Though the side topics have been quite informative, or at least entertaining, I'll stick to the original topic.
The suggested retail price of a box of boosters is $120. You'd have to be insane, desperate, or completely uninformed about the available options to pay that much. I've never paid more than $75 for a box, and I don't think that price is unreasonable.
People are complaining about the price of booster packs being too expensive, but I know I never once saw anyone complain about the price of a booster until the price was increased to $3.29 (around Mercadian Masques, I believe.) Magic boosters, the 15-card ones anyway, were $2.99 for quite some time (Ice Age through Urza's Destiny, I think), and a price increase didn't shock me. While one can make their own decision about the quality of the card mechanics/designs on the newer sets vs. the older sets, I think that the artwork has improved or at least continued to be high quality, foils have been added, playtesting has apparently improved (very few "broken" cards), and the finished product is still excellent. I don't pay any more for booster boxes than I did before the price increase, so the cost increase only affects me when I buy boosters now and then.
Suggesting that booster boxes be reduced in price to $25-$35 is silly (smaller booster boxes of say 15-20 packs might not be a bad idea and might attract buyers who wouldn't ever put up $75+ for a booster box, but the price per pack wouldn't be any less.) Would sales increase if 36-card booster boxes went for $25-$35? Undoubtedly. Would sales increase 3x - 5x to make up for the lost profit? No. I wouldn't buy 2-5 times more cards than I do now, and I don't think the average player would, either. I'd be putting the extra income towards other interests. I can get the cards I want with the money I invest currently. If I could suddenly get the same cards for a lot less money, I wouldn't be spending the leftover money on cards I didn't want.
I see so many people complain that Magic is too expensive. I'm utterly flabbergasted by such remarks. I know people who've had a blast playing Magic for months using only extra commons they were given for free. One need not buy singles, or booster boxes, to enjoy the game. If you want to compete at a tournament level then yes, the game is expensive. Too expensive. But you needn't play the game at that level to enjoy it. And if you are simply so obsessed with the game that you can't enjoy it without collecting multiple power cards for your casual games, then either find another hobby or accept the cost you've unnecessarily taken on and stop bemoaning the cost of the game.
I've been telling people since I started playing that you can have a lot of fun playing Magic with an initial investment of $20-$30 (a starter deck and a few boosters.) That's still true now. If you want to "keep up" with the game, or collect, it's not a cheap hobby. But one needn't do either of those things, and I know people who love the game who do neither. Magic is only as expensive as you make it. If you can't enjoy the game without buying a lot of cards, maybe you're in the wrong hobby.
Wizards is out to make a profit, and we aren't being gouged for it. You aren't required to buy new cards to enjoy the ones you already own, so don't blame Wizards if you think the game is too expensive. You can enjoy it without ever spending another dime.
MumboJumbo