Special and collector's editions: what holds its value and what doesn't

• Collector's edition. A big box with the game and physical items: a figure, an art book, a soundtrack, a cloth map. Made in limited quantities, although sometimes fairly large ones.
• Short-run limited edition. Games released physically in small quantities, sometimes numbered, by specialist publishers such as Limited Run Games, Strictly Limited Games or Super Rare Games.
• Steelbook. A metal case. Sometimes it is part of a special edition and sometimes it is a pre-order bonus from a particular shop.
• “Day One” or launch edition. The standard edition with some extra for the first units, often a downloadable content code.
• Budget re-releases. Platinum, Player's Choice, Nintendo Selects, Classics: the same game, later and cheaper.

No one can guarantee that an item will go up in price, and anyone who does guarantee it usually wants to sell you something. What the market does show is that these tend to hold up better:

• Genuinely short-run editions of games lots of people want. The key is the combination: a short run of a game nobody is looking for does not go up.
• Complete collector's editions, with all the extras, the outer box and the inner packaging in good condition.
• Regional editions released in only one country, such as some Spanish editions. We cover this in what Spanish PAL means.
• First editions as opposed to their re-releases, on consoles that are no longer in production.

• Extras that are just a code. Once redeemed, the code is worthless and, even if unused, it can expire or stop working if the service shuts down.
• Mass-produced pre-order steelbooks. There are exceptions, but most were made in large quantities.
• “Limited” editions that aren't. If an edition is restocked again and again, the word “limited” does not mean much.
• Incomplete editions. A collector's edition without its figure or outer box is missing exactly what made it special.
• Games that were later re-released. When a hard-to-find game gets a re-release or a remaster, the price of the original edition usually drops, at least for a while.

• Keep the outer box and the inner packaging, including the card or plastic insert that holds the figure. They take up space, but without them the edition is incomplete.
• Figures and statues away from sunlight: paint and plastic fade.
• Certificates and numbering stay with the edition. On numbered editions, the certificate is part of the item.
• Note what it includes when you catalogue it. In ten years' time you will not remember whether it came with one postcard or two.

For the rest of the storage advice, see the how to store your collection guide.