Unboxing: BTS — Proof Standard Edition

(Warning: This post is very long and extremely photo-heavy.)

My BTS Proof set finally arrived a few days ago as Weverse Shop was having delays in shipping. Proof is BTS' 17th Korean language album, 5th compilation album, and their first anthology album. It was globally released on June 10, 2022, at all music retailers both online and in-store. The Proof set is exclusive to Weverse Shop, and includes both the Standard Edition and the Compact Edition. The set retails for $68.93 USD or ₩74,200 on Weverse Shop Global, plus shipping. Note that the set is literally the cost of the Standard and Compact Editions together, so you do not save any money by buying the set as opposed to each version separately.

This post will feature the Standard Edition only and there will be a separate post for the Compact Edition. The Standard Edition retails for $51 USD or ₩54,900 on Weverse Shop Global, plus shipping. Out of impatience for waiting for my set to arrive from Korea, I bought another Standard Edition a couple weeks ago at Indigo where it retails for $100.99 CAD, which actually ends up being cheaper than buying it on Weverse Shop Global because of inflated shipping costs to Canada. (They use DHL.) However, the international shipping cost and import fees don't even come as a surprise, because at nearly 5 pounds, the Proof Standard Edition is an absolute monster and BTS' heaviest album to date.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Outer Box + Outer Sleeve
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Outer Box
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Outer Box
The BTS Proof Standard Edition measures 25cm L x 19cm W x 6.5cm D. The outer box is made of black canvas-covered board and comes with a transparent plastic sleeve with the Proof logo on the front in a light grey. The outer box has the same Proof logo on the front in a glossy black. The box opens from the centre like a door, similar to BTS' logo.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Inside
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Foldout CD Sleeve
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Foldout CD Sleeve + CDs

Once open, the first thing you will find is a fold-up sleeve in matte black card stock with the word "Proof" on the front in holographic silver. Once you unfold the sleeve, you will find all three CDs of the album. In general, CD 1 includes BTS' title tracks and major hits over the last 9 years, CD 2 includes member solo and subunit tracks, and CD 3 includes demo versions of existing songs and previously unreleased tracks. The contents of the CDs are as follows:

CD 1:

1. Born Singer
2. No More Dream
3. N.O
4. Boy in Luv
5. Danger
6. I Need U
7. Run
8. Fire
9. Blood Sweat & Tears
10. Spring Day
11. DNA
12. Fake Love
13. Idol
14. Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)
15. ON
16. Dynamite
17. Life Goes On
18. Butter
19. Yet to Come

CD 2:

1. Run BTS
2. Intro: Persona
3. Stay
4. Moon
5. Jamais Vu
6. Trivia: Seesaw
7. BTS Cypher Pt. 3: Killer (feat. Supreme Boi)
8. Outro: Ego
9. Her
10. Filter
11. Friends
12. Singularity
13. 00:00 (Zero O'Clock)
14. Euphoria
15. Dimple

CD 3:

1. Jump [Demo]
2. Young Love
3. Boy in Luv [Demo]
4. Quotation Mark
5. I Need U [Demo]
6. Boyz With Fun [Demo]
7. Tony Montana (Agust D feat. Jimin)
8. Young Forever [RM's Demo]
9. Spring Day [V's Demo]
10. DNA [J-Hope's Demo]
11. Epiphany [Jin's Demo]
12. Seesaw [Suga's Demo]
13. Still With You (Acapella)
14. For Youth

There are three brand new songs that were released on this album: "Yet to Come" on CD 1, "Run BTS" on CD 2, and "For Youth" on CD 3. ("For Youth" is the only track from CD 3 that is available to stream digitally. All the other songs from CD 3 are exclusive to the physical album.) There are also two previously unreleased tracks, "Young Love" and "Quotation Mark," both on CD 3, and two new recordings of "Born Singer" and "Tony Montana (feat. Jimin)" which have been performed live but were never released on an album. 

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Envelope Sleeve + Member Photocard Set
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Randomized Member Postcards + Photocards(Left: J-Hope Postcard + Jungkook Photocard, Right: Suga Postcard + Jimin Photocard)
Once you lift out the CD sleeve, you will find a small black envelope that includes a set of seven photocards (one for each member), a randomized member photocard, and a randomized member postcard. From my first album, I pulled a J-hope postcard and a Jungkook photocard, and from my second album, I pulled a Suga postcard and a Jimin photocard.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 1: The Art of Proof
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 1: The Art of Proof
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 1: The Art of Proof
(Discography: 2 Cool 4 Skool + The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 1: The Art of Proof
(Discography: You Never Walk Alone + Love Yourself: Her)
Next, you will find a whopping three photobooks, all of which use PUR binding. The first book is called "The Art of Proof," and the cover is matte black with the Proof logo in glossy black inlayed on the front. Inside of this photobook, you will find the history of BTS: their discography with images from each era, a timeline of their career including major achievements or records, a timeline of their tours with images from each one, and a section featuring their speeches and visits to the UN. 

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: Photograph

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: Photograph
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographJ-Hope / Jung Hoseok(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographJin / Kim Seokjin(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographJimin / Park Jimin(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographJungkook / Jeon Jungkook(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographRM / Kim Namjoon(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographSuga / Min Yoongi(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographV / Kim Taehyung(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 2: PhotographBTS(Left: "Proof" Concept, Right: "Door" Concept)
The second photobook is called "Photograph," and the cover features a photo of a dark blue room with a metal vault door filled with bullet indents and hundreds of bullets on the floor in front of it. This photobook includes all the concept photos taken for this album. The first concept is called "Proof," which is dark; all black clothing, lots of leather and heavy chains, slicked back hair and smoky eyes. The concept is that they're being spied on, hunted, and shot at, but they will always stand their ground; they are bulletproof. The second concept is called "Door," which is much lighter; muted pastel clothing, sheer silks and satins, soft cuts and subtle makeup. The concept is less obvious here, but my take on it is that they've found freedom and they finally see the light at the end of the tunnel; the best is yet to come.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: Epilogue
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: Epilogue
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueRM / Kim Namjoon
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueJin / Kim Seokjin
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueSuga / Min Yoongi
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueJ-Hope / Jung Hoseok
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueJimin / Park Jimin
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueV / Kim Taehyung
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Photobook 3: EpilogueJungkook / Jeon Jungkook
The third photobook is called "Epilogue," and the cover is matte white with the Proof logo in matted silver inlayed on the front. This book features a candid photoshoot of the members taking photos, developing film in a dark room, looking at old photos, and selecting final photos. It also includes behind the scenes photos from the "Proof" and "Door" concept photoshoots featured in the "Photograph" photobook, and ends with the members' thank you notes.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — Lyrics Booklet
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Lyrics Booklet
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Lyrics Booklet(Left: Tracklist, Right: CD 1 Lyric Page)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Lyrics Booklet(Left: CD 2 Lyric Page, Right: CD 3 Lyric Page)
There is one final booklet included with this album, which is saddle-stitched with a more basic card stock. It has a white cover and the Proof logo in greyscale. This book includes the lyrics and credits for all the songs in Proof. The pages are colour-coded by CD: CD 1 is red, CD 2 is black, and CD 3 is grey.

BTS Proof Standard Edition — "Proof" Concept Poster(Top: Folded, Bottom: Rolled)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Proof Set Special Pre-Order Gift(Randomized Member Photo Film Strip — RM)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — BTS Island: In the Seom Photocard + Proof Pre-Order Gift(Randomized Member Photocard — Jungkook)
BTS Proof Standard Edition — Proof Pre-Order Gift(Randomized Member Photocard with Photo Stand — Jungkook)
Finally, the extra goodies. Each album sold from the first press run came with a poster; if you bought it from Weverse Shop, the poster came rolled in a poster tube, but if you bought it from any other retailer (online or physical store), the poster came folded inside the box. (This is actually huge reason why I still pre-order albums from Weverse Shop.) Note that the poster will no longer be available after the first press run. As I pre-ordered the Proof set from Weverse Shop, I got a special edition gift, which is a randomized member photo film strip, for which I pulled RM. The second gift was given to anyone who pre-ordered the Standard Edition from Weverse Shop, which was a randomized member photocard with a clear magnetic photo stand, and I pulled Jungkook for this one. All albums that were pre-ordered from Weverse also came with an adorable randomized member BTS Island: In the Seom photocard, which also doubled as a coupon code for the game. 

And now we know why this album is so expensive. It's beautifully packaged and well-thought out, jam-packed full of content, and includes a whopping 48 songs. An amazing introduction to new ARMY, a spectacular walk down memory lane for old ARMY, and a gorgeous album to add to any ARMY's collection.