Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition detailed
by Christopher Grant 
{ Sep 15th 2008 at 11:25AM }
Here's the thing: selling a Collector's Edition for a game made for collectors isn't fan service ... it's stealing. But if you're comfortable with that, and want to slip a crisp $70 bill into Joe Blizzard's overstuffed g-string, here's what he's offering in exchange: - The Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack, helpfully jammed onto a DVD-ROM (take that, floppies!)
- A 208-page WotLK art book ... full of art
- Frosty, the baby frost wyrm – an exclusive in-game pet (what, no plushie?)
- A DVD jam-packed with dev interviews, intro cinematic (plus director's commentary)
- Soundtrack CD, featuring the #1 hit single: "Waltz of the Lich King"
- Mouse pad (adorned with a handy map of Northrend)
- Two starter decks for the collectible card game (see: collectors!) and two exclusive cards
[Via WoW Insider]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dustin @ Sep 15th 2008 11:33AM
I'll be trying to pick up a few of these, and holding on to them for a few months before selling them for massive profits. The collectors ed. of the original and Burning Crusade sell for massive amounts of money. I'm not passing this opportunity up again!
uberartist @ Sep 15th 2008 12:40PM
Just a word of warning, listen to my story. I got the BC collector's edition for my wife, gave it to her the day it was released (picked it up at midnight) and while she was happy, she also knew the price was really high on ebay so she wanted to wait and see how much we could sell it for.
Well, within the first 24 hours the price dropped to below retail! So if you don't sell it and get money in hand (no dead beat buyers) BEFORE the launch date, you could be screwed. We figured this happened because the need to upgrade and start playing was greater than the desire to get the CE, so if they didn't have one already people just ran out and got the normal edition.
Now the original WoW CE is a different story, and people starting new accounts still really want this. Go check ebay, it's extremely rare and expensive. The BC CE is still not even worth retail.
modifiedbears @ Sep 15th 2008 12:56PM
No one likes a scalper.
dark_inchworm @ Sep 15th 2008 2:41PM
No one likes a scalper.
SuckItTrebek @ Sep 16th 2008 2:37AM
No one likes a scalper....except the people at Paypal who get the money, and the desperate fanboy who doesn't know how to preorder but gets it anyway.
FYI, probably won't work so well this time. The Burning Crusade CE sold for less than the original WoW because of A)more people knowing, wanting, preordering and B)Blizz knew to make more of em this time around. I suspect that the trend will continue.
To all the whiners:don't bitch at the scalpers, bitch at the lifeless losers who enable this action.
Ketch @ Sep 15th 2008 11:40AM
That is a very unexciting collectors edition to say the least.
Shaun @ Sep 19th 2008 8:38AM
Not even close to being worth it.
Orangecoke @ Sep 15th 2008 11:55AM
Actually the BC CE doesnt really sell for that much compared to how much it cost. I tried exactly what you just described, and it didnt work out very well :)
ill trooper @ Sep 15th 2008 11:56AM
One thing though - you have to keep that packaging at 32º or less, or the serial number will melt away.
Eggy @ Sep 15th 2008 11:56AM
I'm all out of 70 dollar bills.
Makoto99 @ Sep 15th 2008 12:33PM
That was my first thought on reading this too. Guess the saying should be updated to "Queer as a $70 bill."
Thief @ Sep 15th 2008 12:06PM
I hope it's not really frozen. Holding cold things sucks.
No1 @ Sep 16th 2008 7:15AM
Stop licking the box!
343 Guilty Fart @ Sep 15th 2008 12:38PM
but i still use floppies... :(
peepoop @ Sep 15th 2008 12:45PM
Blizzard fans: Taking it further up the rear than your average Final Fantasy fan.
Shagittarius @ Sep 15th 2008 1:05PM
Except that Final fantasy is probably the worst MMO released. So in that sense FF fans take it in the chute.
peepoop @ Sep 15th 2008 4:16PM
I wasn't talking about FF MMOs, dude.
greggo @ Sep 15th 2008 12:51PM
whats a mouse pad?
Joe P @ Sep 15th 2008 2:24PM
Well I'm going to sound like a total blizzard fanboy here (and I am, I'll admit) but really you do get a reasonable deal for your money.
Personally I'd buy it for the sound track alone, in the beta the violin music is sweeping and beautiful, they really outdid themselves with it. But taking everything else into account: an art book, two starter decks (of 40(?) cards each I would assume), a DVD, a mini-pet, and even a mouse pad (lol) really for $30 more it isn't a bad bet. And if you've been playing WoW for a couple years it just might be worth it.
itbekevin2010 @ Sep 15th 2008 2:36PM
im not paying 70 bucks or hoever much this thing is for an mp3.
its called limewire.
Christian @ Sep 15th 2008 2:31PM
Damn WoW! I was going to not go back to WoW even with this expansion but they just have to have a collector's edition.... off for me to make a reservation...
capt_carl @ Sep 15th 2008 2:43PM
How many floppy disks would it take to hold it?
Shagittarius @ Sep 15th 2008 3:08PM
I had an idea for a Guiness world record: Largest contiguous backup to floppy media.
I bet 3M or someone would sponsor me to do it in a department store window or something.
Then I could do the largest contiguous restore from floppy media and have both records.
No1 @ Sep 16th 2008 7:19AM
Well, 4.5 GB is about 3,276,800 1.44MB floppies :-) so a lot!
Saucy D @ Dec 10th 2008 7:39PM
@ No1, hope you just made the number up. 4.5GB is 4500MB / 1.44MB = 3125 floppies
imaging install that and getting to 2500/3125 and 2501 is no where to be found.
floppy FTL
Danny @ Sep 15th 2008 3:27PM
Even if you want to Limewire the tracks, good luck finding them all. I couldn't find very many WoW tracks except the "popular" ones (opening theme, battleground music). Everything else was impossible.
I had bought the CE of BC specifically for the soundtrack, and to this day I haven't found a complete set on Limewire.
It's available on iTunes now, but wonder how long until WotLK is up there
theturtle363 @ Sep 15th 2008 4:56PM
geez, it's the same damn thing as the BC CE, right down to the mousepad map. Only, it's blue
JBeast @ Sep 22nd 2008 5:17PM
The thing that goads me isn't the price or content, but that there's no loyalty on blizzard's part to the gamers that've been loyal subscribers since the game came out; even those with the original collector's edition. They may as well call it the "scalper's edition." How hard would it be to make a collector's edition available through blizzard's store within the account management section of the website. 1 pre-applied game key (so it could not be resold) with the game pre-downloaded in the background as patches are now with the boxed content (sans game disc) shipped as available.
Hopefully others will join in on the boycott of buying from scalpers and express their disappointment at blizzard's uncool loyalty matching stance. Further, the DVD content should be regionalized to prevent retailers from shipping outside that region.
JB
sietelle @ Sep 24th 2008 9:33AM
yeah, because the 208 page artbook isn't worth the money. don't forget to complain about that part of the set too, because people don't play this game for the graphics, the gear, the art. that's what i want it for; screw the soundtrack i can download, screw the mousepad that i won't use, and screw the cards--i want the artbook. i'm an artist and i love concept art, this is the core of the CE for me, might as well just buy the whole thing together with wotlk and the soundtrack etc. just to save time. i could theoretically buy the artbook on ebay later but you know the price will get jacked up by someone who feels cheated for buying this CE for $100 in haste to be the first one online making his way to level 80.
matt @ Nov 17th 2008 6:46PM
Yes the art work is worth it... all these Re-colored sets from original WoW that blizzard takes a whole 15 seconds to recreate is amazing. Definately sign me up.
0_cool @ Nov 17th 2008 5:37PM
The art book (in the previous one) is full of cool looking... well, art duh! It is nice to look at and makes a great conversation piece over tea. The soundtrack IS really good, as was the burning crusade soundtrack. very relaxing instrumental pieces. the in-game pet on any account you create is cool. i have had many online tell me it is a nice pet, a cool bonus for the CE. the number 1 time saver that was with the BC CE was the x-pack on a single DVD rather then like 4 or 6 cds or whatever. granted, they should have just put it on DVD for everyone. don't play the card game, but maybe some loot cards will be in it for even more in game fun? dunno, but i will pick one up if they have it opening night.
Badmoonrisen @ Nov 20th 2008 6:57AM
Does Frosty actually fight or is it just a pet??