Collector's Editions

Jordan 199 · 05-08-2020 4:13am #1

Does anyone here buy collector's editions of video games? I do, mostly for games I like such as Dishonored/Fallout/The Last of Us and others.

Canis Lupus · 05-08-2020 5:20am

Never saw the point of it. I love gaming absolutely love it but I can't understand paying more (oft times substantially more) for Chinese tat that's just going to clutter up my already cluttered life. As an adult do you really need a toy figurine of some game character that no one else cares about.

johnny_ultimate · 05-08-2020 5:59am

Almost universally a waste of money and plastic, for me. The digital tat is typically useless too (the odd soundtrack excepted). Although honestly with the size of patches and the like I’d say even basic physical edition seem pretty unnecessary these days, with the only factor in their favour being the often lower price than the digital counterpart.

Markitron · 05-08-2020 10:13am

No, I used to but it ended up just being useless cheap tat and a box that takes up too much space on my shelf. They are usually really overpriced for what you get as well.

Penn · 05-08-2020 10:20am

Same as above. I had a couple, mainly the earlier Assassin's Creed ones, and the Batman Arkham City one. Maybe a few others, can't really remember. After that though they just became dust collectors editions and weren't worth the money or shelf space. Ended up binning them.

Creamy Goodness · 05-08-2020 10:21am

back in my teens/early twenties I was big into them, now as a mid-thirties person with zero room...nope.

Retr0gamer · 05-08-2020 10:34am

Complete waste of space and plastic. The ones for the big publisher games are all universally terrible with useless tat and a terrible figurine you can put on display in your bedroom to ensure you never lose your virginity ever. And for 'collectors' editions they usually have no collectible value whatsoever.

I occasionally get the odd special edition from smaller publishers like Atlus or XSeed to support them and they usually have much better goodies than the bigger publishers but even then it's rare and they don't do as many special editions any more.

These collector's editions were started by these smaller publishers to get a little more revenue on projects they invested a lot of time and resources into but wouldn't sell as well as a triple A game. There was also a lot of care put into them to give a bit extra back to the fans that invested and supported them. But the triple A publishers took it and managed to cheapen it and run the practice into the ground. I mean why would you want an artbook for a triple A game which barely has art direction outside of it's slightly different looking burly space marines.

Mr Crispy · 05-08-2020 2:44pm

Bought a couple of special editions back in the early noughties alright, but they've been ****ed out since (along with most of the other useless clutter I've accumulated over the years). Less is more.

quokula · 05-08-2020 3:43pm

I'm not opposed to it if there's something appealing, but that rarely / never seems to be the case. Especially as I prefer to keep my games catalog digital only these days.

I bought the special edition of F1 2020 because it had Michael Schumacher stuff and I couldn't resist. I was also very tempted by that special edition of FFVII remake with the statue of Cloud on the motorbike, because the original is an all time favourite, but I decided not to in the end.

I guess what both those propositions have in common is playing on nostalgia. Something new like Cyberpunk might prove to be the best game ever, but I'm not going to know that until after I play, so I've no interest in statues of the characters or art books or whatever when ordering it. (I plucked Cyberpunk out of thin air as a random example, I don't know if it even has a special edition)

CastorTroy · 05-08-2020 4:22pm

Not any of the massive boxes, but bought some of the Nintendo collectors editions like Wind Waker HD with Ganon statue, Mario Kart 8 with blue shell, Twilight Princess HD with Wolf Link Amiibo and others

Retr0gamer · 05-08-2020 4:30pm

The amount of money I spent on amiibo until I kicked the habit... I'm ashamed to say. I still get pangs for some of them when I'm on amazon.... just one more can't hurt.

bmorrissey · 05-08-2020 4:34pm

I have zero interest in them whatsoever. people do and i get that but i cant justify paying extra for some memorabilia etc.

I feel the same way about DLC, if at all i can avoid buying it i will, im stubborn to a serious fault with it. If its not on the base game then its not worth my interest in my mind.

Homelander · 05-08-2020 5:51pm

I buy the odd one when there's an actual quality collectible with it.

A lot of Collectors Editions though seem to be absolute tat with the minimum effort put in.

Halo Reach and Halo 5 Guardians are 2 examples of high quality collectors editions I bought.

Potential-Monke · 05-08-2020 10:29pm

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Never saw the point of it. I love gaming absolutely love it but I can't understand paying more (oft times substantially more) for Chinese tat that's just going to clutter up my already cluttered life. As an adult do you really need a toy figurine of some game character that no one else cares about.

I was big into getting them when I had my own house. Not so much these days, but I haven't really seen anything worth getting lately.

From thinking back, I have the main character for all the main AC games up to Black Flag, including a codex from 3 (big book of stuff). I have a loot box from Borderlands, the night vision goggles from MW2, a medal from Black Ops, a Kratos figurine (and life size, extremely sharp Blade of Chaos), hapes of gaming relating POP figures, a syringe/pen from Dead Rising, loads of maps, and other figurines that I can't quite recall now. Even had some posters.

I like them. I agree some are tat, but lots are quite good. If it's what you're into, then go for gold imo. Better than a matlepiece full of pictures and crap ceramic dogs and crap you see in most houses.

Grumpypants · 06-08-2020 12:48pm

I have a few for some of the games I worked on and got my kids names in the credits. They are a nice keepsake as I have a connection to those titles. Some studios will put babies names in the credits if they are born during the development.

But the rest I picked up in the sales after they launched. Usually, Gamestop flog them off as they take up so much space. I think I got South Park one and Mario Rabbids one the last time and they were cheaper than the standard edition.

I had ordered the BOTW one too, but they messed up my order and sent the normal version. By the time they answered my email they had sold out and it has been sold out everywhere ever since. That one I was pissed over.

And I would have liked the Doom one with the real helmet :pac:

Kilboor · 06-08-2020 12:51pm

Only the metal case ones FC2 and Halo 3 come to mind.

Couldn't care less about the rest of the stuff

J. Marston · 06-08-2020 1:12pm

I think I've only ever gotten one special edition, Assassin's Creed. Funnily enough, one of the most boring games I've played. In hindsight, I wish I had got the Horizon Zero Dawn Collector's Edition.

But since the PS5 is going to have interchangeable faceplates I can see lots of special editions coming with custom faceplates which I am going to find very tempting.

Sephiroth_dude · 06-08-2020 1:50pm

My last one was persona 5 I think, I got the skyrim one, I regret it.

Jordan 199 · 06-08-2020 4:32pm

The Bethesda ones can be hit or miss. The ones I have are:

Fallout 4 with the Pip-Boy. The capsule case has a nice matte look. Pip-Boy is made of glossy plastic which I don't like. I had to take the back cover off my Microsoft Lumia 640 windows phone to fit it in. Had to tape down the battery too. It also looked stupid on my skinny arms. On the plus side, an app was made for windows phone.

Dishonored 2 Collector's with the Corvo Attano mask. Made of plastic but it has a matte effect and it looks great. A stand came in the box so you could put the mask on it. Wish it could fit over my face though.

Wolfenstein II Collector's with the 12" Terror Billy action figure that came with an assortment of different weapons including an axe. Also came with a spare coat for Billy. Figure could have been more detailed and the weapons didn't fit properly in his hands.

Rage 2 Collector's with a Ruckus The Crusher talking head voiced by Andrew W.K. (best known for the 2001 hit 'Party Hard'). The head is different, very different and polarises views.

Doom Eternal Collector's with a helmet that fits over my head and improves my looks. Enough said.

BeerWolf · 07-08-2020 12:37am

Sometimes.

B.A._Baracus · 07-08-2020 10:10am

I remember I got my brother to pick up Halo 2 for me as I was in work late on the release day. The guy behind the counter was like "do you want the steel case?" So my brother was like sure. When I saw it I honestly thought it was a special edition haha. Years later I would find out bungie / Microsoft printed thousands of steel cases so that there was plenty going around. To the point I've heard a standard case of halo 2 is more rare these days.

Got another steel case shortly after with Doom 3 on Xbox. It was then I realised they are meh. You are just paying more for a piece of steel.

Collectors editions have come along way since then. Night vision Google's with call of duty, a figure of a character, I could go on but they are all the same.
Those words 'collector's edition' - if you aren't savy enough you will think it's special, it's rare and it's something you could throw on eBay even. Problem is everyone else has the same idea.

No point to buy them unless the item is something you'd really really want. Like you want to dress up as that character for Halloween and that item would help. Maybe then. Fair enough. Most are meh.

Markitron · 07-08-2020 10:21am

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Those words 'collector's edition' - if you aren't savy enough you will think it's special, it's rare and it's something you could throw on eBay even. Problem is everyone else has the same idea.

Anytime something is labelled as a collectors item by the manufacturer, you can guarantee it will not be a collectors item.

RedXIV · 07-08-2020 10:22am

I like the ones with books that give more on the development story. But I'm not big on the figures or steelbooks.

However, this has led to bad decisions such as the ultimate edition of FFXV which was the only one with the physical book, same with Tekken 6 and recently, FF7 deluxe edition.

Like above, I was tempted by Cloud on the bike as it's a favourite but to be honest, the only think I can imagine getting models of are street fighter characters for some reason and I've never actually looked into it before now.......must go have a look

TheValeyard · 07-08-2020 10:25am

Definitely collect them and have a fair few of them.

o1s1n · 07-08-2020 10:31am

Steel book cases look terrible in a book shelf of games, I absolutely hate them.

Rather ironically, sometimes so many people buy the 'collector's edition' that the bog standard release is the one that becomes rare/valuable.

Markitron · 07-08-2020 10:38am

o1s1n wrote: »

Steel book cases look terrible in a book shelf of games, I absolutely hate them.

Rather ironically, sometimes so many people buy the 'collector's edition' that the bog standard release is the one that becomes rare/valuable.

I don't buy steel books myself, but they look pretty when displayed face-out as opposed to spine-out.

Jordan 199 · 07-08-2020 2:04pm

J. Marston wrote: »

I think I've only ever gotten one special edition, Assassin's Creed. Funnily enough, one of the most boring games I've played.

Ass Creed III feat. the boring Connor Kenway?

Retr0gamer · 07-08-2020 2:10pm

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Ass Creed III feat. the boring Connor Kenway?

It at least had more than 3 missions. 3 boring missions.

J. Marston · 07-08-2020 2:38pm

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Ass Creed III feat. the boring Connor Kenway?

Yeah, 3. I forgot to put it in the post!

In hindsight, 1 was awful obviously but I remember thinking it was great at the time or trying to convince myself it was great. I liked the real world mystery stuff over the Altair bits but that all turned into mumbo-jumbo.

Infinity Loop · 07-08-2020 2:44pm

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Does anyone here buy collector's editions of video games? I do, mostly for games I like such as Dishonored/Fallout/The Last of Us and others.

I have a few for Assassins Creed series. Many of them still sealed in mint condition. They typically came with a figurine or extra dvd or book.
First baby has arrived so I've been trying to sell them. Nobody seems interested to buy so I guess Collectables are not as of much interest as they once were.
Funny how ones priorities change!

Retr0gamer · 07-08-2020 2:48pm

I remember being super excited for a middle eastern hitman and then getting a game with rubbish tightly scripted assassinations and the same 3 boring missions over and over.

I remember seeing some great reviews for it from the usual garbage journalist sites like Gametrailers (9.1/10.... sure). Then the respectible game sites like eurogamer and print publications savaged it. I knew it would be awful in the back of my mind but maybe they were over zealous.

They were right and it was a boring piece of ****. Even worse is it put me off the much better sequel.

Collector's Editions

Comments