Lovelyz: Girls' Invasion First Album Review

Woollim finally debuted their much anticipated first girl group in November 2014: Lovelyz! Though many used to refer Woollim's girl trainees as the Woollim Girls who have made a few appearances before their debut (such as Infinite's dance partners during their "Man in Love" performance at the 2013 KBS Gayo Daejun and Mijoo as the lead in Infinite's "Last Romeo" music video), and a few even debuted as solo artists with singles released from 2011 to 2013. Their album title Girls' Invasion is quite fitting, since this is Woollim's first girl group where Infinite, Nell and Tasty dominate. As an Inspirit and therefore Woollim fan, I think I'm going to subsequently like Lovelyz (though not nearly as much as for Infinite) as well. I also will refer to some things with Infinite in mind.

I bought my album in Burnaby, Canada at KR Multimedia for $22CAD and buying this album included 10% off any poster, but I decided not to buy one. This album does come with two poster types, one being a group photo in a classroom setting while another being a grid format that are similar to school photos. I usually don't like grid posters and prefer group photos in a unique setting, but for some reason it was the opposite with these posters; the grid one is really cool because it does look like the members' school photos.

The album is the same size as most of Infinite's albums, and looks elegant in its simplicity. The front is matte white with a sparkly red fancy Lovelyz logo. This is all very reminiscent of Infinite's debut album...a simple white album with a sparkly red logo and "Invasion" in the title.

The back cover is just as simple, with a simpler logo. Both sides also have the wording in the sparkly red.

The format of this album is very similar to that of Infinite H's Fly High. Inside is the photobook on the bottom and case for the disc and photocards on the top.

The case looks similar to the album cover, with its reflective logo.

The backside includes the tracklist. The first five tracks are new Lovelyz songs while the remaining four are the pre-released singles when some of the members debuted as solo artists before. Though I thought the title was weird at first, I really do love their title track, "Candy Jelly Love," since it's just so catchy and fun; it did its job well as a hook song to grab my attention. I just wish the members would have better line distribution. Also their secondary title song, "Good Night Like Yesterday," is a beautiful ballad that also has Sunggyu in the music video, reminiscent of his vampire days. Also for the 5th track, "Getaway," honestly is a song I don't like (and I thought being Woollim biased would never have me dislike a Woollim song), but it's just kind of creepy with the "my lies" chants. And my last thought, the 7th track (that features Dongwoo!), after my friend told me, originally it was sang by Babysoul and then Woollim trainee Yoo Jia, but she left and now it's Babysoul and Kei.

Inside the case is like a folder to hold the photocards; it's like a school folder, perfect for their innocent schoolgirl concept. Because there's this folder especially for the photocards, I feel like they belong here rather than in my photocard binder...an empty folder flap would feel weird. The disc is attached by a plastic pentagon holder. I really like this CD holder design, because the CD is sturdy here yet it's still easy to take out the CD.

Underneath the disc has a pretty design as well.

The album comes with two gorgeous photocards. The photocards are really of postcard size and quality, which is no surprise with Woollim creating larger and larger photocards. They're matte photocards with the name of the member at the bottom left. I got Sujeong's and Yein's. There's one photocard per member, for a total of eight.

The backside of the photocard is simple. On my Yein one, there were subtle print marks with a thick horizontal line and "Woollim" repeating on the top left...I guess the photocard was placed on top of other freshly printed parts of the album?

The photobook is very thick, with 54 pages. The cover is the same as the poster design. The logo both on the front and back covers have that gorgeous reflective tint.

The photos overall remind me of L's Bravo Viewtiful: some artsy photos or random objects or of different angles, some behind-the-scenes photos from the photoshoot, and then some typical photos of the members. There are only a few pages with the girls' names, but other than that there aren't any profiles of them. Looking at the photobook, I'm pointing out who's who and trying to put a name to a face...this is just like me starting out with Infinite~ Ahh, good times.

The last few pages are for the lyrics, thanks to, and credits. For the song that features Dongwoo, I'm so happy to see that Dongwoo wrote the rap for it!

KR Multimedia Update and Official Infinite Merchandise

Yesterday I visited KR Multimedia, a quaint Kpop store, and what seems to be the only Kpop store on the West Coast north of LA, nestled in Crystal Mall in Burnaby, Canada. I posted about this store before, which you can read here.

I came at the perfect time, because the week following Christmas is Boxing Week (which is similar to Black Friday for America), and KR Multimedia had some great deals! Many unofficial goods were marked down and require cash only and there was a list of official posters that were now priced from $2 to $7 on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), and an additional $2 during Boxing Week. Some albums were also reduced, like a Tasty single was marked down to $10 from $15.

What I was interested in most was the Infinite display. Locked inside were fanmade keychains (many with L...I was so tempted to buy them all!), as well as an Infinite Over The Top era symbol stamp for $5, Second Invasion Evolution button set for $23 and more. There was also one Infinite collection card set that has been divided by parts and is being sold individually. The tin case and sleeve (which has been popped-up) are $5 while each individual pack (I think there were 9 left) is $6. I decided to buy 2 packs, because essentially it's like buying 2 rare cards for $6 each or $1 per card, which is reasonable.

Here are the 2 packs I bought. Though I had 67% of these cards already, I have no regrets! I'm happy to be able to buy individual packs at a reasonable price.

On display were also 2 sets of official Infinite rally clear files, priced at $29 cash only. Each set comes in a resealable clear wrap, a paper folder and 7 clear files. Above is the paper folder that has the event information, image of each file, and the authentication seal.

Here are the 7  files and the paper folder.  6 files are the images of the promotional posters from all of Infinite's albums from debut up to this rally, which was held on March 1, 2013. The First Invasion file is updated since their debut, with Sungyeol's name spelled properly! The last file is to commemorate this event. All files are translucent and fit regular 8.5 inch by 11 inch paper.

The backside of all the files are the same, with the event information printed in the corner.

I am so happy to own this collective set! I am missing official posters from Infinite's debut to Infinitize (excluding Paradise), so buying these files now completes my collection of official images from each era. I just need a way to display these files...

My Mini KR Multimedia Haul!

A few weeks ago I visited KR Multimedia, a tiny kpop shop with a huge selection of merchandise, located just outside of Vancouver, BC. You can read my review about this shop here.  I didn't buy much, but I was able to find, in my opinion, rare items.

I bought two items for myself.  The first one is an official poster of IU and Infinite for Elite school uniforms.  I am such a fan of both that to see this collaboration, it was a no brainer to buy this!  I've never personally seen an Infinite endorsement poster.  This poster is priced at $16 (Canadian), which is a few dollars more expensive than KR Multimedia's other posters, but there is a 20% discount off posters when buying official albums.  This poster is folded accordion style and comes with a nice slip to hold it together.  The dimensions are about 24 inches by 16 inches.

One side is of IU showing off her cute innocence while modeling several cheery school uniforms.  Included is a copy of her autograph and a QR scan that takes you to a minute long YouTube video of IU speaking at an informal Elite interview.

The other side is of Infinite in neutralized school uniforms and showing aegyo.  Each panel consists of one member, a copy of his autograph and a QR scan like of IU.  I love this poster 1) because of how adorable everyone looks, 2) because it's like a documentation of everyone's signatures (especially Sungyeol's before he changed his to the 3-sectioned style) and 3) because this is an official poster that's not commonly found of Infinite!

Here's my poster all framed up!  It's sitting beside my desk so I can easily get distracted and daydream about having Infinite as classmates.

My second item was a pig rabbit bag from the drama You're Beautiful that is roughly 16 inches tall.  This unstuffed animal is very plush and has bendable wires inside the ears for shape.  The strap is just one long strap coming from the sides of the head, so it's meant as a crossbody bag.  The head, arms and legs are fully stuffed while the stomach is empty and lined and has a zipper in the back to store little items.  I'll probably just stuff some blankets in the stomach to make for a stuffed animal rather than a bag.

Overall I'm so thrilled to have found about KR Multimedia and I'm very happy about my purchase.  A poster of adorable Infinite in school uniforms is an amazing addition to my poster collection.  If only I could display both IU and Infinite, but of course Infinite wins.  Also pig rabbit has so much significance to me as You're Beautiful is the drama that started 'My Seoul Obsession' and the only pig rabbit I found was for ridiculous prices online.  I'll definitely head to KR Multimedia again for more interesting and unique finds!

Burnaby: KR Multimedia Kpop Store

KR Multimedia is a kpop store located in Crystal Mall in Burnaby, a city neighboring Richmond and Vancouver.  This is the only store I have found in the Pacific Northwest that carries official kpop merchandise.  While the shop itself is quite small, it is completely packed with so many kpop goods!  This will be a picture-heavy post, but I was so excited while taking these photos that most of them are blurry.

The storefront of KR Multimedia is already eye catching, with kpop merchandise sprawled throughout the window display.  Inside was playing Coffee Shop (CNBlue), One Shot, Man in Love and Dream Girl; playing these hits hypnotized me in a kpop shopping spree!

On one wall is a display of kpop albums.  There is typically only one copy of each album they have, and maybe one or two albums per artist.  I forgot to check for prices, but they seem reasonable as I bought Infinite's Evolution album for my friend here and that was $17 (Canadian currency).  Also if you purchase an official album, you get 20% off one poster, which is a nice bonus!

The opposite wall has many posters neatly displayed in swinging frames.  The top row carries mostly official album posters while the bottom row has unofficial posters and endorsement posters.  Posters cost roughly $10 to $16, regular price.  Just tell the worker which poster you want and they'll pull it up from behind the counter.

There are locked displays filled with lots of merchandise.  On one display (the top left cubby) there are pig rabbits from the drama You're Beautiful, along with Korean beauty products from SkinFood, Tony Moly and more. 

The unofficial merchandise is quite pricey.  I saw a set of 7 mini clothes pins with Infinite on top, and that was $7.  I bought my friend a set of 6 1 cm diameter BAP circle stickers that cost $4.  A deck of playing cards costs $10, etc.  Other unofficial merchandise include keychains, rings, bracelets, notepads, pencil bags, cups, backpacks, even nail clippers...the list goes on.  The cups in the bottom right are of Jang Geun Suk and Kim Soo Hyun for some endorsements.  There are also many unofficial scrolls hanging above.

In one display there were also Infinite concert goods!  There was a set of pins from Second Invasion Evolution for $23, a slogan towel for around $33 and a clear file set apparently from all of the Infinite eras.

The workers are also very friendly and knowledgeable.  I asked one worker if they carried Reply 1997, and she knew exactly what I was talking about and explained their preordering system to me because they didn't have this product.  She said that you can put a down payment and they can preorder an item and it can come in the next shipment which arrives in one week.  You can preorder albums, magazines, concert goods and more.  Behind the cashier counter was a shelf of preorders.  I had my eye on that Infinite magazine...I've never seen that blue cover and want it so badly now!

KR Multimedia does their marketing on their Facebook page.  They post new shipments, preorder options and post about hosting events to trade photocards.  I love the kpop community that this shop holds!

Overall, I absolutely love this shop!  They have the latest releases (newly released albums come within a week it seems), reasonable prices and very friendly and knowledgeable workers.  I can't wait to stop by KR Multimedia again for my kpop fix!  Also I'll post my mini haul from KR Multimedia soon, so stay tuned.