Dakimakuras anyone?

That Miu cover came out nicely! Stupid circles and their "SAMPLE" censoring definitely gets in the way... And about the third cover, there is something odd about the front side of that cover. My eyes keep circling back to her face.

As I said, I like it but the color is a lot lighter then I expected especially being produced by A and Js. I mean all the Clochette covers have very bright and vibrant colors.
And don't worry, they are making covers for all the heroines.

I may have asked this before, but does anyone have any experience ordering through D-Stage: http://d-stage.com/shop/items.php ?

Also, it looks like the B&W lo' twins covers have started shipping as I received my tracking information yesterday. :)

You have. :P They were the very first special order I did through a proxy.

I've been to D-Stage's branch in Akihabara (they had one of the largest selections of Dakimakura), but I've yet to order from them online.. :p

Haha. I thought so. Thanks guys.
I want this cover (http://d-stage.com/shop/detail.php?seq=24062), but the thing that has me a little worried is the following line on the D-Stage product page: "メーカー品ではありませんので仕上りにはバラつきがあります。" It roughly translates to: "There are variations to finish because the products are not the manufacturer."

I haven't the slightest, but I honestly wouldn't be that worried about it myself.

It's probably a bad translation of the typical "because these are mass manufactured there may be slight differences in the final product" type of message.

Yeah, Google translate can make a mess of everything. I doubt D-Stage would sell any damaged products, and if you look at all the other items done by the circle, you can see that the message on every cover they've done. If you're still worried about it, you could try sending a message on Twitter to the circle; I've seen him reply a few times in English, and it might help clear some things up... maybe.

It's not so much that I am worried about defects or anything of that nature, it's more-so this apprehension of purchasing a cover long after it's first print date. Like, "how is it possible?" Does D-Stage have the original hi-res files for printing?

As far as I know, D-Stage is a consignment shop only; anything they carry was sent to them by the manufacturer/circle. Given your question, I'd say it's definitely best to contact the circle because they're the only ones that would be able to tell you one way or the other, I think.

This is probably gonna be a rookie question, but might as well ask; knowledge is power.

So, on YJA, there's the first button next to the first price listed, assuming with confidence that that's the button I hit to bid. Second one is the price to simply buy it (is what I assume, as well). What are the third and fourth things? Bids placed or something? Like on here, that third row was 2 earlier and now 16 today (at the time I write this).
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n112362324#enlargeimg

Well it looks like Sengendo has links to D-Stage on the front of their page. So I guess it's a safe assumption that they are legit, and as you said, consignment covers. I think I'll go for it.

D-Stage doesn't do international, do they? If not, I guess I'll add another cover to the ol' SMJ list. ;)

On the topic of D-Stage... I've been looking at covers on D-Stage for awhile now, but I can't seem to find if some of them are still in stock.

Yeah, D-Stage is definitely legit; they're similar to Toranoana or W-Canvas, a lot of circles use them. They don't ship internationally as far as I'm aware.

vietxmikey: Have some examples? Usually you'll see a preorder range and a button to preorder; if you don't see the button they're generally not available. However, sometimes they'll have stock after a preorder, but there's almost always a order button.

The 3rd is how much time is left. Normally listed in full days, after it goes under 1 day, it lists it in hours. I wonder if there's an option I'm not turning on to have it show the day and hours though instead of just the day. If you ever used noppin service and pull the auction up from there, you can see both day and hours.

The 4th row is how many people have bid on that item.

Thanks a bunch, but my questioned got answered already through messenger.

For example, these covers:
http://d-stage.com/shop/detail.php?seq=25963
http://d-stage.com/shop/detail.php?seq=27929 (I love her toned abs!)

They don't seem to have a specific number of stocks nor does it say it is out of stock anywhere.

Looks like stock goods to me. You can add them into your cart (up to ten, strangely.) I guess it's possible they may sell out, but generally that's an indication that the item is past a preorder period, they've received the item, and they still have some in stock. Or it could be a revolving item that is printed to order by the circle; generally speaking most do a limited window order, but Dakemakura keeps most of their covers available all the time, so it isn't out of the question that others do it too. The worst case scenario is that you order some of the items and they inform you that they don't have any left in stock, but honestly, you should be fine.

I think I recall someone who tried to buy something from D-Stage later finding out that they didn't have the item in stock afterall, the website wasn't up to date (I've had the same happen to me when ordering from Machicomic and W-Canvas). So it's possible that they have erroneously listed the items while no longer having stock. The only way to tell though would be to place an order and see what they come back with. They probably do have those covers in stock though as they're both relatively recent.

As I mentioned, their Akihabara branch had one of the largest collections of dakimakura available in a single store, so it seems likely they tend to buy more stock of the covers than they get pre-orders for. If so, they would reasonably often have some spare stock even long after the release date then.