WoW and the Collector’s Edition – is that a good investment?

It’s the way it is in our real world right now: In many places we have to tighten our belts because our resources, which we have consumed in abundance in the past, are unsurprisingly finite. Maybe that will also be a reason why in 2022 not quite as many people will boldly grab Amazon Prime Day (which is now on July 12th and 13th, 2022), Black Friday and all other bargain sales. At some point, so the hope of most, it will hopefully get a little better. Then you can behave a little more relaxed when spending money. And at some point, so the hope of collectors, is always when there is a demand for the supply.

Collect for value

In the world of collectibles, demand always dictates price, which is no different in art than it is with Pokémon cards, Mystery Egg figures, and old books. For example, I still have almost all the characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy from the surprise eggs at home in the hope that one day they will make me rich. So far they don’t. Well, the “get rich” thing is probably a very, very big illusion, because the figures were made in utopian numbers. But you could make one or two euros with it. In an apocalyptic future, we might just swap Ü-egg figures instead of stinking paper bills. By the way, I’d like to mention that I’m not a fan of money – but have you ever sniffed some US dollar bills? That’s how money stinks!

Do people collect what I see as a disappointment?

The thought of Blizzard taking the WoW Collector’s Editions only sparsely with attractive goodies misses, won’t let go of me. And then I asked myself what some CE collectors are probably speculating on: Are the CEs really worth it as an investment? So yeah, seriously, I’ve known for years that the out of print Collector’s Edition of World of Warcraft (buy now ) trades for hundreds of euros; sometimes even for thousands. But if I remember correctly, it was really limited. What about the more recent expansions, such as Warlords of Draenor or Battle for Azeroth.

And listen and be amazed: Even if you google the Collector’s Edition of WoW: Shadowlands, you will no longer find stocks from long-established wholesalers (unless I look crooked), but only some from private sellers. And of course they add a little to the original price. If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself at online retailer Amazon.

Let’s hold on: Officially getting a Collector’s Edition from a major supplier somewhere is pretty hopeless. Especially since the Dragonflight-CE is still exclusive to Blizzard traded – at least for the moment. If you would like to have one of these cardboard boxes, then you have to take a look at auction platforms such as Ebay and Co., and the following applies: The further back you go in the WoW expansion timeline, the more expensive the Collector’s Editions in particular, which still have a Game key included. But even for the CEs with a redeemed key, i.e. those that are not mint, sometimes stately prices are called.

The above used Mists of Pandaria CE is actually a bargain. Look here, the brand new one CE from The Burning Crusade costs a whopping 600 euros, a used at least “only” almost 160 euros. A used one CE from WotLK is currently for 25 euros at the beginning. What does this tell us about the long-term value of Blizzard’s paper sleeves?