Hello! Project's Station '25 ~YT · TV · Radio · Magazines~

[iceymoon]

^ what did i miss? although i was a fan when Aika come in, i didn't post on forums and stuff yet.

[AyuHikaru]

Back on JPM when Aika came in we got into a Fandom war with 2ch. 2ch said we were bad fans because we pirated everything and weren't worthy of being MM fans etc etc. It was really funny. Back in 2006, I can kind of see where they were coming from, but nowadays...

[iceymoon]

oh, LOL. that's just...surreal.

[Celedam]

2ch said we were bad fans because we pirated everything and weren't worthy of being MM fans etc etc. It was really funny. Back in 2006, I can kind of see where they were coming from, but nowadays...

...things are only marginally better.

[iceymoon]

most fans i've met, unless they're like under 17 or otherwise don't have any form of getting money, buy stuff on a pretty regular basis.
i even know plenty of fans who are dependent on their parents who don't want them buying expensive/weird/overseas stuff, and still manage to buy.

the only ones i know who really don't buy anything are the ones who aren't really fans, who only barely keep up with them, etc., such as people who used to be really big fans but nowadays aren't as interested.

i know comparably more people who spend waaaaay more than would usually be considered normal/smart. especially ever since the launch of HSU and the influx of 3rd-party buyers (H!O and Facebook group are particularly heavy on this, in addition to traditional methods like eBay, Ohta and other services such as Celga/etc). if only merchandise and things like concerts were more cheaply available for overseas fans, and if only it was as common to be a 40 y/o fan in other countries as it is in Japan, i'd say we'd be giving the Japanese fans a run for their money (literally) on just how much we buy.

actually, i guess the big difference is that today's fans spend so much money on merchandise, that CD's are starting to become too expensive to keep up with. o-o i know i place large orders on photos and other merchandise 1-3 times a month, but my CD purchases are more like one per month and then larger batches only ever 3 months or so. it used to be the other way around. if only H!P gave me more of a reason to prioritize their CD's over the merchandise (with irresistible packaging, intriguing bonuses, or heck just something different..).

i rely on my trips to Japan to buy the CD's i've been wanting for cheaper. maybe if i could save on the 18% commission (on average it's $200/month, so that 18% is substantial, plus however much the added cost is from HSU for importing/profit) + shipping in Japan (FC orders cost at least 600yen PER ORDER, over the last 4 months has been like.. 7 orders?) + shipping to me (this works out well with 3rd parties who can combine shipping, which is still a lot because it's less cheap, but HSU they can't hold items for you to combine with your next order, so about $15/month on top the $100 average i spend per order which is that much more than being able to walk up to a concert and buy them myself, or give the money to a friend to buy for me). so that's like $430 a month i spend on merchandise, probably more with the recent exchange rate. after that i can only afford to buy like 2 CD's a month on a good month (which depends on bils on the like), because at least i know i can buy CD's later if needed. not the same with merchandise, it's reeeeally hard to find something you missed out on later. i have a large request list now because of my lack of money to devote to merch during wedding time. TT^TT

this went off track, i only initially meant to point out that i wouldn't underestimate how much money foreign fans put into their H!P love. the rest is just a rant about how expensive it is to be a fan that's so far away lol.

[321BreakinOut]

I Bought Brand New Platinum 9 Disc, 10 MY ME, and Fantasy Juuichi from ebay like two weeks ago, and they came looking beautiful. They are Korean Versions of the albums (With Japanese In the Booklets) and a little Korean Booklet, but i don't consider them Pirated

[iceymoon]

it depends on whether they were made illegally or not.
if not, then they're absolutely not pirated. which i guess is the most likely scenario anyway, because if they weren't official versions it'd probably be really obvious lol.

i always buy Japan editions even if it's more expensive, because i just like having originals. just like i wouldn't buy a Japan edition of an American DVD that has an English option, even though i have the capability to play it. just seems odd to me. x3 i don't like JapanFiles editions either, it doesn't even come with obi and they don't have Limited Editions. but alas, sometimes you can't avoid it (like for SakuraCon to get an autograph ticket).

[321BreakinOut]

Well instead of Zetima they are under the label Mnet http://global.mnet.com/index.m ..... So i don't think so

[Sohee]

i always buy Japan editions even if it's more expensive, because i just like having originals.

Exactly. To me they seem like the "real thing" and not just a Korean/Chinese/English/whatever copy. And they count towards oricon lol. idk if Korean/Chinese/etc versions does but for some reason I don't think so? Esp not if they're released on another label.

[321BreakinOut]

Doesn't Really matter to me (Not Buying it for it to go to the Oricon anyways ), It's just the OBI and the Back of the case that has Mnet on it, so i don't really mind (and the photocards i got with them are from UFA so it's pretty real to me <3)