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Sunday, June 19, 2022

Musical Midnight Sun: Golden Child Y MD Review

Golden Child's Y has been continuing his musical career, this time as the lead in "Midnight Sun" from May to June 2022. This production is run by Meta Theater, which allows for online streaming as well as MD friendly for international ordering.

On May 19th, Meta Theater tweeted that merchandise would be sold starting on May 25th at 2PM KST via Ticket Link, which has a global site. I visited the product page on Ticket Link here right when preordering opened, however for the first few days it kept erroring out. I thought this was a sign that I didn't need this merchandise, especially with Golden Child's US tour looming. But with Korean fans already receiving their items and showing them on Twitter, I caved in for the school themed merch. The listing page also stated that shipping will begin on May 30th in sequential purchase order. I checked again on May 31st (half hoping that Y's goods would be sold out, but everything was still in stock) and was able to order! 

Products (by musical actor/actress):
  • Taeyang Highschool Package - 20,000KRW
  • Tin Box Package - 13,000KRW
  • Incense Stick Holder Package - 15,000KRW
  • Badge - 10,000KRW
Since I knew I would already be paying ridiculous shipping fees, I decided to buy all 4 items that are directly associated with Y. (It was a bit tempting that Eunbi is in this musical and has MD too, but I had to refrain).

This product listing is within Ticket Link's musical tab. There is an order limit of 3 per item. I chose the 4 items above, making sure to have selected Y's version for all of them, and then continued with placing my order. The subtotal was 58,000₩ and shipping was 59,300₩, for a total of 117,300₩. There were no issues with paying using an international credit card. The one thing that caught me off-guard was that the Ticket Delivery stated "Pick-up at venue" while Venue stated "Not Applicable". I was worried if they had actually expected me to pick this up at a venue, especially when the MD listing page was under musicals.
I didn't receive any notification or indication of when my package would ship, so I was very surprised when my package arrived on June 15th! It was delivered via EMS (USPS) and unfortunately came with a large hope at the corner.
Luckily all 4 items were safely inside my package.
Each of the 4 items came in its own bubblewrap bag, with the excess of the bag wrapped around the product and then securely taped.
Here are the items!

Taeyang Highschool Package
The Taeyang Highschool Package comes in a really cutely sized matte cardstock box with dimensions 6.125" by 4.5" by 1".
There is a clear piece of tape securing the flap. Removing that and opening the flap reveals a sheet of ID photos. This photo sheet is slightly bigger than the box so it curled a bit at the top and bottom.
Underneath the ID photo sheet are a badge, ID card, and 2 notebooks.
Here are all of the contents of this package! It comes with Y's ID photo sheet, Y's school ID, the school's badge inside a PVC pouch, and 2 matte notebooks, one of Haram and one of Haena. The notebooks have blank pages inside.
Here are the backsides of the contents. The ID photo sheet is printed on matte Fujifilm photo paper. The school ID card is made of thick plastic like a real ID card, and the backside has both the school logo and a QR code that takes you to https://www.2022midnightsun.com/fhda682gkjl5 and asks for your passcode. The badge has a butterfly clutch fastener. And the 2 notebooks has the same quote printed on the back cover.

Tin Box Package
The tin box package came with the 5 photocard set on top of the tin box and inside a clear sleeve. Here are the photocard images.
The sticker label on the tin box matches the backside of the photocards. The photocards have a glossy finish.

Incense Stick Holder Package
The incense stick holder package comes in a PVC zip lock pouch with a "Midnight Sun" sticker.
The incense holder is in the shape of a surfboard and is made of plastic with a small hole at the end to hold incense. There is a clear plastic layer on top of the surfboard that you can peel off. The surfboard is about 9.125" by 2.8125" by 0.1875".

 The set also comes with 2 glossy photocards.
The backside of the incense holder is white while the backsides of the photocards match the tin box package.

Badge
This metal badge comes pinned to a piece of cardstock with Y's photo and inside a clear resealable bag. I wasn't interested in the badge especially when it doesn't really represent Y, but since I'm already paying ridiculous shipping, I figured I should tack this onto my order^^ The badge is about 1" by 1.5".
The badge has 2 butterfly clutch fasteners to secure it. The back of the cardstock also has a quote along with the dates and venue of this production's run.

I know I could've definitely done without this merchandise, but I'm really happy to have it! I especially love the school ID card, and I am actually planning on using the tin box to securely store my Polaroids while travelling for Golden Child's US tour^^ And I see that Meta Theater is also selling an OST + Photobook package, but I decided to pass on that...

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Kwon Eun Bi: COLOR Woollim Mall Merch Review

IZ*ONE's leader Kwon Eunbi made her first solo comeback with second mini album Color on April 4th, 2022. On April 13th at 12:05PM KST, Woollim Mall tweeted the official MD for this era with list of  products on order starting April 14th 2PM KST.

Kwon Eun Bi 2nd Mini Album [COLOR] Official MD:

  • NO.927 FRAGRANCE / 39,000₩ / $33.03 USD
  • PHOTO SET / 15,000₩ / $12.71 USD
  • PREMIUM PICTURE FRAME (AUTOGRAPH & MESSAGE) / 65,000₩ / $55.06 USD
The product pages for both the fragrance and photo set state that ordering is until the item is sold out, whereas the product page of the premium photo states that ordering is until April 18th 11:59PM KST. The product pages also state that shipping begins on April 22nd for the fragrance and photo set, and May for the picture frame.

Woollim Mall also announced on their website a Polaroid event running until April 18th 11:59PM KST for all purchasers of the picture frame to be entered in a lottery for one of ten signed Polaroids.

I've always planned on ordering Eunbi's albums just to get a variety of music into my collection, but when Color teasers first dropped, I was completely floored with the underwater photoshoot. Followed by Woollim releasing perfume for the first time (I'm excluding the Lovey Dovey collab and Golden Child Bomin's endorsement of My Dahlia fabric mists), I immediately wanted Eunbi's premium picture frame and fragrance, and then I thought that I might as well tack on the photo set to the order. (And I was again tempted with Eunbi's Secret Doors concert merch, especially her lightstick, key necklace, and new perfume...but stopped myself to focus on Golden Child's upcoming tour...).

As expected, I am still blacklisted from ordering from Woollim Mall, and am so grateful to my friend for helping me with locking in my order! I'm even more grateful because I noticed that the perfume sold out when I checked during the early morning of April 15th KST.

Both the fragrance and the photo set are pretty straightforward in how to order. But for the picture frame, this is quite customizable. You need to choose the picture to be signed (out of six photos from the various photoshoots from Color), another picture (which I have no idea what the purpose of this is, but again it's from the same selection of six photos), and whether or not you actually want the sign. With my undying love for the underwater shoot and my fear of Everline messing up my order, I chose the same underwater photo for both options. Even on the international site, all of the dropdown instructions are in Korean. And I didn't actually notice this until after my package arrived and I began blogging about this, but on the Korean site, there is another customizable field to add text of up to ten characters; I'm assuming that only on the Korean site you can get a customizable message. This text field isn't available on the international site.

I received my UPS tracking number on June 7th PT and my packaged arrived on June 10th PT!

I was surprised at just how big the package is! It came in a sturdy cardboard box with usual Everline disclaimer stating to take an unboxing video in case of missing or damaged products.
Opening up the cardboard flaps reveals several layers of bubblewrap at the top filling up some empty space.
Removing the layers of bubblewrap reveals a bubblewrap bag containing the fragrance (which was tightly wrapped and taped up in additional bubblewrap) and photo set. At the bottom is another cardboard box with the picture frame.
Here are all 3 products together (I forgot to take the picture before opening up the picture frame...).

NO.927 FRAGRANCE
Here is Woollim's first fragrance! It comes with 2 photocards packaged inside a clear resealable bag.
Here are both photocards. They have a glossy finish.
And here is the backside.
The cardboard box packaging is simple. There is a matte sticker label sealing the box, along with the holographic Woollim seal on the side.
The back of the box has details in Korean.
I didn't want to break the label, so I opened the box from the bottom. At the top is a cutout for the lid of the perfume bottle.
Here are the box and perfume bottle. Both have the label with text "No. 927" (Eunbi's birthdate), "MUSK GREEN FLORAL FRAGRANCE", "THE 2ND MINI ALBUM COLOR", "DATE: 04/04/2022" (album release date), "DEAR: RUBI", and "FROM: SILVER RAIN". I really like the connection with dedicating this to Eunbi's fandom^^
The perfume bottle is quite simple. It is a glass bottle with a plastic lid.
There is more info in Korean on a sticker on the bottom of the bottle.
The dispenser is like a typical spray bottle. Going off of the product page, this bottle contains 50 ml. The top note is "green fruity (leaf green / peach)", the middle note is "fresh floral (lily / rose / orchid / jasmine)", and the base note is "musk". The scent is very light and refreshing.

PHOTO SET
The photo set comes inside a luxurious velvety paper envelope, and then inside a clear resealable bag.
The backside of the packaging has the product sticker along with the holographic Woollim seal.
The envelope flap is unsealed so it is easy to take out the photos.
Here is the order that the photos were in. There are 10 photos, all with a glossy finish and about 4" by 6".
The backside of these photos have "FUJIFILM" printed across them.
Here are all of the photos! I'm lowkey sad that the underwater photoshoot didn't make the cut, but nonetheless all of these photos are absolutely gorgeous, especially the blue ones.

PREMIUM PICTURE FRAME
The picture frame comes packaged securely in a cardboard box. The product sticker with the holographic Woollim seal is on the front of the box.

Opening up this box reveals the flimsy photo in a bubblewrap envelope at the top.
Underneath is the signed premium photo with four Styrofoam wedges to protect the photo. I was really pleasantly surprised at this item; I didn't realize how huge it is, and am super relieved that the quality is really nice without being fragile. I was a bit disappointed that there was no message with the autograph which is misleading with the item's name on the product page, but it is what it is.
I'm still not entirely sure what these items are. The one of the left is like a glossy transparency film, with the backside being opaque white. The right is made of aluminum and contains Eunbi's autograph. Unfortunately despite the product being "AUTOGRAPH & MESSAGE", mine only came with an autograph as the international site didn't have an option to include a message. Both of these posters are 12" by 18".
This metal poster is quite thick, and attached is a frame that you can use to hang on a wall. The poster is about 0.125" while the frame is about 0.25" thick.
Here is a closer look at the backside of the metal poster. There is a lip within this frame so that it can rest on a metal picture hanger.
For now I have this leaning against the wall next to my other signed poster (from Golden Child's ontact fan meeting in November 2020^^), but I would like to display my Eunbi merch somehow, because this photo is too iconic not to display!

Overall, as I waited weeks for this package to arrive, I had started to regret ordering Eunbi merch (especially when this MD was released before Golden Child's US tour was announced). But after I received my package, I'm really happy with all the items! I'm content with the scent of the fragrance, the photo set surprisingly was a nice addition to highlighting Eunbi's other shoots from this era, and I fell in love once again with this gorgeous underwater photo. And as cute as Eunbi's Secret Doors concert MD was, I'm relieved that I had self control and didn't order. I'll be content with the Eunbi merch that I have currently^^

Monday, April 18, 2022

Ordering Rocket Punch Yellow Punch Album and Kwon Eun Bi Color Albums from Ktown4u

I've always preordered my Rocket Punch albums, and as excited as I was for Rocket Punch's "color collection" continuation, I hadn't gotten around to preordering Yellow Punch. When Woollim first dropped teasers on March 21st, 2022 for Kwon Eun Bi's second mini album Color, I was completely floored at the underwater shots. Woollim dropped album details on March 21st at 3PM KST, right when preorders opened. To my surprise, Ktown4u's preorders also opened then, along with a video call event!

This is the first time that Woollim has used Ktown4u to offer a video call event. I was really excited since I trust Ktown4u in correctly sending out orders in a timely manner, that the fanclub discount price applies to Ktown4u's video call event, and that I can order other items along with my Color albums.

I placed my order for one Yellow Punch album, and Ktown4u was still offering the first press poster and preorder benefit accordion book, so I selected one of each as well. For Color, I used the fanclub link to order one set at the discounted price which does apply to the video call event. Color does have 2 first press posters, which I opted for, along with 2 preorder benefit stands, which weren't listed as an option on Ktown's listings (for the regular album and for the video call albums). The video call event also includes 1 random preorder benefit photocard per album out of 4, which I opted for as well.

During checkout, they ask if you would like to participate in the video call event, along with your full name as stated on your passport, birth date, phone number, channel (this is a drop down of possible apps), and channel ID. 

I didn't realize it, but even though Color was released on April 4th, the product listing marks the in-stock date as April 11th. My package shipped on April 13th KST and arrived on April 14th PT. My order was wrapped up securely in several layers of bubblewrap inside a cardboard box.

Pictured above included in my package where the 2 random Ktown4u pob Color photocards inside their own clear resealable sleeves and then inside a ziplock bag, followed by the Yellow Punch pob accordion book in a clear resealable bag, the 2 Color albums, Yellow Punch, followed by the 2 Color folded posters.

To my disappointment, my package didn't include Rocket Punch's poster nor Eun Bi's preorder benefit stands. I checked the product listing for Yellow Punch and posters are still available. As for Color, there is still no option for the stands (not even one that says out of stock), but Ktown's unboxing video does show the stands included as external benefits with the albums...
Here are the 2 random Ktown4u pob photocards I got out of 4.
Here is the backside of the pob photocards. These cards have a glossy finish.

At first I was super excited that Woollim was finally working with Ktown4u to hold video call events, but now I'm much more hesitant since preorder benefits are of course important to me. But I'll try not to think about it this time, and will just enjoy the albums and gorgeous photoshoots^^

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Golden Child: Play 2022 Concert Woollim Mall Merch Review (Part 1 of 2)

Golden Child held their first in-person concert in 2 years, with Play on February 5th and 6th, 2022. I made 2 orders for the Play merchandise, one order during each round of presales. Here I'll blog about the products offered during the original round of sales, and in a previous post I blogged about the additional products offered during the second round of sales here, and I blogged about ordering these items here.

The Play merchandise consists of 7 items, with the original 4 products from Round 1 listed below:

  • STADIUM JACKET + POLAROID (1EA)
  • SIGNED MESSAGE PHOTOCARD SET
  • SLOGAN
  • A4 PHOTO

STADIUM JACKET + POLAROID (1EA)

The jacket comes neatly folded inside a clear plastic resealable bag. The random Polaroid (1 of 10) comes in its own clear resealable bag and is packaged facing up.
Here is the Jibeom Polaroid! I seriously could not believe my eyes (cue "내 눈을 의심해"^^) that I pulled Jibeom!
Here is the backside of the Polaroid. I honestly thought that it would be like a printed photocard with a Polaroid frame, but it's cool that this is actually a Polaroid.
My friend had ordered 2 jackets and this is how hers were packaged.
Here is a closer look at the Daeyeol Polaroid. I am in love with this photo - he looks like a senior in uni and the pose makes him look so mature^^
And here is the Joochan Polaroid. His is also really adorable! I love how these photos really show off the jackets well and how the boys look like sophisticated uni students^^
The backside of the packaging has the product sticker and holographic Woollim authentication seal in the bottom right corner.
Here is the front view of the stadium jacket! It is one size, which is on the large side (and keep in mind that the boys did wear it at their concert). The sleeves and pocket trim are made of synthetic leather. The navy portion of the jacket is made of what Woollim Mall calls "premium himere" (searching on Naver, it appears that this is just what Koreans call varsity jacket material), which is probably something similar to a wool blend that varsity jackets are made of. On the right (when wearing the jacket) is a cute "GDU" patch and above it "GEUM DONG", while on the left are "G" and "C" staggered diagonally like a university jacket. The left sleeve has the original Golden Child logo.
I believe the white and navy striped trim around the neck, wrists, and waist are elastic and made of cotton. The backside states "GEUMDONG UNIV".
Here is a closer look at the design on the right side of the jacket front. "GEUM DONG" is stitched in white while the felt patch is completely ironed onto the jacket. The patch is subtly detailed with a teal base and both navy and white rings, and "GDU" is in white but with a navy border. The design on the left sleeve is a patch of the original Golden Child logo, reminiscent of the patch on some of Golden Child's "Damdadi" jersey sleeves. The name and border are in navy while in inside has a textured white design.
The "GC" on the front and the text on the back all appear to be made of yarn, like what you'd find on a rug. I really like this style and how the text becomes 3D. In terms of all the branding referring to Golden Child, I love how subtle it is with the "GC", and the patch on the right breast in small text stating "GOLDEN CHILD" and "2017", and the original Golden Child logo on the sleeve. Additionally, I love the entire "Geum Dong University au" and how it really does feel like a varsity jacket for a real university. I have yet to wear this in public and see if others ask me about it...
There is a tag sewn inside the neckline with "GOLDEN CHILD" as the brand and an "F" in a circle denoting the "free" size. Here you can also see the inside of the elastic is solid navy.
I was surprised at just how high quality this jacket is! The inside is lined and feels rather thick and heavy, perfect for colder, dry weather. There is also a larger pocket sewn on the inside on the left. The jacket has 7 metal snap buttons, where the tops have a matte white finish. These buttons are also high quality and I can snap them open and close without worrying about them falling off the jacket.
Here's how the jacket looks! I'm 5'4" and 105lb, and the sleeves are quite long that they cover more than half my hand, but the body is a nice length that it just covers my hips. You can also get a good idea of the placement and size of the patches on the front and sleeve. The outer pockets are also quite large and comfy to put your entire hand in there.
Here is how the back of the jacket looks. I love how large and visible the text is, so you can proudly represent^^
It's a bit hard to see, but the jacket is super roamy and big. You can definitely wear several layers underneath but it will probably get hot pretty quickly with just how thick this jacket it. It is quite oversized for me to the point that I'm not sure if I will wear this out, but I do love hanging it over my office chair to look at~
Here I pushed up the sleeves so that they rest above my wrists, and this is when you can really tell how large the jacket is, with how the shoulders really puff out to look like I'm wearing football gear underneath.
And here is how the jacket looks when it's fully unbuttoned and when I leave I have sweater paws. As you can see, the jacket is still really structured and looks quite similar to when it was buttoned. As bulky as it does look on me, I do hope there will be the perfect time and place to wear this^^

SIGNED MESSAGE PHOTOCARD SET

The photocard set comes in a tin case and then packaged in a clear resealable bag. Here is the backside of the packaging, which the product sticker. Oddly enough the holographic Woollim authentication seal looks like never made it on this product...instead there is a little square indicating where the seal should be. On the plus side, the product sticker is on the flap part of the bag, so I can safely open the bag without ripping through the sticker.
The tin case is silver with a matte navy sticker, and with the Play logo and text in silver. The tin case is about 3.875" by 3" by 0.875".
Opening up the tin case reveals the photocard set of 30 cards, which is packaged inside its own clear resealable bag.
The 30 photocards came in this order from left to right, with 3 sets of photocards from the 3 different photoshoots, and in age order from Daeyeol to Bomin.
The first set is holographic, and the selcas are from the photoshoot of the boys in the white outfits. I really like how subtle the holographic effect is with these cards; the sheen is really pretty, especially on Jangjun in the above photo.
In certain lighting you can see more of the holographic effect.
The backsides are also holographic. I also really like how consistent the backs of these photocards are; they all have the members' printed autographs and messages, which are different from set to set, and the top and bottom borders are different colors to indicate the photoshoots that these are from.
And next are the photocards of Golden Child in their uni jackets! I'm so happy we get more content of Golcha in these jackets^^
Here are the backsides to the uni jacket photocards.
And the last 10 photocards are from the photoshoot of Golcha in the black suits.
And here are the backs of the black suit photoshoot photocards. All 30 of these photocards have a glossy finish.

SLOGAN
The slogan comes neatly folded inside a plastic pouch with a metal slide zip lock at the top. This pouch is about 9.875" by 7.125".
The other side of the packaging is translucent with no text, and the product sticker and holographic Woollim authentication seal are at the bottom right.
Here is a closer look at the pouch. The front side is clear with the Play logo centered and "2022 GOLDEN CHILD CONCERT" printed at the bottom in black.
The slogan came neatly folded along with a piece of wax paper.
Here is the slogan! It is the same group image as the front cover of the Play photobook. It's a soft yet stuff microfiber slogan similar to fansite cheering slogans. The dimensions are about 29.25" by 7.75".
The backside of the slogan, like the backside of the pouch, have the Play logo and "2022 GOLDEN CHILD CONCERT".
Here is a closeup of the Play logo, which along with the text, has a metallic gold finish that contrasts well with the navy blue cloth. The edges of the slogan are also sewn together.
(I didn't notice this until I left my slogan on the floor all day and came back when it was dark)...the logo and wording are also reflective!

A4 PHOTO
The A4 photo is by member and thankfully is not random. I got both Jaehyun and Jibeom. Each photo comes in its own silver zip lock bag. The front of the bag has a sticker indicating which member it is.
The backside of the packaging has the product sticker at the bottom right corner.
Like my tin case, the Jibeom A4 photo also didn't come with the holographic Woollim authentication seal...I swear this is a legit product, there is just inconsistent quality control at Eline >.<
Opening up the zip lock reveals the photo, and an A4 cardboard behind it to protect the photo from bending. Oddly enough the cardboard for Jaehyun was much flimsier than the one for Jibeom...but regardless, both photos are correct and arrived in perfect condition!
It's really faint, but the backside of these photos have "FUJIFILM" printed across them. These really are photos that you'd go to get printed, and the frontside is glossy and prone to fingerprints.

Here are both A4 photos in the photobinder. All 10 A4 photos are from the black suit photoshoot and these photos aren't included in the photobook. I said it while I was unboxing the photobinder and I'll say it here, the A4 photos go so well in this binder!

Overall, I'm really happy about the Play merchandise from both Round 1 and Round 2 and its variety of practical items and photos. I still can't get over the tremendous upgrade in the clothing that Woollim has up for sale - the stadium jacket is so high quality and makes me feel so happy to wear because it is such a touching connection to both Golden Child and Goldenness. I also really love the photobook from Round 2, just because we can have more gorgeous photos of the boys in their uni jackets^^ And this set of merchandise is quite heavy on the photocards (3 sets from the photocard set, 1 set from the tumbler, 1 set from the photobinder, 1 random of 10 from the photobook, and 1 random Polaroid of 10 from the jacket), but I guess Woollim knows what many people want^^ Out of all the Play merchandise, I'm least excited about the tumbler itself because of its quality and design (the photocard set makes up for it), and I'm hesitant on the slogan as well just because I can't really use it. But besides that, I'm really happy with this collection^^