Richard

AXIA MD | MD-im 1st Series This is the first of 4 series from Axia entitled MD-im. The exact release date is unknown, but it is probably around 2000. The diss were available as single discs in 6 colours. Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. There were mix packs of 5 colours available: (blue, purple, red, orange, yellow - no green) 2 different 3 Pack Mixes MD IM 80X3P MIX D (yellow, orange, red) MD IM 80X3P MIX K (green, blue, purple) There were also single colour 5 pack mixes available in each colour Single Colour Purple Mix Single Colour Purple 2 Pack Mix 3 Color Mix Pack (Purple, Green, Blue)

* Pictorial updated. The original images for this one were lost, but in honour of Ishii, I have updated his original post with a couple of photos of my own of these discs.

I don't think so either. It was more of a budget range type thing in Japan in shops like Daiso and supermarkets. There were not that many designs without cases. Interestingly Daiso also sold the cases separately as well in case you needed replacement ones. Not to mention various kinds of storage boxes.

* Post updated to add blue and pink 80 minute discs (retail hanger versions)

Yes, definitely! I'll try and organise a pictorial in the next few days

Wow, that's quite a lot of discs! 😁

I also had a small box from Japan this week.. It looked like this.. 😆

Unfortunately it might be a while as the discs in question are on the other side of the world at the moment, but if I manage to pick up another pack for a reasonable price in the meantime, I'll finish it off

Yes, Hikaru Utada (or Utada Hikaru if you're in Japan) is pretty much the biggest selling Japanese "pop" artist ever, currently based in London. At the time it was very common in Japan for manufacturers to have famous artists, in particular singers be their "campaign" artists. The Red Hot campaign also featured other artists in previous years, but the biggest campaign by far was in 1999/2000 featuring Hikaru Utada. The campaign promoted batteries and recordable media - amongst which MD. There was a special series of MD discs to tie in with the campaign and each pack featured a unique collectors card. I actually have a whole pictorial in draft status in the pictorials section, but didn't yet get around to finishing it, mainly because the discs I need to photograph are in storage. In any case, here are a couple of samples regarding the campaign from a Sony brochure targeted at dealers / resellers explaining the campaign.

Thanks @asivery - hopefully we'll be able to find a permanent solution to the login issues soon, but in the meantime this is really useful! 😊

I am not sure whether they were actually sold at concerts - I don't think so. Just the usual stores that stocked recordable media. However, it was pretty common for the big electronics and recordable media companies such as Victor, Axia, Sony, Maxell. TDK to have tie-ins with specific artists who they would use in promotional campaigns - on posters, tv commercials , magazines etc.. There aren't too many direct artist co-branded discs. The most famous ones would be the Sony Red Hot - Utada Hikaru discs. Other included the Judy & Mary (Japanese rock group) PS discs for Axia and the TDK "Glay" (another J Rock group) MD's. Below are some of the posters associated with this Maxell Nanase Aikawa campaign

* Pictorial updated to add limited edition 3 Color Mix Pack from the same series Limited Edition 5 Colour Pack

Victor MD | Victor KT-XM52 (Hello Kitty MD Player) This MD player was a given away as a prize in a mail-in contest in the "Play with Kitty" magazine in 2006. Victor players usually display the message "Hello" in the remote when you turn them on. This one of course says "ハロー キティ" or "Hello Kitty" in Japanese. Box and prize winners letter from Sanrio Contents and Accessories Main Unit Unique Pink Remote Charging Stand

I believe asivery is working on it. He showed me a beta that is able to read Hi-MD formatted discs and edit the track info, but it's still a work in progress

Nice green E620! I did have some luck on buffing up the front of mine with some of that cream that is used to polish watch bezels that I found on Amazon.. Need to be careful to stay away from the logo in the middle. This one

Thanks! - Sorry I should have explained the steps better 🙈

I was able to login on Chrome on the laptop, but needed to clear the cache for that site and allow unsecure content

Hey everybody! Nice to see you all again, and hope you had a good Xmas. Thanks to @BearBoyfor the letting me know about the site being back up, I had no idea..

Thanks! Yes, they were both Japan only players, I picked both of these up on Yahoo auctions in Japan. Have a couple more on the way - the XM-C31 and the XM-S51 and then that's probably enough Victor's for a while!

Victor MD | Victor XM-C17P-S (Silver) This is the silver version of the Victor XM-C17

Yes, they feature Saehan's classic design as featured on other discs with the semi frosted front, but in neon yellow and dark blue, with matching translucent cases (photo courtesy of Jay Tilston).

Victor MD | Victor XM-C17-R (Red) Presenting the Victor XM-C17 in Red. I love the deep red colour of this one (compared to the slightly more garish red of the C11).

Benetton MD | MD74 I'm not too sure of the year on these ones, but they were made by Saehan of Korea for Benetton, sold in Japan. Two colours - Blue and Yellow.

I've not heard of that before - interesting!

Nice!