Lately, I’ve noticed an odd phenomenon on the Star Wars: The Old Republic boards. There are quite a few people much more interested in the Collector’s Edition of the game now, and the boards are littered with threads asking about switching up from the Digital Deluxe Edition to the Collector’s or from Standard to the Collector’s.

Why?

I realize BioWare put out a snazzy new video of the Collector’s Edition unboxing as part of last week’s Friday Update, but so what? It honestly didn’t really reveal anything we didn’t know about already. Back in July when pre-orders began, everyone knew the full contents of the Collector’s Edition, with the exception of the specific contents of the (still) super secretive Collector’s Edition store. Today, we know the Collector’s Edition store will not feature items that grant players additional power; only cosmetic differences, that the store will be updated regularly, and that it will feature “unique appearances” for companion characters.

Is this enough to want to make the switch?

For some, the lack of power-granting items is sure to be a disincentive more than anything else, but I can see how the fact the store will be updated and offer unique looks for companions could be a selling point. I’m just honestly surprised at the increased level of interest.

I personally pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition when they originally went up for sale, but had I decided to go with the Digital Deluxe Edition, I really don’t think a silly video would have pushed me over months later. Outside of the physical items contained in the CE, the Collector’s Edition only features two digital items that the Digital Deluxe Edition doesn’t: the Mouse Droid and the store.  At a $70 premium, I’m not sure how it has suddenly become worth it. It would appear that BioWare should’ve put out that cool video back in July, especially with the Collector's Edition now fairly scarce (unless you’re willing to pay even more than the $149.99 MSRP).

If you haven’t made the switch yet, but plan to, I’d caution you on two things.

One, make sure that if you’ve already entered your pre-order code that you won’t be bumped in line when it comes to Early Access position. I’m hearing a lot of conflicting things here, and I was in fact told by EA Support back in July that if I canceled my pre-order on Origin (I wanted to switch to Amazon) that my already entered code would be basically de-activated, and I’d have to go through the process of having the new code switched in. Not wanting to risk my place in Early Access, I opted to keep my Origin pre-order.

And two, statues are addictive. Seriously. Collector’s Editions only recently started going nuts with their above $100 price-points and included statues (ultimate/legendary editions don’t count), and once you start down that path, you may find yourself obsessively drawn to the expensive Collector’s Editions of various other games, you know, to complete your nerdy statue collection. I’ve been struggling to resist purchasing the Skyrim Collector’s Edition, for example. I want that damned dragon. I don’t know how universal this appeal ends up being, but it started for me with the Geralt bust included in The Witcher 2 Collector’s Edition. I pre-ordered the Balls of Steel edition of Duke Nukem Forever shortly after, but thankfully I managed to avoid that disaster and canceled my order. Now, I’m disappointed that the developers behind Batman: Arkham City won’t allow me to drop $100 on the game so I can have a stupid Batman statue (the PC version doesn’t get a Collector’s Edition). You’ve been warned!

My question to you all this week is, you guessed it: Will you be switching over to the Collector’s Edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic? If so, why did you make the switch? And if you’ve already done so, did you easily find a retail copy or did you have to pay out the nose for it?