Dakimakuras anyone?

I'm strongly considering that HOP cover, and I like the 90th cover, too.

I just like gambling, as evidenced by my expenditures at D-Stage. There was also a booth at the KanColle event that had a similar prize system, where the top price was a Shimakaze cover (don't remember which one at the top of my head.) I think I ended up spending about 2000 yen (500 a try) and walked away with some cute stickers, keychains, and a Shimakaze poster.

I'd been looking at the Hold on Pillow covers recently, but as I've been waiting for BWStore to open pre-orders for the Non Non Biyori cover they previewed on their blog, I've been holding back on spending too much this month on covers. It's good that a lot of covers I think are nice are coming out, but also bad because I have to be selective and not just get them all.

Well, I unraveled the mystery of the marks blank certificate. I bought one of those and guess what? I bought the non cum version of Hotaru but with the same clothing.... or so I thought,turns out that the other side was the gantai girl.

You don't know how much I'm raging right now.

You take any pictures? :o

And it definitely sucks to get suckered into something like that, but I doubt it's the reason for the blank certificates. At events where Marks sells covers, they have full sample images posted for all of the covers they're selling that day. So it's likely whoever bought it knew what was on the other side. The only people who get screwed are those that buy on the secondhand market. It is pretty common for Marks to do different characters on either side. It definitely does suck, though. :/

Man this new Stylus/Ninoko cover is awesome, definitely going to get it:
http://stylus-inc.jugem.jp/?eid=481

I just bought a Reki dakimakura. Waiting a little impatiently for it.

I was really considering that, but then I saw Carnelian's new cover and opted for that instead. The different pose the secondary side had made it an instant purchase for me.

I have to agree that both are pretty good. I might try to get in an order for both, but I think I like the Carnelian cover more; any cover that has a backside image is typically favored over those that have a similar pose on both sides.

Yeah really liking the back side (pun intended) on the carnelian one, though I'm not completely sold on the front side. Something about the completely passive facial expression (and pose) puts me off a little.. I'll probably end up going for it none the less I guess..

I saw that this cover http://www.nijigenshingu.info/makura/img2014/785715novelty2.jpg was one of the freebies with clochette's latest upcoming game. And I was actually thinking of pre-ordering the game for it for once.. Then I checked and saw there's 3 different dakimakura covers depending which store you go for: http://a.sofmap.com/ec/topics/3367/12246639_toku_01.JPG and http://www.messe.gr.jp/images/item/pcgame/25153_139107837425957100.jpg as the other options.. not sure what I'll do now, I probably want to get all 3 covers via mandarake/YJA in the end anyway..

My gf goaded me into finally getting a Yoko daki and now I've been corrupted into wanting moar.

I suppose it's time to learn about all this stuff @.@

Haha yeah it's easy to get hooked fast once you give in!

Yeah, it wasn't something I thought I'd have much interest in but now I find myself scouring sites to start gathering my harem- er, characters of interest. Hard to say if I'd really start collecting these given the prices and such - I suppose the one I have is a bootleg since it wasn't expensive (like 40-50 on Amazon)? I don't mind paying the legit price for these though it does make me curious about durability and such.

I guess I'll need to track down the legit versions of the bootlegs I've found in initial searches like:

http://www.hobbyheart.com/sekirei-dakimakura-hugging-body-pillow-cover-p-364.html?osCsid=7d896a073e0f4311221badff91ca184b#.UzO_NfldWBo

Edit: Easier to find than expected - I supppose this is the real version?

http://eveningcall.net/InformationDetail.aspx?NewsId=42#.UzPDkPldWBo

Guess I'll look around more this weekend and get a better idea on how all this works once I stop thinking of more characters I want to find.

Since you said you were curious about durability and such, I'll cover the main differences between bootlegs/legit covers:

1. Art quality - This can vary a lot, but typically a bootlegger just rips whatever sample image the circle/company publishes. In some cases, they can get a pretty good copy, and there won't be much noticeable difference in art (Cospa covers come to mind here), but in other cases, the difference can be tremendous. If the circle publishes low resolution sample images, or has massive sample bars, that's when you'll usually see the biggest variation between the legit and bootleg.

2. Material - It isn't so much about durability here, but overall quality. In the $40-50 range that you paid, you probably got peach skin, right? Peach skin isn't elastic, has okay image clarity, and decent durability. Feel is a personal preference, but I don't care for it myself. 2-way materials (2-way tricot, roika, lycra, etc) is considered to be the premier material. It can vary depending on the manufacturer, but it's an elastic material, and generally has a very smooth feel, excellent image clarity, and reasonable durability. The main downside to 2W materials is the durability, as it is prone to snags, but as long as you're careful it will usually last for a good while.

Peach skin (which only bootleggers use) and 2WT is the main comparison, however, the different brands of 2WT definitely can come into play, too. Simply put, a generic/bootleg 2WT won't match up to the quality (image, feel, durability) or a quality 2WT brand.

Those are the two main differences between bootlegs and legit covers.

And yeah, the Evening Call version is the legit cover.

Does anyone know if there's an official version of this daki? All I can find is some Chinese bootleg seller on Amazon.

I'll buy the bootleg if I must. But I get the feeling it's a Taobao vendor, but I can't browse Taobao worth a damn.



http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00IOFV4WG

Well I had a look, but I couldn't find anything I'm afraid ;( Sorry!

When it comes to the Dakimakura that say used on Mandarake, Is there ever a chance that they have been "used"? The one I see that I kind of want says that it was opened and if you want to know more you can contact them. Was hoping to get an answer quick though so I can get the one I want without someone else buying it.

The exact wording is this

状態：開封
詳しい状態説明をご希望のお客様はお気軽にお問合せ下さい。
宇都宮店抱き枕

It's hit or miss, but typically fine. If you don't mind linking the auction, I might be able to get a better idea.

(Almost) Everything on Mandarake is secondhand, so all listings will have a "used" tag. However, the majority of the items are still going to be sealed. Sometimes a cover will be explicitly labeled as opened/damaged, but other times it won't be. You just have to take everything in and make your best judgment from there (price, store, text, etc are all important.)

If it makes you feel any better though, of the covers I've bought from Mandarake, I've only had 2-3 that were damaged in anyway, and most of those had text warning me beforehand (in addition to a cheaper price.)

Edit: The text of the auction does say "opened", which is usually a good indicator that the product has been opened, but it isn't 100%. However, there's no way of knowing the state of use (it could have just been opened to inspect/have no damage.) If the price is a lot lower than the cover should be, that's usually an indicator of damage.

Do you guys know of any smaller covers. I have a 90x70 cover, and i like how it fits on regular sized pillows, and i was wondering if there were anymore like that one (i googled it and came back with nothing).

Occasionally there are some smaller covers sold, either as freebies or just by themselves, however, they're definitely not as common and usually not as high quality, unfortunately.

Nonetheless, if you find any for sale, could you PM me a link so I can take a look? I'm assuming most of them are on non-english sites, which I suck at navigating.