World of Warcraft 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition

I didn't plan to make a post about this, partly because I had thought it was not happening.  Fedex delivered my package somewhere else (with a photo confirming it had not been at our house) and couldn't find it again.  Luckily it turned up at the house of neighbors who were out of town at the time of delivery.

The War Within part of the collector's edition is pretty stripped down compared to past collector's editions: you get an art book and a pin, but there's no soundtrack (physical or download code) and no mouse pad.  The game key (which, in-game, does have a goodly amount of bonuses) does not come in the CE box itself, but is in a little envelope in the packing foam, so if you buy one of these third-party in the future, even if the package is still in the plastic, you may not get the game key

 

 

The CE box is a pretty sturdy clam-shell style with some subtle holographic effects that I couldn't get to photograph, and the art book is similar to previous editions.  The pin also seems to be of decent quality and has been added to the bookshelf next to the Shadowlands and Dragonflight pins.  (I should probably pull the art books out sometime and put them on the bookshelf, too.)

The gryphon rider, like Ragnaros before him, comes with some assembly required, but while Rags was just a couple pieces, the gryphon rider is six.  The tail boops out kind of easily, so if you have cats, be aware.

I need to rearrange the shelves over the piano to get this pair next to Ragnaros still and make it slightly less cat accessible. I can get behind the piano to retrieve the tail if needed, but it is a pain.

The lack of a soundtrack in both this and the Dragonflight CE is disappointing; that was my favorite thing in all the previous boxed sets.  I'm still not sure if I feel this was worth $180 (and while it was in shipping limbo I was debating if I would even bother repurchasing it), but compared to the digital epic edition, you're basically paying $90 for the statue, art book, and pin, so it doesn't seem too out of line.