In MOST cases...buying a BOX SET is a great deal.....NOT in this case....you'd be further ahead to buy the individual British import cd's on amazon and also the 2 past masters...and have money left over....if you REALLY want the rare stuff....invest in the 3 anthology 2cd sets and the BBC set...and the LET IT BE NAKED....you'll pretty much have it all...I have been a Beatles collector and fan since 1963...and this is what I did.

What you get are the 12 original U.K. Beatles albums (13 discs, because The Beatles a.k.a. White Album is a double set), plus both volumes of Past Masters, which fill in all the songs that did not make the albums. If you are a completist, this is definitely for you! You can hear the Fab Four from their days as the Liverpool Lads who conquered America, right up to the rooftop sessions at Abbey Road. There is a lot of good music here, some mischief, and a few mis-steps, but it's both history and legend, and it's all together now!

The only Beatles songs I couldn't find in this box were the instrumental pieces only avalible in American (not UK) albums, but those were not really Beatles, they were George Martin. Are those worth so much to complain about? Maybe you should find a compilation of just George Martin instrumentals.

I'm not sure about what bearboya said, but I counted 129 songs in here. None of them are repeated. The first 14 discs are the British albums (the American versions have more George Martin and less Beatles), and the last two discs are all the singles not included in the albums. Where are the repeated ones?

The other albums you've heard about (like Red and Blue) are anthologies, so you won't need them when you have all this.

But on top of all that, I totally agree with skooterfd and Dave Gruska. You would save $73.14 if you bought all 16 CDs from Amazon.com separately, and the plastic box can't be worth that much. There's free shipping too.

If you want to have fun and get the best sound, this is what I would do. Get the Capitol Albums Vol 1. (first 4 American albums) Which replace the English albums: With The Beatles, A Hard Days Night, and Beatles For Sale. Reason is the American albums sound better. Trust me I have all the American Beatle albums and all the English CD's and had no idea the songs were recorded differently till I seen an article about it. HELP was the first English stereo album. All the other English albums before HELP were in Mono. Then buy these English Beatle CD's. Please Please Me, HELP, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, White Album, Yellow Submarine(songtrack)Abbey Road, Let It Be. Include Past Masters VOL 1 & 2 and Beatles 1 for all the singles. Cost $200 TOPS!!

I didn't buy this set from Amazon. I bought it through a TV shopping channel (which shall remain un-named). At the time I bought it, it had been out for more than a year and if I remember correctly, there was some kind of lawsuit pending and the set was being taken out of print and no one was sure it would be returning. I know I paid less than $200 for it and, despite what some reviewers here will tell you... it was worth every penny. This is (as others have said) all of the Beatles original UK releases along with Past Masters I & II in a wooden roll-top box. The box is not plastic (as has been claimed) and is very sturdy and fairly heavy. Despite rumors of its demise "Hey Jude" is in fact in this set. The recordings seem clear and clean to me and I love the way the whole set is packaged. Why there is so much mis-information on this set I don't know. All that being said, I highly recommend this set for folks (like myself) who are looking for a box set. Sure, you might be able to assemble the individual albums cheaper, and if that makes you happy, please have at it! But that fact can't take away from this wonderful set.