Reddit mentions of Dakimakura Body Pillow (150cm x 50cm, DHR6001, High Class)

DHR 6001

Gate Japan

Amazon

Seems the bad reviews on Amazon come from not being filled enough. I do not have the DHR 6001 so i do not know if that is the case.

Pillow
Alright so the first part of a pillow is knowing the size you need, are your covers that you have, or are interested in 150x50 or 160x50.


The problem with I think any body pillow is, is the fact that they will sag/flatten over time of use. The higher quality pillow, the longer they will generally last. I have never used a Walmart body pillow, but I can only assume the quality of that pillow is far inferior to almost any other pillow, especially because it only costs 12$. If you are using the dakimakura for usage, you have to invest in 2 different products. The pillow and ofcourse the dakimakura.


If you want to avoid having a somewhat high cost for a body pillow, you are rather limited in your options. I assume that you are from the United States, I assume this because you are talking about Walmart. In the United States you have a decently priced option for a pillow and the shipping shouldn't be too high in price.
http://www.royalpillow.com/body-pillows.asp
So are those pillows really good? I only have experience with the Cluster fiber or Polyester Fiber version (Can't remember which one I had). Was it good? Uhmmm due to the fact it was my first body pillow I thought it was oke. It started flattening still rather quickly though. And for the cost of the product I couldn't expect anything more really. Non the less I used it for a bit over a year, this was mostly because the cost of a pillow is much higher for me. In Europe there is no option like royalpillow for a low priced pillow that had the size I needed. If you are searching for a 160x50 you have to call them to order the custom product, this is not a size they have on their website.


The pillow we recommend though is a different story in price. It's the DHR6000. This is a pillow that's a much higher quality, the actual product cost is around 80$. But it ships from Japan, so the shipping cost will be another 70$ I think. Is ~150$ worth it to you? That is all up to you, that is the pillow I would recommend. For me, it was worth the extra investment. The DHR6000 is 160x50, for the 150x50 you will need the DHR6001


Dakimakura
A dakimakura is the actual cover of the body pillow. You said you purchased your covers from the likes of Amazon and Ebay for less than 50$. This is a clear sign you are buying bootleg covers.


What does a bootleg cover mean you might ask. A bootleg cover means the art on that cover is stolen from artist and used without permission of the artist. That is why you will be able to find those covers for so cheap, they didn't need to invest in the art. A bootleg cover you can purchase from anywhere between 40$ up to 90$ if I remember correctly. Those prices are considered cheap in this hobby. The lower the price the worse the quality of the material. But I'll come back on the material topic.


Next to bootleg covers, there are another 2 classifications of covers. These other 2 classification are considered the legitimate market in comparison to the bootleg market which is considered illegitimate.


Doujin / Circle cover. These covers are created by artists from the fan base. This is by far the most common sort of cover amongst the legitimate covers. The price for these covers are normally 12000 yen(~100$). And they are made from 2WT(Best material). You can either get them while they are up in their preorder period or on the second hand market.


Officially licensed covers. These covers are made by the likes of COSPA and are made with full permission from the company behind the character that is depicted on the cover. These will cost around 10k yen (~85$), but are printed on materials such as Smooth Knit (Half way in between material). It is difficult to find the character you want in these classification.


Material
As brutal as it may sound. But the only material you want for your dakimakura is 2 Way Tricot (2WT), every other material is inferior and is kind of a waste of money really.


In the 2WT material group there is a lot of different, all depending on the manufacturer. Bootlegs offer 2WT as well, but they are at the worst end of the 2WT group, the preferred 2WT are from A&J and P80(There are more, but these ones came up in my head first).


The covers you have are made from Peach skin, this is quite clear because of the price you paid. And all I can say is, you do not want peach skin. The material just feels off, the print quality ain't even good. There is no stretch in the material.


How to spot a bootlegger
I will just quote a previous post from /u/DakimakuraGuy for this.

• If the site is in English, it's probably a bootlegger. The few exceptions to this are big Japanese sites that also run an English store (Mandarake, Hobby Search, AmiAmi, etc..)
  
  
• Generally, legit covers run ~/> $100, and the price will almost always be in yen (regular MSRP is usually 12000 yen.) That doesn't mean you won't find deals for less than that, but if a site its selling nothing but covers in the $40-80 range, it's probably a bootlegger.
  
  
• If a site offers multiple materials types for every cover listed, it's probably a bootlegger. If a site offers peachskin, *it is a bootlegger.
  
  Those tips are probably enough to weed out 90% of the bootleggers you'll come across. The other 10% can be a bit trickier, so if you ever have any questions feel free to ask.
  
  
  If you are willing to invest more in your dakimakura and need help finding a cover, or searching through the Japanese sites. You are always welcome to ask for help here. In the case of the price range you are searching, I can't help you further because I don't advocate the willingly knowing purchase of bootlegged covers.

No, there are some minor variations in size. 160x50cm is by far the most common size, however, there are some companies that still use 150x50cm, which was previously the industry standard.

If you want the absolute best pillow, the DHR6000 (or DHR6001 if you buy that pillow, since it's 150x50cm) is the pillow that I personally recommend, but it isn't cheap. It's also only available on sites that don't ship internationally, so you'd have to use a proxy service to order it. If you're interested, you can find a listing for it here.

The DHR 6001 is 150 sized. Most people here seem to suggest just buying a DHR 6000 and removing some stuffing when you want to use a 150 cm cover. I believe amazon stopped shipping them internationally, so you'd have to use a proxy or a forwarder.

Well, it's supposed to be 150x50 cm, but unfortunately, she didn't really choose the best printing service; ignoring the disappointing stitching, I just measured both the Kanna and Rem dakis at 144x46 cm. I haven't tried putting either of them on a pillow yet, but I have another one of the same width, and she was a bit "feisty" to put on. I would probably suggest removing some stuffing from the pillow and saving it in a plastic bag if you attempt that.

Anyway, you're like me when it comes to the pillow sizes~ I don't know too much about the <6k numbers, though I think the 5ks are hypoallergenic or something. However, the two ones you'll typically want are DHR6000 and DHR6001. The former is 160x50, and the latter is 150x50 (which I happen to have two of). So, while you could get the 6000 and remove a bit more stuffing than normal, I'd suggest the 6001 to start: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00PIM8OTO

Difference in DHR6001 vs DHR4001? From one of the older questions it seemed the 4000 series has a little less filling but is more guaranteed to satisfy.
I personally would like more filling, but from the reviews off of Amazon.jp:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00FPEE2WS/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=187205609&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00PIM8OTO&pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_r=0XZWH45PAYK8Y0BB1RAT

vs

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%8A%B1%E3%81%8D%E6%9E%95%E6%9C%AC%E4%BD%93-J%E3%82%AA%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B8%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB-DHR6001-%E3%83%8F%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9-150cm%C3%9750cm/dp/B00PIM8OTO

It seemed the 6001 is perceived more negatively, while the 4001 got all favorable reviews. What's the big deal? Should I just order the 4001 to be safe?