Affinity

I should have known the sheer number of AC fans there are residing in Singapore. I've just checked, we rank 7th (coincidence or not?) in country of most hits for AdventChildren.net.

For a small country like us, it's quite an achievement.

If you want an illustration of how many and how scary AC fans can get, here's one.

MMM imported 150 copies of AC to be sold on the actual release date, i.e. 14.09.05, meaning yesterday, and it got sold out in 50 minutes.

I never stood a chance. They only accepted walk-in purchases anyway, so that means that unless I skipped school, there wasn't any chance that I would get it yesterday.

And I've had quite a few more amazing finds today.

Record of Findings:

1. It pays to wear the hongzi to MMM.

This is apparently so because seeing the hongzi gives the staff an impression that you're (in Laoba terms) "affluent". Thus the staff will suddenly become rather friendly towards you and will kindly tempt you with many things (that I don't suppose he does for everyone else who've stepped in).

And I've remembered to cover the back of my file up today, because I totally forgot about it yesterday. Strange how I don' want to give my "I'm a total crazy rabid fangirl" identity away. AC pics on the back of file certainly says alot. It also says that I don't invest in something more "official".

2. First Print Limited Edition was just out of reach! Just!

I saw it!! It was the first print limited edition! The cover looks sooo nice and it was really right in front of me. No, it wasn't just another magazine scan, it was the actual thing. It even had the price tag on.

Of course he would first try to tempt me with that.

My eyes went wide and I immediately asked "Is that for sale?" Which he promptly replied "No, only for reserve. It's not for sale"

Ahem. An obvious clue that he must be plotting some trap. Show me something so droolworthy and tell me politely that it's "not for sale" and "for reserve only"?

3. Ultimate Edition is damned expensive.

Remember last time I calculated and said that it costs approximately SGD450? Looks like I was wrong. It is, officially, a whopping $650, at market price. Goodness.

This is what it means to be extremely Limited Edition.

I was informed that there are only 77,777 sets of this Ultimately Limited Edition in the entire world, and that Singapore has only 15 sets(I think). By the time I got there, there's only one left in their store for sale.

Who on earth are these insanely rich people who can actually afford and don't mind paying for something like AC. I mean, it's not that worth it, I think. $650 down the drain. I think my mum asked for the price at least three times.

But but but, it was so grand a feeling, perhaps because of the size of the black box which contained the whole set. Larger than what I expected, and I saw the smaller black box with "Cloud and Fenrir" printed on its top fit snugly into one of the corners of the larger box. Oh shucks.

The mere fact that I've got to see it already stuns me. The guy was actually nice enough (or plotting enough) to open the box for me. Otherwise, those people who just stare at the display case will only get to see the outside and admire just how beautifully black the box is. With the design there, of course. But to see what's inside...! I think I was too shocked and excited that I forgot to take note of how everything looked like. My mind's pretty much blank now. Don't remember anything else.

4. I'm starting to see 7s everywhere. And yes, I mean everywhere.

Look, FF7; I'm 127 on the preorder list; my FFVII Platinum Edition has the serial numbers 00867, 10867, and 20867; Singapore's 7th on the list; My printer printed an error page 7; yesterday wwas the big day and it was the 7th post in a row! And no doubt SE wanted exactly 77,777 set of that ridiculously expensive Limited Edition set.

Next thing I want, is an all lucky 7s effect during exams. And I think we have 7 major subjects.

5. People in school are rather good at the art of ripping and burning things.

And are rather effiecient too. However, people in other parts of the world are even more efficient, because they are the ones who make the subs, rips, and uploads in the first place.

As a final note, yay for Free Trade Agreement and a whole lot of other stuffs that make AC more possible to come to us! Fortunately (or rather, unfortunately) my hyper has died down a bit, so at least I won't be able to go without sleep for long now. Off to bed!