Released in December 2000, the Solid Box was a sort of early release for MMI and a definitive Ghost in the Shell collection. Behind the cover art was a large cardboard box, illustrated with descriptions of the items found within - Ghost in the Shell and Manmachine Interface, an MMI poster, a booklet in a CD case, a "Clear File" folder, and a clear plastic Fuchikoma action figure. Once you opened the box, you found a little bit of an extra, and I mean little. They included another, smaller Fuchikoma attached to the inside of the box(which I believe is the same as released with the original GitS figures). Before going into too much detail on the contents, I'd like to point out that almost everything inside this cardboard box is quite silvery and reflective in appearance, so don't open it up into direct sunlight. Images are coming eventually.
The first thind that grabbed my attention when I opened the box was the clear Fuchikoma, which I had to immediately take out an play with. It is highly articulate, and can be posed just about however you want. given the number of joints and clear plastic, the makers went with very little glue on the figure, so you might want to be a bit careful not to let it fall apart on you(thought it goes back together easily enough). A nice addition to the Fuchikoma that I've taken note of is the hatch on the top, opens up to reveal a seating chassis that is rather similar to a motorcycle frame. I leave mine sitting right on top of my monitor. The other Fuchikoma doesn't pose at all, but it's fully painted, so it has that going for it at least. Given its smaller size though, I tend to leave it in the box.
The next thing that stuck out to me was the Mini-booklet, which was packaged somewhat deceptively in a CD case, with the words "Manmachine Interface Inactive Module" printed on the case's spine and back. The 32-page booklet is almost all eye candy, containing mostly chapter break pages and variations of illustrations from Manmachine Interface, with a few 'new' images. On of these new images was used as the image for the poster that came with the box, measuring in at about 18" by 24." It's worth noting that the silver slip of paper that the poster came in also contained a sort of thank you letter from Masamune Shirow himself, unfortunately I don't have any idea what it says.
The Clear File is something I'd love to have reason to use. Essentially it's a clear folder made of sturdy, flexible plastic, with a singular illustraton stamped in silver foil at the top, an Octopus logo with Shirow's name below it. But that's really not the focus of the Clear File, instead, it's another unlisted extra, a reprinting of "BOOK in BOOK," which appeared in the December 6th, 1999 issue of Kodansha's Young Magazine. This 12-page booklet starts with a 2-page introduction and then moves on to a series of collages of the new imagery Shirow was working on for the collected version of MMI, the first real preview for the new MMI as it were. I'd love to show you the cover art, but there's nudity, and it didn't scan well due to the way they made the cover, lots of grain lines that make it look bad.
Saving them for last, as their contents are already discussed at length in their own sections, so you just get a quick rundown here. The books are hardcover with black and silver cover work, and printed at full-size. Both stories are completely uncensored, aside from a little bit of green ink around the genitalia during the rape sequence in MMI. Of course, that sequence somewhat detracts from the story and Shirow himself had removed it from all newer editions of MMI, replacing it with a redrawn scene. I must say I wasn't too fond of the scene myself, but all-in-all, these books are a great way to have the story, assuming you can even find the box, and I'll be hanging onto mine for years to come.
