Fat Pack: Shards of Alara

Just wanted to show off an unusual find from a local shop (I don't know where they get this sort of out-of-print stuff, but I'm glad I stumbled on it). In case you weren't paying attention during one of my previous posts, a fat pack is basically a box full of booster packs. What's unusual is that this box is from the previous set in the block. While you can still encounter fat packs from the Core10 and Lorwyn block, for some reason this box is pretty hard to find. Well, there's one less floating around out there now.
Now pay attention because I'm tired of explaining my writing style to certain folk (yes, I'm looking at YOU, Napoleon). The box is slip cased as fat packs usually are. Something odd however is that the slip is colour-themed (mine happens to be green; when you unfold it, the underside is a mural for Naya shard. I would have prefered Jund (red) but it doesn't change much of anything - the actual box underneath is more generic and features art from all 5 shards that figure in the Alara fluff.
First however is the player's guide - which, unless I'm mistaken is only available in a fat pack. I said it before, and I will again: WotC knows how to make their product look slick. The player's guide is a full-colour booklet containing 50 pages of the people and places of the Alara setting plus articles about the cards and a full encyclopedia of the set. It's arguably the centrepiece of the box.
The box itself is also a very stylish card box containing a preview booklet of the "Planeswalker's Guide to Alara." The 8 packs are shrink-wrapped with a 40-pack of basic lands (on the off chance you STILL need some; I didn't even open my pack from the Conflux fat pack yet). And finally a "spin-down life counter" with the Shards of Alara icon where a 20 would be on a normal D20.

I had to shell out a few more bucks than I did for the Conflux box, but considering it's rarity, I didn't mind so much. If you'll recall, I said I snagged the Conflux fat pack for the price of the 8 booster packs so I rationalized that I got all the other contents free. Well, this time, I think I paid around 5 dollars for the "other stuff." Not bad as I've spent that much and more on deck boxes and other paraphenalia before.