There are expensive collector’s editions, and then there’s this…
Rockstar Games has officially revealed Grand Theft Auto VI: The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection, a box of GTA VI themed collectibles arriving alongside the games launch on November 19th.
The price is $399.99 in the US, £349.99 in the UK and €399.99 in Europe.
And yes, despite that price, you don’t actually get Grand Theft Auto VI.
Yes, you read that correctly. Rockstar’s own store makes it very clear that the game is sold separately.
So What Do You Get for $400?
So lets be fair to Rockstar, this isn’t a box containing a couple of stickers and a cheap plastic keyring.
The Goodtime State – Vice City Collection contains 11 physical items, several based around Macca the Gator and the fictional world of Leonida.
Rockstar lists the contents as:
- A six-inch Macca the Gator figure with a stash compartment
- Matte-black GTA VI Oakley Frogskins sunglasses with Prizm Sapphire lenses
- New Era 9FORTY A-Frame snapback
- Macca the Gator magnetic mirror
- Vice City collectible swizzle spoon
- Vice City razor-blade keychain
- Leonida Keys crossbody bag
- Chunkee the Manatee shot glass
- Leonida Keys enamel pin set in a metal tin
- Premium stickers in a stash bag
- Double-sided souvenir poster featuring Leonida
If you are an Oakley sunglasses and New Era cap person, then these aren’t the sort of generic merchandise normally thrown into a collector’s box.
But for $400?
You Still Need to Buy GTA VI
This is where the collection becomes difficult to defend as a traditional “collector’s edition.”
Someone spending $400 on the ultimate GTA VI package could reasonably expect one rather important thing to be inside:
The game GTA VI
Instead, Rockstar explicitly tells customers that Grand Theft Auto VI is sold separately.
It’s a strange part of modern collector culture. We are reaching the point where publishers can sell expensive boxes associated with a game while separating the actual videogame from the product.
And Rockstar isn’t testing this idea with a small franchise. This is Grand Theft Auto VI, arguably one of the most anticipated game launches in years.
So How Limited Is It?
This is another interesting part.
Rockstar describes the Vice City Collection as an “exclusive, limited-edition Collector’s Box” and says pre-orders are available while supplies last.
However, Rockstar has not disclosed how many units are being produced.
There is no confirmed units of 5,000, 10,000, 50,000 or any other number.
So while it is officially a limited-edition product, we currently don’t know exactly how limited it really is.
One current report also states purchases through Rockstar’s store are limited to one per customer, but that still tells us nothing about the overall production run.
That’s worth remembering before paying inflated resale prices based purely on the assumption that this will immediately become incredibly rare.
Yes The Scalpers Have Already Arrived
Resale listings have already begun appearing. Listings were appearing on eBay shortly after the announcement, while separate reporting has documented sellers asking substantially more than Rockstar’s retail price despite the collection still being available directly.
That makes paying a reseller premium particularly difficult to justify while official stock remains available.
Rockstar Has Actually Done This Before
A game-less collector’s box isn’t completely new thing for Rockstar.
Red Dead Redemption 2 also received a standalone Collector’s Box in 2018 that didn’t include the game. The difference is difficult to ignore, as that box launched at $99.99.
The new GTA VI collection costs roughly four times as much.
And yes of course, this package contains considerably more expensive branded merchandise, particularly the Oakley sunglasses, so comparing the two purely by price isn’t entirely fair, BUT…
My Take On This
There’s nothing wrong with expensive collectibles.
For a huge GTA fan, the Oakleys, New Era cap, Macca figure, Leonida bag and other memorabilia may genuinely make this a collection worth owning.
But $399.99 / £349.99 for a GTA VI collection that doesn’t contain GTA VI is still difficult to swallow.
At this price, including a copy of the game – even a digital code, would hardly seem to be unreasonable.
Instead, if anyone is buying Rockstar’s ultimate physical celebration of GTA VI will open the 19 x 13.5 x 12.5-inch collector’s box, unpack 11 pieces of merchandise and then still have to go and buy GTA VI separately.
Is this the start of the modern collector’s-edition market?