Wow! It has certainly been a while since my last post. Spring quarter has been a little more hectic than what I had originally imagined, thus preventing me from making any posts. Though I've been away and unable to post any reviews & unboxings, it does not mean that I haven't been making purchases.

For today's post, I shall be reviewing & unboxing Bangtan's official lightstick, the "ARMY Bomb"! I purchased mine during pre-order period (late March up to April 23rd) via Kpoptown for about $24 USD (shipping not included). It was shipped out to me on April 24th and arrived exactly two weeks later.

Unlike Infinite who has various official lightstick designs released through different events such as fanclub registration, Second Invasion (Japan), That Summer Concert 2, and so on, Bangtan released the "ARMY Bomb" as their first official lightstick. Hopefully this will be the one and only lightstick for their fandom because personally, I prefer one solid design compared to Infinite's different lightsticks. Here are some shots of the bomb itself!

March is almost over and I am back with another review/unboxing! I've recently been released from the clutches of college so I thought I'd make a blog post in celebration lol. Today's review/unboxing is probably one of my most special ones since it is of a very rare collectible. I got extremely lucky and purchased this from a photocard forum / Instagram seller around early January 09, 2015. I received her package via Australian Sea Mail this past Monday March 23, 2015.

A little life hacks: never, ever be stingy and pay for sea mail of any sort for your purchases when given the option because unless you don't mind waiting for around 2-3 months (depending on how heavy or unlucky your package is when it passes through customs.) I've never gone through the sea route when purchasing internationally so this was definitely a bad first experience with it. Of course with the slow rate, you can save a lot of bucks so it's definitely an option to consider if you're sending heavy items and time isn't a concern.

Now let's discuss Hip Hop Monster plushies. These little guys go for a RIDICULOUS amount of money on the market. I honestly feel really bad towards fans of the more popular members because re-sellers can easily hike up the price to high hundreds for a single plushie. It's more expensive when it is newly sealed in the box. I don't really know whether or not Big Hit will put out another wave of plushie in the future because by this point, I'm positive that they will not be restocking these any time soon. Your only option in owning one of these is to fish out some pocket money and bet your luck with re-sellers.

I bought Jinnie (ah, what a lovely nickname I've given him. /sweats) off the seller for $350 US dollars with sea mail shipping included. For Jin's plushie, this is a rather good price in my opinion. I've seen his plushie go for ¥90,000 to ¥75,000 ($755.54 to $629.92) on Yahoo Japan Auctions. Yikes. Jin seems to be one of the popular members in Japan because his merchandise can get pretty pricey when you're trying to bid on Yahoo Japan. This fandom is honestly crazy no matter where in the world. I've also seen his plushie put on bid via eBay sometime late 2014 for about $500 starting bid. Personally, I would never pay over $400 for it. Never collect from groups that are trending unless you've prepared yourself mentally and financially.

With the prices out of the way, I think we can talk about things that are less scary and more cute. Jin's character design is supposed to be a wolf. All the Hip Hop Monsters are designed after some sort of animal and of course, the members themselves. Here are some official photos of the plushie himself along with measurements:



Jinnie is really soft and cuddling material! Almost comparable to his actual alter ego. (cries a bit) He's made of fleece and stuffed with 100% natural goodness and cuteness (okay fine. he's stuffed with cotton)