Music boxes are fascinating little things, right? I’ve enjoyed the sounds they produce, but never super into them to collect any or pay any real attention to. In fact, it’s mostly through media that I hear it, though yeah, I have heard many nursery rhyme boxes in souvenir shops, and the like.
From what I recall, one of the main music box themes that stuck with me was actually from Devil May Cry (PS2). Maybe you played it. After the end credits roll, the theme of Dante’s mother, Eva, plays on a lovely music box. It was a really nice theme. Have a listen:
I don’t recall there ever being an official product of it released, though.
Music Boxes or Rare Trinkets?
Anyway, I knew music boxes were made; after all, there is the infamous Orpheus/Sankyo Aerith’s Theme (Final Fantasy VII) that was not only incredibly rare, but also expensive as a result, often selling for thousands of whichever currency! I’ve always wanted one… fortunately there is a long overdue reissue/remake (original one’s company went under, or so I read), but it’s also expensive. Not as expensive, but nearly $1000/£1000. Here is a picture…
Gorgeous, right??
At some point I start noticing these smaller music boxes, low cost. I think it was the NieR Weight of the World one that caught my eye the most. There was a Final Fantasy XIV one, but I don’t play it so ignored it., The NieR one I saw was already released and was on eBay. I forget the price, but it wasn’t crazy expensive. Under £100/$100. I decided to pick it up…. Here it is.
It’s an iconic theme, even if you don’t care for the game. I thought the music box was well made, and clever being black (black box, gettit?) A shame it only loops a very small segment of the theme. Overpriced? Yeah, but I collect stuff so sometimes I pay a premium… sigh.
I thought it was a nice collectable, A good souvenir. It was actually a merch item at a NieR concert, and they still do new music boxes at times for said concerts, believe it or not!
Music Boxes to my ear
Eventually more came out of the NeiR tunes, and to this day Square Enix have worked with Sankyo, the manufacturer, and have released other music boxes covering the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Cross, Octopath Traveler and even Kingdom Hearts! Not only that, the colour choices are nice extra details and look great, from dusk blues, to lemony white to milky tea. Is it sad to say I get excited to see the next colour let alone the music/game it’s gonna be?
And guess what? If you spotted in the image, there is The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword one too. This one was bundled with the soundtrack released in Japan. I’m surprised Nintendo even did one and the exact same form factor.
Without opening and only observing from certain transparent boxes, these use a small 15 or 18 note barrel. Mechanically they work by winding at the bottom of the music box. A near max wind plays for around 2 minutes, but it’s recommended not to wind to max or high tension for fear of damage. My impression is these are fairly simply produced, unlike the more premium Aerith Theme music box or other grand music boxes out there.
The great thing is these things aren’t huge in foot-print, and retail prices aren’t that expensive (around £20/$20), and they’ve even been reissuing some. There’s something sweet about them that I’d even recommend one if you need to buy a gift for anyone that really loves some of the games covered so far.
Collecting music Boxes
So far, I’ve managed to collect nearly all of these styles of small, low cost music boxes from Square Enix. Maybe FFXIV is the only set of music boxes that I’ve passed on half of them so far. I’ve acquired all of the NieR and Kingdom Hearts music boxes released so far. Square Enix released a wave of Final Fantasy music boxes, but oddly Final Fantasy XII is the one core title outstanding. I hope that one comes soon, and maybe a Type-0 one, too.
Again, although they don’t play the whole theme, it does play the typically most memorable or chorus part, I guess. another nitpick is there are one or two of these that play a little on the fast side, but that could be down to how these are constructed. I’m not a pro at the internal mechanics, though I did learn a lot at random music box museum in Taiwan!
A random, lucky, rare find!
Speaking of Taiwan… I couldn’t believe one of the best music box pick-ups I had was quite literally at that museum! This was the pick-up….
That’s right: Xenogears! I didn’t even know they made one… and I’m excited and I still haven’t played the blasted game, haha! Such a lovely tune though. Love it!
So, while I love these music boxes, and that museum in Taiwan was really amazing, I haven’t even mentioned the other Kingdom Hearts music boxes in my collection… Now those… those I’ll save for another post (but listen below)! For now, enjoy this playlist where I captured all of the music from the music boxes in my own collection.
What do you think of these? Other than that they’re tiny snippets of a tune.
Where to Buy
If you’re interested in picking some up yourself, here are some links. Not everything is available anymore.
- Play-Asia (this is an affiliate link so I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you).
- I’ve used them a few times for music boxes and videogames
- CDJapan (this is an affiliate link so I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you).
- I love this site, but they often sell out of the music boxes
- Square Enix store
- Non-Japan stores usually import from Japan so there is a bit of a delay
