Ever since I got small box copies of both Morrowind expansions Tribunal and Bloodmoon, it started to annoy me more and more that I didn’t have boxed copies of the expansions for Oblivion.

While I do still have the original copies of Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles that I purchased in 2006 and 2007, they are of the keep-case variety and they don’t fit in nicely on my shelf with mostly small and big box games.

So my next Elder Scrolls purchase would have to be a bigger Shivering Isles. I know that there is a small box variation in English, but haven’t seen that for sale, so I settled for the bigger but flatter German release. These are not very expensive, and they shouldn’t be, because they’re are clearly budget releases, without the physical map even.

I bought one and was pleasantly surprised that it was still sealed. The box was slightly pressed-in, but that isn’t very noticeable and happens with such flimsy carton. It also happens sometimes when boxes are sealed for such a long time. I am always a bit skeptical about sealed games, because anyone can re-seal a game. But to do that for a game with such a low price would be folly. I was more sure about it genuinely being factory-sealed when I noticed that the jewel case was also still in its seal. I always enjoy tearing open an older game as if it was still new!

So while the hunt for a even better boxed copy of The Shivering Isles continues, my itch about not having boxed versions of any of the Oblivion expansions is scratched. Although I wish that a (carton) boxed version of Knights of the Nine was released…