Next to our beloved cards there are many nostalgic MtG related items out there. One of them are Old School storage boxes. I think most of us have seen 1 or more variants of these storage boxes and I thought it was a fun idea to list them all and explain what types are out there. I know that these storage boxes are made after 1994 and also contain art from up to 1998. Still I consider these storage boxes “Old School” as most of the art is from the early sets. There are also plenty of storage boxes made after these 2 series but I’ve left those out of the article since these definitely don’t fit the “Old School” label for me.
Legends Storage Boxes
These boxes were released by Wizard of the Coast in 1996. There is 1 for each color and they contain artwork from Alpha till Ice Age. They can hold 1200 unsleeved and roughly 550 double sleeved cards. Card are stored in the box sideways which I highly prefer above cards that stand-up which is the case in the other box series. The downside is that you can’t read the name of the card easily but I know all Old School cards by image. Storing your cards by color, set & alphabetical order is a good idea anyway, or use any ordering you personally prefer. The black version seems to appear the most while I haven’t seen many green or red boxes. There is no information on the print run of these but they are available both on Magic Card Market as well as Ebay.
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The following illustrations are displayed on these boxes:
| Black | Blue | Green |
|---|---|---|
| Dance of the Dead by Randy Gallegos | Force Void by Mark Tedin | Craw Giant by Christopher Rush |
| Guardian Beast by Ken Meyer, Jr | Juxtapose by Justin Hampton | Elvish Archer by Anson Maddocks |
| Juzam Djinn by Mark Tedin | Mahamoti Djinn by Dan Frazier | Erhnam Djinn by Ken Meyer, Jr. |
| Lich by Daniel Gelon | Mana Drain by Mark Tedin | Force of Nature by Douglas Shuler |
| Minion of Tevesh Szat by Julie Baroh | Polar Kraken by Mark Tedin | Sylvan Library by Harold McNeill |
| Nether Shadow by Christopher Rush | Time Elemental by Amy Weber | Verduran Enchantress by Kev Brockschmidt |
| The Wretched by Christopher Rush | Zephyr Falcon by Heather Hudson | Winter Blast Kaja Foglio |
| Red | White |
|---|---|
| Anarchy by Phil Foglio | Balance by Mark Poole |
| Goblin Grenade by Ron Spencer | Blinking Spirit by L.A. Williams |
| Inferno by Randy Asplund-Faith | Mesa Pegasus by Melissa Benson |
| Lava Burst by Tom Wänerstrand | Savannah Lions by Daniel Gelon |
| Mana Clash by Mark Tedin | Spirit Link by Kaja Foglio |
| Mana Flare by Christopher Rush | Thunder Spirit by Randy Asplund-Faith |
| Spinal Villain by Anson Maddocks | Wrath of God by Quinton Hoover |
France Exclusive Storage Boxes
The second series are the France Exclusive Storage Boxes. These were released by Wizard of the Coast in 1998. These boxes can also hold 1200 unsleeved and roughly 550 double sleeved cards. Cards are stored vertically which makes it easier to read the cardnames but harder to flip through. Images shown are from Alpha all the way up till Tempest block (Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus). While some might view these boxes as “to new”, the addition of the Artifact “color” makes up for most of that. This box is likely the prettiest of them all, containing artwork of all the Moxen, the iconic Black Lotus, Jester’s Cap & Chaos Orb and Grinning Totem, Skyshaper & Scroll Rack. The boxes are called France exclusive for a reason as the bottom of the box learns us that they were printed in France and the distribution was for France only. Luckily boarders don’t mean a lot anymore nowadays as you can get these boxes everywhere. You can find them again on Magic Card Market and Ebay.
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The following illustrations are displayed on these boxes:
| Artifact | Black | Blue |
|---|---|---|
| Black Lotus by Christoper Rush | All Hallow's Eve by Christoper Rush | Ancestral Knowledge by Colin MacNeil |
| Chaos Orb by Mark Tedin | Catacomb Dragon by David O'Conner | Ertai, Wizard Adept by Terese Nielsen |
| Grinning Totem by Donato Giancola | Commander Greven il-Vec by Kev Walker | Mana Drain by Mark Tedin |
| Jester's Cap by Dan Frazier | Guardian Beast by Ken Meyer, Jr | Silver Wyvern by Colin MacNeil |
| Mox Diamon by Dan Frazier | Juzám Djinn by Mark Tedin | Timetwister by Mark Tedin |
| Mox Emerald by Dan Frazier | Morinfen by Carl Critchlow | Vesuvan Doppelganger by Quinton Hoover |
| Mox Jet by Dan Frazier | Vamperic Tutor by Gary Leach | |
| Mox Pearl by Dan Frazier | ||
| Mox Ruby by Dan Frazier | ||
| Mox Sapphire by Dan Frazier | ||
| Scroll Rack by Heather Hudson | ||
| Skyshaper by Donato Giancola |
| Green | Red | White |
|---|---|---|
| Carnassid by Brom | Balduvian Horde by Brian Snõddy | Alabaster Dragon by Bob Eggleton |
| Lhurgoyf by Pete Venters | Ogre Shaman by Paolo Parente | Archangel by Christoper Rush |
| Maro by Stuart Griffin | Rathi Dragon by Christopher Rush | Armageddon by John Avon |
| Mirri, Cat Warrior by Daren Bader | Relentless Assault by Geofrey Darrow & I. Rabarot | Cataclysm by Jim Nelson |
| Natural Selection by Mark Poole | Shard Phoenix by Paolo Parente | Moat by Jeff A. Menges |
| Oath of Druids by Daren Bader | Shivan Dragon by Melissa A. Benson | Serra Angel by Douglas Shuler |
| Spike Weaver by Mike Raabe | Thundermare by Bob Eggleton | Warrior Angel by Brom |
| Verdant Force by DiTerlizzi |
Other Boxes
Before Wizard of the Coast released the Legends and France Exclusive Box series AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group) created 5 colored boxes and released them in 1995. These are “unofficial” products and pretty hard to find. Boxes were also available for other card trading games like Jyhad. These boxes were not designed to store sleeved cards and due to the scarcity are more likely to be collectors items only. Artists which are credited to have created art for these boxes are Susan Van Camp, William O’ Connor and Stephen Venters. These boxes are sometimes listed as Magic: The Gathering “Card Crypt” storage boxes on Ebay and not available on Magic Card Market. Below all the pictures I could find:
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Credits
While I own some of these boxes I have used images from https://www.cardmarket.com/, https://www.ebay.com/ and https://mtg.gamepedia.com/. Some of the information is copied from https://mtg.gamepedia.com/.
These are super cool, I still have mine with the Juzam Djinn and The Wretched on it.
I remember the big brother of my best friend use to have the blue one with mana drain on it. It was so cool. Even 18 years ago it looked old school to me and pretty rare.
There are 2 versions of the Legends boxes. The first(oldest) version has small “ears” on the lid portion which made it difficult to close when full of cards. WotC corrected this with the second run of the boxes.
Of the Other or Magic: The Gathering “Card Crypt” boxes, whichever name you prefer, I have the top middle dragon one in my collection.
This is the only source I have been able to retrieve with little information on it. Would anyone know more about the story and possible value of it?
Came across your website trying to find the name of these gorgeous boxes, so thank you so much for these! I have most of the French ones, two green and minus red + rest. It is really fun going back through all my old cards and memorabilia like this – cheers 🙂
I have the wizard and dragon box from AEG!!!
Been looking everywhere for where it came from because it doesn’t have any info on it! Thanks for this
I have the Diablo and the dragon wizard box. Do you have any additional info on these. My timeliness when starting and stopping magic and then getting back into oldschool is the same. Was with the desert twisters until I moved to Sedona area. Thanks and look forward to hearing back from you.
Unfortunately I don’t. I collected this information a couple of years ago, but don’t own these boxes myself.