Dating back to the launch of World of Warcraft in 2004, every expansion pack for the game has come with an option for a physical collector’s edition that’s filled with virtual goodies, as well as a stunning box that looks great on any collector’s shelf.
In a post to the WoW subreddit earlier today, one player shared a listing on Ebay for all 10 collector’s editions of WoW (and its expansions) for a grand total of $100. The only catch? All of the boxes are empty—you’d be paying exclusively for just the boxes.
This sparked a debate among the player base, with many WoW fans agreeing that the $100 price tag is still a bit steep if you’re only getting these boxes as a display piece that’s going to sit on your shelf. If you’re treating this like an investment opportunity, it’s a big ol’ waste of time.
“Honestly, people who grew up with WoW are now in their 30s,” one player named MarlinMr said in the comments. “Or those who were young adults are in their 40s. $100 doesn’t sound bad at all. To most of us the time it would take to gather them all is worth more than that.”
In my opinion, $100 for all of the boxes of the WoW collector’s editions is a solid deal, even if you’re only going to have the boxes on display. While most people would want the in-game items that go along with each collector’s edition, the boxes on their own have value as a display piece. I’ve always wanted to have at least one of the collector’s editions of my favorite WoW expansions on display some day, so the idea of having all of them side by side for the same price I’d pay for a few months of game time checks out to me.
In terms of an investment, though, I’d be a bit hesitant. The real value of WoW collector’s editions comes from the in-game items that come inside the boxes—codes for mounts, pets, and armor sets are going to have more value as the expansions age and the items become rarer.
Another WoW player in the comments had a more pessimistic view on the sale: “$100 for something that’ll sit on a shelf degrading and collecting dust until someday you look up at it and realize you spent $100 on some cardboard and paper that costs about a dime,” they said. “Worth it for the eBay seller who ropes in suckers sure.”
While that take might be a bit more blunt, I’m a sucker for cool box art and wouldn’t be too upset having some of my favorite expansions on display like that. Still, it’s really up to you how much value you place on $100, and if a crisp Benjamin is worth throwing down on empty video game boxes—it depends how cool you think those boxes are, really.
Published: Sep 25, 2023 04:20 pm