Magic: The Gathering’s Lord of the Rings Scene Boxes make good gifts

It’s been a year of improvisation for the team at Wizards of the Coast. The success of Lord of the Rings – Tales of Middle-Earth — its blockbuster Universes Beyond collaboration with the Tolkien estate — the Seattle-based publisher has decided to try something entirely new with Scene Boxes, each containing six cards designed for display, in addition to six playable cards and three Set Boosters. This is a new and innovative idea that will pay off thanks to the relatively low price tag, as well as the clarity of what each box contains.

When you buy, consider the following: Magic cards, you’re buying booster packs — blind packs of random cards. The Secret Lair bundles, which are print-to demand packages that consumers can know what they’re getting in 2020, changed this. The Scene Boxes offer cards and a cardboard easel, leveraging the same level of certainty. These boxes offer a beautiful unboxing and are priced at the same level as Secret Lair drops.

They also make excellent use of senior art director Ovidio Cartagena’s re-imagining of iconic scenes from Tolkien’s original books.

“The Lord of the Rings is like the Odyssey, like the War of Troy,” he told Polygon’s Ana Diaz earlier this year. “There are several characters and several key moments. The work will never stop growing, because it’s so important and massive. We’re just very lucky we were born close to when the [The Lord of the Rings] was written.”

The top-right box is just one example of four available scene boxes. Aragorn at Helm’s DeepThe image is a single piece of artwork by Jason Rainville, spread out over six cards. Only one limitation is I see that the consumer can only display either the playable or art cards. Additional Scene Boxes Feature The Witch-King’s EscapeCampbell White Galadriel: The Might of GaladrielAlexander Mokhov Gandalf on the Pelennor fields by Matt Stewart.

Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

The value of the four boxes is further increased by including three Set Boosters in each box.

These Scene Boxes are great for desk accessories. As someone who’s tried to frame Magic cards in the past, I find the included easel is a great solution — so long as you bring your own penny sleeves. The easel grabs the cards from below, which could easily damage them. You can still use it if your fans are into Magic: The GatheringThe following are some examples of how to use The Lord of the RingsScene Boxes are great gifts for anyone in your family.

Scene Boxes can be pre-ordered through Amazon for $35 each, before their launch on Nov. 3. Also available for pre-order are Special Edition Booster Boxes priced at $318.94.