Prize Box was one of the gameplay elements on Wheel 2000, the children's spin-off of Wheel of Fortune.
History[]
Surprise!
Another purple wedge with green font, this one had a large green box facing toward the contestant with the Wheel of Fortune 2000 logo on top. If the player called a correct letter, s/he got 100 points per consonant and opened the box to get the small prize inside, such as a Tiger Game.com or Nintendo Game Boy Pocket. The prize was kept regardless of the game's outcome, and a new prize was added for each round (presumably only if the previous one was won); it was essentially Surprise, which itself used a similar method of reveal for Happy Holidays Week in December 1997, mixed with the 1991 daytime prize structure.
The Prize Box was attached to its wedge and kept in place by way of a small black Velcro strip. While there are no known instances of anyone landing on the wedge after a Prize Box was claimed, it was most likely treated as a regular 100-point space.
Much later, in December 1998, a Prize wedge had a box on top of it (most likely the aforementioned Surprise wedge) which Pat opened; inside was a CD jewel case with his picture on it, which he gave to the winning contestant before the Bonus Round. The fact that such a "cheap" item was inside may make it a direct reference to the low-value Prize Box items on Wheel 2000, which had left CBS' schedule about three months earlier.