# Box set

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{{Short description|Compilation of various media or other items packaged in a box}}
{{About|entertainment repackaging|other uses|Box set (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
[[File:KonoSuba TV BD-BOX, Bahamut Gamer Party 20181216a.jpg|thumb|A boxed set of the Japanese [anime](/source/anime) television series ''[KonoSuba](/source/KonoSuba)'' on [Blu-ray](/source/Blu-ray)]]
A '''boxed set''', or '''box set''' ([American English](/source/American_English)), is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.

==Music==
Artists and bands with a long and successful career often have [anthology](/source/anthology) or "essential" collections of their music released as boxed sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks. Some boxed sets collect previously released singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist, such as [Pink Floyd](/source/Pink_Floyd)'s ''[Oh, by the Way](/source/Oh%2C_by_the_Way)'' and ''[Discovery](/source/Discovery_(Pink_Floyd_box_set))'' sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums, such as Pink Floyd's ''Immersion'' versions of their ''[The Dark Side of the Moon](/source/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon)'' (1973), ''[Wish You Were Here](/source/Wish_You_Were_Here_(Pink_Floyd_album))'' (1975) and ''[The Wall](/source/The_Wall)'' (1979) boxes. Pink Floyd have also released ''[The Early Years 1965–1972](/source/The_Early_Years_1965%E2%80%931972)'' boxed set, which features mostly unreleased material.

Other music boxed sets compile different artists from a particular genre such as [big band](/source/big_band) [jazz](/source/jazz), 1960s [rock and roll](/source/rock_and_roll), or [opera](/source/opera). They generally feature a collection of various hits from some of the top artists of a particular genre. The scope of such boxed sets varies widely, with some genre-specific boxed sets (such as one featuring rock music) focusing on a specific style (for instance, guitar rock or "[Summer of Love](/source/Summer_of_Love)" music). Two of the companies best known for making boxed sets are [Legacy Recordings](/source/Legacy_Recordings) and [Rhino Records](/source/Rhino_Records); both have won multiple [Grammy Awards](/source/Grammy_Awards). Prior to Rhino and Legacy, companies such as [Time-Life Records](/source/Time-Life) and [Reader's Digest](/source/Reader's_Digest) also issued boxed sets.

In rare cases, boxed sets contain all original material, such as the 11-disc set ''[Blue Guitars](/source/Blue_Guitars)'' by [Chris Rea](/source/Chris_Rea), ''[In Search of The](/source/In_Search_of_The)'', a 13-disc set by [Buckethead](/source/Buckethead), or [Klaus Schulze](/source/Klaus_Schulze)'s 10-disc set ''[Contemporary Works I](/source/Contemporary_Works_I)''. Some boxed sets become best sellers, such as [Led Zeppelin](/source/Led_Zeppelin)'s ''[Led Zeppelin](/source/Led_Zeppelin_Boxed_Set)'' (1990), [George Strait](/source/George_Strait)'s ''[Strait Out of the Box](/source/Strait_Out_of_the_Box)'' (1995), [Nirvana](/source/Nirvana_(band))'s ''[With the Lights Out](/source/With_the_Lights_Out)'' (2004) and [The Beatles](/source/The_Beatles)' twin ''[The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)](/source/The_Beatles_(The_Original_Studio_Recordings))'' and ''[The Beatles in Mono](/source/The_Beatles_in_Mono)'' discography boxed sets (2009).

In classical music, boxed sets often contain all works of a certain composer or all works in a certain genre, like [symphonies](/source/Symphony) or [chamber music](/source/chamber_music), performed by a certain orchestra, [ensemble](/source/Musical_ensemble) or conductor.

==Books==
thumb|Boxed collections of books
Well-known authors and artists who have written or produced several related books or portfolios of [fine art photography](/source/fine_art_photography) or other artistic mediums whose work is considered historically, culturally, or socially significant may have certain works sold as boxed sets. For example, one can buy boxed sets of the plays of [Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare), collections of [J. R. R. Tolkien](/source/J._R._R._Tolkien) novels, or [Ansel Adams](/source/Ansel_Adams) photographic prints. There are now also digital boxed set collections, such as ''21 Shades of Night''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hotboxedbooks.com/21shadesofnight/|title=Hotboxedbooks.com|website=hotboxedbooks.com|access-date=24 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502063330/http://hotboxedbooks.com/21shadesofnight/|archive-date=2 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Television and film==
Films, television and other video programs on [Blu-ray](/source/Blu-ray) and [DVD](/source/DVD) are sometimes sold as boxed sets, as were certain titles on the now-discontinued [VHS](/source/VHS) and [LaserDisc](/source/LaserDisc) formats. Such a boxed set might include an entire [season](/source/Television_season) or seasons, or the complete series, of a popular TV program, a collection of films by a well-known director or starring a well-known actor/actress, or a collection of films of a particular genre such as horror, sci-fi or westerns. Other criteria for boxed sets have included all films of a series such as the ''[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars)'' series or the ''[Lord of the Rings](/source/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series))'' trilogy, and a selection of adaptions of a particular author such as [Stephen King](/source/Stephen_King) or [Jane Austen](/source/Jane_Austen). Some boxed sets contain different versions of one film, as in the case of ''[Blade Runner](/source/Blade_Runner)'' and ''[Alien Quadrilogy](/source/Alien_Quadrilogy)''.

One of the most popular boxed sets of all time is "The ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' Collection" released in 1999 by [New Line Platinum Series](/source/New_Line_Platinum_Series),{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} which contained the original seven films, a bonus DVD containing special features titled ''The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia'', two pairs of 3-D glasses for the last ten minutes of ''[Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare](/source/Freddy's_Dead%3A_The_Final_Nightmare)'', a commemorative booklet about the films titled ''The Nightmare is Alive'' and more. Other notable boxed sets include the ''[Dragon Ball](/source/Dragon_Ball)'' "Dragon Box" sets, often considered to be the best release of the shows to date due to the high quality of the remasters and the plentiful number of features; the "Shirley Temple Little Darling" DVD collection, an 18-DVD boxed set of [Shirley Temple](/source/Shirley_Temple) films which were constantly advertised on TV for years as a "limited time offer"; and the "''[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars)'' Trilogy: The Definitive Collection" LaserDisc boxed set, which was one of the last home-video releases of the original trilogy before the [special editions](/source/List_of_changes_in_Star_Wars_re-releases).

In the context of streaming services such as [Netflix](/source/Netflix), the term "boxed set" often refers, particularly but not exclusively in [Commonwealth English](/source/Commonwealth_English), to a series or season where all episodes are available to watch [on demand](/source/video_on_demand), either in addition to or in place of traditional [scheduling](/source/Broadcast_programming).

==See also==
*[Volume (bibliography)](/source/Volume_(bibliography))

==References==
{{Reflist}}

Category:Album types
Category:Collecting
Category:Packaging

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Box set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_set) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_set?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
