calendar in the kit version. I'm still baffled that the only calendars Woollim released for 2020 were from Golden Child's Re-boot deluxe and normal version albums. What about the other artists? And what about season's greetings in general? So here Woollim provided a Lovelyz calendar within the kit version. Since this kit set was released in early March 2020, Woollim was even generous enough to make this monthly calendar for March 2020 through February 2021.
This mini calendar is similar to Woollim's desk calendars with a thick cardboard base and spiral bound top. There are 24 pages, one for each month from March 2020 to February 2021.
One side is a full-page photo. Excluding the first photo of the merry-go-round, the remaining 11 photos are from the colorful carnival photoshoot. There are two group photos, one group collage photo, and the rest are individual member photos in age order from Babysoul to Yein.
The other side is calendar for that month. Public holidays in South Korea as well as Sundays are highlighted in red.
Members' birthdays, Lovelinus' birthday, and Lovelyz' 6th anniversary are each marked with a heart.
This is such a fun picture of Mijoo! I like how she really interacted with the set.
Here is the other group photo.
I still can't get over Sujeong's cute bob! She looks so good with this hairstyle and I'm happy she had this cut for awhile throughout 2019.
And here is the group collage photo for the last month of the calendar.
Getting the kit version just for the calendar was worth it for me! Though it's inconvenient that the calendar portion is separate from the photo version, after February 2021 I can use this to display the members' photos on my desk without having to look at an outdated calendar.
4 Cut Photo Set
For the 4 cut photo set, there is one per member in their princess stage outfits! These are really adorable. These photos are like a gloss cardstock but thankfully aren't prone to fingerprints.
Membership Card
Each kit video set comes with a random membership card. I got Kei's! These cards are made of thick plastic, so it really does feel like some sort of ID card.
The backside of the membership card follows the same merry-go-round design, with the addition of the "MEMBERSHIP NO." being that member's birth date!
Kit Video
The kit itself is a plastic cartridge; it feels very old school, like a cassette tape. There is a plastic button at the top.
I like the design of the kit; it feels like any other media packaging with the front cover design and wording on the side.
The backside also has a design and the product credits, and the side also says "LOVELYZ".
This is my first time trying a kit video, so I figured I'd share my brief experience of using it. I also have the bluray version so I'll blog about the actual contents of the video in that post.
Opening up the kit video user guide, the front side reveals the video tracklist, merry-go-round design, and instructions in Korean on downloading the app, connecting the kit to the app, watching the contents on the app, and ways to beam the contents onto AppleTV, Andoird TV, and Chromecast.
These same instructions are printed on the backside in English and Japanese.
I followed the instructions on the manual and downloaded the KiT Player app. Then with the physical kit, I clicked the white button at the top to start connecting the kit to the app. Silly enough the manual says to place the kit directly at the bottom of your phone and use your phone to press the button, but you can just press the button yourself and keep the kit nearby the phone as it downloads. It took less than 10 minutes for the connection to complete.
Once the connection is complete, the concert menu will appear like above. You can scroll through all the scenes at the right or play all the contents at the left.
Scrolling down also reveals the digital photobook, which includes 110 photos.
There is also the option of choosing the digital skin of the kit. The default is the blue one similar to the physical kit, then there is one skin per member, as well as some skins with generic patterns.
It turns out, even after connecting the kit initially, to actually watch the content you need to either stream with data or download the content directly onto your phone. Either way, according to the manual, you will always need to connect the kit to your phone before playing the kit's contents. Because of all this hassle, I will just watch the actual content from the bluray version, and will blog about the video contents in that post.
Within the app you can also view all other available kits. Here is the 2019 Lovelyz Concert Lovelyz In Winter World 3.
When selected, it shows the tracklist and contents included in that kit.
The idea of these kit videos is interesting, but seems a bit outdated - it seems like you'll need to carry around the physical kit every time you want to watch its contents (and it's a hassle to always connect the kit to the app, especially when it took almost 10 minutes to connect this concert kit), and it's tiring watching so much content on a mobile phone or a hassle to hook up your phone to a larger monitor. Furthermore all the contents are on this kit app; if this app goes under, you can no longer view any of your kits (unless you screen recorded all the contents which is also a hassle). But of course because this is an official product of my favorite artists, I have to buy them nonetheless.
Overall, as far as kit videos go, I'm really happy with this boxed set! All the physical inclusions are really high quality and though the mini poster and mini calendar are small, the size gives them a cute charm. I'm most happy about the calendar as that is definitely what I'll be using the most and displaying on my desk. As for the kit video itself, it's an interesting idea, but I'll be sticking with watching the content on the disc version.
- Video: 360P / 540P / 720P / 1080P
- Audio: Stereo
- Subtitle: Korean / English / Japanese / None
- Duration: 247 minutes
Mini Poster Set
Mini Calendar
This mini calendar is similar to Woollim's desk calendars with a thick cardboard base and spiral bound top. There are 24 pages, one for each month from March 2020 to February 2021.
Getting the kit version just for the calendar was worth it for me! Though it's inconvenient that the calendar portion is separate from the photo version, after February 2021 I can use this to display the members' photos on my desk without having to look at an outdated calendar.
4 Cut Photo Set
Membership Card
Kit Video
This is my first time trying a kit video, so I figured I'd share my brief experience of using it. I also have the bluray version so I'll blog about the actual contents of the video in that post.
I followed the instructions on the manual and downloaded the KiT Player app. Then with the physical kit, I clicked the white button at the top to start connecting the kit to the app. Silly enough the manual says to place the kit directly at the bottom of your phone and use your phone to press the button, but you can just press the button yourself and keep the kit nearby the phone as it downloads. It took less than 10 minutes for the connection to complete.
It turns out, even after connecting the kit initially, to actually watch the content you need to either stream with data or download the content directly onto your phone. Either way, according to the manual, you will always need to connect the kit to your phone before playing the kit's contents. Because of all this hassle, I will just watch the actual content from the bluray version, and will blog about the video contents in that post.
The idea of these kit videos is interesting, but seems a bit outdated - it seems like you'll need to carry around the physical kit every time you want to watch its contents (and it's a hassle to always connect the kit to the app, especially when it took almost 10 minutes to connect this concert kit), and it's tiring watching so much content on a mobile phone or a hassle to hook up your phone to a larger monitor. Furthermore all the contents are on this kit app; if this app goes under, you can no longer view any of your kits (unless you screen recorded all the contents which is also a hassle). But of course because this is an official product of my favorite artists, I have to buy them nonetheless.
Overall, as far as kit videos go, I'm really happy with this boxed set! All the physical inclusions are really high quality and though the mini poster and mini calendar are small, the size gives them a cute charm. I'm most happy about the calendar as that is definitely what I'll be using the most and displaying on my desk. As for the kit video itself, it's an interesting idea, but I'll be sticking with watching the content on the disc version.
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