LOST: The Complete Collection on Blu Ray

The entire thing comes in a fairly attractive outer box, like so:

But inside is where the real gold (so to speak) lies, the well-built "temple" shaped cardboard case that houses all the goodies. Check it out.

Pop the lid, and you're greeted by a map of the island. Actually I was hoping for a bit more details on this map, such as where things were. The camp, the temple, the different stations, etc. I haven't messed with it, but it might actually be there, just hidden. Oh, and the map seems to wiggle a bit, hmmm (more on this later!)

The box has two "compartments" on either side, and there are various goodies inside. One side holds a small blacklight/flashlight, which I have yet to play with (there are supposedly lots of goodies to uncover with it), a written message which looks like a journal from the black rock, and a small ankh. Which breaks apart to reveal a scroll with a magic key-combo that is supposed to unlock something. I have yet to figure out the orientation of this or where to enter the code... so I may post back with more.

On the other side, are the pieces for "the game" which we saw Jacob and Smokey playing as kids. Strangely though there are no rules. Ah well. I won't open the baggies on these, I don't want to lose them.

Beneath the game board, is a booklet running down each season and episode.

Underneath that, is the box containing the discs. Compared to the rest of the box, which is quite sturdy, this inner box is flimsy as all-get-out. Not only that, but the sleeves which hold each season are significantly longer than your average blu-ray case, which could make storage on your shelf an issue.

Each season comes in its own fold-out cardboard sleeve, and the discs are simply shoved into little pockets. Given enough use I imagine this would start to create scratches on the discs, so be careful.

Back to the map. Give it another wiggle, and it starts to rotate. What? Turn it all the way, 90 degrees until the ankhs line up, and then give it a tug. It pops off to reveal a hidden compartment, and an unlabeled disc!!

Here you'll find the new short "The New Man in Charge" along with some other extras. I can't say I was enamoured with this new little bit of Lost "canon", it seemed to try to give explanation to some of the "unanswered" bits that may have been left over, such as the DHARMA food drops, the polar bears, and Walt....

...and it also includes this little gem which I had a good laugh over. No, (unfortunately!) it has nothing to do with the site, but its rather an "homage" to the fans and the buzz we created. A nice bit. I'm still laughing about this...

There you have it. Like I said I've barely scratched the surface of the discs content, only to check out a couple of features on the extras disc, and to view part of one episode. As expected the show looks and sounds amazing on Blu Ray. The discs do take a bit of time to load up, though. Might just be my player, but there's a good deal of spinning and watching the Oceanic logo.

Also of note is the "Season Play" option, which lets you set up profiles to keep track of where you are in the series. So two people can be at different places, and you'll always know which season/episode disc you need to put in. A nice feature when you're dealing with 36 discs!

From Amazon the set rings up at just under $200. Not exactly cheap but still well under the "sticker price." The DVD set comes in about $50 cheaper, though.

I'll have to get back into the box and start playing with the blacklight. I'm sure there are all sorts of things yet to discover, much like the show. I give this (so far) a big 9/10. Would be a 10 but for the flimsy inner box and the odd-shaped season sleeves....

Here's where you can get your own: