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CD Shopping Guide
Recommended
- CD Japan - located and ships from Japan. Good for getting first press. Lots of potential savings with coupons if you're a frequent customer.
- YesAsia - located in Hong Kong, ships from multiple locations. Free shipping, but slightly higher prices to compensate.
Amazon.com
Much higher prices than CD Japan or YesAsia, but if you live in the USA you'll save on customs duties and shipping.
- SailorStars Best Songs Collection (tracks)
- PGSM Complete Song Collection (tracks)
- PGSM Koro-chan Pack 1 (all tracks appear on PGSM Complete Song Collection, except for Kirari*SailorDream Original Karaoke)
- PGSM Koro-chan Pack 2 (all tracks appear on PGSM Complete Song Collection, except for Kirari*SailorDream Original Karaoke)
- PGSM DJ Moon Vol. 2 (tracks)
- PGSM DJ Moon Vol 3. (tracks)
- PGSM Sailor Moon Character Single: Tsukino Usagi (tracks)
- Sailor Moon Memorial Album of the Musical 13 - Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (tracks)
- Sailor Moon Memorial Album of the Musical: Eternal Edition 4 (Marina Moon Special Edition) (tracks)
Amazon Japan
The Amazon Japan site is primarily in Japanese, but there is a "Click here to see in English" option that translates some of the information. Account information is also English. International shipping is more expensive than CD Japan or YesAsia.
Avoiding Pirated Goods (Bootlegs)
The sale of bootleg anime CDs, DVDs, and related merchandise helps fund criminal activities. Do read The Pirate Anime FAQ before shopping on Ebay or anywhere that is not a trusted retailer. CD Japan, YesAsia, RightStuf,
and Amazon are all trustworthy online retailers which sell only
licensed items. The easiest way to check if a CD is licensed and not a
bootleg is by the serial number and producer (all the cover scans on
Sailormusic.net are of the licensed editions). Avoid anything from
"SonMay" or "EverAnime".
Tips
- Serial number: Licensed Sailor Moon CDs all start with COCC-, CODC-, COCX-, or FMCC-. Bootleg CDs start with ANG-, SM-, GGG-, GA-.
- Back of case: the name "SonMay" or "Ever Anime" will be printed on the bottom of the CD backside if bootleg. Licensed Japanese CDs will say Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. or Forte Music Entertainment Inc.
- Price: bootleg CDs are cheap, often as low as $10-$15 USD. The cost of licensed Japanese CDs ranges from $27-35 USD. However many stores that carry SonMay/Ever Anime CDs mark up the prices quite a bit. These CDs sell for under $10 USD in Taiwan but are marked up to $16-20 USD in North America and online. Some of their CD booklets leave out a few pages (not lyrics, just "extras"). Both of the Sailor Moon Memorial Box Sets have been bootlegged, and some online stores charge nearly as much for the SonMay/EverAnime box sets as the real thing! This often fools people into thinking they're getting the licensed version. From what I've heard the CDs themselves play fine, but the stiff cardboard boxes that hold the box sets are much flimsier than the licensed sets from Nippon Columbia (Columbia Japan).
- Location: Bootlegs are commonplace in Chinatown stores. Any online store selling anime CDs for $20 USD or less is probably selling bootlegs.
Secondhand
These stores have licensed, used albums for sale and some will notify you when something you're looking for becomes available. Shipping and import duty can be expensive. Disclaimer: I have not purchased from any of these sites myself (aside from Amazon Japan, and that was directly from the store and not a third-party seller).- Amazon Japan like the American Amazon lists out of print products for sale by third-party sellers. Of course it's in Japanese...
- JPQueen - site is in English and has a good help section. Looks quite easy to order from compared to Amazon Japan.
- JUNGLE Special Collectors Shop
Japanese Auction Services
I've never tried this method myself, but a visitor wrote in with this suggestion for purchasing directly from Japan through Yahoo Japan Auctions and third party auction services:
"To get the official Japanese CDs you have to search セーラームーン CD in Japanese on http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp. You may notice that some stores may not ship overseas so some fans are out of luck. There's a way, a shopping service that will ship the goods for you such as:
"I am a huge fan of Crescent Shop though they do charge like a wounded bull at times ;)! The good thing of Crescent Shop is their automated service: once the bidding is done, it's done in real time (payments and all)."
You should probably do some web searches on these sites first before using their services, to find out what kind of experiences other people have had.