Photolog 2020: Day 230 of 366

All my packages arrived from my Korean forwarding address today, which included four boxes of merch that I pre-ordered over the course of three months. (You never know how much BTS merch you really bought until it arrives ALL AT ONCE. But I like to consolidate as many packages as possible to save on shipping costs, 'cause when you buy as much merch as I do, you gotta try to save somewhere.) I'm allowing myself to open one box a day to stretch out the high of getting new merch, 'cause this is as exciting as it gets during a pandemic. So, in the first box I opened today, I found my BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ set! (This is their Japanese full-length album. Outside of Japan, Weverse Shop was only shipping them to South Korea, so I couldn't get these directly shipped here even if I wanted to. Another reason why getting a forwarding address was so smart.) I had ordered "Set B," which comes with the following:

  BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Set B
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Normal Ver.
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Normal Ver. (CD, Lyric Booklet, and Photo Card)
First in the set is the Normal Version, which is the original album in regular CD format. Comes in a standard plastic case with a lyric booklet. No photos, but one page in the booklet (the page for the "Your Eyes Tell" lyrics) features a coloured illustration of flowers, which matches the illustration style that is imprinted on the CD itself. It also comes with the standard mini "flyer" and a photo card, for which I got Suga (!). 

BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type B (Outer Box)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type B (Inner Unit Digipak)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type B (Back of Outer Box and Inner Unit Digipak)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type B Contents (CD, DVD, Stickers, and 28-Page Booklet)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type B — Booklet Images (Jungkook and Jimin)

The second version in the set is Type B, which features colourful paint splash illustrations. It has an outer box, in which the the inner unit Digipak slides out of. Type B comes with the music CD and the DVD, which features seven of their music videos, plus the Making of documentary of their "Stay Gold" music video, as well as the behind the scenes of the shoot for their jacket photos. It also comes with a 28-page saddle-stitched booklet; 14 pages are for the lyrics and 14 pages feature their photos with the paint splash illustrations. Inside the booklet are the mini "flyer" as well as a sheet of stickers. 
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type C (Outer Box)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type C (Inner Unit Digipak)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type C (Back of Outer Box and Inner Unit)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type C Contents (CD and 56-Page Photo Book Type A)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type C — Photo Book Images (Suga and RM)

The third version in the set is Type C, which features BTS in a black-and-white photoshoot, looking mature and serious in sleek suits — the total opposite of the playful and colourful Type B and D versions. This version also has an outer box, in which the the inner unit Digipak slides in and out. Type C comes with the music CD and the Type A 56-page photo book (all these "Types" can get confusing). The Type A photo book features perfect binding (that is to say, it uses glue adhesion for the binding). Lyrics are included as usual, but 37 pages are dedicated to photos of the boys, all in black-and-white, which is what sets this book as a photo book rather than just a lyric booklet like in Type B. It comes with the mini "flyer" that all the versions have. (To be honest, I'm not sure what the real purpose of this flyer is, but it's cute, I guess?)

BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type D (Outer Box)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type D (Inner Unit Digipak)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type D (Back of Outer Box and Inner Unit Digipak)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type D Contents (CD and 56-Page Photo Book Type B)
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Type D — Photo Book Image Spread (Group)
The fourth and final version in Set B is Type D. (Confused with all the lettering yet?) Type D is exactly like Type C in format — with the outer box, inner Digipak unit, music CD, and 56-page photo book — except it features a totally different concept. It has similar colourful paint splash illustrations like in Type B, but in tandem with colourful floral illustrations. The image on the inner Digipak unit for Type D is a remake of the group image for The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 album. The 56-page photo book Type B includes the lyrics as well as 39 pages dedicated to photos of the boys, half of which are in the paint splash/spray paint concept, and half of which are in the floral illustration concept. So, basically, there's a version for everyone!

  BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Photo Card Set
BTS Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ — Photo Card Set
I also got the pre-order gift from Weverse Shop, which was a tin of photo cards, one for each member, featuring the black-and-white photo shoot. (Really, though, they look so goddamn handsome in this photoshoot, I wish the group photo had come in poster format. I would 100% frame it and hang it up.) Oh, and in case you're wondering, the difference between Set A and Set B was that Set A came with the Type A version instead of Type C (wow, how convoluted was that sentence?), which includes the Blu-ray instead of the DVD, but with the same video content. (It features the black-and-white photoshoot like Type C, but with a different cover photo.) 

Japanese album formatting has always confused me, because the Korean counterparts come with the exact same contents but with different concepts (e.g. photoshoots, graphics, colour-grading). So if you only buy one version of their Korean album, you know you'll still get all the same contents as all the other versions (like, one CD, one photo card, one photo book, one poster, etc.). But with the Japanese versions, you gotta pick which one you want if you're only going to buy one copy. Do you want the DVD or the photo book? Or the collectible photo card that comes in the Normal version, but none of the other ones? 

And that, my friends, is why us collectors will pay $153.90 USD (plus shipping costs) to get the set.