To Buy or Not to buy

(Published June 2006)
After reading an evaluation on Image Vol I in bb’s blog, I now have a new appreciation on all official BYJ products. I begin to think what kind of consumers are BYJ fans and what is the true value of these products to them?




As you already know, a product has to go through many stages before it can be put on a shelf – requirements gathering, design, usability testing, manufacturing, quality assurance and marketing. We have no doubt that the financial objective of any business is to maximize profits. Some tend to disregard any quality, safety and copyrights issues to boost up their bottom line. Then there are those upright, responsible business people with a heart, like Bae Yong Joon, who would ensure his customers are getting top quality, good-valued products. (Good lord! I am writing like an economist?! Jaime, snap out of this business mumble-jumble and get on with it, will ya? …….)

Sure we all have different purchasing and collecting habits. I put them into 3 different categories : collectors (snatch up anything, even a café B month-old half-eaten muffin!), some are more selective (only take fresh uneaten muffin still in a wrapper) and some are supporters in heart (just snap a picture of the muffin – old or new). Let’s examine each category :




Half-eaten muffin - You either have a whole house full of empty closets or you are determined enough to throw all your furniture out the door to make room for your BYJ purchases. Otherwise, how do you manage to accommodate those DVD sets, photo albums, posters, calendars, magazines, stamps, café B mugs, receipts, muffin crumbs, stained coasters, 4 seasons Joon bears, 4 colored keychains, 3 kinds of polaris necklaces, pinky rings, old model LG phones, 9 boxes of Lotte chocolates and 8 bottles of 7 Acha? (I feel like I am singing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ here!) And may I take a wild guess, if you don’t live in Korea or Japan, then you husband must be either the Trade Minister or Mafia smuggler for all these precious items to be accessible to you. Either case, you are a very lucky lady to have a whole house-ful of BYJ.




Unwrapped muffin - You have distinguished taste and know exactly what you want in life. You scour through every streets and shopping websites to select only the items that are near and dear to your hearts. Who can forget that Gucci ‘Icon’ ring on his pinky finger when he flipped over that double-sided coin at the seashore in Winter Sonata? Or that Cartier ‘Screw Motif’ band he wore at his Image Vol I exhibition in Seoul waving at thousands of fans? How about that Louis Morais ‘Rock Star’ necklace that he dangled on his sexy muscular chest during his Gosireh trip to Japan? And the ever-present ‘holey’ distressed ‘True Religion’ jeans hiding his long lean hairy legs?




Picture of a muffin - Congratulations! You are in a category of women with strong will power and extreme self control. You do not need to surround yourself with physical knick-knacks, instead you are content with BYJ exists JUST in your mind. Now, do you mind sharing with the rest of us how you manage to do it, thereby saving us from filing for bankruptcy? But no no, you still have to get that Image Vol I, I guarantee that you will actually feel you HAVE a piece of Yong Joon (after all, it’s his GIFT to us! - but he still has to charge you US$149.99 + tax + shipping and handling). Hey, besides, how can you resist that handsome sexy hunk baring his chest all sticky and sweaty and ……. he hu he hu he hu, breathe easy girl……




Unfortunately, I fall into that pitiful ‘half-eaten muffin’ category but without the bankbook to match. Regardless of how much or how little BYJ memorabilia we possess, they have very special and different meanings to each one of us. Some may choose to display them while others prefer to store them in a safe place. Some love to share with friends while others prefer to cherish them on their own. No matter how we treat these memorabilia, we love how much our prince has brought us joy and sweetness in our hearts. What is the true value of ‘anything BYJ’ mean to you?