Albums:
Since Sticker, NCT 127 albums have had condensed or vague pre-release periods. In the same period, Dream always have full amount of time and clearly defined release dates. More significantly, the 2 Baddies release had delayed shipments, last minute notifications to fans on promotions and events (like events with a studio audience) and an error where one of the members was missing in the photography, causing reprints. The Ay-Yo repack didn't have a confirmed date for months and even members didn't know when it was happening and pleading with us to wait for it. Despite having international bistro, shipments were delayed by weeks on Baddies, altho remedied at the last minute, which helped to get it Billboard charted, while Ay-Yo shipped internationally 2 months later than its release. Meanwhile, Dream was having a robust, clearly announced promotion sequence for Candy with no errors or disto delays.
Merch:
God even the merch is better. This is a running joke in the 127 fandom, because they have the worst and most lackluster merch.
In contrast, Dream has pajamas and slippers and jackets and cute stuff. Last time 127 had this type of thing was Neo Zone.
Tour: 127 Tour dates announced as they went, sometimes with as little as a few days notice they were on sale and sometimes not even confirming the dates until the event was happening so fans didn't know if it was legit or not. Tour promoters were often talking before the company was. For the first US shows, they told us three days before tickets went on sale and as typical for the tour, updated the poster just then. For the final legs, they did actually post a list of dates in advance, but that was over a year into the tour.
Tour announced in November 2021. It took until AUGUST 2022 to get a partial list of tour dates from when it was first announced. And that was dropped 2 days before US tix went on sale and just 5 days before Manila show. No festival appearances.
All of Dream's tour dates were announced at the start in February, giving fans a minimum of month's notice before ticket purchases and providing three months worth of specific shows. They also had multiple festival appearances.
I want to see all units succeeding! I want to see 127 AND Dream AND WayV AND DJJ AND Tokyo all doing lots of things. I want Dream to be a record-breaking top selling group and I want 127 too and WayV. But it's definitely frustrating to watch the difference on comebacks (WayV has also seen that even more so although the Phantom cb was well done and well handled.)