The pre-release has already sold out at CDJapan.
Currently available on Ebay for $230 or so from Japanese Ebay sellers.

Still in stock at Tower.jp

Thanks for that. This will be my very first order from Tower Jp. Hope all goes well.

The English-language WorldShopping service is very straightforward and reliable, but not the cheapest. I use them for everything not available through CDJapan (which is a bit cheaper). You just order and they take care of the rest -- just keep an eye on your email for when you need to choose & pay for the overseas shipping provider.

Yes. thus far really straight forward and much like the Buyee service I have used in the past. It will be interesting to see how the final price compares to the Ebay seller prices. I found Buyee price to be about the same in the end. I think the World Service price will end up to be less than Ebay, if the shipping estimate is close.

Where I am I always end up having to pay exorbitant import taxes, highway robbery-like customs handling fees, etc., but still it ends up below eBay sellers' prices. Not always a lot, but enough to make a difference.

I imagine without those taxes and fees you should end up with an even clearer difference. (Not sure how things stand where you are.)

The advantage that CDJapan has is that you can choose to pay the VAT at the time of purchase (in advance, so to speak), so you skip those handling fees at customs. Plus they have cheaper shipping options to choose among.

Steven, I often order discs from Tower Records and I always do it via Buyee. I have always received my orders, complete and well packaged. (I'm in Canada, by the way.) Buyee now has a plug-in that you can add to your browser. That way, you can order directly from several Japanese websites, including Tower Records.

World Shopping is great. They're efficient and they really pack your order well. However, they are very expensive! I always prefer to use Buyee over World Shopping if I can choose. World Shopping isn't worth the extra cost, in my opinion.

CD Japan is good, too. But I have never tried their proxy service.

Hm, I guess we all have our preferences. For Japanese releases I have found CDJapan to be the best and lowest cost option. But everything is not always available. As for the Proxy Service, I find that to be very good and have used it a few times. It is lower cost than buying from an Ebay seller.
I used to like Buyee for the Esoteric purchases. But once I found that the final cost was about the same as buying from an Ebay seller, Buyee was not worth the trouble. And now I usually use the local, Australian, dealer for my Esoteric purchases and get them the next day, and at lower total cost. So it will be interesting to see how this one purchase turns out for me.

What works out cheaper probably depends on your country, too. For example, what works best if you live in Canada might be more expensive if you're in Australia.

Yesterday I received the shipment notification. WS service must have a deal with DHL as that was less than EMS. In the end I saved a few dollars over buying from one of the Ebay sellers. And I saved a fair bit over the one Ebay seller I would have preferred from prior transactions. I have learned to be cautious with the Japanese Ebay sellers.

Well, it came today, one week after order. That is about as fast as it gets for international orders. I might have preferred a bit less cost on the shipping and waiting a few days for arrival. But it is what it is. It is nice to have this as a buying option.
And so..........................
Already listened to the first two discs..................and the sound is great.
Nice to have this Miles Classic Set finally on sacd!

Mine, too, but I was slapped with a USD 50 customs & handling fee at the country border.... The devils!

But the sound really is very good; a big and extremely seductive improvement over all previous versions. They've done a tremendously good job with the DSD-remastering. A big candidate for te reissue-of-the-year prize for me! Can't get enough of it, enjoying it in bliss every evening.

My set ordered from CDJapan just arrived. $170/€160 total charge. It escaped the customs.

NB: acc. to Tower, 500 more copies are pressed due to the demand. 1500 copies in total.

A few characters were omitted from the mastering description included in this listing. It should read "192kHz/24bit..."

*Using the original analog master used when MOSAIC RECORDS released the 10-disc LP BOX released in 1995.
*Mastering using the sound source digitized to 192KHz/24bit from the above analog master and converting it to DSD, realizing the world's first SACD hybrid.
*The CD layer also uses the latest remastered sound source.
*Mastering Engineer: Mr. Koji Suzuki, Mr. Kaoru Ishibashi (Sony Music Studio)
*Includes 10 tracks that are 1-2 minutes longer than the first domestic release, and tracks that are longer than 9 minutes (the first complete domestic release).
* New commentary by Takao Ogawa. Includes 16-page English booklet and Japanese translation of each disc booklet.
* stereo recording

Two points in the description I found interesting. The tape source for this new release was the "analog master used when MOSAIC RECORDS released the 10-disc LP BOX". That doesn't specify that it was the original master set of tapes. Mark Wilder created new analogue tapes from existing multichannel studio tapes around the time of the Mosaic LP issue. Does anyone have the Mosaic LP set? Perhaps the original liner notes clarify the tape provenance.

Longjohns, thanks for sharing your impression that the sound quality of the SACDs was much improved over earlier releases. Very high-quality tape machines, tape heads and repro amps, and the application of EQ and other signal processing in the 24/192 domain could account for those improvements. It's great to know that this historic set was well preserved.

Perhaps down the line Sony will expand the market for this reissue beyond the 1500 who purchase the SACD set, and issue the music as a 24/192 download.

I have been working my way thru these discs. They are so good that I kind of wonder why I haven't just gone thru the whole lot in one go.
The cd set has long been out of print. This set is definitely worth getting given what is available now.

Agreed, Steven; I can't detach myself from this set, either. It's all remarkably bewitching as far as the sound quality goes, and the playing – well, seductive in the same way, with Miles playing mostly straight up while the band goes off, playing standards and Miles's regular tunes from this period fabulously freely and far more excitingly; that's what makes this set deservedly so famous and loved. It's a really showcase for Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams in the first place, and wow how good they are (and how good they sound, in this mastering; it all becomes very physical to you as a listener, a big part of the pleasure) – fresh, fierce, and fabulous, like they just landed on this planet. The privilege of being able to be there with them through this set is immense.