Box set facts for kids
A box set is a special collection of items sold together. Think of it as a themed package! These sets often include things like books, music albums, movies, or TV shows. They are usually put together in a nice box, which is why they are called "box sets."
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Music Box Sets: Collecting Your Favorite Tunes
Music artists and bands who have been around for a long time often release box sets. These sets usually contain many of their songs. Sometimes, they even include rare songs that have never been released before!
What's Inside Music Box Sets?
Music box sets can collect all the singles or albums by an artist. For example, Pink Floyd released Oh, by the Way and Discovery sets. These sets include almost all their music. Bands might also release special, bigger versions of their most popular albums. Pink Floyd did this with The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Some box sets, like Pink Floyd's The Early Years 1965–1972, even feature lots of music that fans had never heard before.
Genre Collections
Other music box sets focus on collecting songs from different artists within a certain music style. This could be Big Band jazz, 1960s rock and roll, or opera. They often feature many hit songs from the top artists of that style. Companies like Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records are famous for making these types of box sets. They have even won many Grammy Awards for their work!
Unique Music Box Sets
Sometimes, box sets contain all new music that has never been released before. An example is the 11-disc set Blue Guitars by Chris Rea. Some box sets become super popular and sell millions of copies. Famous examples include Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin (1990), George Strait's Strait Out of the Box (1995), and Nirvana's With the Lights Out (2004). The Beatles also released two popular sets in 2009: The Beatles Stereo Box Set and The Beatles in Mono.
Classical Music Collections
In classical music, box sets often bring together all the works by a specific composer. Or they might collect all the pieces in a certain style, like symphonies or chamber music. These are usually performed by a particular orchestra or conductor.
Book Box Sets: Adventures in a Box
Well-known authors who have written several related books often have their works sold as box sets. This is great for fans who want to collect all the stories in one go.
Famous Book Collections
For example, you can buy box sets of the plays by William Shakespeare. Or you might find a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's novels, like The Lord of the Rings. Some box sets even feature collections of fine art photography prints, like those by Ansel Adams. Today, you can also find digital book box sets.
TV and Film Box Sets: Binge-Watching Fun
Movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and DVD are often sold as box sets. In the past, they were also available on VHS and LaserDisc.
What's in a TV or Film Box Set?
A film box set might include an entire season or even all seasons of a popular TV show. They can also collect many films by a famous director or starring a well-known actor. Sometimes, box sets gather movies of a specific type, like horror, sci-fi, or westerns.
Other box sets include all the films from a series, such as the Star Wars movies or Lord of the Rings trilogy. You can also find collections of movies based on books by a certain author, like Stephen King or Jane Austen. Some special box sets even contain different versions of the same film, like the Blade Runner set.
Popular TV and Film Box Sets
One very popular box set was "The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection" from 1999. It had the first seven films, a bonus DVD with special features, and even 3-D glasses! Other notable sets include the Dragon Ball "Dragon Box" sets, known for their high quality. The "Shirley Temple Little Darling" DVD collection was also very popular, featuring many films starring Shirley Temple. The "Star Wars Trilogy: The Definitive Collection" LaserDisc set was one of the last ways to own the original Star Wars movies before they were changed for later releases.
Box Sets in Streaming
Today, when you use streaming services like Netflix, the term "box set" is sometimes used. It means that all episodes of a TV series or season are available to watch whenever you want. This is different from traditional TV, where you have to wait for each episode to air.
See also
In Spanish: Caja recopilatoria para niños
- Volume (bibliography)
