NCT 127 released their second full length album NCT #127 Neo Zone on March 6 with 13 tracks. The album comes in three different versions; N, C, and T. The album includes a CD, photo book, a lyric book, a postcard book, a folded poster, a sticker of the members, a random circle card, and a random photo card. The T version includes an additional lenticular card and a sticker set consisting of six mini stickers.
Streaming Kick It’s Music Video
The album was preceded by the release of the song Dreams Come True on NCT 127’s fourth anniversary, January 27, which was accompanied by its music video. The music video of the title track, Kick It, was also released beforehand and premiered on March 4 on YouTube. It currently has over 40 million views.
Streaming the Album
Ever since the day album was released onto music streaming platforms, I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. The song titles are Elevator (127F), Kick it, Boom, Pandora’s Box, Day Dream, Interlude: Neo Zone, MAD DOG, Sit Down!, Love Me Now, Love Song, White Night, Not Alone, and Dreams Come True. The album has a variety of different genres which expresses NCT 127’s unique music colour. Besides the title track, my personal favourites have been Boom, Sit Down!, White Night, and Not Alone.
Breaking My Album Ban
At first, I wasn’t planning on buying the album as I vowed to stop buying them since I realised there was no use in buying albums that I’ll look at once then leave on my shelf to collect dust.
I used to be an avid album collector when I was younger, especially when I was a fan of EXO. Back then, I would buy every single album they came up with in both Korean and Chinese versions, even if I never actually cared much for them.
As a teenager, I vividly remember visiting The Rock Corner, a music store in Malaysia, every day after school just to see what was new and admire the albums I didn’t have the money to buy. It was also where I would buy tickets for K-Pop concerts. After going through this phase, I just didn’t understand why I was wasting money on things I have no use for so I decided to go on an album ban in hopes of controlling my habit of buying things on impulse.
The ban worked pretty well… until now.
After watching all my friends on Twitter unbox their albums and showing which member’s photo cards they got, I got just a little bit jealous but I still resisted. I survived years without buying an album so I was sure I could resist the temptation.
Fast forward a few weeks later then the Coronavirus outbreak happened. I was stressed from having to move from the UK to my home country Malaysia and from having to self-quarantine, but most of all, I was stressed from not being able to leave my room. One of my favourite pastimes while in the UK was to go shopping at Oxford Street by myself. Now, with no way to release my frustrations in the form of retail therapy, I was even more tempted to get Neo Zone, especially because I genuinely loved the music and I wanted to support the artist in some way.
Finding the Album Online
Finally, I made the decision to get the album so the next step was to find out how. I started searching for places that sold the album online since by then, Malaysia had been on lockdown so all non-essential shops were closed. I found some sites but I wanted to buy from the official SM global shop (NCT 127 is managed by SM Entertainment), so I happily put all the merchandise in my cart but when I went to check out, I was appalled by the shipping prices.
Eventually, I decided to purchase them through Shopee, a popular online shopping platform in Malaysia. At first, I only intended to buy the T version but I ended up caving and getting all three from two different sellers.
The T Version
First, I purchased the T version on April 2 then I waited patiently for it to be shipped to me. I soon ran out of patience and impulsively bought the N and C versions from a separate seller. Both packages arrived on the same day, April 20. After days of waiting, I was so eager that I completely forgot to film an unboxing video but I did remember to take plenty of pictures so that I could write an appropriate review for the seller.
The T version arrived earlier in the day so that was the first album I got to unbox. My first thought when I saw it was that it was a lot bigger than I expected. The photo/lyric book was huge, approximately the size of a magazine and it was a delight to flip through the pages.
The sticker of the members, circle card, and photo card was in the photo book whilst the CD, folded poster, lenticular card and sticker set was placed in a separate plastic pack.
I ended up using the stickers to decorate my laptop!
The seller also included a free gift of a photo card of NCT 127 member, Winwin.
The N and C versions
Later the same day, the N and C versions arrived. The N version has a yellow colour scheme whilst the C version has a red one. The photo book, lyric book, postcard book, folded poster and sticker of the members are packaged in a plastic cover whilst the circle card random photo card and CD are placed in the lyric book.
Here is what the N version looks like:
Here is what the C version looks like:
The seller also included some extra photo cards as a free gift.
DIY Phone Case
I was tempted to make a DIY phone case using the pictures in the album but I didn’t want to damage them. My friends suggested that I could scan and print copies of the pictures I wanted to use so that I didn’t have to cut up my albums. The DIY phone case became a trend shortly after Neo Zone’s release and it became so popular that even the members of NCT 127 themselves participated in the trend.
Despite being a completely impulsive decision, I was extremely happy with my purchase and I soon decided to splurge some more money on SuperM’s first mini album which will be reviewed here as soon as it arrives. I was especially happy that I got my bias’ Mark and Haechan for my photo card and circle card!
Here are some of my favourite Neo Zone unboxing videos:
k-talk 