Limited Edition Singles/Albums?
 

I'm really curious to know which singles and albums are either limited or first press and what are their extras. Anyone would be so kind to fill me in please?

I think "The Past and Other Side of Ayu" is really rare, cos they stopped making it over a lawsuit between labels.. It has Nothing From Nothing and the previously unreleased 3 remix singles.. I saw it in a nearby shop the other day but ended up purchasing Duty instead because Duty only cost a third of the price of that set.. Get it if you are a fan like me and you are rich!!

Daybreak (CDS) was in limited press I think. But I'm not sure..
Also, MY STORY and A BALLADS had different variants of the cover during first press and are no longer available. I don't know what else though. I only know that some Ayumi Vinyls are pretty rare like the 'M' vinyl 12" record which only has 350 copies floating around the world. =p

EDIT: Also, Ayumi's Snow White video is very rare (http://www.eneabba.net/ayu/disco/vid...Snow_white.htm) and the "H" single has a limited version with all front cover variations too.

Another thing, which I forgot, was that Ayu-mi-x II originally had a limited edition glittery case which includes a plastic back insert. :yes

^ 350 copies? woah.. that's so little..

Yeah. xD I think someone uploaded the mp3s from that vinyl off it ages ago.
If you keep shopping on e-bay you are bound to find something. ^^ However, rare stuff can reach $200+

Nah I'm not that rich ^^; I'm most interested in the limited editions/first presses of the albums for now. Thank you for telling me about it though ^^

if it's the one with the pink lettering, i have that! yay!

"The Past and Other Side of Ayumi Hamasaki" is produced by a bootleg company. It really has no collectors value, unless you just buy it for listening. So never buy it at an inflated price, since it's just a bootleg.

The originals of 'the OTHER SIDE' remix singles on the other hand, are rare, as with the excerpts from Ayu-mi-x III. The first of 'the OTHER SIDE' (the red one) is the rarest with only 10,000 copies produced. I brought 'the OTHER SIDE 2' and 'the OTHER SIDE 3' for fun since they were cheap, but to be honest, the remixes were boring. The packaging is ncie though...

Initial Pressing only singles - 300,000 copies
- appears
- kanariya
- Fly high
- SURREAL
- AUDIENCE
- Daybreak

The first 3 is the rarer of the bunch, with 'appears' commonly believed to be the rarest. It's not that difficult to find sealed copies of AUDIENCE and Daybreak.

"A" single
- 8 versions with different colour discart, the track order is also different in each version, but the tracks are identical.
- Initially released in blue/green/orange/pink
- Black version is the regular version
- A version is released after it sold 1,000k and another version is released after it sold 1,500k.
- There is also a version different to the gold disc version, but is very similar.

"H"
- First press, 3 variations. Different cover art, different colour. Available in Pink/Green and Blue.
- Regular version is white.
- Limited version released in digipack containing all 4 covers after it sold 1,000k.

"Free & Easy"
- First press has Ayu's face on the discart.
- Regular press only has clouds on the discart.
But the first press isn't all that rare, many people have the first press.

"A BEST"
- First press, slipcase + 6 variations on the inside cover. You can't choose which cover you want.

"A Ballads"
- First press, as with above, available in 4 variations.

"MY STORY"
- First press, 4 cover variations, but you can choose your choice of cover.

"RAINBOW"
- First press, password to preview instrumental of the un-released RAINBOW track at the time. "00. RAINBOW" is listed on the tracklist at the back.

"I am..."
- First press, extended OBI + slip allowing you to pre-order her tour tickets. Quite useless outside of Japan.

"Ayu-mi-x II"
- Glitter covers as mentioned.

And the Japan version of LOVEppears includes bonus CMs on the CDExtra, such as her Honda CMs and Momoten Peach Water CMs from 1999. My OS Version doesn't have them, as with others. Although some people claim their OS version has those CMs, it appears to be inconsistent.

Wow you covered all of them, ~K+. O__O Wow, this store has had the H single in blue and its been sitting there for a year now. LOL I might go buy it later. XDD

I think the A BALLADS disc art was in inverted black at one point. Or was it just the overseas version?

I think it's the OS Version. Also I heard that OS Versions contain first press versions as regular versions. Is it true?

I don't know about that. But I think that has some truth.

I was going to buy MY STORY, but they had sold out. I also found out that the 4 cover variations had run out around the same time. D: But the next time they ordered some in, they had the variation version of the CD. O_o;; I wouldn't know since I dont have enough J-pop cds. ^^;;

In most cases, yes. The overseas version tend to carry the bonuses that comes with the first press releases. Alot of the times when a DVD is offered as a first press bonus (But not when it's available as a CD+DVD version as an alternative to a CD-only version), the OS tend to only release one version with the DVD included.

There are exceptions of course.

Lucky you told me that ~K+!!! Thank god I havent purchased it yet...

Yeah, agree with Mad Cactuar. Actually we seen it in the same shop!! I saw the price and I have to give up my breakfast and lunch for two weeks to purchase it!!

I'm not sure how true that is but I have a suspicion that OS versions have more pressings of the limited/first presses than Japan. I thought I've seen the glitter cases and non-glitter cases of "ayu-mi-x II" OS versions and I know that the OS "Free & Easy" has the first pressing and regular pressings (when I saw these two F&E singles in Taiwan, the first press which I bought cost a little more).

As for OS CD+DVD's, they do have the CD only versions available.

I meant for DVDs that comes as first press bonuses only, not where an option is available for you to choose whether you want the CD-Only or CD+DVD. Ayu's never had a release with a DVD that comes only as a first press bonus.

wow so appears is relli rare!

then if i ever come across an appears single, i shall buy it right away!

Oh, hahahaha, sorry, I didn't understand what you were posting about before since you mentioned the CD+DVD in the same sentence.

I bought ayumix II remixes (OS on yesasia) only a month ago, and they had the special glittery cases :P :)