As I repeatedly heard it, correctly or not, his print and pictures book sales alone, or art-side of his career, didn't really launch into full orbit...
I have primarily done medium format in 645, 6X7, 6X9 and 35mm for the past 4 years. I was always interested in large format but thought it was a bit...
I would think a soft-ish box would be better rather than a rigid one because of potential collisions.
You should look into EVA foam and polyethylene...