An autograph on official TOSHIBA EMI paper.

...:o

Although it's not even signed with her name. It says "Sadist" under the S XDD

I got one of these Jihen calendars for christmas
http://www.kronekodow.com/html/04kio.../ringohan.html

:wub:

Says "Gemeinschaft" on the cover.

Ooh, post some pictures of it! It's hard to tell from the tiny pictures on its page what it's really like.

I got my KZK vinyl today.... AND IT WAS SEALED O___O
I want to frame it.

I don't remember the ebay description saying it was sealed, and the image was of an opened copy. So it was an awesome surprise. Both copies of Rockin' on Japan are also in pristine condition, especially considering they're like almost 10 years old.

1x (Shiina Junpei) Where is the Love LP
1x Mayonaka wa Junketsu LP [unopened]
1x Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana double-LP [unopened]
1x Gunjou Biyori / Sounan mini-LP [unopened]
1x Adult Vdieo Soundtrack mini-LP [unopened]
1x Heisei Fuuzoku double-LP [unopened]
1x Variety mini-LP [unopened]
1x Muzai Moratorium LP [unopened]
1x Shouso Strip LP [unopened]
1x Shouso Strip Limited CD [unopened]
1x ZCS CD box [unopened]
1x Stem Limited CD [unopened]
1x Kono Yo No Kagiri CD [unopened]
1x Just Can't Help It first-press DVD [unopened]
1x Issue of SWITCH Magazine
1x Issue of Rockin' ON JAPAN Magazine
1x Just Can't Help It poster!
1x Time Magazine Postcard
1x Mayonaka Sticker
1x Mayonaka Promo Thingy
1x Heisei Fuuzoku Promo Poster/Promo
1x Unedited Just Can't Help It Poster/promo

This is like the ultimate Shiina package! I nearly died of happiness when I opened up the box! before this my collection was quite respectable but this lot takes it to the next level.

Remember a while back a user called 'View Askew' said Glath was a con artist who only wanted our money? well guess who supplied all this stuff to me...??? yeah! that's right it was Glath who sold this stuff to me! and it's barely fair to use the term 'sold' as I doubt he made any profit from the amount he asked of me (or to be fair the price I offered him) so even though he made next to nothing on the sale (over what he could easily have made elsewhere given the 10th anniversary price hikes on Yahoo! auctions) he still threw in all the magazines poster and postcard for free! I also think he gave me the Shiina Junpei LP as well, cause I remember laughing at the prospect of paying actual cash for the pimp! and on top of that he paid a high sum to completely over-insure the package against loss or damage from his own pocket so big reps+ for that as well!

But back to the products! just look at the l33t factor that seeps from this stuff!! this lot have truly made my entire year!!!! you seriously cannot gauge the excellence of these LP's until you have them in your hands, if any of you ever get the chance to own these records then I urge you to go for it without hesitation.

Attachment 2847

Question: What does the Variety Mini-LP contain?

Also, I want that ZCS. But I would open it lol

I've no idea Shinji? I don't actually plan on opening any of them! the ZCS I will open though as I want a perfect rip for my hard drive.

Wow...

"Envy" doesn´t describe what I´m feeling right now... Mostly because of the ZCS! I could live without the LPs (and that´s just what might happen xD), but not without ZCS... (but then again, that´s just what might happen xDDD) Congratulations, you must be really happy!

You don´t plan on opening them? I´d do the same thing, at least with the LPs... But if I could find the way to play them, maybe I would open them...

I wish I could have a collection like that one... But right now all I have is this... But I can´t complain, because if you have read any of my posts on other threads, you´ll notice there something in there that it´s not supossed to be...:P

But you have the MoRA Boxes and I don't! :hmph: :P

Really?... Well, that made me feel better somehow:P

But to be honest, I would give away any of the MoRA boxes I have if I could put my hands on ZCS... Actually, I have an extra MoRA DVD-box so I would do it with no problem:P But I doubt that might happen... I´m very lucky I just got those singles for free, so I guess I should not abuse of my luck...

Isn't the tracklist written in the back or something?

Well I'll be damned. We don't have a proper thread for it yet.

There's nothing exclusive on it. The LP is kind of like the Gunjou Biyori / Sounan LP in that it is more like a double-single (with B-Sides from each) than an album, but I believe they also threw in Senkou Shoujo. I don't think the LP has anything from the Variety album aside from OSCA and Killer Tune themselves. This might be the only time you could say it was a good thing that a Tokyo Jihen LP wasn't faithful to the tracklist of an original album.

:wub:

Oh, and thanks for the info! I didn't know and I already found it weird that the cover is different from the album.

Ahh sorry Shinji, I thought when you asked me that you meant the contents inside, even though Glath's kinda told you here's a photo I took of the front/back.

Thanks for the photo! I like that pattern in the back, very cool.
Well, since it's a Mini-LP and not a normal LP I was curious about the contents (tracklist :P) because it would be weird if the whole Variety fit.
It's a cool tracklist btw. The OSCA single B-Sides are gold :)

MortAd, what is the box with the cat playing with the apple?

(pretends to be MortAd)

That box is the Heisei Fuuzoku DVD.

Well, that´s... Ah, Ringo~Bingo already gave you an answer... Yeah, that´s Heisei Fuuzoku Daiginjo (DVD)... That´s the first Ringo Shiina item I bought, with the Heisei Fuuzoku Limited Edition (CD)... Now that I think about it, I should have bought ZCS first since it was in stock on yesasia by the time I made my order... Now I regret it :(

Ringo~Bingo, you have you HFD sealed? I suppose you have another opened copy, right? Eventualy I´m planning on doing that, that is, buying two copies of the same item in order to have one opened and one sealed... But for now, I just want to complete my collection, so I´ll just buy what I´m missing...

Now that I mention it, since you know my little colection, and there are many people here who have much more thing that I do, what do you suggest me to buy next? (considering I can only order through YesAsia).:unsure:

Actually I just own the one copy of HF DVD! fancy motion graphics were not worth breaking the shrink wrap for. from my own point of view when I was just starting to collect (last summer) I went for all the singles first, I too stupidly ignored ZCS and ended up getting it only now instead of waaay last year! you might want to try getting a first press Ringo Expo DVD as well because when you start taking the collecting seriously you do regret not getting them for retail prices and you might end up paying double on auctions! you can also get a few LP's from HMV Japan (if it's an option) so there is lot's of good things to focus on! if money is tight then I'd go for the LP's and first press stuff first and get the standard stuff later on.

Thanks for the advice! I guess Ringo Expo 08 will be my first choice! And the only one from your recomendations since I´m using the YesAsia credit I have, and basically because HMV doesn´t accept my credit card... I hope that with YesAsia I can get first press on that one... Now those LPs are really calling me... I´ll be damned, this way I´m going to be broke! Maybe I´ll order them in a couple of days, if HMV accepts paypal... But I still have YesAsia credit to use, so... I guess I´ll be buying the RS/TJ singles I´m missing... If I could find someone who wants to buy that extra MoRA DVD-boX I have I could buy more things, I hope I can do that:P

Well, at least the video for Gamble is awesome. Haven't watched the rest tho.

Why are we talking about the HF DVD in this thread instead of in its own thread?

While we're on that topic, I think the HF DVD is easily the most irrelevant retail product that has ever been released in Shiina Ringo's name. Even the Senkou Shoujo DVD/LP or the Variety CD (or any rips that spawn from any of those) will get more replays among all the 'haters' out there, than this thing. It's like a coffeetable book that just sits around, and maybe a visitor in your home will examine it for a moment or two, but until you saw them holding it, you almost completely forgot that it was among the things you own.

Yes, it has nice packaging. But how many times are you going to look at it? I believe that people would spend more time revisiting their Electric Mole limited books, or their MoRA boxes, or their RingoBoXes. This release tries to be an audio purist's product and it fails because of the crossfading - when e-Onkyo costs less, the delivery is instant, quality is the same, and there is NO crossfading. The HF DVD tries to be a PV collection, when the screen activity should have been more low-key like the MoRA DVDs. It tries to be a packaging treasure trove, and that is just about the only thing it even remotely succeeds in - but it gets totally trumped by MoRA and the RingoBoX. So this HF DVD isn't really the best at anything - it's just a jack of all trades.

I bring this point up because I've seen a lot of MoRA hate recently, when I don't think it is by any means the biggest offender. A lot of the same people who decided to dismiss MoRA as a cashcow, had previously been much more approving of the existence and the potential purchase of an HF DVD. MoRA succeeded in every way that the HF DVD failed. The criticism from this community could use a little reallocation.

Sorry if I'm poiting the obvious, but didn't you do the same? :P
Anyway, I don't have HF DVD or MoRA, but from what I know, the HF cover is much more pretty than the MoRA lens flare and I don't see why the MoRA animations are more "useful" than the HF animations. From what I seen people tell in reviews, the MoRA animations don't even fit the songs that much (whereas, at least Gamble, fits).
That said, I don't plan to buy neither lol.

To me, all the animations on the HF DVD fit, the crossfading actually makes it sound more cohesive than without it, and all around is a much better buy than MoRA, especially to those who already own the albums.
Aren't the animations in MoRA something like the visualizations in Windows Media Player? Sorry but that's not what I call "low-key", more like "we just wanted to sell it".

Precisely.

So much tut-tutting on this forum about the fact that the marketing arm of EMI is doing precisely what it is supposed to do, make money.

I mean, like, duh. :rolleyes:

Yeah. That's as crazy as talking about Shiina Ringo in a Shiina Ringo forum xD

Btw, on-topic, I now own Gekokujyou (yey!). Altough it was only shipped yesterday, so there's still a chance that I don't receive it. Let's hope the goddess of mail orders is in a good mood.

Be prepared for bad picture quality on that DVD Shinji, I thought my copy was broke but that's just how it is! seems all the disc space was taken by the multi channel audio.

^^^ Yes the picture quality is not good, but then I think it's a matter of how it was filmed than how it was post-produced. They clearly had a better audio kit than a video kit on that shoot.

Still, it remains my favorite Ringo concert. Nothing gets in the way of her stage presence.

Yeah, I'm buying it because of my recent love for it. It sounds great and from some performances I've seen in YouTube it probably also looks great (aside from possible bad video quality).
I'd say there's a chance of it turning into my favourite Ringo concert, surpassing Electric Mole :o
Btw, does it came with a booklet or something? The package looks pretty... empty. I mean, it's cool, but I'm hoping for at least 1 or 2 Ringo pics :P

Well, if you can find the 'Limited Edition' then you also get a glow in the dark outer slip case (I don't have that) so as for the standard version ? well no pictures and it's all pretty minimal I'm afraid.

Oh, too bad. Well, it's the inside that counts ahah
Thanks for the photo :)

I own nothing. Everything is a download. Not only her but practically everything (except PF). But then again, if she tours I'll go to her concerts. If she wants to make the money (not her but every artist), she will have to do it the old fashion way - TOURING.

I treasure my Ringo Expo Nama flag, but I gave away the green ribbon thingie that came with it to a girl named Ringo. It earned me the biggest hug ever and was worth giving up.

Producing an album is a very expensive affair. Soundproofed rooms, multiple types of microphones, and possibly some power conditioning - all of which together can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Aside from all that, a 'full' ProTools setup alone can cost over $100,000. A record label could easily spend at least as much on a recording studio as most families spend on a home. Sound engineers don't exactly get paid minimum wage, either.

KSK is a work of recording/mixing art that can never be adequately duplicated in concert. Beyond that release, Tokyo Jihen Phase 1 was put together as a live-oriented band, and Phase 2 was put together as a studio-oriented band. To treat every album as a 'sample' for touring regardless of how masterfully or poorly that album was produced, completely takes away accountability and reward for the artist (and the record label) on whether their album's production values were high or low. If Kyoiku was recorded and mixed like crap and you're not buying it, yet Adult is recorded and mixed superbly but you're not buying that either, then why should they have even bothered to produce Adult anymore professionally than Kyoiku?

What if an album is made with music that is never performed on tour (or at least not in the arrangements found on the album)? Does the artist have a 'responsibility' to tour, while at the same time you have no responsibility to buy the album you're enjoying as a result of their studio labors? Does the artist have a responsibility to never produce an album beyond their means of what they can and will reperform on tour? Must all movies be 'samples' for an accompanying broadway play, and never have any production values beyond the means of what the actors could accomplish in a broadway setup? Must all 'art' be humanly enactable on-tour to qualify for payment?

In case you can't tell, I'm a proponent of intellectual property rights - or at least in moderation. I won't pay for DRM because I'm also a Fair Use proponent, but I almost want DRM to exist in a full police state capacity just so you can't have an everlasting free show. I understand that 99% of us had to download Shiina Ringo before we conclude that at least some of her music is worth liking, but once we've reached that conclusion, what we choose to do within our means, is a reflection of our gratitude and our loyalty toward what we enjoy.

If you wanted to preach about how next-to-no albums are worth buying, then you came to the wrong thread.

nope just tell you the facts. Besides, Artist make the real money on tour. (Album sales are for record company anyway.) That is one of the reason Madonna is one of the top grossing artist of this year - her tours.

^ It's not the same in Japan. You can't apply American music industry pay standards to the Japanese industry.

This debate really boils down to visionaries, versus advocates. My personal bias leans toward visionaries. I will pay for a clear recording of a crappy performance, or a crappy recording of a good performance, if I respect the imagination that went into what I'm hearing. There is no shortage of great performers in the world. Most of the better performers don't even create their own material. Better songwriters are more important to me than better performers.

Often the better artists are simply not the best natural performers. But they don't want someone else to perform a particular piece of music because the original artist has an exact concept of nuances they want to convey. They might not have the most precise control over their own fingers or their own vocal chords, but they know exactly what kind of sound they want, and they will go through as many retakes as necessary until they get that particular sound. Even when they know the notes and could coach the notes to someone else, they might have a specific personality they want to embed into the texture of the notes, and when it comes to vocals - sometimes only the songwriter knows precisely how the vocals should sound, and if they could easily coach it to another vocalist, then then the songwriter wouldn't have to go through so many studio retakes to end up with that exact sound. In many of the best movies, the director makes more of a difference than the actor, and when you are the original artist performing your own creation or overseeing the contributions of your band members, you need to have the vision, the standards, and the patience of a movie director.

I'm not saying I don't value a good live performance, or don't care if music isn't performed by the person who created it. What I am saying, is that the easily redistributable nature of digital recordings doesn't somehow make them worth less money to me. You don't have to buy an album anymore than you have to tip a waitress. If you appreciate the service, then you have a moral obligation to compensate the source in whatever limited/marginalized/indirect way you can. Whether the payment goes into a tip jar and gets averaged out with other waitresses who did less good of a job, or goes into a record label who relays a small portion of it to the artist - isn't the point.

What sacrifices are you willing to make for the things that bring you satisfaction? You can't tell me that live performances are the only performances that satisfy you. If the albums didn't satisfy you to at least some significant degree, then you wouldn't listen to them more than once. If a product that entertains or comforts you multiple times, isn't worth paying for at least once, then aside from bare essentials for your survival - I don't know what is worth paying for.

And as Maou alluded to, Japanese artists collect very substantial royalties - probably more per disc than artists from anywhere else in the world. For awhile, Utada Hikaru is/was the most taxed citizen in Japan (ontop of that let me remind you that they are the world's second largest economy), and if her royalties were as insignificant as western world royalties usually are, she would have had to tour a lot more than she did, in order to rank that high.

Don't forget truefish that the downloads you are enjoying are only at 192/320 KB/s mp3 quality (in most cases) if you truly enjoy the music then surely it's worth buying at least one single (as a token gesture) such as Mayonaka or something? not to mention the original CD bitrate is at least triple the best MP3's floating around! as good as a downloaded MP3 collection is (I also used to have that) there is a sense of immense satisfaction in having the real collection of legitimate stuff in your hands with the knowing that nobody has been shabbily encoding the files or giving them crappy mis-translated tags before you ever saw them.

I understand that not everybody can afford to own it all which is fair enough. But if you enjoy her music to the extent that it enriches your life (even in a small way) then you really should buy a single or at the very least a copy of KZK, that's an investment that will give more back than the $20/30 or so it costs. :)

I'll at least buy a couple of albums. If the record stores still exist.

You can get Shiina stuff easily from CDJapan, HMV Japan & YesAsia.

Though be careful that if you buy from YesAsia as you will see that some versions are Hong Kong/Korean version & so on! nothing wrong with the actual content as it's all sonically the same, it's just that from a collectors standpoint the non-Japanese versions are not considered valuable in any way.

I guess that somebody who never buys CDs would not at all be worried about collector's value XD
I only shopped at CDJapan but can't recommend them enough, GREAT service. They also accept PayPal payments which is the easiest way to shop even without a credit card :)

Yes. If you are not korean or chinese it will not be much valuable even if it's far cheaper than Japanese version,(usually 1/2 or 1/3 of Japanese version price). But I've usually, if possible, purchased korea version, if not the pakcage of limited edition is totally different than normal edition( so I have two adult album and heisei fuzoku, limited edition and korea edition. of course I had to buy japanese version if korea version not available.), because it contains translation of lyrics and brief comment on album or singer.

I just bought the Baishou Ecstasy DVD, and I´m really curious... What´s the content of the bonus CD?

It's just the 'Ichijiku no Hana' song.

With unannounced copy-protection too.

Thanks for the answers! Well, I was expecting something more interesting, like some live-tracks or something... Don´t get me wrong, I love Ichijiku no Hana, but I guess that was a great bonus when the song didn´t have another phisical form...

Now I just have another question... Is there any other store where I can by the MM and SS LPs? HMV doesn´t work with my credit card at all...:hmph:

You can try amazon.co.jp, or tower.jp. They too want credit cards, so hopefully they won't reject yours the same way HMV did.

The Ringo BoOk we've been hearing about is going on pre-sale to Ringohan members in a few hours. The number member will determine who gets first dib, in case it gets sold out (I guess).
This book costs 8800Y, including tax and shipping - within Japan.

I think I'll order it...

Other info : 108 pages, 25cm x 25cm
Edit #2: They've put up some pics, it looks gorgeous!!
Here's a few:
Attachment 3014
Attachment 3015
Attachment 3016

£65 (more or less) is pretty harsh for a book :o what's so special about it to justify such a price anyways?

EDIT: never mind, now that the pics are up I can see why it's so expensive! looks nice.

OH ZARYA, thank you for reminding me.

I was forwarded the latest ringohan email which didn't have any news except for the recent releases that we all already know about, being Ringo EXPO and Ringo BoOk, which is unfortunate. Buuuuuut it did mention Ringo BoOk's release is being pushed back until May 27th, and it also stated that the premium ticket and regular ticket special souvenours given out at the show are going on sale on the site along with the tour pamphlet, etc. The premium ticket batch is going for 5000 yen, regular is 3000 yen. It also said that Ringo BoOk will go on sale for pre-order for fanclub members starting on the 3rd of March and that those who order early are guaranteed a special treat that is sure to raise the value of the book as well. It notes that this concerns an engraved serial number and that those who order from the fan club will receive a special pin batch, whatever the hell that means. Either its a pin that goes along with the book or it means the book is bound by screws perhaps. Those who use ringo pocket website will be given something announced at a later date. Those who buy it on the regular general release date won't get any special pressing bonus. It is 270mm x 270mm x 35 mm and 108 pages. price will be announced at a later date.

Thanks neko for those additional details!!
I was wondering what the tickets prices were for.... Anyone knows what those souvenirs were exactly?

Edit : I hope they don't engrave our name on it or sth XD
They sent all members a leather coaster shaped like an apple, with the member's name and number on it... problem is, my membership is under my friend's name, so now I have a coaster bearing his name!

Just when I was thinking I'd have money in May (woah, what a concept!), now there's one more thing I'll have to be on the lookout for at Yahoo! Japan Auctions.

Just preordered my copy!
I couldn't use my own CC... The name field isn't used to long-ass gaijin names I guess, cause mine wouldn't fit (my boyfriend's did, thankfully).

Yeah! I still have mine, fortunately it has my name on it. Well, my fake kanji name. XD

I actually need to find it. I put it somewhere and have no idea where...

Ringohan never sent me my member's card and little gifts. I got the anniversary cotton towel and a few little season's greetings card but none of the fancy shizzat. hence why I didn't bother renewing my membership.

There were membership cards?! Okay I never got THAT.

I plan to renew my membership when I return to Japan (in a year).

yeah if your in japan it is so totally worth it...I wouldn't have gotten the awesome live opportunities I had if I wasn't in the club. my friends who tried to get TJ tickets to SOTC failed miserably, it sold out in minutes, and their tickets at the anniversary show were high up in the balconies, whereas all three nights I had floor right by the walk-way that wraps around the orchestra. did you get a job? I can't seem to remember if you were in TX or France, haha.

Hey I have a few questions for those who have bought stuff from www.kronekodow.com. I ordered a Ringo Box from them last week by using my local concierge service. The thing is its been a week and they haven't received it. For those who have ordered using similar services, how long does kronekodow usually take to send out stuff? I've only received an email that says that they've received my order. Will I receive any more updates when they ship it? Will there be any updates on the kronekodow site itself under the option for me to check my orders? Thanks:)

I am expecting not to get my hands on Ringo BoOK(s) until June. Shipping doesn't begin the instant the pre-order period ends. Ringo BoOKs don't ship out until May 27th.

They posted that release date a few lines above the Ringo BoOK. It's not even an 'update' after oh so many people overwhelmed the shop with orders. The site has had that note there ever since they first started accepting orders for the Ringo BoOK. It is probably a made-to-order item even for the people who aren't in the fanclub and getting theirs personalized.

Haha. I spent a semester in France after my semester in Japan. I've been in TX since (well, except for a summer in LA). I'll be here until a year from now, when I plan to go back to Japan to work, at least initially, as an English teacher. Then, I will renew my fanclub membership so I can score tickets and FINALLY see Ringo live.

I do know that they're only start sending in may. Just wondering about other orders for things that are in stock.

You might be the first EMFer to ever use Kronekodow's online shop for something other than a pre-order. I didn't even know until a week ago, how I could actually add any of their items to my shopping cart. Until that point, I was thinking of Kronekodow's "online shop" as more of an example page of stuff you could buy if you went to any recent concerts. It's very misleading how they structured that.

I have a couple of Ringo BoXes from months ago, but I didn't go through the frontier of finding out how responsive or unresponsive Kronekodow was, because I went through other people who bought from the tour instead of the online shop.

I'm just as curious as you, about how they're going to handle your Ringo BoX order, so keep us updated whenever you find out anything more. I think you are on your own for now.

Thanks:) I guess I could attempt to construct an email if the package doesn't arrive soon.

If anyone still feels that they may have missed out by not getting the first press Expo DVD then let these photos dispel that thought!

As for no disc pictures? well it's in the player and I can't be bothered powering it up just to eject it, you don't miss much anyway.:)

Attachment 3058
Attachment 3059
Attachment 3060
That's meant to be the musical score! what a load of false advertising! even if it's not a lot of music, a piece of A4 would have been nice.
Attachment 3061
Attachment 3062

When I got my box everything was rattling around inside it, including the disc! Seems like they could have fit a lot more into that box.

^ Yea, definitely. I really didn't know what to expect except for the sticker but when I saw that box, I thought I had won the lottery. Then I shook it. =(.

hell, I thought it was overpriced even before I saw those pictures.

Could you post those pictures to the Ringo Expo Product Reviews thread as well, Bongo? Just to make it more complete :)

^ done (first page)

I find the disc pretty difficult to remove unless you have long fingernails, also mine was rattling about the box as well.

Mine wasn't.
Actually, how do you say it? Mine was "stuck" (I think)? Point is, it wasn't rattling, it was secure.

I suspect they were playing keepy up's with mine in the depot, such was the damage to the outer protective cardboard packing.

These boxes from CD Japan are usually flawless.:(

Attachment 3068

Yeah, and they are marked as "Fragile" too.
What a disgrace.

My YesAsia orders always come in this condition:
- Item wrapped in bubble envelope 1.
- Bubble envelope 1 wrapped in bubble envelope 2.
- Bubble envelope 2 inside a strong plastic envelope with lots of tape sealing it.

It's good protection, but boy is it a pain in the ass to finally reach the contents.

YesAsia stuff always comes good for me (I buy DVD's) I think condition really depends on the courier who takes it at the destination country, in 99% of cases my stuff is flawless but if a specific branch of the courier firm deal with it then it's usually beat up a touch (inner city branch against the usual just-outside city branch), luckily it's a rarity and even luckier that the stuff is well protected.

Hey I have some updates concerning ordering from kronekodow.com.

The shipping service that I'm using finally received my shipment. And I noticed an FAQ at the end of the only email I received from kronekodow.

Basically shipment from kronekodow takes an approximately 2 weeks to reach (the destination in Japan) after payement is confirmed and processed. They only send 1 single email to tell me they've received my order. They do not send out confirmation emails, whether is it for payment or or shipping confirmations. I suppose you're supposed to just check whether they have billed you through your card and hope that it has been sent out.

The site itself provides a miserly record of some sort that only states your order number and whatever you have ordered. No address is stated. No invoices are given either. I think you have to email them or use their "contact us" service form if you want to check or change anything and that form is hidden in their FAQ page. (It might be easier for people who are more fluent in Japanese to locate though).

You can change your address in their customer data page but I'm not sure whether that affects your current orders.

Ringo File turned up today \o/ most surprising thing is the size! only 9 x 6 inches so it's small! and it's also hardback as well.

Edit: this thing is very very text heavy! it's about 350 pages but I'd be surprised if more than 40/50 of the pages were pictures, and it's size and structure make it near non-scan friendly unless you wanna trash it.

Edit: and you have likely seen 90% of the pics before as well, though it's a good read if you are studying Japanese and like Shiina.

Attachment 3128

OMG:oyou have obtained since it?:blink:

Got hold of the Ringo File myself today. AND I finally found the Electric Mole DVD Special Ed book thing. Yay.

Lucky you! I've been after that Electric Mole for ever (to no avail on ebay)

Move to Japan and look in a million random BOOK OFFs. That's how I did it.

I think I'll do that! go straight to the source.

the only bad thing is that sometimes the plastic envelope is black so everyone who sees it thinks automatically that it's porn.

That didn't happen to me. The only types of packages I get are big light grey envelopes or a white cardboard box (I think it was white, only got it once).

I've had a dark Grey bag from YesAsia before. (if that counts)

Recently the only packing I get from Yesasia is the grey plastic envelope (even with a 5+ CD order). It's a complete bitch to get open. But they put enough bubble wrap usually so it keeps my order safe.

Yeahh, lol. It's impressive the amount of stuff they can actually fit into those envelopes. I guess it has less chances of having troubles at customs, because the only package that got stuck there, for me, was the cardboard box.

I wish they included some Ringo/TJ releases on that Spring Sale, and preferably japanese editions. There's not much I want to buy from the bargain catalogue (as usual).

I want one of these. :o That is all. :)

Attachment 3143

I want one too, except I was a little too tight on money when the first few of those posters (without glass frames) showed up on Y!JA. I'm gonna be on the lookout for another one. It's best to get SR/TJ posters during the first month they are out, otherwise they become too rare, too costly, and the few you find are less likely to be in pristine condition.

Simon, just so you know...

Your Heisei Fuuzoku CD isn't "first-press".

The "not regular" version is limited edition with its own separate catalog number, and an officially-boosted price. As for Shouso Strip, I'm a little hazy on the details for whether the pink version is merely an early-buyer perk at the same catalog number and same price as regular, or if it's another limited. I'm leaning toward limited, but I'm not certain on it like I am with Heisei Fuuzoku.

I checked my Shouso Strips. (cause that's the normal thing to do at 06:00 am :hmph:)

TOCT-24321-U 3 A2 / Slipcase Version

TOCT-24321-U 7 / Standard Edition

TOCT-24321 is the most important section of the info for people who aren't comparing Secure rips.

So I guess that means the pink version really is a first-press.
*updates his ownership list*

whats a secure rip? I have all 3 SS, limited, regular, and promo. good album. but man, I've left some glaring holes in my Ringo collection go unnoticed for quite some while. First off, I still need the Mayonaka vinyl. I have all the Jihen limited edition vinyls, including the sealed Gunjo Biyori/Sounan, but I still need MM and SS. And then i won't talk about how regretful I am that I let MoRA get away. ;;sigh;; at least I manage to have most other things. Collecting Ringo can almost be as difficult as collecting Tori sometimes.

It's a scientific guarantee that your ripping process hasn't misconstrued anything on the audio CD. This happens quite normally because the built-in error correction on audio CDs is very weak and open to misinterpretations compared to data CDs. Odds are, even a brand new or flawless surface audio CD won't be ripped properly without a Secure method. Variety is one of the very few CDs I've come across where it turned out that my ripping drive never had to read any sector more than twice to be certain about it - but most people are using different drives, so just because I didn't have to re-read Variety doesn't mean your drive wouldn't have to.

XLD is the only OSX software that can do Secure ripping, while dBpowerAMP and Exact Audio Copy are the only Windows software that can do it. They all have to be configured specifically for your ripping drive. Then there's PlexTools for Plextor drives, which doesn't need to be configured because it already knows everything about the drives it works with.

The reason that any of the extra numbers mentioned by Ringo~Bingo would be important to people like me, is if it turns out our rips don't exactly match each other. If we are doing Secure ripping, then our rips of the same album should exactly match if all the numbers on the bottom of our discs are the same, but once those numbers deviate, it means the factory did a different pressing (in the literal & unofficial sense - not necessarily in the packaging/marketing sense), and different pressings almost always have oh-so-slightly different versions of the same track, from like milliseconds of silence being added or subtracted from the beginning or the end. The differences may be inaudible but they are enough to generate different MD5 fingerprints (all it takes is for 1 byte to be different somewhere).

People who care about lossless but don't also care about Secure ripping, are wasting their hard drive space on large rips that aren't bit-for-bit identical archival/backup copies of the original CDs. When a disaster hits your physical collection and you want to reproduce the discs from your rips, the 1s and the 0s won't all be the same as the original even though digital copying is supposed to be perfect, because you didn't read the original disc properly to begin with. So you could be doing an accurate burn of an inaccurate rip, and the only role that lossless has in the scenario is to accurately reproduce the inaccurately-ripped raw audio that you fed into the lossless. Even if you never use CD players and never burn anything, why wouldn't you want your archived collection to exactly match its origins?

Those sealed Gunjou Biyori / Sounan vinyls are worth a small fortune now. The only two new ones you can find on Y!JA right now, keep getting relisted for 8800yen, and from different sellers too. I think Muzai Moratorium and Shouso Strip LPs are still available from some of the major vendors, and then Mayonaka wa Junketsu LPs are very abundant and cheap to get at Y!JA in any condition. MoRA is totally gone from stores. You have to go to Y!JA and pay DVD-Box price for the CD-Box, and then pay something even more ridiculous for the actual DVD-Box.

yeah, I know, its just killing me that I would have to spend so much on it since I was just lazy last time. especially since SMJ mysteriously removed my deposit from my balance. skeeeettcccchhh

Finally took pictures of my Ringo collection...

I also took pictures of my other major music collections (Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire, The Notwist and Jens Lekman) and put them on my blog.

thats pretty nice. unfortunately my ringo collection is in fragmented pieces in several locations, mainly my apartment in Hawai'i and my house in Boston. Pretty much everthing from the anniversary upwards is here with me. So I can't line them up all organized and take a pretty picture like yours. that is nice though. I own her entire discography with the exception of the MM and SS vinyls, the Mayonaka Vinyl, and MoRA. Other than that, I have it all, singles, albums, vinyls, first presses, including Jihen and the collaborations, but you collection STILL made me feel envious. So good job. I noticed some of yours were still shrink wrapped. That takes a lot of restraint. I have this weird thing where I don't like buying used, I must have things new and wrapped, but even if I don't use them I have to be the one to open them, its like taking their virginity, they become mine that way. sick, no? so everytime I see a pretty shrink wrapped item I just think of my dirty and deflowered (and probably played 1 time) collection at my house, XD. Actually, from Kyouiku up I've been a heavy collector, but before that I used to spin the singles and albums in the cd player in the car all the time. To think I had the cds in vinyl cases always in my car ;;shudders;; it makes me so upset to think about it now, hahaha. OCD.