If you think that 40000 yen for the Japanese boxset is expensive you obviously haven't seen the the collectors' edition boxset that Gainax released to commemorate the day of second impact (September 13 2000 I think). Presenting the
Second Impact Box. They were released in 3 seperate volumes and each set cost 20000 yen. And supposedly there were only 500 complete sets released worldwide. I bought this boxset since it was the first to be released. Little did I know that Gainax would be releasing another boxset in 2003 with better quality audio and lower price.